Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 15
This is a list of selected February 15 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
February 15: Candlemas in Eastern Christianity; Flag Day in Canada; National Day in Serbia
- 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.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita (pictured) captured Singapore, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in British history.
- 1971 – The British pound sterling and the Irish pound were decimalised on what is called Decimal Day.
- 1989 – The Soviet Union officially announced that all of its troops had withdrawn from Afghanistan after a nine-year conflict.
- 1996 – A Long March 3 rocket carrying the telecommunications satellite Intelsat 708 crashed shortly after liftoff from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, killing at least six people, and prompting a political controversy in the United States for allowing a possible technology transfer to China.
- 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.