Today in History

Today is Sunday, Feb. 15, the 46th day of 2015. There are 319 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Feb. 15, 1965, Canada's new maple-leaf flag, which replaced the "Red Ensign" design, was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa.

On this date:

In 1764, the site of present-day St. Louis was established by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau.

In 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain.

In 1933, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak; gunman Giuseppe Zangara was executed more than four weeks later.

In 1944, Allied bombers destroyed the monastery atop Monte Cassino in Italy.

In 1952, a funeral was held at Windsor Castle for Britain's King George VI, who had died nine days earlier.

In 1961, 73 people, including an 18-member U.S. figure skating team en route to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia, were killed in the crash of a Sabena Airlines Boeing 707 in Belgium.

In 1965, singer Nat King Cole, 45, died in Santa Monica, California.

In 1971, Britain and Ireland "decimalised" their currencies, making one pound equal to 100 new pence instead of 240 pence.

In 1982, 84 men were killed when a huge oil-drilling rig, the Ocean Ranger, sank off the coast of Newfoundland during a fierce storm.

In 1989, the Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan, after more than nine years of military intervention.

In 1995, the FBI arrested Kevin Mitnick, its "most wanted hacker," and charged him with cracking security for some of the nation's most protected computers. (Mitnick ended up serving five years behind bars.)

In 2002, a private funeral was held at Windsor Castle for Britain's Princess Margaret, who had died six days earlier at age 71.

Ten years ago: Defrocked priest Paul Shanley was sentenced in Boston to 12 to 15 years in prison on child rape charges. Christopher Pittman, a teen who claimed the antidepressant Zoloft had driven him to kill his grandparents at age 12, was found guilty in Charleston, South Carolina, of murder. (After winning a new trial, Pittman accepted a plea deal shortening his 30-year prison term for murder to 25 years for voluntary manslaughter.)

Five years ago: Eighteen people were killed when two trains collided south of Brussels, Belgium. At the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Didier Defago of Switzerland won the gold in the Olympic downhill and American Bode Miller took the bronze. American Seth Wescott defended his Olympic title, overtaking Canada's Mike Robertson to win the gold medal in men's snowboardcross.

One year ago: President Barack Obama signed measures lifting the federal debt limit and restoring benefits that had been cut for younger military retirees. Michael Dunn was convicted in Jacksonville, Florida, of attempted murder for shooting into a carful of teenagers after an argument over loud music, but jurors deadlocked on the charge of first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis. (Dunn was found guilty of first-degree murder in a second trial and sentenced to life in prison without parole.) Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was caught on security video punching his then-fiancee (now wife) Janay Palmer inside a casino elevator in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Rice was charged with assault; he entered an intervention program to have the charges dropped.) At the Sochi Olympics, Zbigniew Brodka won the men's 1,500 meters, capturing Poland's first gold medal in speedskating. The U.S. hockey team won a shootout to defeat Russia 3-2 in the marquee game of the preliminary round.

Today's Birthdays: Former Illinois Congressman John Anderson is 93. Actress Claire Bloom is 84. Author Susan Brownmiller is 80. Songwriter Brian Holland is 74. Rock musician Mick Avory (The Kinks) is 71. Jazz musician Henry Threadgill is 71. Actress-model Marisa Berenson is 68. Actress Jane Seymour is 64. Singer Melissa Manchester is 64. Actress Lynn Whitfield is 62. "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening is 61. Model Janice Dickinson is 60. Actor Christopher McDonald is 60. Reggae singer Ali Campbell is 56. Actor Joseph R. Gannascoli is 56. Musician Mikey Craig (Culture Club) is 55. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrell Green is 55. Country singer Michael Reynolds (Pinmonkey) is 51. Actor Michael Easton is 48. Rock musician Stevie Benton (Drowning Pool) is 44. Actress Renee O'Connor is 44. Actress Sarah Wynter is 42. Olympic gold medal swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen is 42. Actress-director Miranda July is 41. Rock singer Brandon Boyd (Incubus) is 39. Rock musician Ronnie Vannucci (The Killers) is 39. Singer-songwriter-musician Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) is 35. Actress Ashley Lyn Cafagna is 32. Blues-rock musician Gary Clark Jr. is 31. Actress Natalie Morales is 30. Actress Amber Riley is 29.

Thought for Today: "Fools act on imagination without knowledge, pedants act on knowledge without imagination." -- Alfred North Whitehead, English philosopher (born this date in 1861, died 1947).

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