On This Day in History......

0399 Philosopher Socrates sentenced to death
0732 Ho-tse Shen-hui, Zen teacher disputes founder of Northern Ch'an line
1145 Bernardo elected Pope Eugene III
1313 Peace of Angleur
1386 Duke Philip the Stout forms Council of Flanders
1539 Emperor Charles receives Cardinal Pole in Toledo
1552 Dutch coast hit by heavy storm
1563 Russian troops occupy Polotsk Lithuania
1637 Ferdinand III succeeds Ferdinand II as Holy Roman Emperor
1677 King Charles II reports anti-French covenant with Netherlands
1686 Jean Baptiste Lully's opera "Armide" premieres in Paris
1689 German Parliament declares war on France
1745 Colley Cibbers "Papal Tyranny" premieres in London
1763 Austria, Prussia & Saxony sign Peace of Hubertusburg
1764 St Louis founded as a French trading post by Pierre Laclade Ligue
1768 1st mustard manufactured in America advertised, Philadelphia
1775 Angelo Braschi chosen as Pope Pius VI
1797 Battle of Cape St Vincent
1799 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania
1804 New Jersey becomes last northern state to abolish slavery
1842 1st adhesive postage stamps in US (private delivery company), New York NY
1845 William Parsons, Earl of Rosse, 1st uses 72" (183 cm) reflector
1848 Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston
1851 Black abolitionists invade Boston courtroom rescuing a fugitive slave
1852 Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits 1st patient
1861 Ft Point completed & garrisoned (but has never fired cannon in anger)
1862 Grant's major assault on Ft Donelson TN
1864 Fire in Rotterdam Netherlands damages Museum Boymans
1869 Charges of Treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped
1870 Ground broken for Northern Pacific Railway near Duluth MN
1876 Historic Elm at Boston blown down
1879 Congress authorizes women lawyers to practice before the Supreme Court
1882 1st cargo of frozen meat leaves New Zealand for Britain, on SS Dunedin
1895 23 cm (9") of snow falls on New Orleans
1898 USS Maine blows up in Havana harbor, cause unknown-258 sailors die
1900 General French relieves Kimberley/Cecil Rhodes
1902 Underground railway (U-Bahn)
1903 1st Teddy Bear introduced in America, made by Morris & Rose Michtom
1905 1st race meet at Oaklawn Park (Hot Springs AR)
1906 British Labour Party organizes
1912 Fram reaches latitude 78º 41' S, farthest south ever by ship
1913 1st avant-garde art show in America opens in New York NY
1916 New York Yankees buy Frank "Home Run" Baker from the Athletics for $37,500
1917 San Francisco Public Library (Main Branch at Civic center) dedicated
1918 1st WWI US army troop ship torpedoed & sunk by Germany, off Ireland
1918 Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania adopt the Gregorian calendar
1919 American Legion organizes in Paris
1921 Arthur Mailey completes 9-121 vs England, Australian Test Cricket record
1922 Marconi begins regular broadcasting transmissions from Essex
1926 Contract air mail service begins in US
1926 Brooks Atkinson Theater opens at 256 W 47th St NYC
1929 St Valentine's Day massacre (Chicago)
1930 Weona beats Toluca in Illinois Basketball Tournament in 10 overtimes
1931 1st Dracula movie released
1931 Spring training site of New York Yankees in St Petersburg is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team's late manager
1932 US bobsled team member Eddie Eagan becomes only athlete to win gold in both Summer & Winter Olympics (1920 boxing gold)
1932 3rd Winter Olympics games close at Lake Placid NY
1932 Australia beat South Africa in cricket by an inn in 5 hours 53 minutes playing time
1932 George Burns & Gracie Allen debuted as regulars on "Guy Lombardo Show"
1932 John Van Druten's "There's Always Juliet" premieres in New York NY
1933 President-elect Franklin Roosevelt survives assassination attempt
1933 Karl Radek praises invincible force of German communist party
1933 Social-democratic newspaper "Vorwärts" banned again in Berlin
1936 -60º F (-51º C), Parshall ND (state record)
1936 Sonja Henie, Norway, wins 3rd consecutive Olympics figure skating gold
1936 Hitler announces building of Volkswagens (starting slug-bug game)
1939 German battleship Bismarck was launched
1939 Lillian Hellman's "Little Foxes" premieres in New York NY
1941 Duke Ellington 1st records "Take the A Train"
1942 Singapore surrenders to the Japanese
1942 German U-boat shells at Antillian oil refinery
1942 Japanese troops march into Palembang, South Sumatra
1943 Women's camp Tamtui on Ambon (Moluccas) hit by allied air raid
1944 891 British bombers attack Berlin
1944 Bombing & shooting at Monte Cassino convent Italy, begins
1946 Bank of England nationalized
1947 "Toplitzky of Notre Dame" closes at Century Theater NYC after 60 performances
1948 Mao Zedong's army occupies Yenan
1949 Dmitri Shostakovich's "Song of the Woods" premieres in Leningrad
1950 Walt Disney's "Cinderella" released
1950 KENS TV channel 5 in San Antonio TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
1950 WM Inge's "Come Back, Little Sheba" premieres in New York NY
1950 WSYR (now WSTM) TV channel 3 in Syracuse NY (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 1st bevatron in operation-Berkeley CA
1954 WRDW TV channel 12 in Augusta GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 1st pilot plant to produce man-made diamonds announced
1956 Pirates & Kansas City A's cancel an exhibition game in Birmingham AL, because of local ordinance barring black from playing against white
1956 Urho Kekkonen appointed President of Finland
1957 Andrei A Gromyko succeeds Dmitri Shepilov as Soviet foreign minister
1958 Ice Dance Championship at Paris won by June Markham/Courtney Jones Great Britain
1958 Ice Pairs Championship at Paris won by Barbara Wagner/Rob Paul of CAN
1958 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Carol Heiss of USA
1958 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by David Jenkins USA
1958 Sjafroeddin Prawiranegara forms anti-government of Middle Sumatra
1959 Antonio Segni forms Italian government
1959 Louise Suggs wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Tournament
1961 Entire US figure skating team of 18, dies in Belgian Sabena 707 crash
1961 Australia beat West Indies 2-1 in one of best Test Cricket series ever
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 1st US female world figure skating champion (Tenley Albright)
1963 Ken Lynch records "Misery", 1st Lennon-McCartney song by someone else
1964 Beatles' "Meet the Beatles!" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 11 weeks
1964 Bill Bradley scores 51 points for Princeton
1965 Canada replaces the Union Jack flag with the Maple Leaf
1965 John Lennon passes his driving test
1966 Kees Verkerk becomes world champion all-round skater
1967 1st anti-bootleg recording laws enacted
1967 French Diadème 1-D satellite launches into Earth orbit
1967 Longest dream (REM sleep) on record, Bill Carskadon, Chicago (2:23)
1967 D66 (D'66) wins 7 seats in Dutch 2nd Chamber
1968 Anaheim's Les Salvage scores 10, 3-point baskets in ABA game vs Denver
1968 WVUT TV channel 22 in Vincennes IN (PBS) begins broadcasting
1970 Nationalists disrupt UN session on Congo
1970 Ard Schenk becomes world champion all-round skater
1970 Carol Mann wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
1970 Dominican DC-9 crashes into sea at Santo Domingo, kills 102
1970 KAMU TV channel 15 in College Station TX (PBS) begins broadcasting
1971 After 1200 years Britain abandons 12-shilling system for decimal
1972 Bill Torrey becomes 1st Islander General Manager
1972 Dimitrios Papadopoulos becomes metropolitan of Imbros/Tenedos
1972 President Velasco Ibarra of Ecuador deposed for 4th time
1973 Friendsville Academy (Tennessee) ends 138-game basketball losing streak
1973 USSR launches Prognoz 3 to study sun (589/200,300 km)
1976 12th Winter Olympics games close at Innsbruck, Austria
1976 Joanne Carner wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1977 Social-democrats win Danish parliamentary election
1978 Escaped mass murderer Ted Bundy recaptured, Pensacola FL
1978 Leon Spinks beats Muhammad Ali in 15 for world heavyweight crown
1978 England all out 64 for 1st loss to New Zealand in cricket (Boycott Captain)
1978 Zaire revises constitution
1979 Paul Shirley (21) of Australia, sucked a lifesaver for 4 hours 40 minutes
1979 Temple City Kazoo Orchestra appears on Mike Douglas Show
1979 21st Grammy Awards Just the Way You Are, Taste of Honey win
1979 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 Wayne Gretzky assists on NHL-record-tying 7 goals
1980 Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 500 meter in 38.03 seconds
1981 Rocket-powered ice sled attains 399 kph, Lake George NY
1981 Joanne Carner wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
1982 Dan Issel (NBA-Nuggets), begins streak of 63 consecutive free throws
1982 Ocean Ranger oil-drilling platform lost off Newfoundland, 84 die
1984 500,000 Iranian soldiers move into Iraq
1985 STS 51-E vehicle moves to launch pad
1985 World chess championship match abandoned-Karpov 25, Kasparov 23
1986 44,180 largest NBA crowd to date-Philadelphia at Detroit
1986 Ferdinand Marcos wins rigged Philippines presidential election
1987 ABC-TV begins broadcasting "Amerika" mini-series
1987 Craig Stadler disqualified from Andy Williams Open for kneeling on a towel to make a shot
1987 Karlstad skates world record 10km (14:03,92)
1987 Nikolai Guljajev becomes world champion skater
1988 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1989 Israel attacks border strip Taba near Egypt
1989 Soviet military occupation of Afghánistán ends
1990 Baseball owners lock out players
1991 Freighter with dynamite explodes in Phang Nga Thailand, 120 die
1991 Troy State sets NCAA Division II record with 103 points in 2nd half routing DeVry Institute 187-117
1992 100th episode of "Cops" airs on the Fox Network
1992 Jeffrey Dahmer found sane & guilty of killing 15 boys
1993 Bombings by Mafia drug lords kill 14 in Bogotá Colombia
1993 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Rochester NY on WNVE 95.1 FM
1994 US asks Aristide to adopt a peace plan from Haiti
1995 Burundi premier Anatole Kanyenkiko, resigns
1995 Dow-Jones closes at record 3986.17
1995 Population of People's Republic of China hits 1.2 billion
1997 US female Figure Skating championship won by Tara Lipinski
1997 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldridge
1998 Dale Eggeling wins Los Angeles Women's Golf Championship
1998 Daytona 500 race; Dale Earnhardt wins
=======================================================

Missing In Action...

1966 MAUTERER OSCAR CHARLOTTESVILLE VA EJECTED POSS CAPTURED
1968 CARPENTER JOE V. MAYSVILLE KY 08/09/68 RELEASED HANOI DECEASED OCT 82
1968 WRITER LAWRENCE D. OLYMPIA WA 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1969 NIEDECKEN WILLIAM CLINTON CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1969 WALSH RICHARD A. ST PAUL MN
1971 CREAR WILLIS C. BIRMINGHAM AL "EXPLODE, NO SURV OBS"
1971 CRONE DONALD E. WHITTIER CA "EXPLODE, NO SURV OBS"
1971 FIVELSON BARRY F. EVANSTON IL "EXPLODE, NO SURV OBS"
1971 LEONARD MARVIN M. GRAND RAPIDS MI "EXPLODED, NO SURV OBS"
1971 POWERS JOHN L. MAC KAY ID "EXPLODED, NO SURV OBS"
1971 TAYLOR JAMES H. OROVILLE CA "EXPLODED, NO SURV OBS"

Births which occurred on February 15:

0037 Claudius Drusus Germanicus Caesar Nero emperor of Rome (54-68)
1368 Sigismund Nürnberg Germany, Holy Roman emperor (1410-37)
1483 Babur founder of Mughal dynasty in India (1526-30
1497 Philipp Melanchthon Germany, Protestant reformer
1519 Pedro Menéndez de Aviles explored Florida - founded St Augustine FL
1524 Charles de Guise archbishop/cardinal of Reims
1557 Alfonso Fontanelli composer
1564 Galileo Galilei Pisa, Italy, astronomer/physicist
1571 Michael Praetorius Kreuzberg Germany, music theorist/composer (Syntagma music)
1620 François Charpentier French scholar/archaeologist
1650 Anne Jules duke de Noailles marshal of France (hugenot)
1660 Frans Anneessens Belgian merchant/dean of artisans
1666 Antonio M Valsalva Italian anatomist (eardrums, glottis)
1705 Charles A Vanloo French painter
1707 Claude Prosper Paris France, novelist
1710 Louis XV the Well-Beloved Versailles, King of France (1715-74)
1726 Abraham Clark farmer/lawyer, signed Declaration of Independence
1740 Ernst Eichner composer
1748 Jeremy Bentham London England, philosopher/originator (Utilitarian)
1759 Friedrich A Wolfius [Wolf], German philological (Prolegomena)
1760 Jean-François Le Sueur composer
1764 Jens I Baggesen Danish writer/linguist (Danske V'rker)
1768 Jozef B Cannaert [Olim], Flemish lawyer
1774 W G Frederik prince of Orange
1780 Carel Asser Dutch jurist
1783 Johann Nepomuk Poissl composer
1785 Claude Louis Marie Navier
1789 Friedrich Fesca composer
1795 Charles Niellon Belgian brigade general (10 day campaign)
1797 Henry Engelhard Steinway piano maker (Steinway)
1800 Frederik W Conrad Dutch hydraulic engineer/railway pioneer
1803 John Augustus Sutter Swiss/US colonist of California gold rush fame (New Helvetia CA, Sutter Mill)
1807 Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski composer
1809 Cyrus Hall McCormick inventor (Mechanical reaper)
1811 Domingo F Sarmiento President of Argentina (1868-74)
1812 Charles Lewis Tiffany Killingly CT, jeweler (Tiffany)
1817 Charles F Daubigny French restauranteur/painter
1819 Christopher Sholes Mooresburg PA, inventor (typewriter)
1820 Susan Brownell Anthony Adams MA, women's suffragette
1821 Abraham de Amorie van der de Have theologist/poet
1822 Theodor Uhlig composer
1823 Li Hung-Tshang Chinese rebel leader/viceroy of Tsheli Canton
1826 George J Stoney Irish physicist
1828 Johan H van Dale schoolmaster (New Dutch Language Dictionary)
1829 Silas Weir Mitchell US physician/author (Roland Blake)
1834 Sir William Preece English electrical engineer, wireless pioneer
1835 Alexander Stuart Webb Major General (Union Army), died in 1911
1845 Elihu Root ®/US Secretary of State (1905-09)/Nobel Peace Prize (1912)
1847 Robert Fuchs composer
1855 Gustav Hollaender composer
1856 Frank Harris Galway England, writer
1858 William Pickering Boston, astronomer (9th & 10th moons of Saturn)
1861 Alfred North Whitehead English mathematician/philosopher (Adventures of Ideas)
1861 Halford John Mackinder Gainsborough Lincolnshire, geographer
1866 Bannister Fletcher London, architect & architectural historian
1874 Emilis Melngailis composer
1874 Ernest H Shackleton Kilkee Ireland, explorer (Endurance, Antarctica)
1882 John Barrymore [Blythe], Philadelphia PA, actor (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, The Tempest, Beloved Rogue)
1885 Richard Wurz composer
1886 Sax Rohmer England, author (Dr Fu Manchu)
1887 H M Bateman Sutton Forest New South Wales, cartoonist
1890 Robert Ley German chemist/MP (NSDAP)
1892 James Forrestal US, banker/minister of Navy
1893 Harm H Kamerlingh Onnes painter/etcher/ceramist
1893 Walter Donaldson US pianist/composer (Girl Crazy, Whoopee)
1894 Oswaldo Aranha Brazil, lawyer/statesman (1st President of UN)
1896 Arthur Shields Dublin Ireland, actor (River, Enchanted Island)
1897 Earl H Blaik Detroit MI, college football hall of fame coach (elected 1965)
1898 Ibuse Masuji Japanese writer (Yôhai Taichô, Kuroi Ame)
1898 Toto (Antonio de Curtis), Naples Italy, actor (Motorizzate, Noi Duri)
1899 Gale Sondergard Litchfield MN, actress (Cat & Canary, Road to Rio)
1899 Georges Auric Lodève France, composer (It Always Rains on Sunday)
1899 Lillian Disney Mrs Walt Disney
19-- Claire Yarlett England, actress (Rituals, Dynasty)
19-- Kevin Cloud Hartford CT, rocker (Rhythm Syndicate)
1901 André Parrot French archaeologist/theologist (Assur)
1901 Christmas Humphreys England, lawyer/writer/Buddhist (Awakening of Zen)
1901 Paul Haesaerts Flemish architect/painter (Animisme)
1904 Antonin Magne French bicyclist (Tour de France 1931, 34)
1904 Mary Adshead muralist/painter
1905 Harold Arlen [Hyman Arluck], US, composer (Over the Rainbow)
1906 Stephen Brown CEO (Stone-Platt Industries)
1907 Cesar Romero New York NY, actor (Joker-Batman, Ocean's 11, The Thin Man)
1907 Jean Langlais composer
1908 Sidney Gilliat producer
1908 Ypk fan der Fear Frisian writer (Reade Runen)
1909 Harold Beeley British diplomat
1910 9th Earl of Jersey English large landowner/art collector
1911 Leonard Woodcock labor leader (UAW)
1912 George Mikes Hungary, British writer (How to Be an Alien)
1913 Willy Vandersteen Belgian cartoonist (Suske & Wiske)
1914 Arthur Sydney Martin spy catcher
1914 Kevin McCarthy Seattle WA, actor (Invasion of Body Snatchers, Howling)
1914 R W Woods bishop (Worcester)
1915 Paul Ferris British author
1916 Ian Ballantine publisher (Ballantine Books)
1918 Alan Arbus New York NY, actor (Dr Sidney Freedman-MASH)
1920 Ingmar Milveden composer
1920 Piet van Aken Flemish writer (Devil Sails to US, Niggers)
1920 Richard O'Brien CEO (Manpower Services Commission)
1922 Herman Kahn New Jersey, writer (Thinking About the Unthinkable)
1923 Keene Curtis Salt Lake City UT, actor (Magician, Amanda's)
1923 Yelena Bonner Moscow, soviet dissident/wife of Andre Sakharov
1923 Justice Drake British justice
1927 Harvey Korman Chicago IL, actor (Carol Burnett Show, Blazing Saddles)
1927 Frank Dunlop director (Edinburgh International Festival)
1927 Gottfrid Grasbeck composer
1927 William Bentley diplomat
1929 James Schlesinger US Secretary of Defense (1973-75)
1929 Countess of Dysart
1929 Gerald Harper broadcaster/actor (Tunes of Glory, Extra Day)
1929 Graham Hill London England, auto racer (1962, 68 international racing champion)
1930 C F Payne Cleveland OH, British chief constable
1931 [Patricia] Claire Bloom London, actress (Charly, Look Back in Anger)
1931 W K Reid British ombudsman
1932 Adrian Swire British aircraft magnate (Cathay Pacific)
1933 Adolfo Cardones Cuba, fashion designer (Nancy Reagan)
1934 Niklaus Wirth Switzerland, computer programmer/inventor (PASCAL)
1935 John R Block US Secretary of Agriculture (1981-86)
1935 Roger B Chaffee Grand Rapids MI, Lieutenant Commander USN/astronaut
1935 Susan Brownmiller Brooklyn NY, feminist author (Against Our Wills)
1936 Andrew Miller British principal (Stirling U)
1937 Nicholas Bayne diplomat
1937 P J Squire British headmaster (Bedford Modern School)
1937 Terry Everett (Representative-R-AL)
1937 Zoltan Pesko composer
1938 Jack Tinker drama critic
1938 Lord Justice Ward British judge
1939 Ollie Ellefsäter Norway, 3K steeplechase (Olympics-1960)
1939 Jo Clayton US, sci-fi author (Irsud, Maeve, Star Hunters)
1939 Tony Bloom deputy CEO (Sketchley)
1941 Brian Holland US pianist/producer (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
1941 Dan Crompton Nottinghamshire, Chief Constable
1941 Florinda Bolkan Ceara Brazil, actress (Damned, Last Valley, Word)
1944 Mick Avory rock drummer (Kinks-Lola)
1944 Aleksandr A Serebrov USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-7, T-8, TM-8, TM-17)
1944 Tineke Netelenbos Dutch MP (PvdA)
1945 Douglas R Hofstadter New York NY, author (Gödel, Escher, Bach)
1946 Clare Short British MP
1946 John Greenway British MP
1947 John Adams Worcester MA, composer (Nixon on China)
1947 Rusty Hamer Tenafly NJ, actor (Rusty-Make Room for Daddy)
1947 Marisa Berenson New York NY, actress (Barry Lyndon, Death in Vienna, SOB)
1948 Ron "The Penguin" Cey Tacoma WA, 3rd baseman (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1949 Ken Anderson NFL quarterback (Cincinnati Bengals)
1949 Christopher Rouse composer
1949 Earl of Carlisle
1949 Jess Walton Michigan, actress (Jill Foster Abbott-Young & Restless)
1950 Donna Hanover Giuliani TV news anchor (WPIX)/wife of Mayor Giuliani
1950 Nikolai Sergeivich Grekov Russia, cosmonaut
1951 Melissa Manchester Bronx NY, singer (Don't Cry Out Loud)
1951 Jane Seymour [Joyce Frankenberg], Middlesex England, actress (Dr Quinn, East of Eden, Lassiter)
1953 Derek Conway British MP
1954 Matt Groening cartoonist (Life in Hell, Simpsons)
1955 Bev Francis Australia, world women's power-lifting champion
1955 Clive Aslet British editor (Country Life)
1956 Desmond Haynes cricket (West Indies opener-greatest batsman in 1-day history)
1956 Hilda Beatriz "Hildita" Guevara Cuba, daughter of "Che" Guevara
1957 Bienvenida Buck Velencia Spain, lover of British Peter Harding
1957 Charles Edward Pevensey Tennant aristocrat
1957 Jake E Lee rocker (Badlands-Dreams in the Dark)
1959 Ali Campbell British reggae vocalist/guitarist (UB40-Red Red Wine)
1959 Guy De Alwis cricket wicket-keeper (Sri Lankan mid 80s)
1959 Joe Hesketh US baseball player (Boston Red Sox)
1960 Mikey Craig rock bassist (Culture Club-Do You Really Want to Hurt Me)
1960 Darrell Green NFL cornerback (Washington Redskins)
1960 Jeanne Goldsmith Los Angeles CA, WPVA volleyballer (National-5th-1987)
1962 [Babette] Renee Props Oklahoma, actress (Ellie-As the World Turns, Get Shorty, Weird Science)
1964 Chris Farley actor (Saturday Night Live, Wayne's World, Coneheads)
1964 Mark Price NBA guard (Washington Bullets, Orlando Magic)
1965 Craig Matthews cricket pace bowler (South African Test)
1966 Melido Perez Dominican/US baseball pitcher (New York Yankees)
1966 Petra Huber Austria, tennis star
1967 Michael Easton actor (Ally McBeal, Total Recall 2070, VR.5, Tanner-Days of Our Lives)
1968 Kurt Robin McKinney Louisville KY, actor (Ned-General Hospital)
1968 Michael Easton Los Angeles CA, actor (Tanner-Days of Our Lives)
1969 Brian Williams Lancaster SC, pitcher (Detroit Tigers, Astros)
1969 Edgar Bennett NFL running back (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1970 Gloria Trevi Mexico, sexy Spanish vocalist (A Gatas)
1970 Nathaniel Mills Evanston IL, speed skater (Olympics-1994)
1970 Tyrone Legette NFL cornerback (New Orleans Saints)
1971 Barbara Failey-Herbert South Africa, golfer (1989 winner South Africa Champion)
1971 Jim Butler Iowa City IA, table tennis player (Olympics-92, 96)
1971 Renee O'Connor actress, (Xena Warrior Princess)
1971 Tyrone Legette cornerback (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1972 Jaromir Jagr Kladno Czechoslovakia, NHL right wing (Penguins, Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998)
1972 Lance Scott NFL offensive linesman (Arizona Cardinals)
1973 Amy Van Dyken 50 meter/100 meter freestyle/100 meter butterfly swimmer (Olympics-2 gold-96)
1974 Erik Schulz Port Huron MI, pairs skater (& Ilana Goldfogel)
1974 Jodie McMullen Miss Australia-Universe/Miss Congeniality (1996)
1974 Tim Hall running back (Oakland Raiders)
1974 Ugueth Urbina Caracas Venezuela, pitcher (Montréal Expos)
1975 Robert Fuchs soccer player (PSV)
1977 Brook Wackman rocker
1979 Kaj-Erik Eriksen actor (Quarantine)
1983 Ashley Lyn Cafagna Iowa City IA, actress (Kimberly-Bold & the Beautiful, Saved By The Bell: The New Class)
1991 Nicholas Garland son of Pamela Sue Martin
====================================================

Deaths which occurred on February 15:

1043 Gisela wife of Roman Catholic-German emperor Conrad II the Salier, dies at 52
1145 Lucius II [Gherardo Caccianemici], Italian Pope (1144-45), dies
1152 Konrad III Roman-German King (1138-1152), dies at about 58
1503 Henry Deane Archbishop of Canterbury (1501-03), dies
1568 Hendrik van Brederode Dutch noble (Compromise of Nobles), dies at 36
1580 Cunerus Petri Dutch theologist/bishop of Leeuwarden, dies
1597 Pieter J Kies Dutch mayor of Haarlem (1572-73), dies at about 66
1600 José the Acosta Spanish missionary (Peru), dies at 59
1621 Michael Praetorius German composer (In Dulce Jubilo), dies at 50
1637 Ferdinand II King of Bohemia/Hungary/German Emperor (1619-37), dies at 58
1660 Klaas Geritsz Compaen Dutch buccaneer/merchant, dies at 72
1680 Jan Swammerdam Dutch entomologist (Bible of Nature), dies at 41
1686 Mathias Rauchmüller German sculptor (Piasten mausoleum Poland), dies
1701 Adam Drese German composer, dies at 80
1713 Anthony Ashley Cooper 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, writer, dies
1744 Frantisek Antonin Mica composer, dies at 49
1744 John Hadley inventor (sextant), dies
1759 Alexander von Papenhoven Flemish religious sculptor, dies at 89
1761 Carlo Cecere composer, dies at 54
1778 Johann Gottlieb Gorner composer, dies at 80
1781 G E Lessing writer, dies at 52
1781 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Saxon playwright/critic, dies
1818 Charles XIII King of Sweden (1809-18)/Norway (1814-18), dies at 69
1820 Pierre-Joseph Cambon member of Committee the Salut Public, dies at 63
1820 William Ellery US attorney (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 92
1831 Henry Maudslay inventor (metal lathe), dies
1832 Hardenack Otto Conrad Zinck composer, dies at 85
1835 Henry Hunt British politician, dies
1841 Sibrand Acker Stratingh Dutch doctor/chemist (electrical car), dies at 53
1844 Henry Addington Lord Sidmouth British premier (1801-04), dies at 86
1849 Pierre F Verhulst Belgian mathematician (logistic curve), dies at 44
1857 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka Russian composer, dies at 53
1864 Israel Zangwill writer/Zionist/philanthropist, dies
1864 William Dyce painter, dies
1865 Nicholas Wiseman 1st Archbishop of Westminster (1850-65), dies
1885 Leopold Damrosch composer, dies at 52
1887 Alexander Borodin composer, dies
1896 E J Nicholson writer, dies
1902 Wilhelmina JR Albregt-Engelman Dutch actress, dies at 68
1903 Julie Verstraete-Lacquet Flemish actress, dies at 69
1905 Lewis Wallace US diplomat/writer (Ben Hur), dies at 77
1910 Albert Fuchs composer, dies at 51
1916 Nikolay Nikolayevich Lodizhensky composer, dies at 73
1917 Charles A van Ophuysen Dutch orientalist, dies at 60
1919 Pieter K Pel Dutch internist (Pel-Ebstein fever), dies at 66
1921 Hans Haym composer, dies at 60
1922 Clara [G Meijer-]Wichmann German/Dutch anarchist/feminist, dies at 36
1923 Josephine B Willson Bruce US black theorist, dies at 69
1924 Lionel Monckton English composer (Country Girl), dies at 62
1928 Hubert H Asquith premier Great-Britain (1908-16), dies at 75
1932 Minnie Maddern Fiske actress (Henrik Ibsen's plays), dies at 66
1933 Anton J Cermak (Mayor-D-Chicago), assassinated in Miami
1939 Foppe G Scheltema Dutch lawyer, dies at 47
1939 Henri Jaspar premier of Belgium (1926-31), dies at 68
1942 Guido Adler Austrian musicologist, dies at 91
1942 Stanislav Binicki composer, dies at 69
1943 Thomas "Fats" Waller US jazz pianist (Hot Chocolate), dies at 38
1943 William Victor Harris composer, dies at 73
1955 S Z Sakall actor (Dolly Sisters, Casablanca), dies at 71
1959 Owen W Richardson English physicist (Nobel 1928), dies at 69
1961 Jack Whiting actor (Top Speed, Life of the Party), dies at 59
1961 Marubel Vinaon Owen figure skater (Olympics-silver-1932), dies
1962 Vladimir Sokoloff actor (Road to Morocco, Cloak & Dagger), dies at 72
1964 Ken Hubbs 2nd baseman (Chicago Cubs), dies in plane crash at 22
1965 Nat King Cole singer (Unforgettable, Mona Lisa), dies at 45
1966 Camillo Torres Colombian priest/guerrilla fighter, dies
1967 Antonio Moreno Spanish actor/director (It, Careers), dies at 79
1967 William C Bullitt 1st US ambassador in USSR, dies at 76
1968 Little Walter rocker, dies at 37
1971 Marian Viktorovich Koval composer, dies at 63
1972 Edgar P Snow US author/journalist (Battle for Asia), dies at 66
1972 Jef [Josephus CF] Last Dutch poet/Indonesian politician, dies at 73
1973 Wally Cox actor (Mr Peepers, Hollywood Squares), dies at 48
1973 Tim Holt actor (Stagecoach, Hitler's Children), dies of cancer at 55
1974 Kurt Magnus Atterberg composer, dies at 86
1975 Julian Huxley biologist, dies
1975 Pelham G Wodehouse writer, dies
1978 Ilka Chase actress (Masquerade Party), dies at 72
1979 Alex Bradford actor/composer (Your Arms too Short...), dies at 51
1979 Mehdi Rahimi Iran General/military Governor of Tehran, executed
1981 Jack Crapp cricketer (7 Tests for England 1948-49, 319 runs), dies
1981 Mike Bloomfield rocker (Electric Flag), dies of drug overdose at 36
1981 Thomas Beversdorf composer, dies at 56
1982 Rolfe Sedan actor (Mailman-George Burns Show), dies at 86
1984 Leamon Hunt US director-General in Sinai, killed by communists
1984 Avon Long dancer/actor (Roots Next Generation), dies of cancer at 73
1984 Ethel Merman singer/actress (Kid Million), dies in her sleep at 76
1987 Jimmy Holiday US singer (Baby I Love You), dies at 42
1987 Osmo Uolevi Lindeman composer, dies at 57
1988 Frederick [Fritz] Loewe composer, dies
1988 Gardiner Means US economist, dies at 91
1988 Gerard Holt architect, dies at 83
1988 Neil R[onald] Jones science fiction writer (Space War, Twin Worlds), dies at 78
1988 Richard P Feynman physicist (Nobel 1965, Physical Law), dies at 69
1990 Henry Brandon actor (Assault on Precinct 13), dies at 77
1990 Jack Fletcher actor (Any Wednesday), dies of heart attack at 68
1991 Gary Gears Chicago disk jockey, dies at 46 of a heart attack
1991 Luis Escobar Spanish actor (Don Juan My Love), dies at 78
1992 William H Schuman US composer (Pulitzer)/President of Julliard, dies at 81
1993 George Wallington [Giacinto Figlia], Italian bebop-pianist/, dies
1994 Andrei Tsjikatilo [Rostov Ripper], Russian mass murdered, executed
1994 Tiger Haynes US actor (Moscow on the Hudson, Cosby Show), dies at 79
1995 Francis Taylor builder, dies at 90
1995 Joseph Ortiz French-Algerian extremist/rebel, dies at 77
1995 Lord Taylor of Hadfield British president of Taylor Woodrow Group, dies at 90
1995 Nabila Diahnine Algerian architect/feminist, murdered at 33
1995 Sahnoun Jawhari Tunisian Annahda-leader, dies at 40 in jail
1995 Viscount Camrose British large landowner/Conservative, dies
1996 Bruno Ferenc Straub Hungarian statesman, dies
1996 Margaret Courtenay actress (Royal Flash, Duet for One), dies at 72
1996 McLean Stevenson actor (MASH, Hello Larry), dies at 66
1996 Oscar Abrams community organiser, dies at 58
1996 Tommy Rettig actor (Lassie)/computer programmer (Clipper), dies at 54
1998 Martha Gelhorn female war correspondents, dies at 89

1776 Nova Scotia Governor sends word of potential American invasion

From Halifax, Canada, on this day in 1776, Governor Francis Legge reports to British headquarters in London that traitorous elements in Cumberland, Nova Scotia, have contacted American General George Washington. Washington received a letter from the Nova Scotians, in which they expressed their sympathy for the American cause, on February 8. They invited General Washington and the Continental Army to invade Nova Scotia at his earliest possible convenience.

Legge found himself in a precarious position. He had alienated many of his constituents through a zealous anti-corruption probe. Now he reported that Nova Scotia had spawned a nascent revolutionary movement. Some of those whom Legge accused of corruption in his drive to clean up colonial politics had allies in the imperial capitol who were insisting that he explain himself in person.

Fortunately for Legge, little notice was taken of his subjects’ letter to Washington. The Continental Congress decided on February 16 to allow General Washington to investigate the “expediency and practicability of an Expedition to Nova Scotia,” but cautioned that Washington should “by no means accept the plan proposed… for the destruction of the Town of Halifax.” After Benedict Arnold retreated in May 1776 from his six-month long siege of Quebec, which included the disastrous attack Quebec on December 31, 1775, the Continental Army gave up its hope that Canada would join the rebellion. Still, Governor Legge received orders to return to London in February 1776 and departed Halifax in May.

Although Canada ceased to be a direct military target, it continued to play an important role as a haven for Loyalists and slaves fleeing from Patriots less concerned with other peoples’ liberties than their own. On December 18, 1778, a force of New Jersey and New York Loyalists, The King’s Orange Rangers, traveled to Liverpool, Nova Scotia, to help in its defense against Patriot privateers, privately owned ships that used pirate tactics to disrupt British shipping. The Rangers remained until August 23, 1783. Nova Scotia ultimately attracted 30,000 American Loyalists, one-tenth of which were fleeing African slaves. Of the slaves, one third eventually resettled in Sierra Leone. White Loyalists moved to Canada to flee the abuse of Patriot neighbors, African slaves came to British Canada in order to gain freedom from their Patriot owners.
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1835 Alexander Stewart Webb born

Union General Alexander Stewart Webb is born in New York City.

Webb's grandfather had fought at Bunker Hill during the American Revolution, and his father, James Watson Webb, was a prominent newspaper editor and diplomat who served as minister to Brazil during the Civil War. The younger Webb, known as Andy to his family, attended West Point and graduated in 1855, 13th in a class of 34. He taught mathematics at West Point and in Florida before the Civil War.

When the war broke out, Webb was assigned to defend Ft. Pickens, Florida, but was soon called to Washington and placed in the artillery in the army guarding the capital. He fought at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 as assistant to the chief of artillery, Major William Barry. A year later, Webb was in charge of the artillery at the Battle of Malvern Hill at the end of the Seven Days battles. In that engagement, Union cannon devastated attacking Confederate infantry, and Webb was commended for leading the artillery line. General Daniel Butterfield later said that Webb's leadership saved the Union army from destruction.

Despite his numerous achievements, Webb was constantly passed over for promotion due to politics within the Army of the Potomac. He was closely associated with General George McClellan, and McClellan's removal in late 1862 left Webb stalled at colonel. Even some of his West Point students became generals before Webb, but the promotion finally came in June 1863. The new brigadier general played a key role at the Battle of Gettysburg just a few weeks later. On July 3, Webb commanded troops defending the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. He rallied his troops as they received the brunt of Pickett's Charge, and his actions earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Webb fought with the Army of the Potomac during the great campaign in the spring of 1864, and he was wounded in the head at the Bloody Angle, the most vicious fighting in the Battle of Spotsylvania. He was out of action for nearly eight months. When he returned, he became chief of staff for army commander General George Meade. After the war, Webb taught at West Point, served as president of the College of the City of New York, and wrote extensively about the war. He died in Riverdale, New York, in 1911. A statue of Webb adorns the Gettysburg battlefield near the spot where he earned the Medal of Honor.
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1915 Mutiny breaks out among Indian soldiers in Singapore

In Singapore on this day in 1915, Indian soldiers launch the first large-scale mutiny of World War I.

Some 800 soldiers in the Indian army’s 5th Light Infantry Brigade broke out of their barracks on the afternoon of February 15 and killed several British officers before moving on to other areas of the city. By the time the revolt was quashed, several days later, by British, French and Russian troops, the mutineers had killed 39 Europeans—both soldiers and civilians. British soldiers executed 37 of the mutiny’s ringleaders by gunfire.

The Singapore Mutiny was intended by its organizers to be part of a general uprising being engineered by Sikh militants in neighboring India against British colonial rule. The Sikhs—whose religion combined elements of Hinduism and Islam—had earned favorable treatment from the British after their refusal to take part in an earlier mutiny in India in 1857, but some still chafed against the constraints of the empire. The Indian rebellion in 1915 enjoyed encouragement from the Germans, whose ship, the Bayern, had recently been intercepted by the Italians with a cargo of 500,000 revolvers, 100,000 rifles and 200,000 cases of ammunition intended to aid the militants. The rebels in India were betrayed in March 1915 by a police spy, and the leaders were arrested before they could signal the start of the revolt. Eighteen were hanged.

Despite such insurrections, many Indians from across the country continued to volunteer to serve the British empire in World War I. The first Indian Victoria Cross for bravery had been awarded on the Western Front in January 1915. Mahatma Gandhi, champion of passive resistance and leader of the struggle for Indian home rule, played an active role in the recruitment of Indian soldiers during World War I, writing later that “If we would improve our status through the help and cooperation of the British, it was our duty to win their help by standing by them in their hour of need.”
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1942 Singapore falls to Japan

Singapore, the "Gibraltar of the East" and a strategic British stronghold, falls to Japanese forces.

An island city and the capital of the Straits Settlement of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore had been a British colony since the 19th century. In July 1941, when Japanese troops occupied French Indochina, the Japanese telegraphed their intentions to transfer Singapore from the British to its own burgeoning empire. Sure enough, on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, 24,000 Japanese troops were transported from Indochina to the Malay Peninsula, and Japanese fighter pilots attacked Singapore, killing 61 civilians from the air.

The battle between Japanese and British forces on the Malay Peninsula continued throughout December and January, killing hundreds more civilians in the process. The British were forced to abandon and evacuate many of their positions, including Port Swettenham and Kuala Lumpur.

On February 8, 5,000 Japanese troops landed on Singapore Island. The British were both outmanned and outgunned. Pro-Japanese propaganda leaflets were dropped on the islands, encouraging surrender. On February 13, Singapore's 15-inch coastal guns--the island's main defensive weapons--were destroyed. Tactical miscalculations on the part of British Gen. Arthur Percival and poor communication between military and civilian authorities exacerbated the deteriorating British defense. Represented by General Percival and senior Allied officers, Singapore surrendered to Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita in front of Japanese newsreel cameras. Sixty-two thousand Allied soldiers were taken prisoner; more than half eventually died as prisoners of war.

With the surrender of Singapore, Britain lost its foothold in the East. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill attempted to prop up morale by urging Brits "to display the calm and poise, combined with grim determination, which not so long ago brought us out of the very jaws of death."
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1966 DeGaulle offers to help end Vietnam War

In response to a letter from Ho Chi Minh asking that French President Charles De Gaulle use his influence to "prevent perfidious new maneuvers" by the United States in Southeast Asia, De Gaulle states that France is willing to do all that it could to end the war. As outlined by De Gaulle, the French believed that the Geneva agreements should be enforced, that Vietnam's independence should be "guaranteed by the nonintervention of any outside powers," and that the Vietnamese government should pursue a "policy of strict neutrality." President Lyndon Johnson saw De Gaulle's proposal as part of a continuing effort by the French leader to challenge U.S. leadership in Southeast Asia as well as in Europe. Seeing the American commitment in Vietnam as part of a larger global issue of American credibility, Johnson believed that the United States could not afford to abandon its South Vietnamese ally and rejected De Gaulle's proposal without consideration.
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1970 Chicago Eight defense attorneys sentenced

As the jury continues to deliberate in the trial of the Chicago Eight, defense attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass and three of the defendants are sentenced to prison for contempt of court.

The trial for eight antiwar activists charged with the responsibility for the violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago. The defendants included David Dellinger of the National Mobilization Committee (NMC); Rennie Davis and Thomas Hayden of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, founders of the Youth International Party ("Yippies"); Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers; and two lesser known activists, Lee Weiner and John Froines.

They were charged with conspiracy to cross state lines with intent to incite a riot. Attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass represented all but Seale. The trial, presided over by Judge Julius Hoffman, turned into a circus as the defendants and their attorneys used the court as a platform to attack Nixon, the war, racism, and oppression. Their tactics were so disruptive that at one point, Judge Hoffman ordered Seale gagged and strapped to his chair--Seale's disruptive behavior eventually caused the judge to try him separately.

By the time the trial ended in February 1970, Judge Hoffman had found all the defendants and their attorneys guilty of 175 counts of contempt of court and sentenced them to terms between two to four years. Although declaring the defendants not guilty of conspiracy, the jury found all but Froines and Weiner guilty of intent to riot. The others were each sentenced to five years and fined $5,000. None served time because a 1972 Court of Appeals decision overturned the criminal convictions; eventually, most of the contempt charges were also dropped.