THE DAY IN HISTORY · FEBRUARY 15
February 15 in history
What happened on February 15: 4 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 1942, 1945, 1989 and 1994, each linked to the map that shows it.
Singapore surrenders — 80,000 troops, the “impregnable fortress,” the worst defeat in British military history.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WW2 MAP →
— Bombing of Dresden
13–15 Feb 1945 — Firestorm kills ~25,000. The ethics of area bombing are debated to this day.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WW2 MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
15 Feb 1989 — General Boris Gromov, commander of the 40th Army, walks across the Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya at Termez, the last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan. Gorbachev had called the war a “bleeding wound” in 1986; about 15,000 Soviet troops had died in it.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE REMAKING THE STATE MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Tatarstan–Russia power-sharing treaty
15 Feb 1994 — Two years after a referendum in which about 61% backed a “sovereign state”, Tatarstan signs a treaty with Moscow instead of seceding. It kept wide control over its oil, taxes and laws. Ten months later Moscow sent tanks into Chechnya.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE REMAKING THE STATE MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
THE FREE PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE
Join the Dispatch — a short welcome series, then a letter when a new atlas opens — and a printable atlas study guide of your choice is yours now, free.
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME