What Happened On
Canadian Maple Leaf Flag
February 15, 1965
Canada's new red and white Maple Leaf Flag is officially raised for the first time. February 15th is now celebrated as Flag Day in Canada.
ENIAC
ENIAC
ENIAC
February 15, 1946
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the first general-purpose stored program electronic digital computer, is dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania. It could calculate 1,000 times faster than anything previous. It required 18,000 vacuum tubes and 130,000 watts of power. Its first program was a study of the feasibility of the thermonuclear weapon. Originally designed to calculate missile trajectories, ENIAC could calculate a trajectory in 30 seconds that took a human 20 hours.
Wreckage of the USS Maine
Wreckage of the USS Maine
Remember the Maine - Fake News and the Lead Up to War
February 15, 1898
U.S. battleship Maine explodes in the Havana, Cuba harbor killing 260 men. Although the cause of the explosion has never been verified, it was generally blamed on the Spanish. Some investigations ruled the explosion was caused by a torpedo and others felt the explosion had been caused by spontaneous combustion of the coal bunkers.
In what would be described as "yellow journalism", the New York Journal and New York World gave exaggerated and distorted accounts insisting that the Maine had been bombed or mined, leading to the rallying cry "Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain." The hysteria created by the newspaper coverage was one of the factors leading up to the Spanish-American War.
First Camels Imported to the U.S. for Commercial Purposes - And the Legend of the Red Ghost
February 15, 1856
American naval officer David Dixon Porter leaves Turkey with a shipload of 33 camels. They were unloaded in Texas the following May, but by then there were 34 camels as one had died and two were born and survived the trip. These were the first camels imported to the U.S. for commercial purposes.
Congress had appropriated $30,000 for the camel acquisition to be used in experiments to determine their suitability for use in the military.
In 1883, one of the camels from the military that ended up in the wild is believed to have inspired the Arizonan stories of the Red Ghost, a large, red camel, with a bleached human skeleton riding on its back. Tales of the Red Ghost spread throughout Arizona and grew taller each time the stories were told, with the Red Ghost being 30-feet (9 m) tall and killing and eating a grizzly bear. The sightings continued for 10 years until 1893 when a farmer saw the Red Ghost with its skeleton rider on his land and shot and killed it. The identity of the skeleton has never been determined.
Abraham Lincoln on Preemptive War
February 15, 1848
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln writes in a letter his thoughts on preemptive war:
Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose-and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, "I see no probability of the British invading us" but he will say to you "be silent; I see it, if you don't." The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.
First Brawl on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
February 15, 1798
Two weeks prior, during an argument, Matthew Lyon (Vermont) had spit tobacco juice in the face of Roger Griswold (Connecticut). Lyon later gave a written apology for the incident. But, when the resolution to remove Lyon failed, Griswold was not satisfied with this outcome, and on February 15th, Griswold attacked Lyon with his cane. Lyon retreated to a fire pit and defended himself with the fire tongs until other Congressmen broke up the fight.
Iraq War
February 15, 2003
Millions of people in 800 cities around the world protest the upcoming war. This was listed in Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest protest.
First Woman to Pitch in an NCAA or NCIA College Baseball Game
February 15, 1993
Freshman Ila Borders pitches the entire game for Southern California College in their 12-1 victory over Claremont-Mudd.
St. Louis
February 15, 1764
The city of St. Louis, Missouri is founded.
Birthdays
The Simpsons as they appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show (1987)
The Simpsons as they appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show (1987)
Creator of The Simpsons
Matt Groening
Born February 15, 1954
American Emmy-winning cartoonist. Creator of The Simpsons and Futurama. The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history, as well as the longest-running animated series and sitcom.
The Simpson family got their start as a series of 48 one-minute animated shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show.
Harvey Korman
Born February 15, 1927 d. 2008
American Emmy-winning comedian. TV: The Carol Burnett Show (1967-78) and Mama's Family (1983-84, Ed Higgins). Film: Blazing Saddles (1974, Hedley Lamar), High Anxiety (1977, Dr. Charles Montague), and History of the World, Part 1 (1981, Count de Monet).
Susan Brownell Anthony
Born February 15, 1820 d. 1906
American woman's rights leader.
John Augustus Sutter (Johann August Suter)
Born February 15, 1803 d. 1880
German-born American explorer, trader. He was prosperous until gold was discovered on his mill (1848) - the incoming prospectors stole his land and his workers quit to seek their own fortunes.
First Woman Executed in the U.S. by American Courts
Bathsheba Spooner
Born February 15, 1746 d. 1778
American criminal. She was the first woman executed in the U.S. by American courts. She conspired with her boyfriend and two others to kill her husband. She tried to get her execution delayed because she was pregnant with her boyfriend's child. Her request was denied. An autopsy showed that she was pregnant with a five-month-old male fetus at the time of execution.
Galileo facing the Inquisition for his belief the Earth revolves around the Sun
Galileo facing the Inquisition for his belief the Earth revolves around the Sun
Galileo Galilei
Born February 15, 1564 d. 1642
Italian astronomer, physicist. He built the first complete astronomical telescope, which he used to prove that the Earth revolved around the Sun. He was imprisoned by the Catholic Church for this belief.
Chris Farley
Born February 15, 1964 d. 1997
American actor, comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live. Film: Tommy Boy (1995), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), and Almost Heroes (1998).
Melissa Manchester
Born February 15, 1951
American singer. Music: You Should Hear How She Talks About You (1982).
Jane Seymour (Joyce Frankenberg)
Born February 15, 1951
British actress. TV: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (title role).
Roger B. Chaffee
Born February 15, 1935 d. 1967
American astronaut. He died with two other astronauts when Apollo 1 caught fire on the launch pad during a simulation.
Chaffee served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for the Gemini 3 and Gemini 4 missions and served as the third-ranking pilot on Apollo 1.
Adolfo (Adolfo F. Sardina)
Born February 15, 1933 d. 2021
Cuban-born American award-winning fashion designer.
Claire Bloom
Born February 15, 1931
English actress. Film: Charlie Chaplin's Limelight (1952, Terry) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).
Allan Arbus
Born February 15, 1918 d. 2013
American actor. TV: M*A*S*H (Dr. Sidney Freedman).
Kevin McCarthy
Born February 15, 1914 d. 2010
American actor. Film: Death of a Salesman (1951, Biff) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, lead role, and the 1978 remake as a man running through the streets shouting a warning in the same fashion as his character did in the original film). TV: The Survivors (Philip Hastings).
Cesar Romero
Born February 15, 1907 d. 1994
American actor. TV: Batman (the Joker) and Falcon Crest (Peter Stavros).
Harold Arlen (Hyman Arluck)
Born February 15, 1905 d. 1986
American Oscar-winning composer. Music: Stormy Weather (1943), It's Only a Paper Moon (1932), That Old Black Magic (1942), and Over the Rainbow (1939, Oscar).
Sax Rohmer (Arthur Henry Ward)
Born February 15, 1883 d. 1959
English author. Creator of the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu (1912). He based his mystery-solving magician character Bazarada on his friend Harry Houdini.
John Barrymore (John Sidney Blyth)
Born February 15, 1882 d. 1942
American actor. His portrayals of Hamlet and Richard III are considered the greatest of his time. According to Errol Flynn, when Barrymore died, some of his friends took his body from the funeral home and propped it up in a chair in Flynn's home to frighten him. Quote: "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."
Cyrus McCormick and an 1884 ad for his reaper
Cyrus McCormick and an 1884 ad for his reaper
Cyrus Hall McCormick
Born February 15, 1809 d. 1884
American inventor. He invented the modern style reaper (1831), which was largely responsible for the U.S. agricultural revolution. His company became part of International Harvester in 1902.
Henry Engelhard Steinway
Born February 15, 1797 d. 1871
German piano maker, founder of Steinway and Sons (1853).
William Miller
Born February 15, 1782 d. 1849
American religious leader of the Second Adventists in America. He and his followers (Millerites) believed the world would end on October 22, 1844. Many of his followers gave away their earthly possessions in preparation for the event.
Louis XV
Born February 15, 1710 d. 1774
King of France (1715-74), became king at the age of 5.
Pedro Menéndes de Avilés
Born February 15, 1519 d. 1574
Spanish explorer. First governor of Florida (1565-74). He founded St. Augustine, Florida (1565), which is the oldest continuously-inhabited, European-established settlement in the continental U.S.
Deaths
Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.
Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.
Raquel Welch (Jo Raquel Tejada)
Died February 15, 2023 b. 1940
American actress, sex symbol. Film: Fantastic Voyage (1966), One Million Years B.C. (1966) and Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976).
The publicity photo of Welch wearing a deer-skin bikini from One Million Years B.C. became a best-selling poster and made her an international sex symbol.
Playboy magazine named her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s.
Merman in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Merman in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Ethel Merman (Ethel Zimmerman)
Died February 15, 1984 b. 1908
American singer, actress. For three decades she reigned as "The Queen of Broadway."
Wally Cox
Died February 15, 1973 b. 1924
American comedian. TV: Mr. Peepers (1952-55, title role) and Underdog (1964-67, voice of Underdog: "There's no need to fear-Underdog is here").
Frank (right) and Charles Duryea
Frank (right) and Charles Duryea
James Frank Duryea
Died February 15, 1967 b. 1869
American inventor. Built the first successful gas-powered car in the U.S. and won the first U.S. automobile race (1895). He and his brother Charles Duryea formed the first U.S. automobile company, Duryea Motor Wagon Co. (1895), selling their first car in 1896.
Photo Credit: Cato Institute
Photo Credit: Cato Institute
P. J. O'Rourke (Patrick Jake O'Rourke)
Died February 15, 2022 b. 1947
American political satirist. Writings: Holidays in Hell (1988, about his visits to war zones as a foreign correspondent).
Quote: Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help mom do the dishes.
Mary Grace Canfield
Died February 15, 2014 b. 1924
American actress. TV: Green Acres (1965-71, Ralph Monroe the female half of the Monroe Brothers).
McLean Stevenson
Died February 15, 1996 b. 1927
American actor. TV: M*A*S*H (1972-75, Lt. Col. Blake) and The McLean Stevenson Show (1976-77, Mac Ferguson).
Nat King Cole (Nathaniel Adams Coles)
Died February 15, 1965 b. 1919
American jazz singer. Music: Unforgettable (1951) and Stardust (1957).
Melville Elijah Stone
Died February 15, 1929 b. 1848
American newspaper publisher. He is credited with introducing the odd-pricing strategy. He encouraged his advertisers to subtract a penny from the price - for example, making a $3 item $2.99.
Irene and Vernon Castle
Irene and Vernon Castle
Vernon Castle
Died February 15, 1918 b. 1887
English dancer, aviator. He and his wife Irene Castle popularized the Fox-trot dance (c1912). He was also the originator of the Castle-walk, one-step, and turkey-trot.
Edward Hitchcock, Jr.
Died February 15, 1911 b. 1828
American physician. The first U.S. professor of physical education and hygiene (1861). He was appointed by Amherst College of Massachusetts. His program of physical education became a model for college and secondary school programs worldwide.
General Lew Wallace
Died February 15, 1905 b. 1827
American politician, author. Writings: Ben Hur (1880), which he wrote while governor of the New Mexico territory.
William Ellery
Died February 15, 1820 b. 1727
American patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Lucius II
Died February 15, 1145 b. ????
religious leader, 166th Pope (1144-45).