This Day In European History
15th February
Events1574: King Henry III of France marries Louise de Lorraine, positioning himself firmly against the Huguenots.
1637: Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III succeeds to the throne.
1763: The Peace of Hubertusburg is signed between Prussia and Austria, restoring their pre-Seven Year War territories.
1798: The Roman Republic is created in central Italy.
1881: An incubator for premature babies is patented in France; it was created by a zookeeper and first used for birds.
1942: British troops defending Singapore surrender to Japan.
1971: The British monetary system switches to decimal currency, replacing over a thousand years of pounds, shilling and pence.
Births
1497: Philipp Melanchthon, German religious reformer.
1519: Pedro Menendex de Aviles, Spanish conquistador.
1524: Cardinal Charles of Lorraine, dominant French churchman.
1564 Galileo Galilei, Italian scientist.
1710: King Louis XV of France.
1748: Jeremy Bentham, English utilitarian.
1751: Johann Heinrich Tischbein, German painter.
1759: Friedrich August Wolf, German classicist and founder of philology.
1861: Alfred North Whitehead, English mathelatician.
1874: Ernest Shackleton, British explorer.
1899: Georges Auric, French composer.
Deaths
1637: Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (he was also Archduke of Austria, King of Bohemia and King of Hungary.)
1844: Henry Addington Sidmouth, British prime minister 1801-04.
1857: Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, Russian composer.
1928: Herbert Henry-Asquith, British prime minister.
