February 15
February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian
Calendar. There are 319 days remaining (320 in leap years).
Events
1600-1899
1900-1999
- 1903 - Morris Michtom and his wife Rose introduce the first teddy
bear in America.
- 1906 - The British
Labour Party is organized.
- 1933 - In Miami, Florida a
man attempts to assassinate 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: Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces.
- 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 - 17-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 Canadaian Red Ensign
banner.
- 1970 - A Dominican DC-9 crashes into the sea during takeoff from Santo Domingo killing 102
- 1971 - Decimalization of
British coinage completed.
- 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 Visegard
Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
- 1995 - Hacking: Kevin Mitnick is arrested by the FBI and charged with breaking into
some of the United States' most "secure" computer systems.
2000-2099
- 2000 - Indian Point II nuclear
power plant in New York vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam
generator failed.
- 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 protests against war on Iraq 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, won 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.
Births
1500-1899
- 1564 - Galileo Galilei,
Tuscan astronomer, father of the
scientific method, born in Pisa (d. 1642)
- 1710 - King Louis XV of
France (d. 1774)
- 1759 - Friedrich
August Wolf, philologist and archaeologist (d. 1824)
- 1803 - John Sutter, California pioneer (d. 1880)
- 1809 - Cyrus McCormick,
inventor (d. 1884)
- 1812 - Charles Louis Tiffany, jeweler (d. 1902)
- 1815 - Constantin von Tischendorf, Biblical scholar (d. 1874)
- 1820 - Susan B. Anthony,
feminist and suffragist (d.
1906)
- 1825 - Carter
Harrison, Sr., mayor of Chicago, IL (d. 1893)
- 1835 - Demetrius
Vikelas, Greek IOC president (d. 1908)
- 1883 - Sax Rohmer, author (d.
1959)
- 1882 - John Barrymore, US
actor (d. 1942)
- 1892 - James Forrestal,
first United States Secretary of
Defense (d. 1949)
- 1895 - Earl Thomson, Canadian
athlete
- 1898 - Allen Woodring,
American sprinter
- 1899 - Georges Auric, French
composer (d. 1983)
- 1899 - Gale Sondergaard,
actress (d. 1985)
1900-1999
- 1907 - Cesar Romero, actor (d.
1994)
- 1908 - HAP Grieshaber, painter and graphic artist (d. 1981)
- 1909 - Miep Gies, Anne Frank friend, biographer
- 1909 - Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes,
Spanish football
player (d. 1966)
- 1922 - John Bayard
Anderson, U.S
Representative and presidential
candidate
- 1926 - Dieter Lattmann, writer and politician
- 1927 - Harvey Korman, actor,
comedian
- 1929 - Graham Hill, Formula One racer (d. 1975)
- 1934 - Niklaus Wirth, Swiss
computer scientist
- 1942 - Kim Jong-il, leader of
North Korea
- 1943 - Elke Heidenreich, journalist and writer
- 1949 - Ken Anderson, American football quarterback
- 1951 - Melissa
Manchester, singer
- 1951 - Jane Seymour, actress
- 1954 - Matt Groening, cartoonist
- 1964 - Chris Farley, actor,
comedian (d. 1997)
- 1971 - Renée O'Connor, actress and director
- 1972 - Jaromir Jagr, ice hockey star
- 1974 - Seattle Slew, Triple Crown-winning race horse (d. 2002)
- 1974 - Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan baseball pitcher
Deaths
- 1145 - Pope Lucius II
- 1637 - Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1835 - Henry Hunt, British politician
(b. 1773)
- 1932 - Minnie Maddern Fiske, Broadway actress, (b. 1865)
- 1964 - Robert L.
Thornton, Dallas businessman, philanthropist and mayor (b. 1880)
- 1965 - Nat King Cole, singer,
musician (b. 1919)
- 1967 - J. Frank Duryea, automobile pioneer
- 1973 - Wally Cox, actor
- 1974 - Kurt Atterberg,
composer
- 1981 - Mike Bloomfield,
musician
- 1981 - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- 1984 - Ethel Merman, singer,
actress (b. 1908)
- 1988 - Richard Feynman,
physicist (b. 1918)
- 2002 - Howard K. Smith,
journalist (b. 1914)
- 2002 - Kevin
Smith, actor (b. 1963)
- 2004 - Jan Miner, actress (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances
February 14 - February
16 - January 15 - March 15 --
listing of all days
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