February 15

Events

399 - The philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death.

1637 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

1764 - The city of St. Louis, Missouri is established.

1805 - Harmony Society officially formed.

1852 - Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits first patient.

1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

1879 - Women's rights: American President of the United States|President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female lawyer|attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.

1898 - Spanish-American War: The USS Maine|USS ''Maine'' explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing more than 260. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.

1903 - Morris Michtom and his wife Rose introduce the first teddy bear in America.

1906 - The Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party is organized.

1933 - In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President of the United States|President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.

1942 - World War II: The Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Empire of Japan|Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 British Indian Army|Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.

1944 - World War II: Assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.

1950 - The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty.

1953 - Seventeen-year-old Tenley Albright becomes the first American to win the world figure skating championship.

1961 - A Boeing 707 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team and several coaches.

1965 - A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.

1970 - A Dominican DC-9 crashes into the sea during takeoff from Santo Domingo, killing 102

1971 - Decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day.

1980 - Television One and Television Two (formerly South Pacific Television) under the newly formed Television New Zealand goes to air for the first time

1982 - The drilling rig ''Ocean Ranger'' sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers.

1989 - Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops had left Afghanistan.

1991 - The Visegrád group|Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free market economy|free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.

1995 - Criminal hacker|Hacking: Kevin Mitnick is arrested by the FBI and charged with breaking into some of the United States' most secure computing|"secure" computer systems.

1999 - Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers Party, is arrested in Kenya by Turkey|Turkish agents.

2000 - Indian_Point_nuclear_power_plant|Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator fails.

2002 - At the Tri-State Crematory in La Fayette, Georgia, investigators find that bodies that were supposed to have been cremated were in fact disposed of in the woods and buildings on the crematorium's property. The discovery reveals one of the worst incidents of abuse in the funeral service industry.

2003 - Global February 15, 2003 anti-war protest|protests aganinst the Iraq war occur in over 600 cities worldwide. Estimates from 10,000,000-15,000,000 make this the largest day of protest in history.

2004 - John Daly the PGA golfer, wins his first PGA TOUR event in 9 years by winning the Buick Invitational golf tournament on the first hole of a playoff in San Diego, California|San Diego, California.

Births

1458 - Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (d. 1490)

1471 - Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (d. 1503)

1543 - Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)

1564 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1642)

1620 - François Charpentier, French archaeologist (d. 1702)

1705 - Charles-André van Loo, French painter (d. 1765)

1710 - King Louis XV of France (d. 1774)

1723 - John Witherspoon, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1794)

1725 - Abraham Clark, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1794)

1739 - Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect (d. 1813)

1759 - Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist and archaeologist (d. 1824)

1803 - John Sutter, California pioneer (d. 1880)

1809 - Cyrus McCormick, American inventor (d. 1884)

1812 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler (d. 1902)

1815 - Constantin von Tischendorf, German Biblical scholar (d. 1874)

1820 - Susan B. Anthony, American feminist and suffragist (d. 1906)

1825 - Carter Harrison, Sr., Mayor of Chicago (d. 1893)

1835 - Demetrius Vikelas, Greek International Olympic Committee president (d. 1908)

1841 - Manoel Ferraz de Campos Salles, President of Brazil (d. 1913)

1845 - Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1937)

1847 - Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (d. 1927)

1856 - Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (d. 1926)

1861 - Charles Edouard Guillaume, French physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1938)

1873 - Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-born chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)

1874 - Sir Ernest Shackleton, British polar explorer (d. 1922)

1882 - John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942)

1883 - Sax Rohmer, English author (d. 1959)

1892 - James Forrestal, first United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1949)

1895 - Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete (d. 1971)

1896 - Arthur Shields, Irish actor (d. 1970)

1898 - Totò, Italian actor, writer, and composer (d. 1967)

1898 - Allen Woodring, American runner (d. 1982)

1899 - Georges Auric, French composer (d. 1983)

1899 - Gale Sondergaard, American actress (d. 1985)

1905 - Harold Arlen, American composer (d. 1986)

1907 - Jean Langlais, French composer and organist (d. 1991)

1907 - Cesar Romero, American actor (d. 1994)

1909 - Miep Gies, Dutch biographer of Anne Frank

1909 - Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)

1914 - Hale Boggs, American politician (d. 1972)

1914 - Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy, American actor

1916 - Mary Jane Croft, American actress (d. 1999)

1918 - Allan Arbus, American actor

1919 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)

1922 - John Bayard Anderson, U.S Congressman and presidential candidate

1927 - Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian

1929 - Graham Hill, British race car driver (d. 1975)

1929 - James Schlesinger, American politician

1931 - Claire Bloom, British actress

1934 - Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist

1935 - Susan Brownmiller, American feminist and writer

1935 - Roger Chaffee, astronaut (d. 1967)

1940 - John Hadl, American football player

1943 - Geoff Edwards, American television game show host

1946 - Marisa Berenson, American actress

1947 - Rusty Hamer, American actor (d. 1990)

1948 - Ron Cey, baseball player

1948 - Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist

1949 - Ken Anderson, American football player

1951 - Melissa Manchester, American singer

1951 - Jane Seymour (actress)|Jane Seymour, British actress

1954 - Matt Groening, American cartoonist

1955 - Christopher McDonald, American actor

1960 - Mikey Craig, British musician (Culture Club)

1964 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)

1971 - Renee O'Connor|Renée O'Connor, American actress and director

1972 - Jaromír Jágr, Czech hockey player

1973 - Sarah Wynter, Australian actress

1974 - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (d. 2002)

1974 - Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player

1976 - Brandon Boyd, American musician (Incubus (band)|Incubus)

1978 - Tuan Le, American poker player

1979 - Alenka Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer

1980 - Conor Oberst, American singer and songwriter (Bright Eyes)

1984 - Dorota Rabczewska, Polish singer (Virgin (band)|Virgin)

Deaths

1145 - Pope Lucius II

1621 - Michael Praetorius, German composer

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 author and philosopher (b. 1729)

1818 - Friedrich Ludwig, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, Prussian general (b. 1746)

1835 - Henry Hunt, British politician (b. 1773)

1848 - Hermann von Boyen, Prussian field marshal (b. 1771)

1857 - Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)

1932 - Minnie Maddern Fiske, Broadway actress (b. 1865)

1959 - Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)

1964 - Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1880)

1965 - Nat King Cole, American singer and musician (b. 1919)

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 in Physics|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 in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)

2002 - Howard K. Smith, American journalist (b. 1914)

2002 - Kevin Smith (actor)|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)

2005 - Samuel Francis, American journalist (b. 1947)

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/15

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050215.html ---- February 14 - February 16 - January 15 - March 15 -- Historical anniversaries|listing of all days