February 15
1564 - Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa.
1764 - The city of St. Louis was founded as a French fur trading post.
1798 - A feud between two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, meeting in Philadelphia, boiled over as Roger Griswold of Connecticut used a cane to attack Matthew Lyon of Vermont, who defended himself with a set of tongs. (Griswold was enraged over the House's refusal to expel Lyon for spitting tobacco juice in his face two weeks earlier; after the two men were separated, a motion to expel them both was defeated.)
1879 - President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
1898 - The battleship USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, touching off the Spanish-American War.
1933 - Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak was killed in an assassination attempt on president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami; gunman Giuseppe Zangara was executed more than four weeks later.
1952 - A funeral was held at Windsor Castle for Britain's King George VI, who had died nine days earlier.
1965 - The Maple Leaf Flag became the official flag of Canada.
1971 - Britain and Ireland "decimalised" their currencies, making one pound equal to 100 new pence instead of 240 pence.
1989 - More than 100,000 Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan almost 10 years after the USSR invaded the country.
1992 - A jury in Milwaukee found that Jeffrey Dahmer was sane when he killed and mutilated 15 men and boys. (The decision meant that Dahmer, who had already plead guilty to the murders, would receive a mandatory life sentence for each count; Dahmer was beaten to death in prison in 1994.)
2003 - Millions of protesters around the world demonstrated against the threat of a U.S. war on Iraq.
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.
2012 - A prison fire in Comayagua, Honduras killed 360 people.
2020 - China reported 143 new coronavirus deaths, but a dip in the number of new cases; the World Health Organization praised China’s efforts to contain the new disease.
Birthdays
20 - Haley Tju (actress)
23 - Zach Gordon (actor)
35 - Amber Riley (actress)
36 - Natalie Morales (actress)
38 - Ashley Lyn Cafagna (actress)
42 - Chantal Janzen (actress)
47 - Miranda July (actress)
48 - Amy Van Dyken-Rouen (swimmer)
48 - Sarah Wynter (actress)
50 - Renee O'Connor (actress)
50 - Alex Borstein (actor)
54 - Michael Easton (actor)
58 - Steven Michael Quezada (actor/comedian)
61 - Darrell Green (football player)
66 - Christopher McDonald (actor)
66 - Janice Dickinson (model)
67 - Matt Groening ("Simpsons" creator)
70 - Melissa Manchester (singer)
70 - Jane Seymour (actress)
74 - Marisa Berenson (actress/model)
90 - Claire Bloom (actress)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - February 15
1946 - Edith Houghton, at age 33, was signed as a baseball scout by the Philadelphia Phillies becoming the first female scout in the major leagues.
1961 - Seventy-three people, including an 18-member U.S. figure skating team en route to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia, were killed in the crash of a Sabena Airlines Boeing 707 in Belgium.
1962 - CBS purchased the exclusive television broadcast rights for football games from the NCAA for $10.2 million.
1965 - NFL teams pledged not to sign college seniors until they had completed all of their games, including bowl games.
1978 - Leon Spinks defeats Muhammad Ali in 15 rounds to win the heavyweight championship.
1980 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) tied an NHL record with seven assists in a game against the Washington Capitals. Gretzky also set a rookie record of 96 points.
1981 - Richard Petty wins a record seventh Daytona 500.
1991 - Troy State University sets an NCAA Division II record with 103 points in a half in a 187-117 win over DeVry.
1996 - The NCAA football rules committee voted to require a tiebreaker in all NCAA football games.
1998 - Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 for the first time, in what was his 20th attempt.
1999 - Wayne Gretzky records 5 assists in the New York Rangers' 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators; takes a 1,000 point lead over Gordie Howe in all time NHL scoring lead.
2000 - Martin Brodeur becomes first goaltender in NHL history to get credit for a "game winning" goal as the New Jersey Devils win, 4-2 over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
2002 - Olympic officials resolved the judging scandal by awarding Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier a gold medal while allowing the Russians, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, to keep theirs.
2004 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Daytona 500 six years to the day after his father won his first and only Daytona 500 title in 1998.
2009 - Matt Kenseth wins a shortened Daytona 500 when the race was called with 48 laps to go after a severe rainstorm hits the track.
2018 - Serbian center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets records the fastest triple-double in NBA history (14 minutes, 33 seconds) in a 134-123 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Jokic recorded 30 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds.
1564 - Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa.
1764 - The city of St. Louis was founded as a French fur trading post.
1798 - A feud between two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, meeting in Philadelphia, boiled over as Roger Griswold of Connecticut used a cane to attack Matthew Lyon of Vermont, who defended himself with a set of tongs. (Griswold was enraged over the House's refusal to expel Lyon for spitting tobacco juice in his face two weeks earlier; after the two men were separated, a motion to expel them both was defeated.)
1879 - President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
1898 - The battleship USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, touching off the Spanish-American War.
1933 - Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak was killed in an assassination attempt on president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami; gunman Giuseppe Zangara was executed more than four weeks later.
1952 - A funeral was held at Windsor Castle for Britain's King George VI, who had died nine days earlier.
1965 - The Maple Leaf Flag became the official flag of Canada.
1971 - Britain and Ireland "decimalised" their currencies, making one pound equal to 100 new pence instead of 240 pence.
1989 - More than 100,000 Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan almost 10 years after the USSR invaded the country.
1992 - A jury in Milwaukee found that Jeffrey Dahmer was sane when he killed and mutilated 15 men and boys. (The decision meant that Dahmer, who had already plead guilty to the murders, would receive a mandatory life sentence for each count; Dahmer was beaten to death in prison in 1994.)
2003 - Millions of protesters around the world demonstrated against the threat of a U.S. war on Iraq.
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.
2012 - A prison fire in Comayagua, Honduras killed 360 people.
2020 - China reported 143 new coronavirus deaths, but a dip in the number of new cases; the World Health Organization praised China’s efforts to contain the new disease.
Birthdays
20 - Haley Tju (actress)
23 - Zach Gordon (actor)
35 - Amber Riley (actress)
36 - Natalie Morales (actress)
38 - Ashley Lyn Cafagna (actress)
42 - Chantal Janzen (actress)
47 - Miranda July (actress)
48 - Amy Van Dyken-Rouen (swimmer)
48 - Sarah Wynter (actress)
50 - Renee O'Connor (actress)
50 - Alex Borstein (actor)
54 - Michael Easton (actor)
58 - Steven Michael Quezada (actor/comedian)
61 - Darrell Green (football player)
66 - Christopher McDonald (actor)
66 - Janice Dickinson (model)
67 - Matt Groening ("Simpsons" creator)
70 - Melissa Manchester (singer)
70 - Jane Seymour (actress)
74 - Marisa Berenson (actress/model)
90 - Claire Bloom (actress)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - February 15
1946 - Edith Houghton, at age 33, was signed as a baseball scout by the Philadelphia Phillies becoming the first female scout in the major leagues.
1961 - Seventy-three people, including an 18-member U.S. figure skating team en route to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia, were killed in the crash of a Sabena Airlines Boeing 707 in Belgium.
1962 - CBS purchased the exclusive television broadcast rights for football games from the NCAA for $10.2 million.
1965 - NFL teams pledged not to sign college seniors until they had completed all of their games, including bowl games.
1978 - Leon Spinks defeats Muhammad Ali in 15 rounds to win the heavyweight championship.
1980 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) tied an NHL record with seven assists in a game against the Washington Capitals. Gretzky also set a rookie record of 96 points.
1981 - Richard Petty wins a record seventh Daytona 500.
1991 - Troy State University sets an NCAA Division II record with 103 points in a half in a 187-117 win over DeVry.
1996 - The NCAA football rules committee voted to require a tiebreaker in all NCAA football games.
1998 - Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 for the first time, in what was his 20th attempt.
1999 - Wayne Gretzky records 5 assists in the New York Rangers' 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators; takes a 1,000 point lead over Gordie Howe in all time NHL scoring lead.
2000 - Martin Brodeur becomes first goaltender in NHL history to get credit for a "game winning" goal as the New Jersey Devils win, 4-2 over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
2002 - Olympic officials resolved the judging scandal by awarding Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier a gold medal while allowing the Russians, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, to keep theirs.
2004 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Daytona 500 six years to the day after his father won his first and only Daytona 500 title in 1998.
2009 - Matt Kenseth wins a shortened Daytona 500 when the race was called with 48 laps to go after a severe rainstorm hits the track.
2018 - Serbian center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets records the fastest triple-double in NBA history (14 minutes, 33 seconds) in a 134-123 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Jokic recorded 30 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds.
