On This Day
What Happened on February 15 in History
8 events that happened on February 15, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1898
The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in the harbor of Havana, Cuba.
The blast tore through the American warship while it lay at anchor, and more than 260 of its crew died. The cause was never settled, but the disaster inflamed public opinion in the United States and helped bring on the Spanish-American War that spring.
Source: history.com; archive.nytimes.com
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1933
A gunman fires at President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt during a rally in Miami.
Giuseppe Zangara opened fire as Roosevelt sat in an open car after a speech at Bayfront Park. Roosevelt was not hit, but Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was mortally wounded, and Zangara was executed a few weeks later.
Source: history.com
1942
British forces surrender Singapore to the Japanese army.
General Arthur Percival gave up the island fortress after about a week of fighting, and tens of thousands of British, Indian and Australian soldiers became prisoners of war. The loss of the base was one of the heaviest defeats in British military history.
Source: history.com
The Cold War
1950
Walt Disney's animated feature Cinderella opens in American theaters.
The studio had been weakened by World War II and needed a hit after several less successful releases. Cinderella became a box office success and put the company back on a firm financial footing.
Source: history.com
1961
A plane crash in Belgium kills the entire U.S. figure skating team.
Sabena Flight 548 went down near Brussels while carrying the American skaters, coaches and family members to the world championships in Prague. Everyone on board died, and the championships were called off that year.
Source: history.com
1965
Canada raises its red and white maple leaf flag for the first time.
The new national flag replaced the Red Ensign, which carried the British Union Jack in its corner, after a long and heated debate in Parliament. Prime Minister Lester Pearson had pressed for a design that was distinctly Canadian.
Source: history.com
The Modern Era
2003
Millions of people march around the world against a looming U.S. war in Iraq.
Protesters filled the streets of hundreds of cities on the same weekend, with some of the largest crowds in European capitals such as London and Rome. The demonstrations did not stop the U.S.-led invasion, which began about a month later.
Source: history.com
2013
A meteor explodes in the sky over Chelyabinsk, Russia, shattering windows across the region.
The space rock, roughly 18 meters across, burst apart high in the atmosphere shortly after sunrise. Its shock wave damaged buildings and injured many people on the ground, and NASA scientists later tracked its dust as it circled the globe.
Source: nasa.gov