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

• 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.
• 1113 – Pope Paschal II issues a bill sanctioning the establishment of the Order of Hospitallers.
• 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.
• 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, Missouri is established.
• 1798 – The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier
• 1804 – The Serbian revolution begins.
• 1835 – The first constitutional law in modern Serbia is adopted.
• 1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
• 1870 – Stevens Institute of Technology is founded and offers the first Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering.
• 1879 – Women's rights: American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1898 – The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing 274. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.
• 1901 – The association football club Alianza Lima is founded in Lima, Peru, under the name Sport Alianza.
• 1909 – The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico kills 250.
• 1921 – Kingdom of Romania establishes its legation in Helsinki.
• 1923 – Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar.
• 1925 – 1925 serum run to Nome: The serum arrives in Nome, Alaska, with Balto being the lead dog of the last team.
• 1933 – In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.
• 1942 – World War II: Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese 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.
• 1945 – World War II: Third day of bombing in Dresden.
• 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 is buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
• 1953 – Parliamentary elections held in Liechtenstein.
• 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, several coaches and family members.
• 1965 – A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.
• 1971 – The decimalisation of British coinage 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.
• 1976 – The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by national referendum.
• 1979 – Don Dunstan resigns as Premier of South Australia, ending a decade of sweeping social liberalisation.
• 1982 – The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers.
• 1989 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
• 1991 – The Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
• 1996 – At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing many people.
• 1999 – Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), is arrested in Kenya.
• 2000 – Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator fails.
• 2001 – 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 8 million to 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.
• 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.
• 2014 – Renaud Lavillenie of France breaks Sergey Bubka's world record in pole vault with a mark of 6.16 m.

Births

• 1377 – Ladislaus of Naples (d. 1414)
• 1458 – Ivan the Young, Russian son of Ivan III of Russia (d. 1490)
• 1471 – Piero the Unfortunate, Italian ruler (d. 1503)
• 1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1642)
• 1571 – Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (d. 1621)
• 1612 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, French soldier, founded Montreal (d. 1676)
• 1620 – François Charpentier, French archaeologist (d. 1702)
• 1705 – Charles-André van Loo, French painter (d. 1765)
• 1710 – Louis XV of France (d. 1774)
• 1725 – Abraham Clark, American politician (d. 1794)
• 1734 – William Stacy, American colonel (d. 1802)
• 1739 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Paris Bourse (d. 1813)
• 1748 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (d. 1832)
• 1759 – Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist and critic (d. 1824)
• 1760 – Jean-François Le Sueur, French composer (d. 1837)
• 1761 – Jacob Kimball, Jr., American composer (d. 1826)
• 1792 – Floride Calhoun, American wife of John C. Calhoun (d. 1866)
• 1797 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (d. 1871)
• 1809 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist (d. 1857)
• 1809 – Cyrus McCormick, American businessman, co-founded International Harvester (d. 1884)
• 1811 – Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian politician, 7th President of Argentina (d. 1888)
• 1812 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler, founded Tiffany & Co. (d. 1902)
• 1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American activist (d. 1906)
• 1825 – Carter Harrison, Sr., American politician, 29th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1893)
• 1834 – V. A. Urechia, Moldavian-Romanian historian, author, and politician (d. 1901)
• 1835 – Nguyen Khuyen, Vietnamese scholar, poet, and educator (d. 1909)
• 1835 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek author (d. 1908)
• 1840 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1917)
• 1841 – Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, Brazilian politician, 4th President of Brazil (d. 1913)
• 1845 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
• 1847 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1927)
• 1849 – Rickman Godlee, English surgeon (d. 1925)
• 1850 – Ion Andreescu, Romanian painter (d. 1882)
• 1851 – Spiru Haret, Romanian-Armenian mathematician, astronomer, and politician (d. 1912)
• 1856 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (d. 1926)
• 1861 – Martin Burns, American wrestler and coach (d. 1937)
• 1861 – Charles Édouard Guillaume, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1938)
• 1861 – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1947)
• 1866 – Edward William Exshaw, English sailor (d. 1927)
• 1869 – Cormic Cosgrove, American soccer player (d. 1930)
• 1873 – Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
• 1874 – Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer (d. 1922)
• 1883 – Sax Rohmer, English author (d. 1959)
• 1890 – Robert Ley, German politician (d. 1945)
• 1891 – Dino Borgioli, Italian tenor (d. 1960)
• 1892 – James Forrestal, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1949)
• 1893 – James Phinney Baxter III, American historian and author (d. 1975)
• 1893 – Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (d. 1947)
• 1895 – Earl Thomson, Canadian hurdler (d. 1971)
• 1896 – Arthur Shields, Irish actor (d. 1970)
• 1897 – Gerrit Kleerekoper, Dutch gymnast and coach (d. 1943)
• 1898 – Totò, Italian actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1967)
• 1898 – Allen Woodring, American runner (d. 1982)
• 1899 – Georges Auric, French composer (d. 1983)
• 1899 – Gale Sondergaard, American actress (d. 1985)
• 1904 – Antonin Magne, French cyclist (d. 1983)
• 1905 – Harold Arlen, American composer (d. 1986)
• 1906 – Jan Pijnenburg, Dutch cyclist (d. 1979)
• 1907 – Jean Langlais, French organist and composer (d. 1991)
• 1907 – Cesar Romero, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Sarto Fournier, Canadian politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1980)
• 1909 – Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (d. 2010)
• 1909 – Guillermo Gorostiza, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
• 1910 – Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and social worker (d. 2008)
• 1911 – Leonard Woodcock, American union leader and diplomat (d. 2001)
• 1912 – Andrei Lupan, Moldavian author (d. 1992)
• 1912 – George Mikes, Hungarian-English author (d. 1987)
• 1913 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Hale Boggs, American politician (d. 1972)
• 1914 – Kevin McCarthy, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1916 – Mary Jane Croft, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1916 – Jack Hanlon, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Allan Arbus, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Ducky Detweiler, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Endicott Peabody, American politician, 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1997)
• 1921 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and author (d. 1985)
• 1922 – John B. Anderson, American lawyer and politician
• 1923 – Yelena Bonner, Russian activist (d. 2011)
• 1924 – Robert Drew, American director and producer (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Bubba Harris, American baseball player (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Frank Dunlop, English actor and director
• 1927 – Harvey Korman, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Yehoshua Neuwirth, Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Norman Bridwell, American author and illustrator, created Clifford the Big Red Dog
• 1928 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (d. 2014)
• 1928 – Eno Raud, Estonian author (d. 1996)
• 1929 – Graham Hill, English race car driver (d. 1975)
• 1929 – Kauko Armas Nieminen, Finnish physicist
• 1929 – James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Bruce Dawe, Australian poet
• 1930 – Nico Minardos, Greek-American actor (d. 2011)
• 1931 – Claire Bloom, English actress
• 1931 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Jonathan Steele, English journalist and author
• 1932 – Troy Kennedy Martin, Scottish-English screenwriter (d. 2009)
• 1934 – Graham Kennedy, Australian actor (d. 2005)
• 1934 – Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist, created the Pascal programming language
• 1934 – Abe Woodson, American football player and minister (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Susan Brownmiller, American journalist and author
• 1935 – Roger B. Chaffee, American lieutenant, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1967)
• 1935 – Gene Hickerson, American football player (d. 2008)
• 1937 – Nathan Davis, American saxophonist and clarinet player
• 1937 – Gregory Mcdonald, American author (d. 2008)
• 1937 – Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (d. 2011)
• 1939 – Gerd Bohnsack, German footballer and manager
• 1939 – Ole Ellefsæter, Norwegian skier
• 1939 – Robert Hansen, American serial killer (d. 2014)
• 1940 – John Hadl, American football player
• 1940 – Hamzah Haz, Indonesian politician, 9th Vice President of Indonesia
• 1940 – Vaino Vahing, Estonian psychiatrist, author, and playwright (d. 2008)
• 1941 – Florinda Bolkan, Brazilian actress
• 1941 – Brian Holland, American songwriter and producer
• 1942 – Leslie Griffiths, English minister and politician
• 1942 – Sherry Jackson, American actress
• 1943 – Griselda Blanco, Colombian drug lord (d. 2012)
• 1944 – Mick Avory, English drummer (The Kinks and The Kast Off Kinks)
• 1945 – Jack Dann, American-Australian author and poet
• 1945 – John Helliwell, English saxophonist and keyboard player (Supertramp and The Alan Bown Set)
• 1945 – Douglas Hofstadter, American academic and author
• 1946 – Esko Seppänen, Finnish journalist and politician
• 1946 – Clare Short, English politician, Secretary of State for International Development
• 1947 – John Adams, American composer
• 1947 – Marisa Berenson, American actress
• 1947 – Rusty Hamer, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1947 – Ádám Nádasdy, Hungarian linguist and poet
• 1948 – Ron Cey, American baseball player
• 1948 – Tino Insana, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1948 – Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist
• 1949 – Ken Anderson, American football player
• 1949 – Hans Graf, Austrian conductor
• 1949 – Francisco Maturana, Colombian footballer and manager
• 1950 – David Brown, American bass player and songwriter (Santana) (d. 2000)
• 1950 – Tsui Hark, Vietnamese-Hong Kong director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1951 – Markku Alén, Finnish race car driver
• 1951 – Melissa Manchester, American singer-songwriter and actress (Harlettes)
• 1951 – Jane Seymour, English actress
• 1952 – Tomislav Nikolić, Serbian politician, 4th President of Serbia
• 1952 – Nikolai Sorokin, Russian actor and director (d. 2013)
• 1953 – Tony Adams, Irish-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
• 1953 – Gregory Campbell, Irish politician
• 1954 – Iain Banks, Scottish author (d. 2013)
• 1954 – Matt Groening, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
• 1954 – Armand Parmentier, Belgian runner
• 1955 – Janice Dickinson, American model, agent, and author
• 1955 – Christopher McDonald, American actor
• 1956 – Desmond Haynes, Barbadian cricketer and coach
• 1956 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese race car driver (d. 1992)
• 1957 – Steve Farhood, American historian
• 1957 – Gul Mohammed, Indian dwarf (d. 1997)
• 1957 – Jimmy Spencer, American race car driver
• 1957 – Jake E. Lee, American guitarist (Badlands and Ozzy Osbourne)
• 1958 – Chrystine Brouillet, Canadian author
• 1958 – Tony McKegney, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1958 – Matthew Ward, American singer-songwriter (Second Chapter of Acts)
• 1958 – Adam Boulton, English journalist
• 1959 – Ali Campbell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (UB40)
• 1959 – Guy de Alwis, Sri Lankan cricketer (d. 2013)
• 1959 – Brian Propp, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1959 – Martin Rowson, English author and illustrator
• 1959 – Hugo Savinovich, Ecuadorian wrestler
• 1960 – Mikey Craig, English bass player (Culture Club)
• 1960 – Darrell Green, American football player
• 1960 – Roman Kostrzewski, Polish singer-songwriter (Kat and Kat & Roman Kostrzewski)
• 1961 – Cheam Channy, Cambodian politician
• 1962 – Milo Đukanović, Montenegrin politician
• 1963 – Steven Michael Quezada, American actor
• 1964 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)
• 1964 – Leland D. Melvin, American engineer and astronaut
• 1964 – Daniel Poudrier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1964 – Mark Price, American basketball player
• 1965 – Bruce Bell, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Jane Child, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1967 – Kelley Menighan Hensley, American actress
• 1967 – Syed Kamall, English politician
• 1967 – Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1968 – Axelle Red, Belgian singer-songwriter
• 1968 – Mieke Suys, Belgian triathlete
• 1969 – Birdman, American rapper and producer (Big Tymers)
• 1969 – Josh Marshall, American journalist, founded the Talking Points Memo
• 1970 – Mariko Yoshida, Japanese wrestler
• 1971 – Renee O'Connor, American actress, director, and producer
• 1971 – Ray Sefo, New Zealand boxer and mixed martial artist
• 1972 – Anna-Jane Casey, English actress, singer, and dancer
• 1972 – Jaromír Jágr, Czech ice hockey player
• 1973 – Alex Borstein, American actress and singer
• 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 – Gina Lynn, Puerto Rican-American porn actress
• 1974 – Tomi Putaansuu, Finnish singer-songwriter (Lordi)
• 1974 – Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1974 – Alexander Wurz, Austrian race car driver
• 1975 – Serge Aubin, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Annemarie Kramer, Dutch sprinter
• 1975 – Brendon Small, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and actor
• 1976 – Brandon Boyd, American singer-songwriter (Incubus)
• 1976 – Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
• 1976 – Giorgos Karagoutis, Greek basketball player
• 1976 – Ronnie Vannucci, Jr., American drummer and songwriter (The Killers and Big Talk)
• 1977 – Gran Naniwa, Japanese wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1977 – Brooks Wackerman, American drummer (Bad Religion, Infectious Grooves, Fear and the Nervous System, and Bad4Good)
• 1978 – Yiruma, South Korean pianist and composer
• 1978 – Kimberly Goss, American singer and keyboard player (Sinergy and Ancient)
• 1978 – Tuan Le, French-American poker player
• 1979 – Chantal Janzen, Dutch actress and singer
• 1979 – Alenka Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer
• 1979 – Josh Low, English footballer
• 1979 – Scott Severin, Scottish footballer
• 1979 – Gordon Shedden, Scottish race car driver
• 1980 – LuFisto, Canadian wrestler
• 1980 – Conor Oberst, American singer-songwriter (Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos, Park Ave., Monsters of Folk, The Faint, and Commander Venus)
• 1980 – Josh Sole, New Zealand-Italian rugby player
• 1981 – Olivia, American singer
• 1981 – Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian footballer
• 1981 – Matt Hoopes, American guitarist (Relient K)
• 1981 – Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
• 1981 – Diego Martínez, Mexican footballer
• 1981 – Jenna Morasca, American model and actress
• 1981 – Larry Sweeney, American wrestler and manager (d. 2011)
• 1982 – Shameka Christon, American basketball player
• 1982 – Tahesia Harrigan, Virgin Islander sprinter
• 1982 – Alex Nodari, Italian footballer
• 1982 – James Yap, Filipino basketball player
• 1983 – Don Cowie, Scottish footballer
• 1983 – David Degen, Swiss footballer
• 1983 – Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer
• 1983 – Russell Martin, Canadian baseball player
• 1983 – Ashley Tesoro, American actress and singer
• 1984 – Doda, Polish singer-songwriter (Virgin)
• 1984 – Erik Cadée, Dutch discus thrower
• 1985 – Serkan Kırıntılı, Turkish footballer
• 1986 – Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
• 1986 – Johnny Cueto, Dominican baseball player
• 1986 – Ami Koshimizu, Japanese voice actress
• 1986 – Gabriel Paletta, Argentinian footballer
• 1986 – Amber Riley, American actress and singer
• 1987 – Jarrod Sammut, Australian rugby player
• 1988 – Jarryd Hayne, Australian rugby player
• 1988 – Hironori Kusano, Japanese singer and actor (NEWS)
• 1988 – Tim Mannah, Australian rugby player
• 1990 – Dejan Lazarević, Slovenian footballer
• 1990 – Charles Pic, French race car driver
• 1990 – Erwin Sak, Polish footballer
• 1990 – Stephanie Vogt, Liechtensteiner tennis player
• 1991 – Ángel Sepúlveda, Mexican footballer
• 1991 – Panagiotis Tachtsidis, Greek footballer
• 1992 – Greer Grammer, American actress
• 1992 – Johanna Hyöty, Finnish tennis player
• 1998 – Zachary Gordon, American actor

Deaths

• 670 – Oswiu of Northumbria (b. 612)
• 706 – Leontios, Byzantine emperor
• 1145 – Pope Lucius II
• 1621 – Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (b. 1571)
• 1637 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1578)
• 1738 – Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (b. 1684)
• 1775 – Peter Dens, Flemish theologian (b. 1690)
• 1781 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author and philosopher (b. 1729)
• 1818 – Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, Prussian general (b. 1746)
• 1835 – Henry Hunt, English politician (b. 1773)
• 1839 – François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian rebel (b. 1803)
• 1842 – Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon (b. 1754)
• 1844 – Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1757)
• 1847 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (b. 1794)
• 1848 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (b. 1771)
• 1849 – Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (b. 1804)
• 1857 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)
• 1869 – Mirza Ghalib, Indian poet (b. 1796)
• 1885 – Gregor von Helmersen, Estonian-Russian geologist (b. 1803)
• 1897 – Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1816)
• 1905 – Lew Wallace, American general and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (b. 1827)
• 1911 – Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician (b. 1859)
• 1919 – André Prévost, French tennis player (b. 1880)
• 1920 – Aleksander Aberg, Estonian wrestler (b. 1881)
• 1924 – Lionel Monckton, English composer (b. 1861)
• 1928 – H. H. Asquith, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)
• 1932 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (b. 1865)
• 1933 – Pat Sullivan, Australian animator and producer (b. 1887)
• 1939 – Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter (b. 1878)
• 1945 – Helmut Möckel, German politician (b. 1909)
• 1948 – Subhadra Kumari Chauhan Indian poet (b. 1904)
• 1953 – Oskar Goßler, German rower (b. 1875)
• 1953 – Karl Staaf, Swedish tug of war competitor (b. 1881)
• 1956 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer (b. 1878)
• 1959 – Owen Willans Richardson, English 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 and politician, Mayor of Dallas (b. 1880)
• 1965 – Nat King Cole, American singer and pianist (b. 1919)
• 1966 – Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (b. 1909)
• 1966 – Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian priest and theologian (b. 1929)
• 1967 – Antonio Moreno, Spanish-American actor and director (b. 1887)
• 1970 – Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish air marshal (b. 1882)
• 1971 – Dimitrios Loundras, Greek gymnast (b. 1885)
• 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 guitarist and songwriter (Electric Flag) (b. 1943)
• 1981 – Karl Richter, German organist and conductor (b. 1926)
• 1984 – Avon Long, American actor and singer (b. 1910)
• 1984 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (b. 1908)
• 1988 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 1990 – Michel Drach, French director and producer (b. 1930)
• 1992 – María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (b. 1960)
• 1992 – William Schuman, American composer (b. 1910)
• 1994 – the Maunula mummy, a Finnish man who lay dead in his apartment for six years until discovered
• 1996 – Lucio Agostini, Italian-Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1913)
• 1996 – Tommy Rettig, American actor (b. 1941)
• 1996 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)
• 1998 – Martha Gellhorn, American journalist and author (b. 1908)
• 1998 – Georgios Mylonas, Greek politician (b. 1919)
• 1998 – Louie Spicolli, American wrestler (b. 1971)
• 1999 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
• 1999 – Big L, American rapper (Diggin' in the Crates Crew and Children of the Corn) (b. 1974)
• 2000 – Angus MacLean, Canadian politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1914)
• 2002 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist (b. 1914)
• 2002 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)
• 2004 – Jens Evensen, Norwegian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Jan Miner, American actress (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
• 2005 – Samuel T. Francis, American journalist (b. 1947)
• 2007 – Walker Edmiston, American actor (b. 1926)
• 2007 – Ray Evans, American songwriter (b. 1915)
• 2008 – Ashley Callie, South African actress (b. 1976)
• 2008 – Amnon Netzer, Iranian-Israeli journalist and historian (b. 1934)
• 2008 – Johnny Weaver, American wrestler and sportscaster (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Joe Cuba, American singer (b. 1931)
• 2009 – Diether Haenicke, American academic (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Jeanne M. Holm, American general (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Fadhel Al-Matrook, Bahraini protester (b. 1979)
• 2012 – Charles Anthony, American tenor (b. 1929)
• 2012 – William H. Dabney, American colonel (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Cyril Domb, English-Israel physicist and academic (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Lina Romay, Spanish actress and director (b. 1954)
• 2012 – Clive Shakespeare, English-Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Sherbet) (b. 1949)
• 2012 – James Whitaker, English journalist (b. 1940)
• 2012 – John J. Yeosock, American general (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Kenneth Dement, American football player and lawyer (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Giovanni Narcis Hakkenberg, Dutch captain (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Carmelo Imbriani, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1976)
• 2013 – Sanan Kachornprasart, Thai general and politician (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Todor Kolev, Bulgarian actor and singer (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Bill Morrison, Australian politician (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Cliff Bole, American director and producer (b. 1937)
• 2014 – Mary Grace Canfield, American actress (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Jean-Marie Géhu, French botanist (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Jim Lacy, American basketball player (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Christopher Malcolm, Scottish-English actor and singer (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Horst Rechelbacher, Austrian-American businessman, founded the Aveda Corporation (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Dénes Zsigmondy, Hungarian-German violinist and educator (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Candlemas (Eastern Orthodox Church)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Claude de la Colombière
  • Faustinus and Jovita
  • Quinidius
  • Sigfrid of Sweden
  • Vartan (a holiday for Armenians in Lebanon)
  • Thomas Bray (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • February 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Liberation Day (Afghanistan)
• John Frum Day (Vanuatu)
• National Day (Serbia)
• National Flag of Canada Day (Canada)
• Parinirvana Day, also celebrated on February 8. (Mahayana Buddhism)
• Susan B. Anthony Day (United States)
• The ENIAC Day
• The third and final day of Lupercalia, also known as Februa. (Roman Empire)
• Total Defence Day (Singapore)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada