History of Today in India – 15 February

Explore the history of today 15 February in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 15 February 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 15 February in World History

15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 2012: Three hundred and sixty people die in a fire at a Honduran prison in the city of Comayagua. Read more
15 Feb 2010: Two trains collide in the Halle train collision in Halle, Belgium, killing 19 and injuring 171 people. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 2003: The last Ariane 4 rocket is launched from the Guiana Space Centre, carrying Intelsat 907. Read more
15 Feb 2001: The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1996: The Embassy of the United States, Athens, is attacked by an antitank rocket, launched by the Revolutionary Organization 17 November. Read more
15 Feb 1996: Then-Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien applies a chokehold to protester Bill Clennett, an incident later named the Shawinigan Handshake. Read more
15 Feb 1992: Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced in Milwaukee to 15 terms of life in prison. Read more
15 Feb 1992: Air Transport International Flight 805 crashes in Swanton, Ohio, near Toledo Express Airport, killing all four people on board. Read more
15 Feb 1991: The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. Read more
15 Feb 1989: Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan. Read more
15 Feb 1982: The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers. Read more
15 Feb 1972: Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time. Read more
15 Feb 1972: José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time. Read more
15 Feb 1971: The decimalisation of the currencies of the United Kingdom and Ireland is completed on Decimal Day. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1965: The maple leaf is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign flag. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1952: King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1946: ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Read more
15 Feb 1945: World War II: Third day of bombing in Dresden. Read more
15 Feb 1944: World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins. Read more
15 Feb 1944: World War II: The Narva Offensive begins. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1925: The 1925 serum run to Nome: The second delivery of serum arrives in Nome, Alaska. Read more
15 Feb 1923: Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar. Read more
15 Feb 1909: The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico, kills 250. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1898: The 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. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1872: First issue of the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, the first or one of the first anarchist newspapers. Read more
15 Feb 1870: Stevens Institute of Technology is founded in New Jersey, US, and offers the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering. Read more
15 Feb 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. Read more
15 Feb 1852: The Helsinki Cathedral (known as St. Nicholas' Church at time) is officially inaugurated in Helsinki, Finland. Read more
15 Feb 1835: Serbia's Sretenje Constitution briefly comes into effect. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 15 February in World History

15 Feb 2004: Šimon Nemec, Slovak ice hockey player Šimon Nemec is a Slovak professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted second overall by the Devils in the 2022 NHL entry draft, the second of back-to-back Slovak selections and the two highest-drafted Slovaks of all time. Read more
15 Feb 2000: Jakub Kiwior, Polish footballer Jakub Piotr Kiwior is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Primeira Liga club Porto, on loan from Premier League club Arsenal, and the Poland national team. Read more
15 Feb 1998: Zachary Gordon, American actor Zachary Adam Gordon is an American actor. He played the lead role of Greg Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series (2010–2012), which earned him nominations for a Kids' Choice Award and seven Young Artist Awards. His other lead film roles include Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-cellent Adventure (2016) and Dreamcatcher (2021). He has had supporting roles in films such as Georgia Rule (2007), Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), American Pie Presents: Girls' Rules (2020), and Violet (2021). Read more
15 Feb 1998: George Russell, English racing driver George William Russell is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Mercedes. Russell has won five Formula One Grands Prix across seven seasons. Read more
15 Feb 1997: Derrick Jones Jr., American basketball player Derrick Labrent Jones Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. He is nicknamed "Airplane Mode" because of his dunking ability. Read more
15 Feb 1997: Justin Reid, American football player Justin Quintin Reid is an American professional football safety for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal. He was selected by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft. Read more
15 Feb 1995: Megan Thee Stallion, American rapper Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper and actress. She gained recognition when videos of her freestyling began to circulate widely on social media, leading her to sign with 1501 Certified Entertainment in 2018. Read more
15 Feb 1994: Sodapoppin, American Twitch streamer and internet personality Thomas Chance Morris, known professionally as Sodapoppin, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He has one of the largest followings on Twitch, with over 8.9 million followers as of November 26, 2024; he also has over 1.1 million subscribers and over 480.7 million views on YouTube. According to Social Blade, Morris sits at the number 16 spot for the most followers on Twitch; he also ranks number 15 for the largest total number of views on the platform. He is a co-owner of and content creator for gaming organization One True King. Read more
15 Feb 1993: Ravi, South Korean rapper Kim Won-sik, better known by his stage name Ravi (라비), is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and founder of the record label Groovl1n and The L1VE. He is a former member of the South Korean boy group VIXX and its sub-unit VIXX LR. He debuted as a solo artist on January 9, 2017, with the release of his debut mini album R.eal1ze. Read more
15 Feb 1993: Geoffrey Kondogbia, Central African footballer Geoffrey Edwin Kondogbia is a professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille, which he captains. Primarily a defensive midfielder, he has also played centre-back on occasion. Read more
15 Feb 1993: Manuel Lanzini, Argentine footballer Manuel Lanzini is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sarsfield. Read more
15 Feb 1991: Ángel Sepúlveda, Mexican footballer Ángel Baltazar Sepúlveda Sánchez is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Guadalajara and the Mexico national team. Read more
15 Feb 1991: Rich Swann, American wrestler Richard Anthony Swann is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former member of First Class. In TNA, he is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Impact X Division Champion, and Impact Digital Media Champion. Read more
15 Feb 1990: Callum Turner, English actor Callum Robilliard Turner is an English actor. After working as a fashion model, he began working in film and television. He had lead roles in the drama film Queen and Country (2014) and the mystery miniseries Glue (2014), and played Theseus, the brother of Newt Scamander, in the fantasy films Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). Read more
15 Feb 1989: Mark Canha, American baseball player Mark David Canha is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, and Kansas City Royals. He made his MLB debut in 2015. Read more
15 Feb 1988: Papu Gómez, Argentine footballer Alejandro Darío "Papu" Gómez Villaverde is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward, left winger or attacking midfielder for Italian Serie B club Padova. Read more
15 Feb 1988: Rui Patrício, Portuguese footballer Rui Pedro dos Santos Patrício is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
15 Feb 1986: Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer Valeri Emilov Bojinov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for eighteen different clubs during his various spells in Italy, as well as in England, Portugal, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, China and Switzerland. At international level, he also played for the Bulgaria national team. His surname is sometimes transliterated as Bozhinov. Read more
15 Feb 1986: Johnny Cueto, Dominican baseball player Johnny Cueto Ortiz is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, and Los Angeles Angels. Read more
15 Feb 1986: Amber Riley, American actress and singer Amber Patrice Riley sometimes known mononymously as Riley, is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series Glee (2009–2015). For her performance on the series, she was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards, and won a shared Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. As a member of the cast, Riley charted over 200 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Read more
15 Feb 1986: Laura Sallés, Andorran judoka Laura Sallés López is a practitioner of judo from Andorra. She has participated in several World Championships and has won several medals at the Games of Small States. Sallés participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she was the flag bearer for her country. In the Women's 63 kg, she lost to Katharina Haecker in the first round. Read more
15 Feb 1985: Serkan Kırıntılı, Turkish footballer Serkan Kırıntılı is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Read more
15 Feb 1985: Natalie Morales, American actress and director Natalie Morales is an American actress and director. She is known for her role as pediatric surgeon Dr. Monica Beltran on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2024–2025). She starred in the ABC Family series The Middleman, the ABC sitcom Trophy Wife, the Fox legal series The Grinder, the NBC sitcom Abby's, the first season of White Collar, and the Netflix miniseries The Beast in Me. Morales also had recurring roles on Parks and Recreation, Santa Clarita Diet, Dead to Me and The Morning Show. Read more
15 Feb 1984: Gary Clark Jr., American singer-songwriter and musician Gary Lee Clark Jr. is an American guitarist and singer who fuses blues, rock and soul music with elements of hip hop. In 2011, Clark signed with Warner Bros. Records and released The Bright Lights EP. It was followed by the albums Blak and Blu (2012) and The Story of Sonny Boy Slim (2015). Throughout his career, Clark has been a prolific live performer, documented by Gary Clark Jr. Live (2014) and Gary Clark Jr Live/North America (2017). Read more
15 Feb 1984: Nate Schierholtz, American baseball player Nathan John "Nate" Schierholtz is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (2007–2012), Philadelphia Phillies (2012), Chicago Cubs (2013–2014), and Washington Nationals (2014). He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2015). He won a bronze medal with the U.S. national baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Read more
15 Feb 1983: Eddie Basden, American basketball player Edward Richard Basden is an American professional basketball player who formerly played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Read more
15 Feb 1983: Don Cowie, Scottish footballer Don McCulloch Cowie is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who was most recently the manager of Ross County. Cowie played as a midfielder for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Watford, Cardiff City, Wigan Athletic, Heart of Midlothian and Ross County. Cowie made ten international appearances for the Scotland national football team between 2009 and 2012. Read more
15 Feb 1983: David Degen, Swiss footballer David Degen is a Swiss former footballer who played mostly as a right midfielder. His twin brother Philipp Degen was also a professional football player. Read more
15 Feb 1983: Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer Philipp Degen is a retired Swiss professional footballer. Degen was usually a right back who could also play at left back or on the right wing. Degen reached the last 16 in the 2006 World Cup with Switzerland and was selected again for Euro 2008 but did not play any games. Read more
15 Feb 1983: Russell Martin, Canadian baseball player Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin Jr. is a Canadian former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Toronto Blue Jays, and is a four-time MLB All-Star. In 2007, Martin won the Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award. Read more
15 Feb 1982: Shameka Christon, American basketball player Shameka Delynn Christon is an American retired professional women's basketball player who most recently played with the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA. Read more
15 Feb 1982: James Yap, Filipino basketball player James Carlos Agravante Yap Sr. is a Filipino professional basketball player and politician who last played for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known by his nickname Big Game James, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever play in the PBA. Read more
15 Feb 1981: Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian footballer Heurelho da Silva Gomes is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
15 Feb 1981: Matt Hoopes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Matthew Ryan Hoopes is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Relient K. He has played lead guitar and provided backing vocals for Relient K since 1998 and is one of two constant members of the band, the other being lead vocalist Matt Thiessen. Read more
15 Feb 1981: Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan runner Rita Jeptoo is a Kenyan marathon runner. Along with winning the Boston Marathon on two occasions, she has also won marathons in Chicago, Stockholm, and Milan. Jeptoo. Jeptoo was the bronze medalist at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships representing Kenya. Read more
15 Feb 1981: Diego Martínez, Mexican footballer Diego Alfonso Martínez Balderas is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Read more
15 Feb 1981: Vivek Shraya, Canadian singer and songwriter Vivek Shraya is a Canadian musician, writer, and visual artist. She is a seven-time Lambda Literary Award finalist and is considered a Great Canadian Filmmaker of the Future by CBC Arts. Read more
15 Feb 1980: Conor Oberst, American singer-songwriter Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint, Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Monsters of Folk, and Better Oblivion Community Center. Oberst was named the Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine. Read more
15 Feb 1979: Hamish Marshall, New Zealand cricketer Hamish John Hamilton Marshall is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played all formats of the game for New Zealand. He is the identical twin brother of James Marshall. Hamish and James became the third pair of twins to play Test cricket, and are the second identical pair. Read more
15 Feb 1979: James Marshall, New Zealand cricketer James Andrew Hamilton Marshall is a former New Zealand cricketer. He is the identical twin brother of Hamish Marshall. Read more
15 Feb 1977: Álex González, Venezuelan baseball player Alexander Luis González is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. González played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins (1998–2005), Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds (2007–2009), Toronto Blue Jays (2010), Atlanta Braves (2010–2011), Milwaukee Brewers (2012–2013) and Detroit Tigers (2014). He was given the nickname "Sea-bass" while playing in Florida. He bats and throws right-handed. Read more
15 Feb 1977: Ronald Petrovický, Slovak ice hockey player Ronald Petrovický is a Slovak former ice hockey right winger. He played professionally in Europe and in North America in the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as international play for the Slovakia men's national ice hockey team. Read more
15 Feb 1976: Brandon Boyd, American singer-songwriter Brandon Charles Boyd is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Incubus, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. Read more
15 Feb 1976: Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist Óscar Freire Gómez is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the World Championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen, Eddy Merckx and Peter Sagan. In the later years of his career, he became more of a classics rider. He won the cycling monument Milan–San Remo three times, the green jersey and four stages in the Tour de France and seven stages of the Vuelta a España, throughout a successful career. Read more
15 Feb 1976: Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American musician and songwriter Ronald Vannucci Jr. is an American musician, best known for being the drummer for the rock band the Killers. He is also involved in a side project called Big Talk and became the drummer of the Rentals in 2018. Read more
15 Feb 1975: Serge Aubin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Serge D. Aubin is a Canadian ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey centre who played 374 games in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets and Atlanta Thrashers. He is currently serving as head coach of Eisbären Berlin in the German DEL. Read more
15 Feb 1975: Sébastien Bordeleau, Canadian-French ice hockey player Sébastien Ives Bordeleau is a Canadian-born French former professional ice hockey forward, who played in the National Hockey League. His father is former NHL player Paulin Bordeleau. Read more
15 Feb 1975: Annemarie Kramer, Dutch sprinter Anna Maria 'Annemarie' Kramer is a former Dutch sprinter. She started with athletics at the age of twelve and soon found out that she had a special talent for the sprinting events. She was a five-time Dutch sprinting champion. Read more
15 Feb 1975: Brendon Small, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and actor Brendon Small is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, director, producer, and musician who is known for co-creating the animated series Home Movies and Metalocalypse. He also writes the music, and is the main performer for the fictional melodic death metal band Dethklok, which began as the subject of Metalocalypse but has taken on a life of its own, with four albums and an occasional live touring band, headed by Small. Small has also released two albums under his own name, in a similar musical style to Dethklok. Read more
15 Feb 1974: Miranda July, American actress, director, and screenwriter Miranda July is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. Read more
15 Feb 1974: Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan baseball player Ugueth Urtaín Urbina Villarreal is a Venezuelan former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. A two-time All-Star, Urbina led the National League in saves with 41 in the 1999 season and helped the Florida Marlins win the 2003 World Series. He is the only player in major league history with the initials "UU" or "UUU". His baseball career was cut short after the 2005 season, as he was arrested by Venezuelan authorities for attempted murder, for which he served seven years in prison. Read more
15 Feb 1974: Alexander Wurz, Austrian racing driver and businessman Alexander Georg Wurz is an Austrian former racing driver, motorsport executive and businessman, who competed in Formula One between 1997 and 2007. In endurance racing, Wurz is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1996 and 2009 with Joest and Peugeot, respectively. Read more
15 Feb 1973: Kateřina Neumannová, Czech skier Kateřina Neumannová is a Czech retired cross-country skier. She won an Olympic gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics, in the 30 km freestyle event. She is one of five cross country skiers to have competed at six Olympics. Read more
15 Feb 1973: Amy van Dyken, American swimmer Amy Deloris Van Dyken-Rouen is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and national radio sports talk show co-host. She won six Olympic gold medals in her career, four of which she won at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making her the first American woman to accomplish such a feat and the most successful athlete at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She won gold in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and 4×100-meter medley relay. Read more
15 Feb 1973: Sarah Wynter, Australian actress Sarah Wynter is an Australian actress, known for her roles on American television – such as Kate Warner on the television drama 24, as Beth on Windfall, and as Keitha on Flight of the Conchords. Read more
15 Feb 1972: Jaromír Jágr, Czech ice hockey player Jaromír Jágr is a Czech professional ice hockey player who is a right winger and owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames, serving as captain of the Penguins from 1998 to 2001 and the Rangers between 2006 and 2008. Read more
15 Feb 1971: Alex Borstein, American actress, voice artist, producer, and screenwriter Alexandrea Borstein is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer best known as Lois Griffin in Family Guy, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award, and Susie Myerson in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–23), which won her two Primetime Emmy Awards. Read more
15 Feb 1971: Renee O'Connor, American actress, director, and producer Evelyn Renee O'Connor is an American actress, producer, and director, known for the role of Gabrielle on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. Read more
15 Feb 1970: Shepard Fairey, American artist and activist Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989, he designed the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (…OBEY…) sticker campaign while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Read more
15 Feb 1969: Birdman, American rapper and producer Bryan Christopher Williams, better known by his stage names Birdman and Baby, is an American rapper and record executive. He is the public face of Cash Money Records, a record label he co-founded with his older brother, Ronald "Slim" Williams, in 1991. His self-titled debut studio album (2002) was released by the label in a joint venture with Republic Records; it received mixed critical and moderate commercial reception, along with his three subsequent albums: Fast Money (2005), 5 * Stunna (2007), and Priceless (2009). Along with his solo career, he is one half of the hip hop duo Big Tymers with producer Mannie Fresh, as well as the supergroup Cash Money Millionaires. Read more
15 Feb 1967: Jane Child, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Jane Richmond Hyslop, known professionally as Jane Child, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record-producer. Her single "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" was number two for three consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 from April 14 to April 28, 1990. She is also known for her unusual fashion style, which included a hairstyle made of spikes and ankle-length braids and a nose chain piercing. Read more
15 Feb 1967: Syed Kamall, English academic and politician Syed Salah Kamall, Baron Kamall is a British politician and academic, who from September to October 2022 served in HM Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. He was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care (2021–22). Read more
15 Feb 1967: Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster Craig Andrew Simpson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres. He is currently the lead colour commentator with Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada and Toronto Maple Leafs' Sportsnet regional broadcasts. Read more
15 Feb 1965: Craig Matthews, South African cricketer Craig Russell Matthews (born 15 February 1965 is a former South African cricketer who played in 18 Test matches and 56 One Day Internationals between 1991 and 1997. Read more
15 Feb 1964: Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (died 1997) Christopher Crosby Farley was an American actor and comedian. Farley was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live for five seasons, from 1990 to 1995. He went on to pursue a film career, appearing in films such as Airheads, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Almost Heroes. Read more
15 Feb 1964: Leland D. Melvin, American engineer and astronaut Leland Devon Melvin is an American engineer and a retired NASA astronaut. He served on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-122, and as mission specialist 1 on STS-129. Melvin was named the NASA Associate Administrator for Education in October 2010. Prior to joining NASA, he was a professional football player. Read more
15 Feb 1964: Mark Price, American basketball player and coach William Mark Price is an American former professional basketball player and coach. The last coaching job he held was as head coach of the Charlotte 49ers. As a four-time NBA All-Star and four-time All-NBA Team member, he played for 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1986 to 1998. Numerous players and analysts have cited Price as one of the greatest and most underrated offensive players of all time. Read more
15 Feb 1963: Steven Michael Quezada, American actor, comedian, and politician Steven Michael Quezada is an American actor, comedian and politician. He played Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Steven Gomez, the level-headed partner of Hank Schrader, in the AMC series Breaking Bad from 2008 to 2013 and reprised his role in its spin-off, Better Call Saul during season 5. As a touring comedian Quezada has headlined at The Laugh Factory and George Lopez's Punchliner Comedy Club for Carnival Cruise Line, he has a 2022 comedy special on Amazon Prime titled The New Mexican and, in December 2023, he opened Quezada’s Comedy Club and Cantina in Santa Ana Star Casino. Read more
15 Feb 1962: Milo Đukanović, Montenegrin politician, 29th Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović is a Montenegrin politician who served as the president of Montenegro from 1998 to 2002 and from 2018 to 2023. He also served as the Prime Minister of Montenegro and was the long-term president of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, originally the Montenegrin branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, which governed Montenegro alone or in a coalition from the introduction of multi-party politics in the early 1990s until its defeat in the 2020 parliamentary election. He is the longest-ruling contemporary politician in Europe, having held key positions in the country for over 33 years. However, he was defeated by the 36-year-old centrist former economy minister, Jakov Milatović, after the presidential run-off held on 2 April 2023. Read more
15 Feb 1960: Darrell Green, American football player Darrell Ray Green is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Considered to be one of the greatest cornerbacks and fastest players in NFL history, he played college football for the Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas and was drafted by the Redskins with the last pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft. Green played in 295 games with Washington, winning Super Bowls XXII and XXVI, before retiring in 2003. He was named the 1996 NFL Man of the Year, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008, and included on the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Read more
15 Feb 1960: Jock Hobbs, New Zealand rugby player (died 2012) Michael James Bowie Hobbs, known as Jock Hobbs, was a New Zealand rugby union player and administrator. A flanker, he played for Canterbury and won 21 caps for the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, between 1983 and 1986, with four tests as captain. Read more
15 Feb 1959: Ali Campbell, English singer-songwriter and musician Alistair Ian Campbell is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer and co-founder of the British reggae band UB40. Read more
15 Feb 1959: Joseph R. Gannascoli, American actor Joseph R. Gannascoli is an American actor and author. He is best known for his portrayal of Vito Spatafore on the HBO series The Sopranos. Read more
15 Feb 1959: Brian Propp, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster Brian Phillip Propp is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League, from 1979 to 1994. He featured in five Stanley Cup Finals with three different NHL teams and won the 1987 Canada Cup with Team Canada. Read more
15 Feb 1959: Hugo Savinovich, Ecuadorian wrestler and sportscaster Hugo Savinovich is an Ecuadorian sports commentator and retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. He is best known as part of the Spanish language commentary team for the professional wrestling promotion WWE from 1994 to 2011. He was signed to Lucha Libre AAA as a Spanish commentator. Read more
15 Feb 1958: Chrystine Brouillet, Canadian author Chrystine Brouillet, is a Canadian novelist. Read more
15 Feb 1956: Desmond Haynes, Barbadian cricketer and coach Desmond Leo Haynes is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994. He was a member of the squads which won the 1979 Cricket World Cup as well as finishing as runners-up at the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Read more
15 Feb 1956: Ann Westin, Swedish comedian Ann Westin is a Swedish comedian. She previously worked as a psychiatric nurse and nurse. She made her debut as a comedian at Norra brunn in 1996. She was awarded Bubbenpriset in 2001. She has participated in several television shows such as Stockholm Live and Cirkus Möller. In 2014, she toured with her solo performance Jobbit. Read more
15 Feb 1955: Janice Dickinson, American model, agent, and author Janice Doreen Dickinson is an American model, television personality, and businesswoman. One of the most successful models of the 1970s and 1980s, she also served as a judge on four cycles of the reality series America's Next Top Model (2003–2006). Dickinson opened a modeling agency in 2005 which was documented on the reality series The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (2006–2008). Read more
15 Feb 1955: Christopher McDonald, American actor Christopher McDonald is an American actor. He is best known for his villainous role as professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 sports comedy Happy Gilmore, a role he reprised in its 2025 sequel. Read more
15 Feb 1954: Matt Groening, American animator, producer, and screenwriter Matthew Abram Groening is an American cartoonist and animator. He is the creator of the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama, and Disenchantment (2018–2023), as well as the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012). Read more
15 Feb 1953: Ernie Howe, English footballer and manager Ernie Howe is an English football manager and former player who is no longer managing a team after he mutually parted company with Sutton United on 30 March 2008, having failed to pull them out of the Conference South relegation zone. He was Basingstoke Town's manager for 13 years until 2006, winning the Hampshire Senior Cup and promotion during his tenure. Read more
15 Feb 1953: Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer Lynn Whitfield is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her breakout performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical film The Josephine Baker Story (1991). Read more
15 Feb 1952: Tomislav Nikolić, Serbian politician, 4th President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2012 to 2017. A former member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), he disassociated himself from the party in 2008 and formed the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) which he led until 2012. Read more
15 Feb 1952: Nikolai Sorokin, Russian actor and director (died 2013) Nikolai Evgenievich Sorokin was a Russian theatre and film actor, theatre director, educator, and People's Artist of Russia (1999). He was artistic director of the Rostov-on-Don academic drama theatre of a name Maxim Gorky and a deputy of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation. Read more
15 Feb 1951: Markku Alén, Finnish racing driver Markku Allan Alén is a Finnish former rally and race car driver. He drove for Fiat, Lancia, Subaru and Toyota in the World Rally Championship, and held the record for most stage wins (801) in the series, until Sébastien Loeb overtook it at the 2011 Rally Catalunya. Alén's phrase "now maximum attack" became well known. Read more
15 Feb 1951: Melissa Manchester, American singer-songwriter and actress Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. During the 1970s and 1980s, her music found widespread success and popularity, particularly in the adult contemporary market. Throughout her career, she has written many of her own songs, most notably her first mainstream hit single, 1975's "Midnight Blue". She is also well-known for her song "Come In from the Rain", her rendition of "Don't Cry Out Loud", and the Academy Award-nominated "Through the Eyes of Love". Her most successful song on the music charts is 1982's "You Should Hear How She Talks About You", landing at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. She has also gone on to appear on television, in films, and on stage. Read more
15 Feb 1951: Jane Seymour, English-American actress, producer, and jewelry designer Jane Seymour is a British actress. After making her screen debut as an uncredited teenage extra in the 1969 musical comedy Oh! What a Lovely War, Seymour moved to roles in film and television, including a leading role in the television series The Onedin Line (1972–1973) the role of psychic Bond girl Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973) and as Serina in the original 1978 series of Battlestar Galactica. Read more
15 Feb 1949: Ken Anderson, American football player Kenneth Allan Anderson is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He later returned as a position coach. Read more
15 Feb 1948: Art Spiegelman, Swedish-American cartoonist and critic Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman, professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel Maus. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines Arcade and Raw has been influential, and from 1992 he spent a decade as contributing artist for The New Yorker. He is married to designer and editor Françoise Mouly and is the father of writer Nadja Spiegelman. In September 2022, the National Book Foundation announced that he would receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Read more
15 Feb 1947: John Adams, American composer John Coolidge Adams is an American composer and conductor. Among the most regularly performed composers of contemporary classical music, he is particularly noted for his operas, many of which center around historical events. Apart from opera, his oeuvre includes orchestral, concertante, vocal, choral, chamber, electroacoustic, and piano music. Read more
15 Feb 1947: Marisa Berenson, American model and actress Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson is an American model and actress. A granddaughter of designer Elsa Schiaparelli, she rose to international prominence in the late 1960s and 1970s. Berenson was a top model, appearing on the covers of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Known as the "Queen of the Scene," she became a style icon known for her eclectic and bohemian-chic aesthetic. Read more
15 Feb 1946: Clare Short, English civil servant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003. Read more
15 Feb 1946: John Trudell, American author, poet, and actor (died 2015) John Trudell was a Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more
15 Feb 1945: Douglas Hofstadter, American author and academic Douglas Richard Hofstadter is an American cognitive and computer scientist whose research includes concepts such as the sense of self in relation to the external world, consciousness, analogy-making, strange loops, ambigrams, artificial intelligence, and discovery in mathematics and physics. His 1979 book Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, and a National Book Award for Science. His 2007 book I Am a Strange Loop won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology. Read more
15 Feb 1944: Mick Avory, English musician and songwriter Michael Charles Avory is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984, when he left amid creative friction with guitarist Dave Davies. He is the longest-serving member of the band, apart from the Davies brothers. He is also the most prolific member, again apart from the Davies brothers, who has played on twenty studio albums or nearly all of the band's creative output. Read more
15 Feb 1941: Florinda Bolkan, Brazilian actress Florinda Bolkan is a retired Brazilian actress and model. Read more
15 Feb 1941: Brian Holland, American songwriter and producer Brian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, brother to songwriter and record producer Eddie Holland. Read more
15 Feb 1940: İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2007) İsmail Cem was a Turkish centre-leftist politician, intellectual, writer, author and journalist who served as the Minister of Culture of Turkey from July 7 to October 26, 1995, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey from June 30, 1997 to July 11, 2002. Read more
15 Feb 1940: Hamzah Haz, Indonesian journalist and politician, 9th Vice President of Indonesia (died 2024) Hamzah Haz was an Indonesian politician who served as the ninth vice president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004 under President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Prior to serving as vice president, Hamzah served as a cabinet minister and a member of the People's Representative Council (DPR). He also chaired the United Development Party (PPP) from 1998 to 2007, and was the party's presidential candidate in the 2004 Indonesian presidential election. Read more
15 Feb 1937: Gregory Mcdonald, American author (died 2008) Gregory Burke Christopher Mcdonald was an American novelist best known for his mystery adventures featuring investigative reporter Irwin Maurice "Fletch" Fletcher. Read more
15 Feb 1937: Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (died 2011) Coenraadt "Coen" Moulijn was a Dutch professional footballer. He spent nearly his entire club career with Feyenoord, winning several trophies. He also played for the Netherlands national team. Read more
15 Feb 1935: Susan Brownmiller, American journalist and author (died 2025) Susan Brownmiller was an American journalist, author and feminist activist, best known for her 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, which was selected by The New York Public Library as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century. Read more
15 Feb 1935: Roger B. Chaffee, American lieutenant, engineer, and astronaut (died 1967) Roger Bruce Chaffee was an American naval officer, aviator and aeronautical engineer who was a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program. Read more
15 Feb 1935: Gene Hickerson, American football player (died 2008) Robert Gene Hickerson was an American professional football player who was an offensive guard for 15 years with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1973. Hickerson was a six-time Pro Bowler from 1965 to 1970. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 4, 2007. Read more
15 Feb 1934: Jimmy Bloomfield, English footballer and manager (died 1983) James Henry Bloomfield was an English football player and manager. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League, including more than 300 in the First Division with Arsenal, Birmingham City and West Ham United. He was capped by England at under-23 level. He then spent 13 years in management with Orient and Leicester City. Read more
15 Feb 1934: Graham Kennedy, Australian television host and actor (died 2005) Graham Cyril Kennedy AO was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, radio and television host as well as a personality and actor of theatre, television and film. He was often referred to as "The King of Television" or simply "The King" and called "Gra Gra". Read more
15 Feb 1934: Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist, created the Pascal programming language (died 2024) Niklaus Emil Wirth was a Swiss computer scientist. He designed several programming languages, including Pascal, and pioneered several classic topics in software engineering. In 1984, he won the Turing Award, generally recognized as the highest distinction in computer science, "for developing a sequence of innovative computer languages". Read more
15 Feb 1931: Claire Bloom, English actress Patricia Claire Bloom is an English actress. She is known for leading roles on stage and screen and has received two BAFTA Awards and a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award and a Tony Award. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama. Read more
15 Feb 1930: Bruce Dawe, Australian poet and academic (died 2020) Donald Bruce Dawe was an Australian poet and academic. Some critics consider him one of the most influential Australian poets of all time. Read more
15 Feb 1930: Sara Jane Moore, American attempted assassin of Gerald Ford (died 2025) Sara Jane Moore was an American accountant and FBI informant who attempted to assassinate U.S. president Gerald Ford in 1975. Read more
15 Feb 1929: Graham Hill, English racing driver and businessman (died 1975) Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver, rower and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1975. Nicknamed "Mr. Monaco", Hill won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (36); he won 14 Grands Prix across 18 seasons. In American open-wheel racing, Hill won the Indianapolis 500 in 1966 with Mecom. Upon winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972 with Matra, Hill became the first—and to this date, only—driver to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsport. Read more
15 Feb 1929: James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense (died 2014) James Rodney Schlesinger was an American economist and statesman who was best known for serving as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to becoming Secretary of Defense, he served as Chair of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from 1971 to 1973, and as CIA Director for a few months in 1973. He became America's first Secretary of Energy under Jimmy Carter in 1977, serving until 1979. Read more
15 Feb 1927: Frank Dunlop, English actor and director (died 2026) Frank Dunlop was a British theatre director. Read more
15 Feb 1927: Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (died 2008) Harvey Herschel Korman was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. He is best remembered as a main cast member alongside Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence on the CBS sketch comedy series The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1977) for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Read more
15 Feb 1927: Yehoshua Neuwirth, Israeli rabbi and scholar (died 2013) Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth was an eminent Orthodox Jewish rabbi and posek in Jerusalem. He was one of the primary students of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and the author of a two-volume Hebrew language treatise, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah — translated into English as Shemirath Shabbath: A practical guide to the observance of Shabbath — a compendium of the laws of Shabbat which is viewed by many as an authoritative work regarding these laws. Read more
15 Feb 1925: Angella D. Ferguson, American pediatrician (died 2026) Angella Dorothea Ferguson was an American pediatrician known for her groundbreaking research on sickle cell disease. Read more
15 Feb 1924: Robert Drew, American director and producer (died 2014) Robert Lincoln Drew was an American documentary filmmaker known as one of the pioneers—and sometimes called father—of cinéma vérité, or direct cinema, in the United States. Two of his films, Primary and Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, have been named to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. The moving image collection of Robert Drew is housed at the Academy Film Archive. The Academy Film Archive has preserved a number of his films, including Faces of November, Herself: Indira Gandhi, and Bravo!/Kathy's Dance. His many awards include an International Documentary Association Career Achievement Award. Read more
15 Feb 1923: Yelena Bonner, Soviet-Russian activist (died 2011) Yelena Georgiyevna Bonner was a human rights activist in the former Soviet Union and wife of the physicist, activist and 1975 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov. During her decades as a dissident, Bonner was noted for her characteristic blunt honesty and courage. Read more
15 Feb 1922: John B. Anderson, Swedish-American lawyer and politician (died 2017) John Bayard Anderson was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 16th congressional district from 1961 to 1981. Initially a member of the Republican Party, he also served as the Chairman of the House Republican Conference from 1969 until 1979. In 1980, he ran an independent campaign for president, receiving 6.6% of the popular vote. Read more
15 Feb 1921: Norman C. Deno, American chemist and plant scientist, (died 2017) Norman C. Deno was an American chemist and plant scientist. He was a professor of chemistry at Penn State University and is known as one of the foremost researchers in seed germination theory. He researched the biochemical reactions that underlie the germination of all seeds, performing germination research on plant species from 150 families, 800 genera, and 2500 species over the course of his career. Deno authored 150 papers in chemistry and 20 papers in horticulture, and self-published a number of books that combined his scientific results. Read more
15 Feb 1920: Endicott Peabody, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1997) Endicott Howard Peabody was an American politician from Massachusetts. A Democrat, he served a single two-year term as the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts, from 1963 to 1965. His tenure is probably best known for his categorical opposition to the death penalty and for signing into law the bill establishing the University of Massachusetts Boston. After losing the 1964 Democratic gubernatorial primary, Peabody made several more failed bids for office in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including failed campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1966 and 1986. Read more
15 Feb 1920: Eio Sakata, Japanese Go player (died 2010) Eio Sakata was a 9-dan Japanese professional Go player. Read more
15 Feb 1918: Allan Arbus, American actor and photographer (died 2013) Allan Franklin Arbus was an American actor and photographer. He was the former husband of photographer Diane Arbus. He is known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the CBS television series M*A*S*H. Read more
15 Feb 1918: Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2009) Lawrence Hankins Locklin was an American country music singer and songwriter. He had 70 chart singles, including two number-one hits on Billboard's country chart. His biggest hits included "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" and his signature "Please Help Me, I'm Falling". The latter also went to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart. Billboard's 100th anniversary issue listed it as the second-most successful country single of the rock and roll era. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America. Read more
15 Feb 1914: Hale Boggs, American lawyer and politician (died 1972) Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. was an American Democratic Party politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the House majority leader and a member of the Warren Commission. Read more
15 Feb 1914: Kevin McCarthy, American actor (died 2010) Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film and television actor, remembered as the male lead in the horror science fiction film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Read more
15 Feb 1913: Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (died 1997) Erich Gottlieb Eliskases was a chess player who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition. In the late 1930s he was considered a potential contender for the World Championship. Eliskases was granted the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1952. Read more
15 Feb 1912: George Mikes, Hungarian-English journalist and author (died 1987) George Mikes was a Hungarian and British journalist, humorist and writer, best known for his humorous commentaries on various countries. Read more
15 Feb 1910: Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian, Righteous Gentile (died 2008) Irena Stanisława Sendler, operating under the nom de guerre Jolanta, was a Polish humanitarian, social worker, and nurse who served in the Polish Underground Resistance during World War II in German-occupied Warsaw. From October 1943 she was head of the children's section of Żegota, the Polish Council to Aid Jews. Read more
15 Feb 1909: Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (died 2010) Hermine "Miep" Gies was one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank, her family and four other Dutch Jews from the Nazis in an annex above Otto Frank's business premises during World War II. She was Austrian by birth, but in 1920, at the age of eleven, she was taken in as a foster child by a Dutch family in Leiden to whom she became very attached. Although she was only supposed to stay for six months, this stay was extended to one year because of frail health, after which Gies chose to remain with them, living the rest of her life in the Netherlands. Read more
15 Feb 1908: Sarto Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (died 1980) Sarto Fournier was a Canadian politician. He served as mayor of Montreal from 1957 to 1960. Read more
15 Feb 1907: Jean Langlais, French organist and composer (died 1991) Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "Breton, de foi Catholique". Read more
15 Feb 1907: Cesar Romero, American actor (died 1994) César Julio Romero Jr. was an American actor. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and the Joker on the live-action Batman television series of the mid-1960s, who was included in TV Guide's 2013 list of the 60 nastiest villains of all time. Romero was the first actor to play the character. Read more
15 Feb 1905: Harold Arlen, American composer (died 1986) Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow", which won him the Oscar for Best Original Song, he was nominated as composer for 8 other Oscar awards. Arlen is a contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the 20th century's No. 1 song by the RIAA and the NEA. Read more
15 Feb 1904: Mary Adshead, English painter (died 1995) Mary Adshead was an English painter, muralist, illustrator and designer. Read more
15 Feb 1904: Antonin Magne, French cyclist and manager (died 1983) Antonin Magne was a French cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1931 and 1934. He raced as a professional from 1927 to 1939 and then became a team manager. The French rider and then journalist, Jean Bobet, described him in Sporting Cyclist as "a most uninterviewable character" and "a man who withdraws into a shell as soon as he meets a journalist." His taciturn character earned him the nickname of The Monk when he was racing. Read more
15 Feb 1899: Georges Auric, French composer (died 1983) Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of Les Six, a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 he had orchestrated and written incidental music for several ballets and stage productions. He also had a long and distinguished career as a film composer. Read more
15 Feb 1899: Gale Sondergaard, Danish-American actress (died 1985) Gale Sondergaard was an American actress. Read more
15 Feb 1898: Totò, Italian actor, singer, and screenwriter (died 1967) Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio, best known by his stage name Totò, or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed il principe della risata, was an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter, dramatist, poet, singer and lyricist. He is commonly referred to as one of the most popular Italian performers of all time. While best known for his funny and sometimes cynical comic characters in theatre and then many successful comedy films made from the 1940s to the 1960s, he also worked with many iconic Italian film directors in dramatic roles. Read more
15 Feb 1897: Gerrit Kleerekoper, Dutch gymnast and coach (died 1943) Gerrit Kleerekoper was a Jewish-Dutch gymnastics coach. He was married with two children and worked as a diamond cutter. Read more
15 Feb 1893: Roman Najuch, Polish professional tennis player (died 1967) Roman Najuch was a professional tennis player and teacher based in Germany. He was a quarter finalist at the 1930 U.S. Pro Championships, and semi finalist at the French Pro Championship the same year. He was active from 1911 to 1950 and won 17 professional singles titles, Read more
15 Feb 1892: James Forrestal, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Defense (died 1949) James Vincent Forrestal was the last cabinet-level United States secretary of the Navy and the first United States secretary of defense. Read more
15 Feb 1890: Robert Ley, German politician (died 1945) Robert Ley was a German Nazi politician and head of the German Labour Front during its entire existence, from 1933 to 1945. He also held many other high positions in the Nazi Party, including Gauleiter, Reichsleiter and Reichsorganisationsleiter. Read more
15 Feb 1883: Sax Rohmer, English-American author (died 1959) Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward, better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu. Read more
15 Feb 1874: Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish captain and explorer (died 1922) Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Read more
15 Feb 1873: Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1964) Hans Karl August Simon Euler-Chelpin, since 28 July 1884 von Euler-Chelpin, was a German-born Swedish biochemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Arthur Harden for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and enzymes. He was a professor of general and organic chemistry at Stockholm University (1906–1941) and the director of its Institute for organic-chemical research (1938–1948). Euler-Chelpin was distantly related to Leonhard Euler. He married chemist Astrid Cleve, the daughter of the Uppsala chemist Per Teodor Cleve. In 1970, their son Ulf von Euler, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Read more
15 Feb 1861: Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1938) Charles-Édouard Guillaume was a Swiss physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1920 "for the service he had rendered to precision measurements in physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys". In 1919, he gave the fifth Guthrie Lecture at the Institute of Physics in London with the title "The Anomaly of the Nickel-Steels". Read more
15 Feb 1861: Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1947) Alfred North Whitehead was an English mathematician and philosopher. He created the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which has been applied in a wide variety of disciplines, including ecology, theology, education, physics, biology, economics, and psychology. Read more
15 Feb 1856: Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist and academic (died 1926) Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as helping to lay the foundation for modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics. Read more
15 Feb 1851: Spiru Haret, Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician, 55th Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs (died 1912) Spiru C. Haret was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the n-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approximation for the disturbing forces implies instability of the major axes of the orbits, and by introducing the concept of secular perturbations in relation to this. Read more
15 Feb 1850: Sophie Bryant, Irish mathematician, academic and activist (died 1922) Sophie Willock Bryant was an Anglo-Irish mathematician, educator, feminist and activist. She was the first woman to receive a DSc in England; one of the first to serve on a Royal Commission and on the Senate of the University of London. Read more
15 Feb 1849: Rickman Godlee, English surgeon and academic (died 1925) Sir Rickman John Godlee, 1st Baronet was an English surgeon. In 1884 he became one of the first doctors to surgically remove a brain tumor, founding modern brain surgery. Read more
15 Feb 1847: Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (died 1927) Robert Fuchs was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in his lifetime. Read more
15 Feb 1845: Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937) Elihu Root was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and statesman who served as the 41st United States Secretary of War under presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt and the 38th United States Secretary of State, also under Roosevelt. In both positions as well as a long legal career, he pioneered the American practice of international law. Root is sometimes considered the prototype of the 20th-century political "wise man", advising presidents on a range of foreign and domestic issues. He also served as a United States Senator from New York and received the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize. Read more
15 Feb 1841: Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Brazil (died 1913) Manoel Ferraz de Campos Sales was a Brazilian lawyer, coffee farmer, and politician who served as the fourth president of Brazil. Read more
15 Feb 1840: Titu Maiorescu, Romanian philosopher, academic, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (died 1917) Titu Liviu Maiorescu was a Romanian literary critic, politician and founder of the Junimea Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of the 19th century. Read more
15 Feb 1839: Rayko Zhinzifov, Bulgarian poet and translator (died 1877) Rayko Ivanov (Yoanov) Zhinzifov or Rajko Ivanov (Jovanov) Žinzifov,, born Ksenofont Dzindzifi, was a Bulgarian National Revival poet and translator from Veles in today's North Macedonia, who spent most of his life in the Russian Empire. Read more
15 Feb 1835: Demetrius Vikelas, Greek businessman and philanthropist (died 1908) Demetrios Vikelas was a Greek businessman and writer; he was the co-founder and first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), from 1894 to 1896. Read more
15 Feb 1834: V. A. Urechia, Moldavian-Romanian historian, author, and playwright (died 1901) V. A. Urechia was a Moldavian, later Romanian historian, Romantic author of historical fiction and plays, academic and politician. The author of Romanian history syntheses, a noted bibliographer, heraldist, ethnographer and folklorist, he founded and managed a private school, later holding teaching positions at the University of Iași and University of Bucharest. Urechia was also one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy and, as frequent traveler to Spain and fluent speaker of Spanish, a corresponding member of the Royal Spanish Academy. He was the father of satirist Alceu Urechia. Read more
15 Feb 1825: Carter Harrison, Sr., American lawyer and politician, 29th Mayor of Chicago (died 1893) Carter Henry Harrison III was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1879 until 1887 and from 1893 until his assassination. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, and one term on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Read more
15 Feb 1820: Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist and activist (died 1906) Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. Read more
15 Feb 1812: Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (died 1902) Charles Lewis Tiffany was an American businessman and jeweler who founded New York City's Tiffany & Co. in 1837. Known for his jewelry expertise, Tiffany created the country's first retail catalog and introduced the English standard of sterling silver in imported jewelry in 1851. Read more
15 Feb 1811: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian journalist and politician, 7th President of Argentina (died 1888) Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874. He was a member of a group of intellectuals, known as the Generation of 1837, who had a great influence on 19th-century Argentina.
Sarmiento's views reflected the racism of his day.[64][65] For example, in the periodical El Nacional, dated November 25, 1857, Sarmiento wrote: “Will we be able to exterminate the Indians? For the savages of America, I feel an invincible repugnance that I cannot cure. Those scoundrels are not anything more than disgusting Indians that I would hang if they reappeared. Lautaro and Caupolicán are dirty Indians, because that's how they are all. Incapable of progress, their extermination is providential and useful, sublime and great. They must be exterminated without even sparing the little one, who already has the instinctive hatred for the civilized man.”
He was particularly concerned with educational issues and was also an important influence on the region's literature. His works spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history. Read more
15 Feb 1810: Mary S. B. Shindler, American poet, writer, and editor (died 1883) Mary S. B. Shindler was an American poet, writer, and editor of the southern United States. She was a frequent contributor to popular periodicals, and a successful hymnwriter of the mid-19th century. Read more
15 Feb 1809: André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (died 1857) André Hubert Dumont was a Belgian geologist. Read more
15 Feb 1809: Cyrus McCormick, American journalist and businessman, co-founded International Harvester (died 1884) Cyrus Hall McCormick was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he and many members of the McCormick family became prominent residents of Chicago. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 15 February in World History

15 Feb 2025: George Armitage, American film director (born 1942) George Brendan Armitage was an American filmmaker and writer best known for directing the films Miami Blues (1990) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), as well as for frequent collaborations with Roger Corman. Read more
15 Feb 2025: Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, Portuguese businessman (born 1937) Jorge Nuno de Lima Pinto da Costa was a Portuguese sports executive, who was president of Portuguese sports club Porto from 1982 until 2024. He was the president with most titles won (69) in the history of football and most days in charge as a president of association football club. Read more
15 Feb 2025: Muhsin Hendricks, South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBT activist (born 1967) Muhsin Hendricks was a South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBTQ activist. He was involved in various LGBTQ Muslim advocacy groups and was an advocate for greater acceptance of LGBTQ people within Islam. He has been described as the world's first openly gay imam, having come out in 1996. Hendricks died from gunfire wounds in an attack on February 2025 in Bethelsdorp, South Africa. In an obituary, The Economist wrote that Hendricks "fought homophobia with the Koran", and that his ministry provided "meeting places, a mosque, constant reassurance and two human-rights foundations to defend Muslims torn between their faith and their sexuality". Read more
15 Feb 2023: Raquel Welch, American actress and singer (born 1940) Jo Raquel Welch was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in Fantastic Voyage (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer Film Productions, for whom she made One Million Years B.C. (1966). Although Welch had only three lines of dialogue in the film, images of her in the doe-skin bikini became bestselling posters that turned her into an international sex symbol. She later starred in Bedazzled (1967), Bandolero! (1968), 100 Rifles (1969), Myra Breckinridge (1970), Hannie Caulder (1971), Kansas City Bomber (1972), The Last of Sheila (1973), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Wild Party (1975), and Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976). She made several television variety specials. Read more
15 Feb 2022: Bappi Lahiri, Indian singer, composer and record producer (born 1952) Bappi Aparesh Lahiri, also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and sang some of his own compositions. He was popular in the 1980s and 1990s with filmi soundtracks. He delivered major box office successes primarily in Hindi, Telugu, and Bengali films. His music was well received into the 21st century. Read more
15 Feb 2022: P.J. O'Rourke, American author, humorist, and journalist (born 1947) Patrick Jake O'Rourke was an American author, journalist, and political satirist who wrote twenty-two books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics. His books Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance both reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list. Read more
15 Feb 2020: Caroline Flack, English actress and TV presenter (born 1979) Caroline Louise Flack was an English television presenter. Flack grew up in Norfolk and took an interest in dancing and theatre while at school. She began her professional career as an actress, starring in the comedy sketch show Bo' Selecta! (2002), and went on to present various ITV2 shows including I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! NOW! (2009–2010) and The Xtra Factor (2011–2013). Read more
15 Feb 2019: Lee Radziwill, American socialite (born 1933) Princess Caroline Lee Radziwill, previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy. Read more
15 Feb 2017: Stuart McLean, Canadian radio broadcaster (born 1948) Andrew Stuart McLean, was a Canadian radio broadcaster, humorist, monologist, and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe. Often described as a "story-telling comic" although his stories addressed both humorous and serious themes, he was known for fiction and non-fiction work which celebrated the decency and dignity of ordinary people, through stories which often highlighted the ability of their subjects, whether real or fictional, to persevere with grace and humour through embarrassing or challenging situations. Read more
15 Feb 2016: George Gaynes, Finnish-American actor (born 1917) George Gaynes was a Dutch-American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to a Dutch father and a Russian mother in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy during World War II, and subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen and began his acting career on Broadway. Read more
15 Feb 2016: Vanity, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (born 1959) Denise Katherine Matthews, known professionally as Vanity, was a Canadian singer, songwriter, dancer, model, and actress. Known for her image as a sex symbol in the 1980s, in the 1990s she renounced her career as Vanity and became an evangelist. Read more
15 Feb 2015: Haron Amin, Afghan diplomat, Afghan Ambassador to Japan (born 1969) Mohammad Haron Amin was the Afghan ambassador to Japan and non-resident ambassador to Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore from 2004–2009. He is also known for his role as spokesman for the Northern Alliance during the U.S.-led invasion of his country after the events of September 11, 2001. Read more
15 Feb 2015: Arnaud de Borchgrave, American journalist and author (born 1926) Arnaud Charles Paul Marie Philippe de Borchgrave was a Belgian–American journalist who specialized in international politics. Following a long career with the news magazine Newsweek, covering 17 wars in 30 years as a foreign correspondent, he held key editorial and executive positions with The Washington Times and United Press International. Borchgrave was also a founding member of Newsmax Media. Read more
15 Feb 2015: Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1979) Steven Richard "The Matador" Montador was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 571 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks before ending his career in 2014 as a member of Medveščak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Read more
15 Feb 2014: Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (born 1924) Thelma Estrin was an American computer scientist and engineer who did pioneering work in the fields of expert systems and biomedical engineering. Estrin was one of the first to apply computer technology to healthcare and medical research. In 1954, Estrin helped to design the Weizmann Automatic Computer, or WEIZAC, the first computer in Israel and the Middle East, a moment marked as an IEEE Milestone in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She was professor emerita in the Department of Computer Science, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Read more
15 Feb 2014: Christopher Malcolm, Scottish-Canadian actor, director, and producer (born 1946) Christopher Malcolm was a Scottish-Canadian actor, director, and producer. He first achieved notoriety for his role as Brad Majors in the original stage production of The Rocky Horror Show. Read more
15 Feb 2013: Sanan Kachornprasart, Thai general and politician (born 1935) Sanan Kachornprasart was a Thai politician and military officer. He was deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Abhisit Vejjajiva, and was chief advisor of Chartthaipattana Party. Read more
15 Feb 2013: Ahmed Rajib Haider, Bangladeshi atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was a Bangladeshi atheist blogger. He used to blog in the blogging communities namely somewhereinblog.net, amarblog.com and nagorikblog.com and used the pseudonym Thaba Baba. Read more
15 Feb 2012: Cyril Domb, English-Israeli physicist and academic (born 1920) Cyril Domb FRS was a British-Israeli theoretical physicist, best known for his lecturing and writing on the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena of fluids. He was also known in the Orthodox Jewish world for his writings on science and Judaism. Read more
15 Feb 2010: Jeanne M. Holm, American general (born 1921) Major General Jeanne Marjorie Holm was the first female one-star general of the United States Air Force and the first female two-star general in any service branch of the United States. Holm was a driving force behind the expansion of women's roles in the Air Force. Read more
15 Feb 2008: Johnny Weaver, American wrestler and sportscaster (born 1935) Kenneth Eugene Weaver was an American professional wrestler and wrestling commentator in the National Wrestling Alliance, better known by his ring name, Johnny Weaver. Read more
15 Feb 2007: Walker Edmiston, American actor (born 1925) Walker Robert Edmiston was an American actor and puppeteer. Read more
15 Feb 2007: Ray Evans, American songwriter (born 1915) Raymond Bernard Evans was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston composed, Evans wrote the lyrics. Read more
15 Feb 2005: Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (born 1944) Pierre Bachelet was a French singer-songwriter and film score composer. Read more
15 Feb 2005: Sam Francis, American historian and journalist (born 1947) Samuel Todd Francis was an American writer. He was a columnist and editor for the conservative Washington Times until he was dismissed after making racist remarks at the 1995 American Renaissance conference. Francis would later become a "dominant force" on the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist organization identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Francis was the chief editor of the council's newsletter, Citizens Informer, until his death in 2005. The white supremacist Jared Taylor called Francis "the premier philosopher of white racial consciousness of our time". Read more
15 Feb 2004: Jens Evensen, Norwegian lawyer, judge, and politician, Norwegian Minister of Trade (born 1917) Jens Ingebret Evensen was a Norwegian lawyer, judge, politician, trade minister, international offshore rights expert, member of the International Law Commission and judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Read more
15 Feb 2002: Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (born 1914) Howard Kingsbury Smith was an American journalist, radio reporter, television anchorman, political commentator, and film actor. He was one of the original members of the team of war correspondents known as the Murrow Boys. Read more
15 Feb 2002: Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (born 1963) Kevin Tod Smith was a New Zealand actor and musician, best known for starring as the Greek God of war, Ares, in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and in its two spin-offs – Xena: Warrior Princess and Young Hercules. Read more
15 Feb 2000: Angus MacLean, Canadian commander and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (born 1914) John Angus MacLean was a politician and farmer in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Read more
15 Feb 1999: Henry Way Kendall, American physicist and mountaineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926) Henry Way Kendall was an American particle physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990 jointly with Jerome Isaac Friedman and Richard E. Taylor "for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics." Read more
15 Feb 1998: Martha Gellhorn, American journalist and author (born 1908) Martha Ellis Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century. She reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career. Read more
15 Feb 1996: McLean Stevenson, American actor (born 1927) Edgar McLean Stevenson Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake in the television series M*A*S*H, which earned him a Golden Globe Award in 1974. Stevenson also appeared on a number of television series, notably The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Doris Day Show and Match Game. Read more
15 Feb 1992: María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (born 1960) María Elena Moyano Delgado was an Afro-Peruvian community organizer and feminist who was assassinated by the Shining Path. She grew up in poverty in the Villa El Salvador pueblo joven, then became involved in local activism. She was twice president of FEPOMUVES and at the time of her death was deputy mayor. Her funeral was attended by 300,000 people and resulted in a downturn in support for the Shining Path. She received the Peruvian Order of Merit posthumously. Read more
15 Feb 1992: William Schuman, American composer and academic (born 1910) William Howard Schuman was an American composer and arts administrator. Read more
15 Feb 1988: Richard Feynman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Richard Phillips Feynman was an American theoretical physicist. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga "for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics (QED), with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles".
He is also known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and the parton model. Feynman developed a pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions describing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams and is widely used. Read more
15 Feb 1984: Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (born 1908) Ethel Merman was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." She performed on Broadway in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and Hello, Dolly! Read more
15 Feb 1981: Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (born 1943) Michael Bernard Bloomfield was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival. Read more
15 Feb 1981: Karl Richter, German organist and conductor (born 1926) Karl Richter was a German conductor, choirmaster, organist, and harpsichordist. Read more
15 Feb 1974: Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer and engineer (born 1887) Kurt Magnus Atterberg was a Swedish composer and civil engineer. Along with Ture Rangström, he was one the foremost Swedish composers of the generation succeeding Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Wilhelm Stenhammar and Hugo Alfvén. Atterberg is best known for his symphonies, operas, and ballets. Read more
15 Feb 1973: Wally Cox, American actor (born 1924) Wallace Maynard Cox was an American actor. He began his career as a standup comedian and played the title character of the popular early American television series Mister Peepers from 1952 to 1955. He also appeared as a character actor in over 20 films and dozens of television episodes. Cox was the voice of the animated canine superhero Underdog in the Underdog TV series. Read more
15 Feb 1970: Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish air marshal (born 1882) Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Operation Sea Lion, Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain. Read more
15 Feb 1967: Antonio Moreno, Spanish-American actor and director (born 1887) Antonio Garrido Monteagudo, better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s. Read more
15 Feb 1966: Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (born 1909) Gerard Ciołek was a Polish architect, as well as a leading historian of parks and gardens. Read more
15 Feb 1966: Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian priest and theologian (born 1929) Camilo Torres Restrepo, also known by his nom de guerre Argemiro, was a Colombian Catholic political leader, revolutionary, guerilla, priest, author and a leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN). During his life, he attempted to reconcile revolutionary socialism and Catholicism, an ideology which became known as Camilism. This ideology would significantly influence the later liberation theology movement, as well as being adopted by the Montoneros. Read more
15 Feb 1965: Nat King Cole, American singer and pianist (born 1919) Nathaniel Adams Coles, known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and pop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. Read more
15 Feb 1961: Laurence Owen, American figure skater (born 1944) Laurence Rochon "Laurie" Owen was an American figure skater. She was the 1961 U.S. National Champion and represented the United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed sixth. She was the daughter of Maribel Vinson and Guy Owen and the sister of Maribel Owen. Owen died, along with her mother, sister and the entire United States Figure Skating team, in the crash of Sabena Flight 548 en route to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships. In 2011, on the 50th anniversary of the crash, Owen and the entire team was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Read more
15 Feb 1959: Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879) Sir Owen Willans Richardson was a British physicist who received the 1928 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on thermionic emission and for the discovery of Richardson's law. Read more
15 Feb 1956: Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (born 1878) Vincent de Moro-Giafferi was a French criminal attorney. Read more
15 Feb 1939: Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter and author (born 1878) Kuzma Sergeyevich Petrov-Vodkin was a Russian and Soviet painter. His early iconographic work used special creative effects based on the curve of the globe, but its images were considered blasphemous by the Russian Orthodox Church. However he went on to become the first president of the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. His autobiographical writings attracted much praise, and have enjoyed a later revival. He was one of the members of the art association ‘The Four Arts’, which existed in Moscow and Leningrad in 1924-1931. Read more
15 Feb 1933: Pat Sullivan, Australian animator and producer, co-created Felix the Cat (born 1887) Patrick Peter Sullivan was an Australian-American cartoonist, pioneer animator and film producer, best known for producing the first Felix the Cat silent cartoons. Read more
15 Feb 1932: Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (born 1865) Minnie Maddern Fiske, but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate for the sake of artistic freedom. She was widely considered the most important actress on the American stage in the first quarter of the 20th century. Her performances in several Henrik Ibsen plays helped introduce American audiences to the Norwegian playwright. She was also an influential campaigner for improving animal welfare. Read more
15 Feb 1928: H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1852) Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last prime minister from the Liberal Party to command a majority government, and the most recent Liberal to have served as Leader of the Opposition. Read more
15 Feb 1924: Lionel Monckton, English composer (born 1861) Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English composer of musical theatre. He became Britain's most popular composer of Edwardian musical comedy in the early years of the 20th century. Read more
15 Feb 1911: Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician and academic (born 1859) Theodor Escherich was a German-Austrian pediatrician and a professor at universities in Graz and Vienna. He discovered and described the bacterium Escherichia coli. Read more
15 Feb 1905: Lew Wallace, American author, general, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (born 1827) Lewis Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, artist, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is best known for his historical adventure story, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880), a bestselling novel that has been called "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century." Read more
15 Feb 1901: Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1819) Sir Edward William Stafford served as the third premier of New Zealand on three occasions in the mid 19th century. His total time in office is the longest of any leader without a political party. He is described as pragmatic, logical, and clear-sighted. Read more
15 Feb 1897: Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian lawyer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Romania (born 1816) Dimitrie Ghica or Ghika was a Romanian politician. A prominent member of the Conservative Party, he served as Prime Minister between 1868 and 1870. Read more
15 Feb 1885: Gregor von Helmersen, Estonian-Russian geologist and engineer (born 1803) Gregor von Helmersen or Grigory Petrovich Helmersen was a Baltic German geologist. Read more
15 Feb 1885: Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer and conductor (born 1832) Leopold Damrosch was a German American orchestral conductor, composer, violinist, and teacher. He was the patriarch of the Damrosch family, which includes Frank Damrosch and Walter Damrosch. Read more
15 Feb 1877: Rayko Zhinzifov, Bulgarian poet and translator (born 1839) Rayko Ivanov (Yoanov) Zhinzifov or Rajko Ivanov (Jovanov) Žinzifov,, born Ksenofont Dzindzifi, was a Bulgarian National Revival poet and translator from Veles in today's North Macedonia, who spent most of his life in the Russian Empire. Read more
15 Feb 1869: Ghalib, Indian poet and educator (born 1796) Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan, commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet and letter writer of the Mughal Empire. Writing in Persian and Urdu during the final years of the Mughal Empire and the rise of British colonial rule, his poetry often addressed themes of love, loss, philosophy, the human condition, and socio-political disturbances with a depth and complexity that influenced the literary traditions of his time. His ghazals, noted for their intricate imagery and layered meanings, form a significant part of Urdu literature. He spent most of his life in poverty. Read more
15 Feb 1857: Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (born 1804) Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country and is often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music. His compositions were an important influence on other Russian composers, notably the members of The Five, who produced a distinctive Russian style of music. Read more
15 Feb 1849: Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician and theorist (born 1804) Pierre François Verhulst was a Belgian mathematician and a doctor in number theory from the University of Ghent in 1825. He is best known for the logistic growth model. Read more
15 Feb 1848: Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (born 1771) Leopold Hermann Ludwig von Boyen was a Prussian army officer who helped to reform the Prussian Army in the early 19th century. He also served as minister of war of Prussia in the period 1810–1813 and again from 1 March 1841 – 6 October 1847. Read more
15 Feb 1847: Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (born 1794) Germinal Pierre Dandelin was a French mathematician, soldier, and professor of engineering. Read more
15 Feb 1844: Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1757) Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth was a British Tory statesman who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804 and as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1789 to 1801. Read more
15 Feb 1842: Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (born 1754) Archibald Menzies was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist. He spent many years at sea, serving with the Royal Navy, private merchants, and the Vancouver Expedition. Read more
15 Feb 1839: François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian rebel (born 1803) François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, also known under shorter names such as François-Marie-Thomas de Lorimier, Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier or Chevalier de Lorimier, was a notary who fought as a Patriote and Frère chasseur for the independence of Lower Canada in the Lower Canada Rebellion. For these actions, he was incarcerated at the Montreal Pied-du-Courant Prison and was hanged at the site by the British authorities. Read more
15 Feb 1835: Henry Hunt, English farmer and politician (born 1773) Henry "Orator" Hunt was an English radical speaker and agitator remembered as a pioneer of working-class radicalism and an important influence on the later Chartist movement. He advocated parliamentary reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws. He was the first member of parliament to advocate for women's suffrage; in 1832 he presented a petition to parliament from a woman asking for the right to vote. He was the leading figure in the events leading to Peterloo massacre. Read more
15 Feb 1818: Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (born 1746) Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was a Prussian general. Read more

Why is 15 February Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 15 February, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 15 February in World history?

On 15 February, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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