February 15
February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 319 days remaining until the end of the year (320 in leap years).
Events
- 1637 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned.
- 1760 - British ship HMS Ramilles strands at Bolt Head near Plymouth, England, after a navigation error. Around 700 people on board are killed. 26 survive.
- 1764 – The city of St. Louis, Missouri is established.
- 1786 - The "Cat's Eye" nebula is discovered by William Herschel.
- 1794 - The Tricolore becomes the national flag of France.
- 1798 - The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon Bonaparte, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier.
- 1804 - The Serbian Revolution begins.
- 1835 – The first constitutional law in modern Serbia is adopted.
- 1855 - French frigate La Semillante breaks apart in the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia, killing all 693 people on board.
- 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
- 1879 - Women's rights: US President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases at the United States Supreme Court.
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana, Cuba, killing over 260 people. This leads to the US declaring war on Spain.
- 1901 - Peruvian football club Alianza Lima is founded under the name "Sport Alianza".
- 1909 - The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico, kills 250 people.
- 1933 - In Miami, Giuseppe Zangara tries to kill President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt but instead shoots Mayor of Chicago Anton J. Cermak, who dies on March 6.
- 1942 - World War II: Singapore falls to the Japanese.
- 1944 – World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino in Italy begins.
- 1945 - World War II: Third day of the Fire Bombing of Dresden.
- 1946 - ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania.
- 1952 - The funeral of King George VI of the United Kingdom is held in London.
- 1953 - Liechtenstein holds its first parliamentary election.
- 1956 – Urho Kekkonen is elected President of Finland.
- 1961 - Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73 people, including the entire US figure skating team.
- 1965 – The Maple Leaf flag becomes Canada's flag
- 1967 – Chicago, a musical group forms.
- 1970 - A Dominican DC-9 airplane crashes into the sea shortly after take-off from Santo Domingo, killing 102 people.
- 1971 – Britain adopts decimal currency.
- 1989 – The last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan.
- 1994 - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Sumatra, killing 207 people.
- 1996 - The tanker Sea Empress runs aground at Milford Haven, South Wales, leaking oil.
- 2000 - The European Union starts membership talks with Slovakia, Latvia and Bulgaria.
- 2001 - The first draft of the complete human genome is published in the Nature journal.
- 2003 – Millions of people around the world protest against the planned US-led invasion of Iraq.
- 2005 – YouTube is founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim.
- 2012 - A major fire at a prison in Honduras kills over 360 people.
- 2013 - 2013 Russian meteor event: A meteor crashes down over Chelyabinsk, Russia, shattering windows and injuring over 1,000 people. Coincidentally, near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 passed within 27,700 kilometers of distance to Earth's surface later on this date.
Births
Up to 1825
- 1368 - Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1437)
- 1377 - Ladislaus of Naples (died 1414)
- 1471 - Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian ruler (died 1503)
- 1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and mathematician (died 1642)
- 1571 – Michael Praetorius, German composer (died 1621)
- 1620 - Francois Charpentier, French archaeologist (died 1702)
- 1621 - Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, French founder of Montreal (died 1676)
- 1710 – King Louis XV of France (died 1774)
- 1725 - Abraham Clark, American founding father (died 1794)
- 1739 - Alexander-Theodore Brogniart, French architect (died 1813)
- 1748 – Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher (died 1832)
- 1751 - Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, German painter (died 1829)
- 1759 - Friedrich August Wolf, German archaeologist (died 1824)
- 1774 - Prince Frederick of Orange-Nassau (died 1799)
- 1792 - Floride Calhoun, Second Lady of the United States (died 1866)
- 1803 - John Sutter, Swiss-American pioneer (died 1880)
- 1809 - Andre Dumont, Belgian geologist (died 1857)
- 1809 - Cyrus McCormack, American inventor (died 1884)
- 1811 - Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, President of Argentina (died 1888)
- 1812 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweller (died 1902)
- 1813 - Fredrick Holbrook, Governor of Vermont (died 1909)
- 1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American women's civil rights leader (died 1906)
- 1825 - Carter Harrison, Sr., Mayor of Chicago (died 1893)
1826 – 1900
- 1831 - Adolf Deucher, Swiss politician (d. 1912)
- 1834 - Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia, Moldovan-Romanian politician, historian and writer (died 1901)
- 1835 - Demetrius Vikelas, Greek sports official (died 1908)
- 1835 - Nguyen Khuyen, Vietnamese scholar, poet and teacher (died 1909)
- 1840 - Titu Maiorescu, Prime Minister of Romania (died 1917)
- 1841 - Manoel Ferraz de Campos Salles, Brazilian politician (died 1913)
- 1845 – Elihu Root, American politician (died 1937)
- 1847 - Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (died 1927)
- 1851 - Spiru Haret, Romanian-American mathematician, astronomer and politician (died 1912)
- 1856 - Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (died 1926)
- 1858 - William Henry Pickering, American astronomer (died 1938)
- 1860 - Scott C. Pone, American Territorial Governor of Alaska (died 1936)
- 1861 – Charles Edouard Guillaume, French physicist (died 1938)
- 1861 – Alfred North Whitehead, British philosopher and mathematician (died 1947)
- 1861 - Billy Adams, 24th Governor of Colorado (died 1954)
- 1873 – Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German chemist (died 1964)
- 1874 – Ernest Shackleton, Irish Antarctic explorer (died 1922)
- 1877 - Louis Renault, French automobile executive (died 1944)
- 1890 - Robert Ley, German Nazi official (died 1945)
- 1891 - Dino Borgioli, Italian lyric tenor (died 1960)
- 1892 - James Forrestal, United States Secretary of the Navy (died 1949)
- 1893 - Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (died 1947)
- 1899 - Gale Sondergaard, American actress (died 1985)
1901 – 1950
- 1904 - Antonin Magne, French cyclist (died 1893)
- 1905 – Harold Arlen, American composer (died 1986)
- 1907 - Jean Langlais, French composer and organist (died 1991)
- 1907 – Cesar Romero, American actor (died 1994)
- 1908 - Sarto Fournier, 38th Mayor of Montreal (died 1980)
- 1908 - Toto, Italian actor (died 1967)
- 1909 – Miep Gies, Dutch helper of Anne Frank and other Jews (died 2010)
- 1909 - Guillermo Gorostiza, Spanish footballer (died 1966)
- 1910 – Irena Sendler, Polish humanitarian (died 2008)
- 1910 – Stanley Vann, British musician (died 2010)
- 1912 - Andrei Lupan, Moldovan writer and politician (died 1992)
- 1913 - Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (died 1997)
- 1914 - Hale Boggs, American politician (died 1972)
- 1914 – Kevin McCarthy, American actor (died 2010)
- 1916 - Mary Jane Croft, American actress
- 1920 - Endicott Peabody, Governor of Massachusetts (died 1997)
- 1922 - John B. Anderson, American politician
- 1923 - Yelena Bonner, Russian activist (died 2011)
- 1927 - Carlo Maria Martini, Italian cardinal (died 2012)
- 1929 - Graham Hill, British racing driver (died 1975)
- 1929 - James R. Schlesinger, American politician
- 1931 – Claire Bloom, British actress
- 1934 - Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist
- 1935 – Roger Chaffee, American astronaut (died 1967)
- 1940 - Hamzah Haz, 9th Vice President of Indonesia
- 1944 - Mick Avory, English drummer (The Kinks)
- 1945 - John Helliwell, English musician (Supertramp)
- 1946 - Clare Short, British politician
- 1948 – Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist
- 1948 - Tino Insana, American actor, writer and movie producer
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Jane Seymour, British actress
- 1951 – Melissa Manchester, American singer
- 1952 - Tomislav Nikolic, President of Serbia
- 1954 – Matt Groening, American writer and cartoonist, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama
- 1954 - Armand Parmentier, Belgian athlete
- 1955 - Janice Dickinson, American supermodel
- 1955 - Christopher McDonald, American actor
- 1956 - Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese racing driver (died 1992)
- 1957 - Jimmy Spencer, American racing driver
- 1959 - Ali Campbell, British musician (UB40)
- 1960 - Mikey Craig, English musician (Culture Club)
- 1960 - Roman Kostrzewski, Polish musician
- 1964 – Chris Farley, American comedian (died 1997)
- 1968 - Gloria Trevi, Mexican singer and actress
- 1967 - Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Jaromir Jagr, Czech ice hockey player
- 1973 - Katerina Neumannova, Czech cross-country skier
- 1973 - Alex Borstein, American actress
- 1973 - Amy Van Dyken, American swimmer
- 1974 - Toni Puutansuu, Finnish singer (Lordi)
- 1974 - Omarosa Marigault, American businesswoman and actress
- 1974 - Miranda July, American actress, screenwriter and director
From 1976
- 1976 - Brandon Boyd, American musician
- 1976 - Oscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
- 1976 - Giorgos Karagoutis, Greek basketball player
- 1976 - Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American musician (The Killers)
- 1979 – Scott Severin, Scottish footballer
- 1980 - Conor Oberst, American singer and songwriter
- 1980 - Josh Sole, New Zealand-Italian rugby player
- 1981 – Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian footballer
- 1981 - Olivia, American singer
- 1983 – David Degen, Swiss footballer
- 1983 – Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer
- 1983 - Ashley Tesoro, American actress and singer
- 1984 - Dorota Rabczewska, Polish singer
- 1986 - Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1986 - Gabriel Paletta, Argentine footballer
- 1986 - Amber Riley, American actress and singer
- 1987 - Jarrod Sammut, Australian rugby player
- 1988 - Hironori Kusano, Japanese singer
- 1988 - Tim Mannah, Australian rugby player
- 1990 - Erwin Sak, Polish footballer
- 1990 - Charles Pic, French racing driver
- 1990 - Stephanie Vogt, Liechtenstein tennis player
- 1991 - Angel Sepulveda, Mexican footballer
- 1991 - Panagiotis Tachtsidis, Greek footballer
- 1992 - Greer Grammer, American actress
- 1998 - Zachary Gordon, American actor
Deaths
Up to 1900
- 706 - Leontios, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
- 1145 – Pope Lucius II
- 1152 - Conrad, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1621 – Michael Praetorius, German composer (b. 1571)
- 1637 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
- 1738 – Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (b. 1684)
- 1775 – Peter Dens, Belgian Catholic theologian (b. 1690)
- 1781 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German writer and philosopher (b. 1729)
- 1818 – Friedrich Ludwig, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, Prussian general (b. 1746)
- 1835 – Henry Hunt, British politician (b. 1773)
- 1844 - Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1757)
- 1847 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (b. 1794)
- 1848 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian field marshal (b. 1771)
- 1849 – Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (b. 1804)
- 1857 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)
- 1869 – Mirza Ghalib, poet of Urdu (b. 1796)
- 1897 - Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian politician (b. 1816)
1901 – 2000
- 1905 - Lew Wallace, American politician (b. 1827)
- 1911 - Theodor Escherich, German paediatrician (b. 1859)
- 1919 - Andre Prevost, French tennis player (b. 1880)
- 1924 - Lionel Monckton, English composer (b. 1861)
- 1926 – Piero Gobetti, Italian publisher, activist and politician (b. 1901)
- 1928 – H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)
- 1932 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, Broadway actress (b. 1865)
- 1933 - Pat Sullivan, Australian cartoonist, animator and producer (b. 1887)
- 1953 - Karl Staaf, Swedish athlete (b. 1881)
- 1959 – Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- 1961 - Bradley Lord, American figure skater (b. 1939)
- 1961 - Laurence Owen, American figure skater (b. 1944)
- 1964 – Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1880)
- 1965 – Nat King Cole, American singer and musician (b. 1919)
- 1966 – Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect and historian of gardens (b. 1909)
- 1967 - William Christian Bullitt, Jr., American diplomat (b. 1891)
- 1970 - Hugh Dowding, English RAF commander (b. 1882)
- 1973 – Wally Cox, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1973 – Tim Holt, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1974 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (b. 1887)
- 1981 – Mike Bloomfield, American musician (b. 1944)
- 1981 – Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- 1984 – Ethel Merman, American singer and actress (b. 1908)
- 1988 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 1996 – Tommy Rettig, American actor (b. 1941)
- 1996 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1999 – Big L (Lamont Coleman), American rapper (b. 1974)
- 1999 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
- 2000 - Angus MacLean, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1914)
From 2001
- 2002 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)
- 2004 – Jens Evensen, Norwegian minister and International Court of Justice judge (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Jan Miner, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Hasse Ekman, Swedish actor and director (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Samuel Francis, American journalist (b. 1947)
- 2005 - Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
- 2007 - Ray Evans, American songwriter (b. 1915)
- 2013 - Todor Kolev, Bulgarian actor (b. 1939)
- 2014 - Federico Campbell, Mexican writer (b. 1941)
Observances
- Day of the Flag of Canada
- Liberation Day (Afghanistan)
- National Day (Serbia)
- Candlemas (Eastern Orthodox Church)