Almanac - February 15
Galileo Galilei 1564-1642
Events
- 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
- 1113 – Pope Paschal II issued a bull 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.
- 1764 – The city of St. Louis, Missouri is established.
- 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.
- 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 – Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing more than 260. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.
- 1906 – The British Labour Party is organised.
- 1909 – The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico kills 250.
- 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: The 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 1970 – A Dominican DC-9 crashes into the sea during takeoff from Santo Domingo, killing 102.
- 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 Union invasion of 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.
- 1994 – Standard of the President of Russia is established.
- 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, is arrested in Kenya.
- 2000 – Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York State 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.
Births
- 1458 – Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (d. 1490)
- 1471 – Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (d. 1503)
- 1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1642)
- 1571 – Michael Praetorius, German composer (d. 1621)
- 1612 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, French military officer, founder of Montreal (d. 1676)
- 1620 – François Charpentier, French archaeologist (d. 1702)
- 1705 – Charles-André van Loo, French painter (d. 1765)
- 1710 – King Louis XV of France (d. 1774)
- 1725 – Abraham Clark, American founding father (d. 1794)
- 1734 – William Stacy, Continental Army officer, and pioneer to the Ohio Country (d. 1802)
- 1739 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect (d. 1813)
- 1748 – Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher (d. 1832)
- 1759 – Friedrich August Wolf, German archaeologist (d. 1824)
- 1761 – Jacob Kimball, Jr., American composer (d. 1826)
- 1792 – Floride Calhoun, Second Lady of the United States (d. 1866)
- 1797 – Henry E. Steinway, German piano maker (d. 1871)
- 1809 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist (d. 1857)
- 1809 – Cyrus McCormick, American inventor (d. 1884)
- 1812 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler (d. 1902)
- 1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist (d. 1906)
- 1825 – Carter Harrison, Sr., American politician (d. 1893)
- 1835 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek author (d. 1908)
- 1840 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian Prime Minister (d. 1917)
- 1841 – Manoel Ferraz de Campos Salles, Brazilian politician (d. 1913)
- 1845 – Elihu Root, American statesman, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1937)
- 1847 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (d. 1927)
- 1849 – Sir Rickman Godlee, English surgeon (d. 1925)
- 1856 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (d. 1926)
- 1861 – Charles Edouard Guillaume, French physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1938)
- 1861 – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1947)
- 1873 – Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1964)
- 1874 – Sir Ernest Shackleton, Irish Antarctic explorer (d. 1922)
- 1877 – Louis Renault, French automobile executive (d. 1944)
- 1882 – John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942)
- 1883 – Sax Rohmer, English author (d. 1959)
- 1890 – Robert Ley, Nazi official (d. 1945)
- 1891 – Dino Borgioli, Italian lyric tenor (d. 1960)
- 1892 – James Forrestal, American civil servant, 47th United States Secretary of the Navy and 1st United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1949)
- 1893 – Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (d. 1947)
- 1895 – Earl Thompson, Canadian athlete (d. 1971)
- 1896 – Arthur Shields, Irish actor (d. 1970)
- 1898 – Totò, Italian actor and composer (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)
- 1907 – Jean Langlais, French composer and organist (d. 1991)
- 1907 – Cesar Romero, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1908 – Sarto Fournier, Quebec politician (d. 1980)
- 1909 – Miep Gies, Dutch biographer of Anne Frank (d. 2010)
- 1909 – Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
- 1910 – Irena Sendler, Polish social worker (d. 2008)
- 1911 – Leonard Woodcock, American labor union official and diplomat (d. 2001)
- 1912 – George Mikes, Hungarian-born British 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)
- 1918 – Allan Arbus, American actor
- 1918 – Hank Locklin, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Endicott Peabody, American politician and 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1997)
- 1921 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and writer (d. 1985)
- 1922 – John B. Anderson, American politician
- 1923 – Yelena Bonner, Russian human rights activist, widow of Andrei Sakharov
- 1927 – Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (d. 2008)
- 1928 – Norman Bridwell, American author and cartoonist
- 1929 – Graham Hill, English race car driver (d. 1975)
- 1929 – Kauko Armas Nieminen, Finnish physicist
- 1929 – James Schlesinger, American politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense, 9th Director of Central Intelligence, and 1st Secretary of Energy
- 1930 – Nico Minardos, American actor
- 1931 – Claire Bloom, British actress
- 1931 – Geoff Edwards, American television game show host
- 1932 – Troy Kennedy Martin, Scottish film and television screenwriter (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Graham Kennedy, Australian actor (d. 2005)
- 1934 – Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist
- 1935 – Susan Brownmiller, American feminist writer
- 1935 – Roger Chaffee, astronaut (d. 1967)
- 1935 – Gene Hickerson, American football player (d. 2008)
- 1937 – Gregory Mcdonald, American author (d. 2008)
- 1939 – Gerd Bohnsack, German football manager
- 1939 – Ole Ellefsæter, Norwegian cross-country skier
- 1939 – Robert Hansen, American serial killer
- 1940 – John Hadl, American football player
- 1940 – Hamzah Haz, Indonesian politician
- 1941 – Florinda Bolkan, Brazilian actress
- 1941 – Brian Holland, American songwriter and producer
- 1943 – Griselda Blanco, Colombian drug queen, Medellín Cartel
- 1944 – Mick Avory, British drummer (The Kinks)
- 1945 – John Helliwell, British musician (Supertramp)
- 1945 – Douglas Hofstadter, American academic and writer
- 1946 – Esko Seppänen, Finnish politician
- 1947 – John Coolidge 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 voice actor
- 1948 – Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist
- 1949 – Ken Anderson, American football player
- 1949 – Hans Graf, Austrian conductor
- 1950 – David Brown, American musician (Santana) (d. 2000)
- 1950 – Hark Tsui, Hong Kong film director
- 1951 – Melissa Manchester, American singer
- 1951 – Jane Seymour, British actress
- 1953 – Tony Adams, Irish film producer (d. 2005)
- 1954 – Matt Groening, American cartoonist
- 1954 – Armand Parmentier, Belgian athlete
- 1955 – Janice Dickinson, American Ex-Supermodel
- 1955 – Christopher McDonald, American actor
- 1956 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese racing driver (d. 1992)
- 1957 – Steve Farhood, American boxing historian and analyst
- 1957 – Jimmy Spencer, American race car driver
- 1957 – Gul Mohammed, shortest mature human ever, at 22.5 in. (d. 1997)
- 1958 – Chrystine Brouillet, Quebec novelist
- 1958 – Tony McKegney, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1958 – Matthew Ward, American singer, (Second Chapter of Acts), songwriter and author
- 1959 – Ali Campbell, British singer and songwriter (UB40)
- 1959 – Brian Propp, Canadian hockey player
- 1959 – Hugo Savinovich, Ecuadorian wrestler
- 1960 – Mikey Craig, British musician (Culture Club)
- 1960 – Darrell Green, American football player
- 1960 – Roman Kostrzewski, Polish heavy metal musician
- 1961 – Cheam Channy, Cambodian politician
- 1964 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)
- 1964 – Leland D. Melvin, NASA 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 musician
- 1967 – Kelley Menighan Hensley, American actress
- 1967 – Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1968 – Axelle Red, Belgian singer and songwriter
- 1968 – Mieke Suys, Belgian triathlete
- 1969 – Josh Marshall, American journalist
- 1969 – Bryan Williams, American record executive and rapper
- 1971 – Alex Borstein, American actress
- 1971 – Renée O'Connor, American actress and director
- 1971 – Ray Sefo, New Zealand kickboxer
- 1972 – Jaromír Jágr, Czech hockey player
- 1973 – Katerina Neumannová, Czech cross country skier
- 1973 – Amy Van Dyken, American swimmer
- 1973 – Sarah Wynter, Australian actress
- 1974 – Miranda July, American performance artist
- 1974 – Gina Lynn, American porn actress
- 1974 – Tomi Putaansuu, Finnish singer (Lordi)
- 1974 – Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- 1974 – Alexander Wurz, Austrian race car driver
- 1975 – Serge Aubin, Canadian hockey player
- 1975 – Brendon Small, American comedian and animator
- 1976 – Brandon Boyd, American musician (Incubus)
- 1976 – Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
- 1976 – Giorgos Karagoutis, Greek basketball player
- 1976 – Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American musician (The Killers)
- 1977 – Brooks Wackerman, American musician
- 1978 – Kimberly Goss, American singer and musician (Sinergy)
- 1978 – Tuan Le, American poker player
- 1978 – Yiruma, Internationally known pianist
- 1979 – Alenka Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer
- 1979 – Josh Low, English footballer
- 1979 – Scott Severin, Scottish footballer
- 1979 – Gordon Shedden, Scottish race car driver
- 1980 – Conor Oberst, American singer and songwriter (Bright Eyes)
- 1980 – Josh Sole, New Zealand-born Italian rugby player
- 1981 – Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian footballer
- 1981 – Matt Hoopes, American musician (Relient K)
- 1981 – Diego Martínez, Mexican footballer
- 1981 – Jenna Morasca, American model
- 1981 – Olivia, American singer
- 1982 – Shameka Christon, American basketball player
- 1982 – Alex Nodari, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Don Cowie, Scottish footballer
- 1983 – Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer
- 1983 – David Degen, Swiss footballer
- 1983 – Russell Martin, Canadian baseball player
- 1983 – Ashley Tesoro, American actress and singer
- 1984 – Doda, Polish singer (Virgin)
- 1986 – Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1986 – Gabriel Paletta, Argentine footballer
- 1987 – Jarrod Sammut, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Jarryd Hayne, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Hironori Kusano, Japanese singer
- 1988 – Tim Mannah, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Erwin Sak, Polish footballer
- 1998 – Zachary Gordon, American actor
Deaths
- 1145 – Pope Lucius II
- 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, Flemish Catholic theologian (b. 1690)
- 1781 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author and philosopher (b. 1729)
- 1818 – Friedrich Ludwig, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, Prussian general (b. 1746)
- 1835 – Henry Hunt, British politician (b. 1773)
- 1839 – François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Quebec notary (b. 1803)
- 1842 – Archibald Menzies, Scottish naturalist and surgeon (b. 1754)
- 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)
- 1869 – Mirza Ghalib, Indian poet (b. 1796)
- 1905 – Lew Wallace, Union general in the American Civil War and novelist (b. 1827)
- 1911 – Theodor Escherich, German pediatrician (b. 1859)
- 1924 – Lionel Monckton, English composer for the musical theatre (b. 1861)
- 1928 – H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)
- 1932 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (b. 1865)
- 1939 – Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter (b. 1878)
- 1956 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French criminal attorney (b. 1878)
- 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 and politician (b. 1880)
- 1965 – Nat King Cole, American singer and musician (b. 1919)
- 1966 – Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian Roman Catholic priest, member of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group (b. 1929)
- 1966 – Gerard Ciolek, Polish architect (b. 1909)
- 1970 – Sir Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain (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 musician (b. 1943)
- 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)
- 1990 – Michel Drach, French film director and producer (b. 1930)
- 1992 – María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (b. 1960)
- 1992 – William Schuman, American composer (b. 1910)
- 1996 – Lucio Agostini, Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1913)
- 1996 – Tommy Rettig, American actor (b. 1941)
- 1996 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1998 – Georgios Mylonas, Greek politician (b. 1919)
- 1998 – Louie Spicolli, American professional wrestler (b. 1971)
- 1999 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Big L, American rapper (b. 1974)
- 2000 – Angus MacLean, Canadian politician (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)
- 2004 – Jens Evensen, Norwegian minister and jurist (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Jan Miner, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer and 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 historian (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Joe Cuba, Puerto-Rican musician (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Dr. Diether H. Haenicke, university president (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Jeanne M. Holm, American, first woman to receive general's stars in the USAF (b. 1921)
Holidays and observances
No comments:
Post a Comment