Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 15

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 * 1113 – Pope Paschal II issued the papal bull Pie postulatio voluntatis, formally recognising the establishment of the Knights Hospitaller.
 * 1493 – Christopher Columbus wrote a letter widely distributed upon his return to Portugal that announced the results of his first voyage to the Americas.
 * 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: The invasion of Ceylon ended with Johan van Angelbeek, the Batavian governor of the island, surrendering Colombo to British forces.
 * 1823 – James McBrien made the first official discovery of gold in Australia at Fish River in New South Wales.
 * 1898 – The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana, Cuba, killing more than 260 people and precipitating the Spanish–American War.
 * 1900 – Second Boer War: British cavalry led by John French defeated Boer forces to end a 124-day siege of Kimberley in present-day South Africa.
 * 1907 – Japan and the United States signed a gentleman's agreement whereby the former would not permit further emigration to the U.S., while the latter would not limit Japanese immigration.
 * 1915 – Sepoys of Indian Muslim background mutinied against their British officers in Singapore.
 * 1942 – Second World War: Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita captured Singapore with the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.
 * 1961 – All 72 people on board Sabena Flight 548, including the entire U.S. figure-skating team, and one person on the ground were killed when the aircraft crashed on approach to Brussels Airport.
 * 1965 – Canada adopted the Maple Leaf flag, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign.
 * 1976 – The current Constitution of Cuba, providing for a system of government and law based on those of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, was adopted by a national referendum.
 * 1995 – Kevin Mitnick, the most wanted computer hacker at the time in the U.S., was arrested and charged with computer fraud and wire fraud.
 * 1996 – A Long March 3B rocket carrying the communications satellite Intelsat 708 crashed immediately after launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China, destroying a nearby town and killing an unknown number of inhabitants.
 * 2003 – In one of the largest anti-war rallies in history, millions around the world in approximately 800 cities took part in protests against the impending invasion of Iraq.
 * 2010 – Two passenger trains collided in Halle, Belgium, when one driver failed to stop at a red signal, resulting in 19 deaths and 171 injuries.
 * 2013 – A meteor exploded (video featured) over Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, producing a shock wave that injured about 1,500 people.
 * Born/died: | Oswiu |d|670| Ibn Tabataba |d|815| William Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk |d|1382| Charles-André van Loo |b|1705| Domingo Faustino Sarmiento |b|1811| Charles Lewis Tiffany |b|1812| V. A. Urechia |b|1834| Sophie Bryant |b|1850| Irena Sendler |b|1910| Willy Vandersteen |b|1913| Norman C. Deno |b|1921| Esther Takei Nishio |b|1925|Chin Kung|b|1925| Roger B. Chaffee |b|1935 |