February 15Birthdays & History

On this day: February 15 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 438Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus.Europe
2. 590Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.Middle East
3. 706Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberios III publicly executed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople.EuropeMiddle East
4. 1002At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles, Arduin of Ivrea is restored to his domains and crowned King of Italy.Europe
5. 1113Pope Paschal II issues Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, recognizing the Order of Hospitallers.Europe
6. 1214During the Anglo-French War (1213–1214), an English invasion force led by John, King of England, lands at La Rochelle in France.Europe
7. 1493While 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.Europe
8. 1637Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.Europe
9. 1690Constantin 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.EuropeMiddle East
10. 1764The city of St. Louis is established in Spanish Louisiana (now in Missouri, USA).EuropeNorth America
11. 1798The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier.Europe
12. 1835Serbia's Sretenje Constitution briefly comes into effect.Europe
13. 1852The Helsinki Cathedral (known as St. Nicholas' Church at time) is officially inaugurated in Helsinki, Finland.Europe
14. 1862American 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.North America
15. 1870Stevens Institute of Technology is founded in New Jersey, US, and offers the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering.North America
16. 1872First issue of the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, the first or one of the first anarchist newspapers.Europe
17. 1879Women's rights: US President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.North America
18. 1898The battleship USS Maine 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.North AmericaLatin AmericaEurope
19. 1899Tsar 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.Europe
20. 1909The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico, kills 250.Latin America
21. 1923Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar.Europe
22. 1925The 1925 serum run to Nome: The second delivery of serum arrives in Nome, Alaska.North America
23. 1933In 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.North America
24. 1940Paul Creston's Saxophone Sonata is officially premiered at the Carnegie Chamber Hall by saxophonist Cecil Leeson, who had commissioned it, and the composer.North America
25. 1942World 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.AsiaAsiaEurope
26. 1944World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins.Europe
27. 1944World War II: The Narva Offensive begins.Europe
28. 1946ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.North America
29. 1949Gerald 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.Middle East
30. 1952King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.Europe
31. 1954Canada 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.North America
32. 1961Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team along with several of their coaches and family members.EuropeNorth America
33. 1965The maple leaf is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign flag.North America
34. 1970Dominicana 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.Latin America
35. 1971The decimalisation of the currencies of the United Kingdom and Ireland is completed on Decimal Day.Europe
36. 1972José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time.Latin America
37. 1972Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.North America
38. 1982The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers.North America
39. 1989Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.EuropeAsia
40. 1991The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.Europe
41. 1992Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced in Milwaukee to 15 terms of life in prison.North America
42. 1992Air Transport International Flight 805 crashes in Swanton, Ohio, near Toledo Express Airport, killing all four people on board.North America
43. 1996At 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.Asia
44. 1996Then-Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien applies a chokehold to protester Bill Clennett, an incident later named the Shawinigan Handshake.North America
45. 2001The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature.World
46. 2003Protests 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.Middle East
47. 2003The last Ariane 4 rocket is launched from the Guiana Space Centre, carrying Intelsat 907.Latin America
48. 2010Two trains collide in the Halle train collision in Halle, Belgium, killing 19 and injuring 171 people.Europe
49. 2012Three hundred and sixty people die in a fire at a Honduran prison in the city of Comayagua.Latin America
50. 2013A 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.Europe
51. 2021Sixty 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.Africa

Source: Wikipedia "February 15" / CC BY-SA 4.0