Today in History

February 15

1894 - France and Germany reach an agreement on boundaries between French Congo and Cameroon.

1898 - US battleship Maine explodes in Havana harbour, Cuba, killing 260 seamen.

1933 - US President-elect Franklin Roosevelt escapes an assassination attempt in Miami.

1942 - British surrender colony of Singapore to Japanese forces during Second World War.

1964 - Muhammad Ali becomes the world’s heavyweight boxing champion.

1965 - Canada adopts its national flag, the red-and-white maple leaf design.

1973 - US and Cuba sign agreement calling for prosecution or extradition of hijackers of airplanes and ships.

1989 - The last Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan after a 10-year occupation.

1990 - Britain and Argentina restore diplomatic relations.

1993 - Two car bombs shatter a downtown district in Bogota, Colombia, killing four and injuring more than 120.

1994 - A stampede in a crowded railway station kills 43 people in Hengyang, China.

1995 - At least 64 people are killed and 18 others injured when a fire engulfs a two-storey restaurant in the central Taiwan city of Taichung.

1998 - American racing driver Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 on his 20th attempt.

1999 - Abdullah Ocalan, a Kurdish rebel leader, is captured by Turkish commandos in Kenya.

2003 - The final mission of Europe’s Ariane-4 rocket series places a satellite into orbit.

2004 - US administrator for Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, opens the nation’s first human rights ministry.

2007 - First freehold apartment in Dubai registered in owner’s name.

2011 - An Italian judge orders Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on prostitution and abuse of power charges.

2013 - A meteor travelling at a speed of at least 54,000 km/h strikes in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia and injures more than 1,000 people.

2017 - India successfully puts a record 104 satellites from a single rocket into orbit.