{"id":11057,"date":"2022-02-15T11:42:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T10:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=200253"},"modified":"2022-02-15T12:13:09","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T11:13:09","slug":"15-february-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/15-february-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"15 February: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Dominic Sandbrook\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 15 February 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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15 February 1493:\u00a0Christopher Columbus writes of the New World<\/h3>\n

The explorer reveals the dizzying riches of the Americas<\/strong><\/p>\n

The date was 15 February 1493. Sailing back from the Americas, Christopher Columbus decided to write to the finance minister of Aragon, Luis de Sant\u00e1ngel, to report his discoveries. He was writing, he said, from \u201cthe islands of India beyond the Ganges recently discovered\u201d, which did not say much for his command of geography. Even so, he had good news \u2013 for the voyage had been a triumph.<\/p>\n

After more than 30 days at sea, Columbus had \u201cdiscovered a great many islands inhabited by numberless people\u201d, which he had promptly claimed for the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. He described the island of Hispaniola as \u201ca marvel. Its hills and mountains, fine plains and open country, are rich and fertile for planting and for pasturage, and for building towns and villages.\u201d And inland, he wrote, \u201cthere are numerous mines of metals and innumerable people\u201d.<\/p>\n

One word, above all, came up again and again. \u201cThere are many spices and vast mines of gold and other metals in this island,\u201d wrote Columbus. There were magnificent rivers, too, \u201cmost of which bear gold\u2026 To speak, in conclusion, only of what has been done during this hurried voyage, their Highnesses will see that I can give them as much gold as they desire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gold! That was what the Spanish authorities most wanted to hear. And with that, history was made.<\/p>\n

Julian Humphrys rounds up smaller anniversaries<\/h4>\n

15 February 1113\u00a0<\/h6>\n

Pope Paschal II promulgated the Papal Bull \u2018Pie postulatio voluntatis\u2019, which confirmed as a religious order the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, later known as the Knights Hospitaller.<\/p>\n

15 February 1710<\/h6>\n

The future Louis XV of France was born at Versailles. The son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy and Marie of Savoy, he became king at the age of five following the death of Louis XIV, his great-grandfather.<\/p>\n

15 February 1807\u00a0<\/h6>\n

HMS Ajax blows up after an unattended lantern starts a fire in its bread store.<\/p>\n

15 February 1851<\/h6>\n

A group of black abolitionists invaded a Boston courtroom to rescue escaped slave Shadrach Minkins. Earlier that day, Minkins had become the first man to be arrested under the terms of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, which required northern authorities to assist with the recapture and rendition of escaped slaves. Minkins was spirited away to Canada, where he lived until his death in 1875.<\/p>\n

15 February 1942<\/h6>\n

In one of the British empire\u2019s worst ever military disasters, Singapore was surrendered to the Japanese. Around 80,000 British, Australian and Indian troops were taken prisoner, joining the 50,000 captured during the Malayan campaign.<\/p>\n

15 February 1968<\/h6>\n

Submerged 30 miles off Cape Kennedy in Florida, the submarine HMS Resolution carries out the first British test firing of a Polaris nuclear ballistic missile.<\/p>\n

15 February 1989<\/h6>\n

After invading the country a decade earlier in a bid to prop up its ailing communist government, the Soviet Union announces that the last of its troops had pulled out of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

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15 February 1971: Britain switches to decimal currency<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s out with the old and in with the new as Britain dumps \u2018pounds, shillings and pence\u2019 to go decimal<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Edward Heath, 15 February 1971 was a glorious day. This was the day when, after years of preparation, Britain\u2019s old pounds, shillings and pence would be consigned to history, definitively replaced with a new decimal currency. Although the foundations had been laid well before Heath became prime minister, there was no better symbol of his ambitions to lead Britain into a shiny new European future.<\/p>\n

In the run-up to Decimal Day<\/a>, Edward Heath\u2019s ministers spared no effort to preach the virtues of the new currency, even commissioning a song by Max Bygraves. The BBC organised a series of information shows called Decimal Five, while ITV put on a little drama, Granny Gets the Point<\/em>, showing a baffled old lady learning how to use the new coins.<\/p>\n

In London\u2019s West End, self-proclaimed \u2018anti-decimal terrorists\u2019 handed out leaflets denouncing the change, but nobody else seemed especially bothered. Harrods had an army of \u2018decimal penny\u2019 girls in rakish boaters to help confused shoppers, while Selfridges boasted a troop of girls dressed in \u201cshorts and midi split skirts and other suitably mathematical costumes\u201d. All in all, though, Decimal Day went off without a hitch.<\/p>\n

Yet many people remained suspicious of the new currency, and many people carried \u2018Decimal Adders\u2019 to work out the difference between old and new. Of course the new notes and coins caught on eventually. But people never seemed quite as fond of them as of the old money \u2013 the \u2018real\u2019 money, some said.<\/p>\n

Browse more On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n