On this day: February 15

Events on February 15

• 706 Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberios III publicly executed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Wikipedia
• 1214 During the Anglo-French War (1213–1214), an English invasion force led by John, King of England, lands at La Rochelle in France. Wikipedia
• 1493 While on board the Niña, Christopher Columbus writes an open letter (widely distributed upon his return to Portugal) describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World. Wikipedia
• 1493 Christopher Columbus wrote a letter widely distributed upon his return to Portugal that announced the results of his first voyage to the Americas. Wikipedia
• 1690 Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1764 The city of St. Louis is established in Spanish Louisiana (now in Missouri, USA). Wikipedia
• 1798 The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier. Wikipedia
• 1823 James McBrien made the first official discovery of gold in Australia at Fish River in New South Wales. Wikipedia
• 1852 The Helsinki Cathedral (known as St. Nicholas' Church at time) is officially inaugurated in Helsinki, Finland. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1872 First issue of the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, the first or one of the first anarchist newspapers. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1898 The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana, Cuba, killing more than 260 people and precipitating the Spanish–American War. Wikipedia
• 1906 A team of Italian archaeologists led by Ernesto Schiaparelli discovered the tomb of Kha and Merit, an ancient Egyptian foreman and his wife, in the workmen's village of Deir el-Medina. Wikipedia
• 1923 Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1942 Second World War: Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita captured Singapore with the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1946 ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1976 The first constitution since the Cuban Revolution, providing for a system of government and law based on those of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, was adopted by a national referendum. Wikipedia
• 1989 Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan. Wikipedia
• 1991 The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. Wikipedia
• 1999 Abdullah Öcalan, one of the founding members of the militant organization the Kurdistan Workers' Party, was arrested by Turkish security forces in Nairobi, Kenya. Wikipedia
• 2012 Three hundred and sixty people die in a fire at a Honduran prison in the city of Comayagua. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia

Born on February 15

• 1458 Ivan the Young, son of Ivan III of Russia (died 1490) Wikipedia
• 1564 Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (died 1642) Wikipedia
• 1612 Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, French soldier, founded Montreal (died 1676) Wikipedia
• 1710 Louis XV of France (died 1774) Wikipedia
• 1748 Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (died 1832) Wikipedia
• 1820 Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist and activist (died 1906) Wikipedia
• 1841 Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Brazil (died 1913) Wikipedia
• 1845 Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937) Wikipedia
• 1861 Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1938) Wikipedia
• 1861 Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1873 Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1964) Wikipedia
• 1874 Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish captain and explorer (died 1922) Wikipedia
• 1907 Cesar Romero, American actor (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1910 Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian, Righteous Gentile (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1920 Eio Sakata, Japanese Go player (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1930 Sara Jane Moore, American attempted assassin of Gerald Ford (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1934 Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist, created the Pascal programming language (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1951 Jane Seymour, English-American actress, producer, and jewelry designer Wikipedia
• 1952 Tomislav Nikolić, Serbian politician, 4th President of Serbia Wikipedia
• 1954 Matt Groening, American animator, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1962 Milo Đukanović, Montenegrin politician, 29th Prime Minister of Montenegro Wikipedia
• 1988 Rui Patrício, Portuguese footballer Wikipedia

Died on February 15

• 1145 Lucius II, pope of the Catholic Church Wikipedia
• 1637 Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1578) Wikipedia
• 1781 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher, author, and critic (born 1729) Wikipedia
• 1844 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1757) Wikipedia
• 1857 Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (born 1804) Wikipedia
• 1869 Ghalib, Indian poet and educator (born 1796) Wikipedia
• 1928 H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1852) Wikipedia
• 1959 Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879) Wikipedia
• 1965 Nat King Cole, American singer and pianist (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 1984 Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 1988 Richard Feynman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 1999 Henry Way Kendall, American physicist and mountaineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2023 Raquel Welch, American actress and singer (born 1940) Wikipedia
• 2026 Robert Duvall, American actor and filmmaker (born 1931) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Blessed Michał Sopoćko Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Claude de la Colombière Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Faustinus and Jovita Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Oswiu Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Quinidius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sigfrid of Sweden Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas Bray (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Walfrid Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: February 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International Duties Memorial Day (Russia, regional) Wikipedia
• John Frum Day (Vanuatu) Wikipedia
• Liberation Day (Afghanistan) Wikipedia
• National Flag of Canada Day (Canada) Wikipedia
• Parinirvana Day, also celebrated on February 8. (Mahayana Buddhism) Wikipedia
• Statehood Day (Serbia), also observed by the Republic of Srpska since 2025. Wikipedia
• Susan B. Anthony Day (Florida, United States) Wikipedia
• The ENIAC Day (Philadelphia, United States) Wikipedia
• Total Defence Day (Singapore) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “February 15” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.