On This Day - What happened 15 February

Chong of Han died.

Galileo was born in Pisa (then part of the Duchy of Florence), Italy, on 15 February 1564, the first of six children of Vincenzo Galilei, a lutenist, composer, and music theorist, and Giulia (née Ammannati), who had married in 1562.

On 15 February 1819, Bolívar was able to open the Venezuelan Second National Congress in Angostura, in which he was elected president and Francisco Antonio Zea was elected vice president. Bolívar then decided that he would first fight for the independence of New Granada, to gain resources of the vice royalty, intending later to consolidate the independence of Venezuela.

The Huaxinghui (China Revival Society) was founded in 1904 with notables like Huang Xing, Zhang Shizhao, Chen Tianhua and Song Jiaoren, along with 100 others. Their motto was "Take one province by force, and inspire the other provinces to rise up".

The Wrights traveled to Pau, in the south of France, where Wilbur made many more public flights, giving rides to a procession of officers, journalists and statesmen—and his sister Katharine on February 15.

The British naval blockade began to have a serious impact on Germany. In response, in February 1917, the German General Staff convinced Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg to declare unrestricted submarine warfare, with the goal of starving Britain out of the war.

In early 1950, Disney produced Cinderella, his studio's first animated feature in eight years. It was popular with critics and theater audiences. Costing $2.2 million to produce, it earned nearly $8 million in its first year.

The royal family never fully accepted the Duchess. Queen Mary refused to receive her formally. However, Edward sometimes met his mother and his brother, George VI; he attended George's funeral in 1952. King George died 6 February 1952.

Sony co-founder Akio Morita founded Sony Corporation of America in 1960.

In 1960, the Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, currently abbreviated as SCA) was established in the United States.

Three days later, at around 1:00 am, Ted was stopped by Pensacola police officer David Lee near the Alabama state line after a "wants and warrants" check showed his Volkswagen Beetle was stolen. When told he was under arrest, Bundy kicked Lee's legs out from under him and took off running. Lee fired a warning shot followed by a second round, gave chase, and tackled him. The two struggled over Lee's gun before the officer finally subdued and arrested Bundy.

On 15 February 1987, Costa Rican President Óscar Arias submitted a Peace Plan which evolved from this meeting.

On 15 February 1990, in a speech delivered at the Sapienza University of Rome, Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) cited some current views on the Galileo affair as forming what he called "a symptomatic case that permits us to see how deep the self-doubt of the modern age, of science and technology goes today".

Task Force 1-41 Infantry was a U.S. Army heavy battalion task force from the 2nd Armored Division. It was the spearhead of VII Corps, consisting primarily of the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, and the 4th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment. Task Force 1–41 was the first coalition force to breach the Saudi Arabian border on 15 February 1991, and to conduct ground combat operations in Iraq engaging in direct and indirect fire fights with the enemy on 17 February 1991.

On 15 February 1991 4th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment fired on a trailer and a few trucks in the Iraqi sector that were observing American forces.

Their feud ended on the February 15 Raw Is War, when The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a Ladder Match after Big Show interfered on his behalf.

Margaret's coffin, draped in her personal standard, was taken from Kensington Palace to St James's Palace before her funeral. The funeral was held on 15 February 2002, the 50th anniversary of her father's funeral. In line with her wishes, the ceremony was a private service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, for family and friends. Unlike most other members of the royal family, Princess Margaret was cremated, at Slough Crematorium. Her ashes were placed in the tomb of her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (who died seven weeks after Margaret), in the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St George's Chapel two months later.

Under the 1999 constitution, he could not legally stand for re-election again, and so brought about a referendum on 15 February 2009 to abolish the two-term limit for all public offices, including the presidency. Approximately 70% of the Venezuelan electorate voted, and they approved this alteration to the constitution with over 54% in favor, allowing any elected official the chance to try to run indefinitely.

On 15 February 2011, the Finance Minister of Bangladesh, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, declared that Yunus should "stay away" from Grameen Bank while it is being investigated.

On February 15, 2011, NYSE and Deutsche Börse announced their merger to form a new company, as yet unnamed, wherein Deutsche Börse shareholders would have 60% ownership of the new entity, and NYSE Euronext shareholders would have 40%.

Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, the two biggest players in the low-cost app-based taxi hailing market in China, announce a merger into Didi Kuaidi. The merged company would be significantly larger than Uber in China.

Pearl Fernandez plead guilty on February 15, 2018 to her charge as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

On February 15, 2019, President Trump declared a national emergency in order to bypass the United States Congress, after being unsatisfied with a bipartisan border bill which had passed the House of Representatives and the Senate a day before.

Egypt reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on the 15th of February. This is the second country in the WHO EMRO region to confirm a case and the first reported case from the African continent. WHO was informed by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population.