Wikipedia / February 15
Wikipedia / February 15
Events
Pre-1600
438 Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus.
590 Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
706 Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberios III publicly executed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople.
1002 At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles, Arduin of Ivrea is restored to his domains and crowned King of Italy.
1113 Pope Paschal II issues Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, recognizing the Order of Hospitallers.
1214 During the Anglo-French War (1213–1214), an English invasion force led by John, King of England, lands at La Rochelle in France.
1493 While on board the Niña, Christopher Columbus writes an open letter (widely distributed upon his return to Portugal) describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World.
1601–1900
1637 Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1690 Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire.
1764 The city of St. Louis is established in Spanish Louisiana (now in Missouri, USA).
1798 The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier.
1835 Serbia's Sretenje Constitution briefly comes into effect.
1852 The Helsinki Cathedral (known as St. Nicholas' Church at time) is officially inaugurated in Helsinki, Finland.
1862 American Civil War: Confederates commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attack General Ulysses S. Grant's Union forces besieging Fort Donelson in Tennessee. Unable to break the fort's encirclement, the Confederates surrender the following day.
1870 Stevens Institute of Technology is founded in New Jersey, US, and offers the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering.
1872 First issue of the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, the first or one of the first anarchist newspapers.
1879 Women's rights: US President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
1898 The battleship explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing about 274 of the ship's roughly 354 crew. The disaster pushes the United States to declare war on Spain.
1899 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia issues a declaration known as the February Manifesto, which reduces the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland, thus beginning the first period of oppression.
1901–present
1909 The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico, kills 250.
1923 Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar.
1925 The 1925 serum run to Nome: The second delivery of serum arrives in Nome, Alaska.
1933 In Miami, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate US President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6.
1940 Paul Creston's Saxophone Sonata is officially premiered at the Carnegie Chamber Hall by saxophonist Cecil Leeson, who had commissioned it, and the composer.
1942 World War II: Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japaneseese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.
1944 World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins.
1944 World War II: The Narva Offensive begins.
1946 ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
1949 Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
1952 King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
1954 Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska.
1961 Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team along with several of their coaches and family members.
1965 The maple leaf is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign flag.
1970 Dominicana de Aviación Flight 603 crashes into the Caribbean Sea after takeoff from Las Américas International Airport, killing 102, including members of the Puerto Rico women's national volleyball team and lightweight boxer Carlos Cruz.
1971 The decimalisation of the currencies of the United Kingdom and Ireland is completed on Decimal Day.
1972 Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
1972 José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time.
1982 The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers.
1989 Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
1991 The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
1992 Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced in Milwaukee to 15 terms of life in prison.
1992 Air Transport International Flight 805 crashes in Swanton, Ohio, near Toledo Express Airport, killing all four people on board.
1996 At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3B rocket carrying Intelsat 708 veers off course and crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing somewhere between six and 100 people.
1996 Then-Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien applies a chokehold to protester Bill Clennett, an incident later named the Shawinigan Handshake.
2001 The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature.
2003 Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between eight million and 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.
2003 The last Ariane 4 rocket is launched from the Guiana Space Centre, carrying Intelsat 907.
2010 Two trains collide in the Halle train collision in Halle, Belgium, killing 19 and injuring 171 people.
2012 Three hundred and sixty people die in a fire at a Honduran prison in the city of Comayagua.
2013 A meteor explodes over Russia, injuring 1,500 people as a shock wave blows out windows and rocks buildings. This happens unexpectedly only hours before the expected closest ever approach of the larger and unrelated asteroid 2012 DA14.
2021 Sixty people drown and hundreds are missing after a boat sinks on the Congo River near the village of Longola Ekoti, Mai-Ndombe Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Births
Pre-1600
1377 Ladislaus of Naples (died 1414)
1458 Ivan the Young, son of Ivan III of Russia (died 1490)
1472 Piero the Unfortunate, Italian ruler (died 1503)
1506 Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (died 1580)
1519 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (died 1574)
1557 Alfonso Fontanelli, Italian composer (died 1622)
1564 Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (died 1642)
1601–1900
1612 Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, French soldier, founded Montreal (died 1676)
1627 Charles Morton, Cornish nonconformist minister (died 1698)
1638 Zeb-un-Nissa, Mughal princess and poet (died 1702)
1705 Charles-André van Loo, French painter (died 1765)
1725 Abraham Clark, American surveyor, lawyer, and politician (died 1794)
1734 William Stacy, American colonel (died 1802)
1739 Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Paris Bourse (died 1813)
1748 Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (died 1832)
1759 Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist and critic (died 1824)
1760 Lars Ingier, Norwegian road manager, land owner, and mill owner (died 1828)
1760 Jean-François Le Sueur, French composer and educator (died 1837)
1809 André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (died 1857)
1809 Cyrus McCormick, American journalist and businessman, co-founded International Harvester (died 1884)
1810 Mary S. B. Shindler, American poet, writer, and editor (died 1883)
1811 Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian journalist and politician, 7th President of Argentina (died 1888)
1812 Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (died 1902)
1820 Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist and activist (died 1906)
1825 Carter Harrison, Sr., American lawyer and politician, 29th Mayor of Chicago (died 1893)
1834 V. A. Urechia, Moldavian-Romanian historian, author, and playwright (died 1901)
1835 Demetrius Vikelas, Greek businessman and philanthropist (died 1908)
1839 Rayko Zhinzifov, Bulgarian poet and translator (died 1877)
1840 Titu Maiorescu, Romanian philosopher, academic, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (died 1917)
1841 Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Brazil (died 1913)
1845 Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937)
1847 Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (died 1927)
1849 Rickman Godlee, English surgeon and academic (died 1925)
1850 Sophie Bryant, Irish mathematician, academic and activist (died 1922)
1851 Spiru Haret, Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician, 55th Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs (died 1912)
1856 Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist and academic (died 1926)
1861 Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1938)
1861 Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1947)
1873 Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1964)
1874 Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish captain and explorer (died 1922)
1883 Sax Rohmer, English-American author (died 1959)
1890 Robert Ley, German politician (died 1945)
1892 James Forrestal, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Defense (died 1949)
1893 Roman Najuch, Polish professional tennis player (died 1967)
1897 Gerrit Kleerekoper, Dutch gymnast and coach (died 1943)
1898 Totò, Italian actor, singer, and screenwriter (died 1967)
1899 Georges Auric, French composer (died 1983)
1899 Gale Sondergaard, Danish-American actress (died 1985)
1901–present
1904 Mary Adshead, English painter (died 1995)
1904 Antonin Magne, French cyclist and manager (died 1983)
1905 Harold Arlen, American composer (died 1986)
1907 Jean Langlais, French organist and composer (died 1991)
1907 Cesar Romero, American actor (died 1994)
1908 Sarto Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (died 1980)
1909 Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (died 2010)
1910 Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian, Righteous Gentile (died 2008)
1912 George Mikes, Hungarian-English journalist and author (died 1987)
1913 Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (died 1997)
1914 Hale Boggs, American lawyer and politician (died 1972)
1914 Kevin McCarthy, American actor (died 2010)
1918 Allan Arbus, American actor and photographer (died 2013)
1918 Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2009)
1920 Endicott Peabody, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1997)
1920 Eio Sakata, Japanese Go player (died 2010)
1921 Norman C. Deno, American chemist and plant scientist, (died 2017)
1922 John B. Anderson, Swedish-American lawyer and politician (died 2017)
1923 Yelena Bonner, Soviet-Russian activist (died 2011)
1924 Robert Drew, American director and producer (died 2014)
1925 Angella D. Ferguson, American pediatrician (died 2026)
1927 Frank Dunlop, English actor and director (died 2026)
1927 Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (died 2008)
1927 Yehoshua Neuwirth, Israeli rabbi and scholar (died 2013)
1929 Graham Hill, English racing driver and businessman (died 1975)
1929 James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense (died 2014)
1930 Bruce Dawe, Australian poet and academic (died 2020)
1930 Sara Jane Moore, American attempted assassin of Gerald Ford (died 2025)
1931 Claire Bloom, English actress
1934 Jimmy Bloomfield, English footballer and manager (died 1983)
1934 Graham Kennedy, Australian television host and actor (died 2005)
1934 Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist, created the Pascal programming language (died 2024)
1935 Susan Brownmiller, American journalist and author (died 2025)
1935 Roger B. Chaffee, American lieutenant, engineer, and astronaut (died 1967)
1935 Gene Hickerson, American football player (died 2008)
1937 Gregory Mcdonald, American author (died 2008)
1937 Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (died 2011)
1940 İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2007)
1940 Hamzah Haz, Indonesian journalist and politician, 9th Vice President of Indonesia (died 2024)
1941 Florinda Bolkan, Brazilian actress
1941 Brian Holland, American songwriter and producer
1944 Mick Avory, English musician and songwriter
1945 Douglas Hofstadter, American author and academic
1946 Clare Short, English civil servant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development
1946 John Trudell, American author, poet, and actor (died 2015)
1947 John Adams, American composer
1947 Marisa Berenson, American model and actress
1948 Art Spiegelman, Swedish-American cartoonist and critic
1949 Ken Anderson, American football player
1951 Markku Alén, Finnish racing driver
1951 Melissa Manchester, American singer-songwriter and actress
1951 Jane Seymour, English-American actress, producer, and jewelry designer
1952 Tomislav Nikolić, Serbian politician, 4th President of Serbia
1952 Nikolai Sorokin, Russian actor and director (died 2013)
1953 Ernie Howe, English footballer and manager
1953 Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
1954 Matt Groening, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1955 Janice Dickinson, American model, agent, and author
1955 Christopher McDonald, American actor
1956 Desmond Haynes, Barbadian cricketer and coach
1956 Ann Westin, Swedish comedian
1958 Chrystine Brouillet, Canadian author
1959 Ali Campbell, English singer-songwriter and musician
1959 Joseph R. Gannascoli, American actor
1959 Brian Propp, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1959 Hugo Savinovich, Ecuadorian wrestler and sportscaster
1960 Darrell Green, American football player
1960 Jock Hobbs, New Zealand rugby player (died 2012)
1962 Milo Đukanović, Montenegrin politician, 29th Prime Minister of Montenegro
1963 Steven Michael Quezada, American actor, comedian, and politician
1964 Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (died 1997)
1964 Leland D. Melvin, American engineer and astronaut
1964 Mark Price, American basketball player and coach
1965 Craig Matthews, South African cricketer
1967 Jane Child, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1967 Syed Kamall, English academic and politician
1967 Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1970 Shepard Fairey, American artist and activist
1971 Alex Borstein, American actress, voice artist, producer, and screenwriter
1971 Renee O'Connor, American actress, director, and producer
1972 Jaromír Jágr, Czech ice hockey player
1973 Kateřina Neumannová, Czech skier
1973 Amy van Dyken, American swimmer
1973 Sarah Wynter, Australian actress
1974 Miranda July, American actress, director, and screenwriter
1974 Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan baseball player
1974 Alexander Wurz, Austrian racing driver and businessman
1975 Serge Aubin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1975 Sébastien Bordeleau, Canadian-French ice hockey player
1975 Annemarie Kramer, Dutch sprinter
1975 Brendon Small, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and actor
1976 Brandon Boyd, American singer-songwriter
1976 Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
1976 Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American musician and songwriter
1977 Álex González, Venezuelan baseball player
1977 Ronald Petrovický, Slovak ice hockey player
1979 Hamish Marshall, New Zealand cricketer
1979 James Marshall, New Zealand cricketer
1980 Conor Oberst, American singer-songwriter
1981 Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian footballer
1981 Matt Hoopes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
1981 Diego Martínez, Mexican footballer
1981 Vivek Shraya, Canadian singer and songwriter
1982 Shameka Christon, American basketball player
1982 James Yap, Filipino basketball player
1983 Eddie Basden, American basketball player
1983 Don Cowie, Scottish footballer
1983 David Degen, Swiss footballer
1983 Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer
1983 Russell Martin, Canadian baseball player
1984 Gary Clark Jr., American singer-songwriter and musician
1984 Nate Schierholtz, American baseball player
1985 Serkan Kırıntılı, Turkish footballer
1985 Natalie Morales, American actress and director
1986 Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
1986 Johnny Cueto, Dominican baseball player
1986 Amber Riley, American actress and singer
1986 Laura Sallés, Andorran judoka
1988 Papu Gómez, Argentine footballer
1988 Rui Patrício, Portuguese footballer
1989 Mark Canha, American baseball player
1990 Callum Turner, English actor
1991 Ángel Sepúlveda, Mexican footballer
1991 Rich Swann, American wrestler
1993 Geoffrey Kondogbia, Central African footballer
1993 Manuel Lanzini, Argentine footballer
1994 Sodapoppin, American Twitch streamer and internet personality
1995 Megan Thee Stallion, American rapper
1997 Derrick Jones Jr., American basketball player
1997 Justin Reid, American football player
1998 Zachary Gordon, American actor
1998 George Russell, English racing driver
2000 Jakub Kiwior, Polish footballer
2004 Šimon Nemec, Slovak ice hockey player
Deaths
Pre-1600
706 Tiberios III, Byzantine emperor
815 Ibn Tabataba, Zaydi anti-caliph
1043 Gisela of Swabia, Holy Roman Empress (born 990)
1152 Conrad III, king of Germany (born 1093)
1382 William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (born c. 1339)
1417 Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, English commander (born 1385)
1508 Giovanni II Bentivoglio, tyrant of Bologna (born 1443)
1600 José de Acosta, Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist (born 1540)
1601–1900
1621 Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (born 1571)
1637 Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1578)
1738 Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (born 1684)
1772 Mitromaras, Greek rebel and pirate
1781 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher, author, and critic (born 1729)
1818 Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (born 1746)
1835 Henry Hunt, English farmer and politician (born 1773)
1839 François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian rebel (born 1803)
1842 Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (born 1754)
1844 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1757)
1847 Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (born 1794)
1848 Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (born 1771)
1849 Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician and theorist (born 1804)
1857 Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (born 1804)
1877 Rayko Zhinzifov, Bulgarian poet and translator (born 1839)
1885 Gregor von Helmersen, Estonian-Russian geologist and engineer (born 1803)
1885 Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer and conductor (born 1832)
1897 Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian lawyer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Romania (born 1816)
1901–present
1901 Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1819)
1905 Lew Wallace, American author, general, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (born 1827)
1911 Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician and academic (born 1859)
1924 Lionel Monckton, English composer (born 1861)
1928 H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1852)
1932 Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (born 1865)
1933 Pat Sullivan, Australian animator and producer, co-created Felix the Cat (born 1887)
1939 Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter and author (born 1878)
1956 Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (born 1878)
1959 Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)
1961 Laurence Owen, American figure skater (born 1944)
1965 Nat King Cole, American singer and pianist (born 1919)
1966 Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (born 1909)
1966 Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian priest and theologian (born 1929)
1967 Antonio Moreno, Spanish-American actor and director (born 1887)
1970 Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish air marshal (born 1882)
1974 Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer and engineer (born 1887)
1981 Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (born 1943)
1981 Karl Richter, German organist and conductor (born 1926)
1984 Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (born 1908)
1988 Richard Feynman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
1992 María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (born 1960)
1992 William Schuman, American composer and academic (born 1910)
1996 McLean Stevenson, American actor (born 1927)
1998 Martha Gellhorn, American journalist and author (born 1908)
1999 Henry Way Kendall, American physicist and mountaineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926)
2000 Angus MacLean, Canadian commander and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (born 1914)
2002 Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (born 1914)
2002 Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (born 1963)
2004 Jens Evensen, Norwegian lawyer, judge, and politician, Norwegian Minister of Trade (born 1917)
2005 Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (born 1944)
2005 Sam Francis, American historian and journalist (born 1947)
2007 Walker Edmiston, American actor (born 1925)
2007 Ray Evans, American songwriter (born 1915)
2008 Johnny Weaver, American wrestler and sportscaster (born 1935)
2010 Jeanne M. Holm, American general (born 1921)
2012 Cyril Domb, English-Israeli physicist and academic (born 1920)
2013 Sanan Kachornprasart, Thai general and politician (born 1935)
2013 Ahmed Rajib Haider, Bangladeshi atheist blogger
2014 Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (born 1924)
2014 Christopher Malcolm, Scottish-Canadian actor, director, and producer (born 1946)
2015 Haron Amin, Afghan diplomat, Afghan Ambassador to Japan (born 1969)
2015 Arnaud de Borchgrave, American journalist and author (born 1926)
2015 Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1979)
2016 George Gaynes, Finnish-American actor (born 1917)
2016 Vanity, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (born 1959)
2017 Stuart McLean, Canadian radio broadcaster (born 1948)
2019 Lee Radziwill, American socialite (born 1933)
2020 Caroline Flack, English actress and TV presenter (born 1979)
2022 Bappi Lahiri, Indian singer, composer and record producer (born 1952)
2022 P.J. O'Rourke, American author, humorist, and journalist (born 1947)
2023 Raquel Welch, American actress and singer (born 1940)
2025 George Armitage, American film director (born 1942)
2025 Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, Portuguese businessman (born 1937)
2025 Muhsin Hendricks, South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBT activist (born 1967)
2026 Robert Duvall, American actor and filmmaker (born 1931)
Holidays and observances
Christian feast day:
International Duties Memorial Day (Russia, regional)
National Flag of Canada Day (Canada)
Parinirvana Day, also celebrated on February 8. (Mahayana Buddhism)
Statehood Day (Serbia), also observed by the Republic of Srpska since 2025.
Susan B. Anthony Day (Florida, United States)
The ENIAC Day (Philadelphia, United States)