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On This Day: February 15
UpdatedFebruary 15, 2014,6:06 pm
On Feb. 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, killing 260 crew members and escalating tensions with Spain.
On Feb. 15, 1820, Susan B. Anthony, the co-founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association, was born. Following her death on March 13, 1906, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » |Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
| 1564 | Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa. |
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| 1764 | The city of St. Louis was established. |
| 1898 | The U.S. battleship Maine blew up in Havana harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the U.S. closer to war with Spain over the issue of Cuban independence. |
| 1933 | President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that claimed the life of Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak. |
| 1952 | A funeral was held at Windsor Castle for Britain's King George VI, who had died nine days earlier. |
| 1965 | Canada's new maple leaf flag was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa. |
| 1971 | Britain and Ireland "decimalised" their currencies, making one pound equal to 100 new pence instead of 240 pence. |
| 1989 | The Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan after more than nine years of military intervention. |
| 2002 | Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were awarded a gold medal to resolve a judging controversy at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. |
| 2005 | Defrocked priest Paul Shanley was sentenced in Boston to 12 to 15 years in prison on child rape charges. |
| 2008 | Business tycoon Steve Fossett, 63, was declared dead five months after his small plane vanished over California's Sierra Nevada mountains. (His remains were discovered later in the year.) |
| 2011 | Protesters swarmed Wisconsin's capitol after Gov. Scott Walker proposed cutbacks in benefits and bargaining rights for public employees. |
Historic Birthdays
Susan B. Anthony2/15/1820 - 3/13/1906American crusader for the woman suffrage movementGo to obituary »| 55 | Pedro Menendez de Aviles 2/15/1519 - 9/17/1574 Spanish sailor and founder of St. Augustine, Fla. |
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| 77 | Galileo Galilei 2/15/1564 - 1/8/1642 Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician |
| 50 | Michael Praetorius 2/15/1571 - 2/15/1621 German composer and music theorist |
| 84 | Jeremy Bentham 2/15/1748 - 6/6/1832 English philosopher, economist and exponent of Utilitarianism |
| 73 | Henry Steinway 2/15/1797 - 2/7/1871 German-bn. American piano builder |
| 85 | George Johnstone Stoney 2/15/1826 - 7/5/1911 Irish/English physicist |
| 86 | Alfred North Whitehead 2/15/1861 - 12/30/1947 English mathematician and philosopher |
| 60 | John Barrymore 2/15/1882 - 5/29/1942 American actor |
| 57 | James Forrestal 2/15/1892 - 5/22/1949 American Sec. of Defense |
| 92 | Earl Henry Blaik 2/15/1897 - 5/6/1989 American collegiate football coach |
| 81 | Harold Arlen 2/15/1905 - 4/23/1986 American composer and arranger |
| 46 | Graham Hill 2/15/1929 - 11/29/1975 English automobile racing driver |
| 31 | Roger Chaffee 2/15/1935 - 1/27/1967 American astronaut killed in the Apollo fire |
