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Today is Friday, Feb. 15, the 46th day of 2002. There are 319 days left in the year. 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Feb. 15, 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. 

On this date: 

In 1564, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa. 

In 1764, the city of St. Louis was established. 

In 1820, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Mass. 

In 1879, President Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court. 

In 1933, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that claimed the life of Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak. 

In 1942, the British colony Singapore surrendered to the Japanese during World War II. 

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

In 1965, Canada’s new maple-leaf flag was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa. 

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. 

Ten years ago: A Milwaukee jury found that Jeffrey Dahmer was sane when he killed and mutilated 15 men and boys. Benjamin L. Hooks announced plans to retire as executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Schuman died in New York at age 81. 

Five years ago: North Korean defector Lee Han-young was shot and mortally wounded in South Korea, three days after another North Korean defected in Beijing. Fourteen-year-old Tara Lipinski upset Michelle Kwan at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville, Tenn., becoming the youngest gold medalist at nationals. 

One year ago: President Bush said the Pentagon should review its policy on civilian participation in military exercises like the emergency ascent drill a Navy submarine was performing when it sank a Japanese fishing vessel off Hawaii. Hans-Joachim Klein, a former German terrorist, was sentenced to nine years in prison by a German court for killing three people in a 1975 attack on an OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria. 

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Kevin McCarthy is 88. Country singer Hank Locklin is 84. Former Illinois congressman John Anderson is 80. Comedian Harvey Korman is 75. Actress Claire Bloom is 71. Author Susan Brownmiller is 67. Songwriter Brian Holland is 61. Rock musician Mick Avory (The Kinks) is 58. Actress Jane Seymour is 51. Singer Melissa Manchester is 51. “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening is 48. Actor Christopher McDonald (“Family Law”) is 47. Reggae singer Ali Campbell (UB40) is 43. Musician Mikey Craig (Culture Club) is 42. Actor Michael Easton is 35. Actress Renee O’Connor is 31. Rock singer Brandon Boyd (Incubus) is 26. Actress Ashley Lyn Cafagna is 19.