15FEB11

From CleanPosts

Births for February 15

• 1368 Sigismund, Nrnberg Germany, Holy Roman emperor (1410-37)

• 1483 Babur, founded Mughal dynasty in India (1526-30)

• 1497 Philipp Melanchthon, Germany, Protestant reformer

• 1519 Pedro Men‚ndez de Aviles, explored Florida, founded St Augustine

• 1524 Charles Guise, archbishop/cardinal of Reims

• 1564 Galileo Galilei, Pisa Italy, astronomer/physicist

• 1571 Michael Praetorius, German music theorist/composer (Syntagma music)

• 1620 Fran‡ois Charpentier, French scholar/archaeologist

• 1650 Anne Jules duke de Noailles, marshal of France (hugenot)

• 1666 Antonio M Valsalva, Italian anatomist (eardrums, voice cracked)

• 1710 Louis XV the Well-Beloved, King of France (1710-74)

• 1726 Abraham Clark, farmer/lawyer, signed Declaration of Independence

• 1748 Jeremy Bentham, Utilitarian philosopher/economist

• 1764 Jens I Baggesen, Danish writer/linguist (Danske V‘rker)

• 1774 W G Frederik, prince of Orange

• 1780 Carel Asser, lawyer

• 1795 Charles Niellon, Belgian brigade general (10 day campaign)

• 1797 Henry Engelhard Steinway, piano maker

• 1803 John Augustus Sutter, of Calif gold rush fame

• 1803 John Sutter, Swiss/US colonist (New Helvetia Calif)

• 1809 Cyrus Hall McCormick, inventor (Mechanical reaper)

• 1812 Charles Lewis Tiffany, Killingly Ct, jeweler

• 1817 Charles F Daubigny, French restauranteur/painter

• 1820 Susan Brownell Anthony, woman's suffragette

• 1826 George J Stoney, Irish physicist

• 1828 Johan H van Dale, schoolmaster (New Dutch Language Dictionary)

• 1834 William Preece, English electrical engineer/wireless pioneer

• 1835 Alexander Stuart Webb, Major General (Union Army), died in 1911

• 1845 Elihu Root, (R)/US Sec of State (1905-09)/Nobel Peace Prize (1912)

• 1858 William Pickering, Boston, astronomer (9th & 10th moons of Saturn)

• 1861 Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician/philosopher

• 1874 Ernest H Shackleton, Ireland, explorer (Endurance, Antarctica)

• 1882 John Barrymore (Blythe), US actor (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde)

• 1886 Sax Rohmer, England, author (Dr Fu Manchu)

• 1890 Robert Ley, German chemist/parliament member (NSDAP)

• 1892 James Forrestal, US, banker/minister of Navy

• 1894 Oswaldo Aranha, Brazil, lawyer/statesman (1st pres of UN)

• 1897 Earl H Blaik, Det, college football hall of fame coach (elected 1965)

• 1899 Gale Sondergard, Litchfield Mn, actress (Cat & Canary, Road to Rio)

• 1899 Georges Auric, Lodve France, composer (It Always Rains on Sunday)

• 1901 Christmas Humphreys, Engld, lawyer/writer/Buddhist (Awakening of Zen)

• 1904 Antonin Magne, French bicyclist (Tour de France 1931, 34)

• 1905 Harold Arlen (Hyman Arluck), US, composer (Over the Rainbow)

• 1907 Cesar Romero, NYC, actor (Joker-Batman, Ocean's 11, Thin Man)

• 1908 Ypk fan der Fear, writer (Reade runen)

• 1911 Leonard Woodcock, labor leader (UAW)

• 1912 George Mikes, Hungary, British writer (How to Be an Alien)

• 1913 Willy Vandersteen, Belgian cartoonist (Suske & Wiske)

• 1914 Kevin McCarthy, Seattle, (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Howling)

• 1918 Alan Arbus, NYC, actor (Dr Sidney Freedman-M*A*S*H)

• 1920 Piet van Aken, Flemish writer (Devil sails to us, Niggers)

• 1922 Herman Kahn, NJ, writer (Thinking About the Unthinkable)

• 1923 Keene Curtis, Salt Lake City Utah, actor (Magician, Amanda's)

• 1923 Yelena Bonner, Moscow, soviet disident/wife of Andre Sakharov

• 1927 Harvey Korman, Chicago, actor (Carol Burnett Show, Blazing Saddles)

• 1929 Graham Hill, auto racer (1962, 68 international racing champ)

• 1929 James Schlesinger, US Secretary of Defense (1973-75)

• 1931 (Patricia) Claire Bloom, London, actress (Charly, Look Back in Anger)

• 1933 Adolfo, Cardones Cuba, fashion designer (Nancy Reagan)

• 1934 Niklaus Wirth, Switzerland, computer programmer/inventor (PASCAL)

• 1935 John R Block, US Secretary of Agriculture (1981-86)

• 1935 Roger B Chaffee, Grand Rapids Michigan, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut

• 1935 Susan Brownmiller, Brooklyn, feminist author (Against Our Wills)

• 1937 Terry Everett, (Rep-R-Alabama)

• 1939 Jo Clayton, US, sci-fi author (Irsud, Maeve, Star Hunters)

• 1939 Ollie Ellefs„ter, Norway, 3K steeplechase (Olympics-1960)

• 1943 Florinda Bolkan, actress (Damned, Last Valley, Word)

• 1944 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Serebrov, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-7, T-8)

• 1944 Mick Avory, rock drummer (Kinks-Lola)

• 1944 Tineke Netelenbos, Dutch 2nd Chamber member (PvdA)

• 1945 Douglas R Hofstadter, NYC, author (G”del, Escher, Bach)

• 1947 John Adams, Worcester Mass, composerette (Nixon on China)

• 1947 Marisa Berenson, NY, actress (Barry Lyndon, Death in Vienna)

• 1947 Rusty Hamer, Tenafly NJ, actor (Rusty-Make Room for Daddy)

• 1948 Ron "Penguin" Cey, Tacoma Wash, 3rd baseman (LA Dodgers)

• 1949 Ken Anderson, NFL quarterback (Cincinnati Bengals)

• 1951 Jane Seymour, (Joyce Frankenberg), England, actress (Live & Let Die)

• 1951 Melissa Manchester, Bronx, NY, singer (Don't Cry Out Loud)

• 1954 Matt Groening, cartoonist (Life in Hell, Simpsons)

• 1955 Bev Francis, Australia, world women's power-lifting champion

• 1960 Mikey Craig, rock bassist (Culture Club-Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

• 1968 Kurt Robin McKinney, Louisville Ky, actor (Ned-General Hospital)

• 1968 Michael Easton, actor (Tanner-Days of Our Lives)

• 1991 Nicholas Garland, son of Pamela Sue Martin

Passings for February 15

• 1145 Lucius II, (Gherardo Caccianemici), Italian Pope (1144-45), dies

• 1152 Konrad III, Roman-German King (1138-1152), dies

• 1580 Cunerus Petri, theologist/bishop of Leeuwarden, dies

• 1637 Ferdinand II, King of Bohemia/Hungarian/German Emperor (1619-37), die

• 1682 Claude de la Colombire, French jesuit/writer/royal chaplain, dies

• 1686 Mathias Rauchmller, German sculptor (Piasten mausoleum Poland), dies

• 1818 Charles XIII, King of Sweden (1809-18)/Norway (1814-18), dies

• 1849 Pierre F Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (logistics curve), dies

• 1905 Lewis Wallace, US diplomat/writer (Ben Hur), dies

• 1919 Pieter K Pel, internist (Pel-Ebstein fever), dies at 66

• 1922 Clara (G Meijer-)Wichmann, German/Dutch anarchists/feminist, dies

• 1928 Hubert H Asquith, premier Great-Britain (1908-16), dies

• 1933 Anton J Cermak, (Mayor-Chic), assassinated in Miami

• 1939 Henri Jaspar, premier of Belgium (1926-31), dies

• 1943 Thomas "Fats" Waller, US jazz pianist (Hot Chocolate), dies

• 1955 S Z Sakall, actor (Dolly Sisters, Casablanca), dies at 71

• 1959 Owen W Richardson, English physicist (Nobel 1928), dies at 69

• 1961 Marubel Vinaon Owen, figure skater (Olympic-silver-1932), dies

• 1965 Nat King Cole, singer (Unforgettable, Mona Lisa), dies at 65

• 1967 William C Bullitt, 1st US ambassador in USSR, dies

• 1972 Jef (Josephus CF) Last, poet/Indonesian politician, dies

• 1973 Wally Cox, actor (Mr Peepers, Hollywood Squares), dies at 48

• 1981 Mike Bloomfield, guitarist/singer (Electric Flag), dies at 37

• 1982 Rolfe Sedan, actor (Mailman-George Burns Show), dies at 85

• 1984 Avon Long, dancer/actor, dies of cancer at 73

• 1984 Ethel Merman, (Zimmerman), singer/actress, dies in her sleep at 76

• 1984 Leamon Hunt, US director-General in Sinai, killed by communists

• 1988 Gardiner Means, US economist, dies at 91

• 1988 Neil R(onald) Jones, sf writer (Space War, Twin Worlds), dies at 78

• 1988 Richard P Feynman, physicist/author (Nobel 1965, Physical Law), dies

• 1991 Gary Gears, Chicago disk jockey, dies at 46 of a heart attack

• 1992 William H Schuman, US composer (2x Pulitzer)/Pres of Julliard, dies

• 1993 George Wallington, (Giacinto Figlia), Italian bebop-pianist/, dies

Special events for February 15

• 1145 Bernardo elected Pope Eugene III

• 1637 Ferdinand III succeeds Ferdinand II as Holy Roman Emperor

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

• 1768 1st mustard manufactured in America advertised, Philadelphia

• 1797 Battle of Cape St Vincent

• 1799 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania

• 1804 New Jersey becomes last northern state to abolish slavery

• 1842 1st adhesive postage stamps in US (private delivery company), NYC

• 1845 William Parsons, Earl of Rosse, 1st uses 72" (183 cm) reflector

• 1848 Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston

• 1851 Black abolitionists invade Boston courtroom rescueing a fugitive slav

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

• 1862 Grant's major assault on Ft Donelson, Tennessee

• 1869 Charges of Treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped

• 1870 Ground broken for Northern Pacific Railway near Duluth, Minn

• 1876 Historic Elm at Boston blown down

• 1879 Congress authorizes women lawyers to practice before Supreme Ct

• 1895 23 cm (9") of snow falls on New Orleans

• 1898 USS Maine blows up in Havana harbor, cause unknown-258 sailors die

• 1899 M Wolf & A Schwassmann discovers asteroid #442 Eichsfeldia

• 1902 Autobahn opens in Berlin

• 1903 1st Teddy Bear introduced in America, made by Morris & Rose Michtom

• 1905 1st race meet at Oaklawn Park (Hot Springs, Ark)

• 1906 British Labour Party organizes

• 1912 Fram reaches latitude 78ø 41' S, farthest south ever by ship

• 1913 1st avant-garde art show in America opens in NYC

• 1917 M Wolf discovers asteroid #865 Zubaida

• 1917 SF Public Library (Main Branch at Civic center) dedicated

• 1918 1st WW I US army troopship torpedoed & sunk by Germany, off Ireland

• 1918 Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania adopt Gregorian calendar

• 1919 American Legion organizes in Paris

• 1920 K Reinmuth discovers asteroid #926 Imhilde

• 1926 Contract air mail service begins in US

• 1930 Weona beats Toluca in Illinois Basketball Tournament in 10 overtimes

• 1933 Pres-elect Franklin Roosevelt survives assassination attempt

• 1936 -60ø F (-51ø C), Parshall, North Dakota (state record)

• 1936 Hitler orders building of Volkswagens

• 1936 Sonja Henie, Norway, wins 3rd consecutive Olympic figure skating gold

• 1941 Duke Ellington 1st records "Take the A Train"

• 1941 K Reinmuth discovers asteroids #1561 Fricke & #1785 Wurm

• 1942 German U-Boat shoots at Antillian oil refinery

• 1942 Japanese troop march into Palembang, South-Sumatra

• 1942 Singapore surrenders to Japanese

• 1944 Bombing & shooting at Monte Cassino convent Netherlands, begins

• 1948 Mao Tse Tung's army occupies Jenan

• 1950 KENS TV channel 5 in San Antonio, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting

• 1950 WSYR (now WSTM) TV channel 3 in Syracuse, NY (NBC) begins broadcastin

• 1950 Walt Disney's "Cinderella" released

• 1954 1st bevatron in operation-Berkeley, California

• 1954 WRDW TV channel 12 in Augusta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting

• 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-govt of Middle Sumatra

• 1959 Antonio Segni forms Italian cabinet

• 1961 Entire US figure skating team of 18, dies in Belgian Sabena 707 crash

• 1963 1st US female world figure skating champ (Tenley Albright)

• 1963 Ken Lynch records "Misery," 1st Lennon-McCartney song by someone else

• 1964 Beatles' "Meet the Beatles!," album goes #1 & stays #1 for 11 weeks

• 1964 Bill Bradley scores 51 points for Princeton

• 1964 Goethe Link Observatory discovers asteroid #2417 McVittie & #3717

• 1965 Canada replaces Union Jack flag with Maple Leaf

• 1965 John Lennon passes his driving test

• 1967 1st anti-bootleg recording laws enacted

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

• 1967 French Diadme 1-D satellite launches into Earth orbit

• 1967 Longest dream (REM sleep) on record, Bill Carskadon, Chicago (2:23)

• 1968 Anaheim's Les Salvage scores 10, 3-pt baskets in ABA game vs Denver

• 1968 WVUT TV channel 22 in Vincennes, IN (PBS) begins broadcasting

• 1970 KAMU TV channel 15 in College Station, TX (PBS) begins broadcasting

• 1970 Nationalists disrupt UN session on Congo

• 1971 After 1200 years Britain abandons 12-shilling system for decimal

• 1972 Bill Torrey becomes 1st Islander GM

• 1973 Friendsville Academy (Tenn) ends 138-game basketball losing streak

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

• 1977 W Sebok discovers asteroid #2491

• 1978 Escaped mass murderer Ted Bundy recaptured, Pensacola, Fla

• 1978 Leon Spinks beats Muhammad Ali for world heavyweight crown

• 1978 Zaire revises constitution

• 1979 Paul Shirley (21) of Australia, sucked a lifesaver for 4 hrs 40 mins

• 1979 Temple City Kazoo Orchestra appears on Mike Douglas Show

• 1980 Wayne Gretzy assists on NHL-record-tieing 7 goals

• 1980 Z Vavrova discovers asteroid #3592

• 1981 Rocket-powered ice sled attains 399 kph, Lake George, NY

• 1982 Dan Issel (NBA-Nuggets), begins streak of 63 consecutive free throw

• 1982 Ocean Ranger oil-drilling platform lost off Newfoundland-84 die

• 1983 N Thomas discovers asteroid 3367 Alex, 3413 Andriana, 3525 Paul & 358

• 1985 STS 51-E vehicle moves to launch pad

• 1985 World chess championship match abandoned-Karpov 25, Kasparov 23

• 1986 44,180 largest NBA crowd to date-Phila at Detroit

• 1986 Phil Natl Assembly authorizes 6 more years for Ferdinand Marcos

• 1987 ABC-TV begins broadcasting "Amerika" mini-series

• 1989 Israel attacks border strip Taba near Egypt

• 1989 Soviet military occupation of Afgh nist n ends

• 1990 Baseball owners lock out players

• 1991 Airship with dynamite explodes in Phang Nga Thailand, 120 die

• 1992 100th episode of "Cops" airs on Fox network

• 1992 Jeffrey Dahmer found sane & guilty of killing 15 boys

• 1993 Bomb strike on mafia drug lords in Bogot , Colombia; kills 14

Songs for date February 15

• 02/15/52 --- Perfidia (Four Aces)

• 02/15/60 --- Sweet Nothin's (Lee, Brenda)

• 02/15/60 --- Harbor Lights (Platters)

• 02/15/64 --- See The Funny Little Clown (Goldsboro, Bobby)

• 02/15/64 --- I Love You More And More Every Day (Martino, Al)

• 02/15/64 --- Navy Blue (Renay, Diane)

• 02/15/69 --- Dizzy (Roe, Tommy)

• 02/15/75 --- You Are So Beautiful (Cocker, Joe)

• 02/15/75 --- Lovin' You (Riperton, Minnie)

• 02/15/86 --- R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (A Salute To 60's) (Cougar, John)

• 02/15/86 --- What You Need (INXS)

• 02/15/86 --- This Could Be The Night (Loverboy)

• 02/15/86 --- Let's Go All The Way (Sly Fox)

• 02/15/92 --- Tears In Heaven (Clapton, Eric)

• 02/15/92 --- I Can't Dance (Genesis)

• 02/15/92 --- Save The Best For Last (Williams, Vanessa)