February 15



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, Alaska: 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 - 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
 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
 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)

Days of the year