February 15......

February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 319 (320 in leap years) days remaining in the year on this date.

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 399 BC - The philosopher Socrates sentenced to death.

● 590 - Khosrau II crowned as king of Persia

● 732 - Ho-tse Shen-hui, Zen teacher disputes founder of Northern Ch'an line

● 1145 - Bernardo elected Pope Eugene III

● 1386 - Duke Philip the Stout forms Council of Flanders

● 1386 - King Jagiello of Lithuania was baptized into the Christian faith. Lithuania being the last heathen nation in Europe, Jagiello's conversion finalized the Macedonian Vision in Acts 16:9, leading St. Paul to begin taking the Gospel to Europe.

● 1539 - Emperor Charles receives Cardinal Pole in Toledo

● 1552 - Dutch coast hit by heavy storm

● 1563 - Russian troops occupy Polotsk Lithuania

● 1546 - Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa.

● 1637 - Ferdinand III succeeds Ferdinand II as Holy Roman Emperor

● 1677 - King Charles II reports anti-French covenant with Netherlands

● 1689 - German Parliament declares war on France

● 1762 - Anglican hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.'

● 1763 - Austria, Prussia & Saxony sign Peace of Hubertusburg

● 1764 - St Louis founded as a French trading post by Pierre Laclade Ligue

● 1775 - Angelo Braschi chosen as Pope Pius VI

● 1797 - Battle of Cape St Vincent

● 1799 - Printed ballots were authorized for use in elections in the state of Pennsylvania.

● 1804 - New Jersey becomes last northern state to abolish slavery

● 1805 - Harmony Society officially formed.

● 1820 - Birth of Susan Brownwell Anthony, early feminist, suffragist and the co-founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Adams, Mass.

● 1842 - Adhesive postage stamps were used for the first time by the City Dispatch Post (Office) in New York City.

● 1845 - Sarah Bagley, who leads the Lowell Female Reform Association, testifies to the Massachusetts legislature on deplorable working conditions in the state's mills. In the end, however, the committee's report will echo industry's concern about putting Massachusetts at a competitive disadvantage with textile mills in other states. The committee will find nothing unhealthy about the long hours, low wages, and the poor working conditions. The Lowell Female Reform Association unanimously passes a resolution chastising the committee, beginning a political campaign that will oust committee chair Col. William Schouler from the legislature.

● 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 its first patient.

● 1860 - Wheaton College was chartered in Illinois under Methodist sponsorship. (The following year the school passed into Congregational control. Today, Wheaton is non-denominational.)

● 1861 - Ft Point completed & garrisoned (but has never fired cannon in anger)

● 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

● 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

● 1879 - Women's rights: American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.

● 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 - U.S. battleship Maine explodes, sinks in Havana Harbor, killing 266. No evidence of sabotage was found, but the Hearst newspapers claim the ship was intentionally blown up by the Spanish. The accusation increased the newspapers' circulation and drew the U.S. inevitably toward war with Spain.

● 1900 - The British threaten to use natives in their war with the Boers. {This was moved along by the poor treatment Australians and other 'colonists' were given in their military service in South Africa, as the British commanders consider them second class and expendable.}

● 1903 - Morris Michtom and his wife Rose introduce the first teddy bear in America.

● 1906 - The British Labour Party organized.

● 1910 - "The Uprising of the Twenty Thousand," the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union Triangle Shirtwaist strike that began September 27, declared officially over by ILGWU; by now 339 manufacturing firms have reached agreements with the union; 13 firms, including Triangle, with 1,100 workers, did not settle.

● 1911 - International protests result in the release of French anarchist Jules Durand, wrongly accused of murder in a 1910 incident. Unfortunately, Durand, forcibly subdued in a strait jacket for 40 days, had become insane and spent the rest of his life in an asylum. A reopening of his case in 1918 cleared his name.

● 1912 - Fram reaches latitude 78º 41' S, farthest south ever by ship

● 1915 - Publication of "Manifesto Against the War," signed by 35 anarchists, including Errico Malatesta, Domela Nieuwenhuis, Louis Lecoin, Alexandre Berkman, Emma Goldman, Alexandre Schapiro, etc. A number of others had issued a manifesto in support of the allies.

● 1917 - U.S. Calvary gallops into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa.

● 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

● 1922 - Marconi begins regular broadcasting transmissions from Essex

● 1926 - Contract air mail service begins in US

● 1930 - Death of Franklin L. Sheppard, 78. He served on the editorial committee of the 1911 edition of the Presbyterian Hymnal, but is better remembered for composing the hymn tune TERRA BEATA, to which "This Is My Father's World" is most commonly sung.

● 1933 - Karl Radek praises invincible force of German communist party

● 1933 - Social-democratic newspaper "Vorwärts" banned again in Berlin

● 1933 - Signing of original 11-state master trucking agreement, involving 200,000 truckers, which formed the basis for the Teamsters Union.

● 1933 - In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.

● 1936 - -60º F (-51º C), Parshall ND (state record)

● 1936 - Hitler announces building of Volkswagens (starting slug-bug game)

● 1939 - Alphonse Sauveur Cannone (1899-1939) dies of tuberculosis in Paris. Took part in the 1919 Mutiny of the Sailors in the Black Sea, refusing to fight the Russian revolutionists. Condemned to 10 years in prison, he escaped, was recaptured and given another five years. Released August 1926, fought on the anarchist fronts with the CNT and FAI in the Spanish Revolution of 1936.

● 1939 - German battleship Bismarck was launched

● 1942 - German U-boat shells at Antillian oil refinery

● 1942 - Japanese troops march into Palembang, South Sumatra

● 1942 - World War II: The 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. The Sook Ching massacre begins.

● 1943 - Women's camp Tamtui on Ambon (Moluccas) hit by allied air raid

● 1944 - 891 British bombers attack Berlin

● 1944 - World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.

● 1946 - Bank of England nationalized

● 1948 - Mao Zedong's army occupies Yenan

● 1950 - The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty.

● 1952 - King George VI buried in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

● 1953 - Seventeen-year-old Tenley Albright becomes the first American to win the world figure skating championship.

● 1955 - 1st pilot plant to produce man-made diamonds announced

● 1956 - Urho Kekkonen appointed President of Finland

● 1957 - Andrei A Gromyko succeeds Dmitri Shepilov as Soviet foreign minister

● 1958 - Sjafroeddin Prawiranegara forms anti-government of Middle Sumatra

● 1959 - Antonio Segni forms Italian government

● 1961 - Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, with the entire US Figure Skating team, several coaches & family.

● 1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1965 - A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.

● 1966 - Nisqually tribe engages in protest "fish-in" to demand treaty fishing rights.

● 1966 - Colombia - Father Camillo Torres killed by government troops.

● 1967 - French Diadème 1-D satellite launches into Earth orbit

● 1967 - D66 (D'66) wins 7 seats in Dutch 2nd Chamber

● 1970 - The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) impose a ban against rock concerts at their Washington D.C. auditorium, Constitution Hall, after Sly & the Family Stone arrive five hours late and the crowd inflicts $1,000 worth of damage on the building.

● 1970 - Nationalists disrupt UN session on Congo

● 1970 - "Third World First" launched, London.

● 1970 - A Dominican DC-9 crashes into the sea during takeoff from Santo Domingo, killing 102.

● 1971 - Decimalization of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day abandoning 12-shilling system in use for 1200 years.

● 1971 - Decimalization of Irish coinage is completed on Decimal Day abandoning 12-shilling system.

● 1972 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos becomes metropolitan of Imbros/Tenedos

● 1972 - President Velasco Ibarra of Ecuador deposed for 4th time

● 1973 - USSR launches Prognoz 3 to study sun (589/200,300 km)

● 1976 - The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by the national referendum.

● 1977 - Social-democrats win Danish parliamentary election

● 1978 - Escaped mass murderer Ted Bundy recaptured, Pensacola FL

● 1978 - Zaire revises constitution

● 1979 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1980 - Television One and Television Two (formerly South Pacific Television) under the newly formed Television New Zealand goes to air for the first time.

● 1982 - The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers.

● 1984 - 500,000 Iranian soldiers move into Iraq

● 1985 - STS 51-E vehicle moves to launch pad

● 1985 - The Center for Disease Control reported that more than half of all nine-year-olds in the U.S. showed no sign of tooth decay.

● 1986 - Printers and police clash in Wapping; Eight police officers are injured in the worst outbreak of violence yet outside the News International printing plant in Wapping, east London.

● 1986 - Living Bibles International moved to its present headquarters in Naperville, IL. Founded in 1968 by Ken Taylor, editor of the Living Bible, LBI is an interdenominational Bible distributing agency, working in 45 countries.

● 1986 - This is the day of birth of Anthony Kirkham, the inventor of the widely acclaimed and hugely sucessfully selling "Chocolate Cube". This is not his only legacy, but it is the one he is most proud of.

● 1986 - Ferdinand Marcos wins rigged Philippines presidential election

● 1988 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1988 - Bill Wheeler was born....

● 1989 - Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops had left Afghanistan.

● 1989 - Israel attacks border strip Taba near Egypt

● 1990 - Secret Service raids Craig Neidorf, editor of "Phrack" on-line magazine.

● 1991 - The Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.

● 1991 - Freighter with dynamite explodes in Phang Nga Thailand, 120 die

● 1992 - Jeffrey Dahmer found sane & guilty of killing 15 boys

● 1993 - Bombings by Mafia drug lords kill 14 in Bogotá Colombia

● 1994 - US asks Aristide to adopt a peace plan from Haiti

● 1994 - Russia annexed Tartarstan by integrating it into its so-called federation, start of War of Independence and War of Liberation

● 1995 - Nabla Djanine, president of Algerian women's group Cris de Femmes, shot. One of a wave of assassinations of prominent Algerian women by Islamic fundamentalists.

● 1995 - The FBI arrested Kevin Mitnick and charged him with cracking security in some of the nation's most protected computers. He served five years in jail.

● 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

● 1996 - Arms-to-Iraq report published; The long-awaited report into the sale of arms-to-Iraq in the 1980s is published and contains strong criticisms of the ministers involved.

● 1996 - The oil tanker Sea Empress runs aground in Wales, spilling 72,000 tons of crude oil.

● 1996 - Mortar attack on the US Embassy in Athens, Greece.

● 1997 - In "Railway Tracks Action Day," some 15,000 in Wendland, Germany block and dismantle railroad lines scheduled to be used for shipment of nuclear waste.

● 1998 - Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 after 20 years of disapointment.

● 1999 - Abdullah Ocalan, PKK leader, arrested in Kenya. Turkish advocate for independent Kurdistan, arrested and extradited to face Turkish charges of terrorism.

● 2000 - Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York State vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator fails.

● 2002 - President George W. Bush approved Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the site for long-term disposal of highly radioactive nuclear waste.

● 2002 - At the Tri-State Crematory in La Fayette, Georgia, investigators find uncremated bodies disposed of in the woods and buildings on the crematorium's property. The discovery reveals one of the worst incidents of abuse in the funeral service industry.

● 2003 - In the single largest day of protests in world history, millions on six continents demonstrate against U.S./U.K. plans to invade Iraq. Reported totals include one to two million in London and Rome; 1.3 million in Barcelona, Spain (a city of 1.5 million); a half million in Berlin, Paris, Madrid, and New York. Smaller demonstrations are held in over 600 cities and towns across the U.S., including tens of thousands in several cities and 150,000 the following day in San Francisco.

● 2004 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Daytona 500 6 years to the day when his father won his only Daytona 500.

● 2005 - Defrocked priest Paul Shanley was sentenced in Boston to 12 to 15 years in prison on child rape charges.

● 2005 - YouTube,a very popular website,is activated.

BIRTHS

● 1458 - Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (d. 1490)

● 1471 - Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (d. 1503)

● 1519 - Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish sailor and founder of St. Augustine, Fla. (d. 1574)

● 1543 - Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)

● 1564 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1642)

● 1571 - Michael Praetorius, German composer (d. 1621)

● 1620 - François Charpentier, French archaeologist (d. 1702)

● 1705 - Charles-André van Loo, French painter (d. 1765)

● 1710 - King Louis XV of France (d. 1774)

● 1723 - John Witherspoon, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1794)

● 1725 - Abraham Clark, American founding father (d. 1794)

● 1739 - Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect (d. 1813)

● 1748 - Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher, economist and exponent of Utilitarianism (d. 1832)

● 1759 - Friedrich August Wolf, German archaeologist (d. 1824)

● 1797 - Henry Steinway, German-born American piano builder (d. 1871)

● 1803 - John Sutter, California pioneer (d. 1880)

● 1809 - Cyrus McCormick, American inventor (d. 1884)

● 1809 - André Dumont, Belgian geologist (d. 1857)

● 1812 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler (d. 1902)

● 1815 - Constantin von Tischendorf, German Biblical scholar (d. 1874)

● 1820 - Susan B. Anthony, American feminist and suffragist (d. 1906)

● 1825 - Carter Harrison, Sr., Mayor of Chicago (d. 1893)

● 1826 - George Johnstone Stoney, Irish/English physicist (d. 1911)

● 1835 - Demetrius Vikelas, Greek International Olympic Committee president (d. 1908)

● 1841 - Manoel Ferraz de Campos Salles, President of Brazil (d. 1913)

● 1845 - Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1937)

● 1847 - Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (d. 1927)

● 1856 - Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (d. 1926)

● 1861 - Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1947)

● 1861 - Charles Edouard Guillaume, French physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1938)

● 1873 - Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-born chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1964)

● 1874 - Sir Ernest Shackleton, British polar explorer (d. 1922)

● 1882 - John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942)

● 1883 - Sax Rohmer, English author (d. 1959)

● 1892 - James Forrestal, United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1949)

● 1895 - Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete (d. 1971)

● 1896 - Arthur Shields, Irish actor (d. 1970)

● 1898 - Totò, Italian actor, writer, and composer (d. 1967)

● 1898 - Allen Woodring, American runner (d. 1982)

● 1899 - Georges Auric, French composer (d. 1983)

● 1899 - Gale Sondergaard, American actress (d. 1985)

● 1904 - Antonin Magne, French cyclist (d. 1983)

● 1905 - Harold Arlen, American composer (d. 1986)

● 1907 - Jean Langlais, French composer and organist (d. 1991)

● 1907 - Cesar Romero, American actor (d. 1994)

● 1909 - Miep Gies, Dutch biographer of Anne Frank

● 1909 - Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)

● 1911 - Leonard Woodcock, labor union official, ambassador to China

● 1913 - Erich Eliskases, Austrian-born chess player (d. 1997)

● 1914 - Hale Boggs, American politician (d. 1972)

● 1914 - Kevin McCarthy, American actor

● 1916 - Mary Jane Croft, American actress (d. 1999)

● 1918 - Allan Arbus, American actor (''M*A*S*H'')

● 1918 - Hank Locklin, Country singer

● 1919 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)

● 1922 - John Bayard Anderson, American politician

● 1927 - Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (''The Carol Burnett Show'')

● 1929 - Graham Hill, British race car driver (d. 1975)

● 1929 - James Schlesinger, American politician (d. 2007)

● 1930 - Nico Minardos, American actor

● 1931 - Claire Bloom, British actress

● 1931 - Geoff Edwards, American television game show host

● 1934 - Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist

● 1934 - Graham Kennedy, Australian actor (d. 2005)

● 1935 - Susan Brownmiller, American feminist and writer

● 1935 - Roger Chaffee, astronaut, killed in Apollo I fire (d. 1967)

● 1939 - Ole Ellefsæter, Norwegian cross-country skier

● 1940 - John Hadl, American football player

● 1940 - Hamzah Haz, Indonesian politician

● 1941 - Brian Holland, Songwriter

● 1944 - Henry Threadgill, Jazz saxophonist

● 1944 - Mick Avory, British drummer (The Kinks)

● 1945 - John Helliwell, British musician (Supertramp)

● 1946 - Marisa Berenson, American actress

● 1946 - Esko Seppänen, Finnish politician

● 1947 - John Coolidge Adams, American composer

● 1947 - Rusty Hamer, American actor (d. 1990)

● 1947 - David Brown, American musician (Carlos Santana)

● 1948 - Ron Cey, baseball player

● 1948 - Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist

● 1949 - Ken Anderson, American football player

● 1950 - Hark Tsui, Hong Kong film director

● 1951 - Melissa Manchester, American singer

● 1951 - Jane Seymour, British actress (''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'')

● 1954 - Matt Groening, American cartoonist (''The Simpsons'')

● 1955 - Janice Dickinson, Model (''The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency'')

● 1955 - Christopher McDonald, American actor (''Family Law'')

● 1957 - Jimmy Spencer, American race car driver

● 1957 - Jake E. Lee, guitarist

● 1959 - Ali Campbell, British musician (UB40)

● 1959 - Brian Propp, Canadian hockey player

● 1959 - Joseph R. Gannascoli, Actor ("The Sopranos")

● 1960 - Mikey Craig, British musician (Culture Club)

● 1964 - Michael Reynolds, Country singer (Pinmonkey)

● 1964 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)

● 1967 - Michael Easton, Actor

● 1967 - Jane Child Canadian musician

● 1969 - Bryan Williams, founder of Cash Money Records

● 1971 - Renée O'Connor, American actress and director

● 1972 - Jaromír Jágr, Czech hockey player

● 1973 - Kateřina Neumannová, Czech cross country skier

● 1973 - Amy Van Dyken, American swimmer

● 1973 - Sarah Wynter, Australian actress

● 1974 - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (d. 2002)

● 1974 - Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player

● 1974 - Tomi Putaansuu, Finnish singer (Lordi)

● 1974 - Alexander Wurz, Austrian race car driver

● 1976 - Brandon Boyd, American musician (Incubus)

● 1976 - Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American musician (The Killers)

● 1976 - Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist

● 1977 - Brooks Wackerman, American drummer

● 1978 - Tuan Le, American poker player

● 1978 - Kimberly Goss, American singer and musician (Sinergy)

● 1979 - Alenka Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer

● 1979 - Josh Low, English footballer

● 1980 - Conor Oberst, American singer and songwriter (Bright Eyes

● 1981 - Matt Hoopes, American musician (Relient K)

● 1981 - Olivia Longott, American singer

● 1981 - Jenna Morasca, American model

● 1983 - Meera Jasmine, Indian actress

● 1983 - Ashley Lyn Cafagna-Tesoro, Actress

● 1984 - Dorota Rabczewska, Polish singer (Virgin)

DEATHS

● 380 - Peter II, Patriarch of Alexandria

● 1145 - Pope Lucius II

● 1621 - Michael Praetorius, German composer (b. 1571)

● 1637 - Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1578)

● 1738 - Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (b. 1684)

● 1775 - Peter Dens, Belgian Catholic theologian (b. 1690)

● 1781 - Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author and philosopher (b. 1729)

● 1818 - Friedrich Ludwig, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, Prussian general (b. 1746)

● 1835 - Henry Hunt, British politician (b. 1773)

● 1844 - Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1757)

● 1847 - Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (b. 1794)

● 1848 - Hermann von Boyen, Prussian field marshal (b. 1771)

● 1849 - Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (b. 1804)

● 1857 - Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)

● 1869 - Mirza Ghalib, Indian poet (b. 1796)

● 1911 - Theodor Escherich, German pediatrician (b. 1859)

● 1928 - H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)

● 1932 - Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (b. 1865)

● 1939 - Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter (b. 1878)

● 1959 - Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1879)

● 1964 - Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1880)

● 1965 - Nat King Cole, American singer and musician (b. 1919)

● 1966 - Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect and historian of gardens (b. 1909)

● 1973 - Wally Cox, American actor (b. 1924)

● 1973 - Tim Holt, American actor (b. 1919)

● 1974 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (b. 1887)

● 1981 - Mike Bloomfield, American musician (b. 1944)

● 1981 - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)

● 1984 - Ethel Merman, American singer and actress (b. 1908)

● 1988 - Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1918)

● 1996 - Tommy Rettig, American actor (b. 1941)

● 1996 - McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)

● 1998 - Louie Spicolli, American professional wrestler

● 1999 - Big L (Lamont Coleman), American rapper (b. 1974)

● 1999 - Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1926)

● 2002 - Howard K. Smith, American journalist (b. 1914)

● 2002 - Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)

● 2004 - Jens Evensen, Norwegian minister and International Court of Justice judge (b. 1917)

● 2004 - Jan Miner, American actress (b. 1917)

● 2005 - Samuel Francis, American journalist (b. 1947)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Siegfried of Sweden
● St. Agape
● St. Berach
● St. Craton
● St. Decorosus
● St. Dochow
● St. Druthmar
● Sts. Faustin and Jovita
● St. Faustus
● St. Georgia
● St. Jordan
● St. Joseph of Antioch
● St. Quinidius
● St. Saturninus
● St. Walfrid
● St. Winaman
● Bl. Claude de la Colombière

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for February 2 (Civil Date: February 15)
● THE MEETING OF OUR LORD GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
● New-Martyr Jordan of Trebizond.
● New-Martyr Gabriel at Constantinople.
● Greek Calendar
● Martyr Agathadorus of Cappadocia.
● Repose of Schemamonk Seraphim of Valaam (1860).

● Christian:
● St. Georgia (St. Georgette)

● Anglican:
● Thomas Bray, priest/missionary

● Total Defence Day in Singapore

● Flag Day in Canada

● National Day in Serbia

● John Frum Day in Vanuatu

● Lupercalia

● Massachusetts : Spanish-American War Memorial Day (1898)

● US : Battleship Day, Remember the Maine (1898)

● This Holiday is only applicable on a given "day of the week"
● US : Presidents' Day (formerly Washington's Birthday)-legal holiday - ( Monday )


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Permanent Backlink to Post