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

Up to 1900

1637 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned.
1690 – Constantin Cremer, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sitiu.
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 – 2000

1901 – Peruvian football club Alianza Lima is founded under the name "Sport Alianza".
1909 – The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico, kills 250 people.
1923 – Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar, becoming the last European country to do so.
1925 – 1925 serum run to Nome: The serum arrives in Nome, Alaska, with Balto as the lead dog of the last team.
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.
1972 – Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, President of Ecuador, is overthrown by a military coup.
1979 – Don Dunstan resigns as Premier of South Australia.
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.

From 2001

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)
1458 – Ivan the Young, son of Ivan III of Russia (died 1490)
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)
1760 – Jean-François Le Sueur, French composer (died 1837)
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 – André 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)
1820 – Arvid Posse, Prime Minister of Sweden (died 1901)
1825 – Carter Harrison, Sr., Mayor of Chicago (died 1893)

1826 – 1900

1826 – George Johnstone Stoney, Irish physicist (d. 1911)
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)
1859 – Louis-Joseph Maurin, French cardinal (died 1936)
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 – Totò, 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
1917 – Gösta Andersson, Swedish wrestler (died 1975)
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)
1928 – Norman Bridwell, American writer and cartoonist (died 2014)
1929 – Graham Hill, British racing driver (died 1975)
1929 – James R. Schlesinger, American politician (died 2014)
1931 – Claire Bloom, British actress
1934 – Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist (died 2024)
1935 – Roger Chaffee, American astronaut (died 1967)
1939 – Robert Hansen, American serial killer (died 2014)
1940 – Hamzah Haz, 9th Vice President of Indonesia
1941 – Florinda Bolkan, Brazilian actress
1944 – Mick Avory, English drummer (The Kinks)
1945 – John Helliwell, English musician (Supertramp)
1946 – Clare Short, British politician
1947 – Marisa Berenson, American actress
1948 – Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist
1948 – Tino Insana, American actor, writer and movie producer
1948 – Bernd Pischetsrieder, German automobile engineer and manager
1949 – Francisco Maturana, Colombian footballer

1951 – 1975

1951 – Jane Seymour, British actress
1951 – Melissa Manchester, American singer
1952 – Tomislav Nikolic, President of Serbia
1953 – Derek Conway, English politician
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)
1956 – Desmond Haynes, Barbadian cricketer
1957 – Jimmy Spencer, American racing driver
1959 – Ali Campbell, British musician (UB40)
1959 – Martin Rowson, English writer and illustrator
1960 – Mikey Craig, English musician (Culture Club)
1960 – Roman Kostrzewski, Polish musician
1961 – Neale Daniher, Australian rules footballer
1962 – Milo Dukanovic, 29th Prime Minister of Montenegro
1964 – Chris Farley, American comedian (died 1997)
1964 – Leland D. Melvin, American engineer and astronaut
1964 – Mark Price, American basketball player and coach
1967 – Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player
1968 – Gloria Trevi, Mexican singer and actress
1972 – Anna-Jane Casey, English actress, writer and dancer
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 Manigault Newman, 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
1981 – Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
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 – Rui Patricio, Portuguese footballer
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
1995 – Sara Daebritz, German footballer
1998 – Zachary Gordon, American actor

Deaths

Up to 1900

670 – Oswiu of Northumbria (b. 612)
706 – Leontios, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
706 – Tiberios III, 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. 1578)
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)
1864 – Adam Wilhelm Moltke, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1785)
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 – André Prévost, 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)
1968 – Little Walter, American singer and guitarist (b. 1930)
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)
1991 – Birger Malmsten, Swedish actor (b. 1920)
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)
2014 – Christopher Malcolm, Scottish actor (b. 1946)
2015 – Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1979)
2015 – Haron Amin, Afghan diplomat (b. 1969)
2015 – Eileen Essell, English actress (b. 1922)
2016 – Vanity, Canadian singer (b. 1959)
2016 – Fighton Simukonda, Zambian footballer (b. 1958)
2016 – George Gaynes, Finnish–born American actor (b. 1917)
2016 – Salman Natour, Israeli–Palestinian writer (b. 1949)
2017 – Infante Henrique, Duke of Coimbra, Portuguese royal (b. 1949)
2017 – Manfred Kaiser, German footballer (b. 1929)
2017 – Stuart McLean, Canadian radio broadcaster (b. 1948)

Observances

Day of the Flag of Canada
Liberation Day (Afghanistan)
National Day (Serbia)
Candlemas (Eastern Orthodox Church)