February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 319 days remain until the end of the year.
We have some interesting facts & historic events all about February 15th, including areas in religion, crime, health and more.
Keep reading for more interesting facts about February 15th in history!
Table of Contents
Global Celebrations
- National Gumdrop Day
- Singles Awareness Day
- National Hippo Day
Historic Events
What Happened On This Day – February 15
2003: The largest peace demonstration in history takes place
Up to 30 million people in 600 cities around the world protested against the Iraq War.
2001: The first draft of the human genome is published
The human genome contains the complete human genetic information.
1989: The Soviet Union pulls out of Afghanistan
Despite their military superiority, the Soviet and Afghan armies did not succeed in breaking the Mujahideen insurgents’ resistance.
1971: The United Kingdom and Ireland decimalize their currencies
Before the change, a pound sterling was made up of 240 pence, or 20 shillings.
1965: Canada adopts its current national flag showing a maple leaf
The leaf symbolizes the country’s forests, the middle white stripe the arctic snow, and the red stripes the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
1931: Man at the beach fined for not wearing decent clothes. Netherlands, 1931
1889: Nаtive Argentinians taken to Europe to be exhibited as animals in a human zoo, 1889.
1885: Feet of the Statue of Liberty arrive on Liberty Island 1885.
Native Australians chained by British. Date Unknown
Famous Birthdays
Births On This Day, February 15
1954: Matt Groening, American animator, screenwriter, producer
1934: Graham Kennedy, Australian actor
1874: Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer
1710: Louis XV of France
1564: Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, physicist
Heartbreaking Deaths
Deaths On This Day, February 15
2005: Samuel T. Francis, American journalist
1988: Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1965: Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, television host
1928: H. H. Asquith, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1781: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author, philosopher