Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) was the 21st President of the United States, from 1881 to 1885. After practicing law in New York City, he served as quartermaster general in the New York Militia during the American Civil War. Rising quickly in the Republican political machine run by Senator Roscoe Conkling, he was appointed to the lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York in 1871. In 1878 the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, fired Arthur as part of a reform measure. When James Garfield won the Republican nomination for president in 1880, Arthur was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket. After Garfield's assassination, Arthur took up the cause of reform, supporting the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. He presided over the rebirth of the U.S. Navy but was criticized for failing to alleviate a growing federal budget surplus. Suffering from poor health, Arthur retired at the close of his term. Journalist Alexander McClure later wrote, "No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired ... more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe." (Full article...)

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• ... that a portable radio transmitter called Pocket FM (pictured) enables people to create pirate radio networks in areas where authoritarian governments tightly control communications?
• ... that Tina Allen's sculpture of Frederick Douglass is featured in the movie Akeelah and the Bee?
• ... that the auxiliary nurse midwife is a village-level female health worker in India who acts as the first contact person between the community and the health services?
• ... that Meridian School alumnus Masa Fukuda, the founder of One Voice Children's Choir, writes and arranges music from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in his basement studio, sleeping only three or four hours a day?
• ... that BMW engineer Paul Rosche continued to design Formula One engines for them after the company withdrew from the tournament?
• ... that during the period of state control known as State Shinto, Japan lost 80,000 Shinto shrines?
• ... that Swedish politician Emil Källström came in sixth in Land magazine's annual list of "Hottest hillbillies"?
• ... that the white-bellied cinclodes may soon "pipe" no more?

• Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting since the East–West Schism in 1054.
• Scientists using the LIGO detector announce the first direct observation of gravitational waves.
• Eleven people are killed in a head-on collision between two passenger trains near Bad Aibling, Germany.
• In American football, the Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50 (MVP Von Miller pictured).
• A 6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Taiwan, killing 116 people.

• Ongoing events:
  • Zika virus outbreak
  • European migrant crisis
• Recent deaths:
  • Antonin Scalia
  • Sushil Koirala
  • Violette Verdy

February 15: National Day in Serbia (1804); Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day) in the United States (2016)

• 1898 – The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana, Cuba, killing more than 260 people and precipitating the Spanish–American War.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: British cavalry under Major-General John French defeated Boer forces to end a 124-day siege of Kimberley, present-day South Africa.
• 1954 – The Canadian and American governments agreed to jointly build the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line), a line of radar stations running across the high Arctic (radar station pictured).
• 1976 – The current Constitution of Cuba, providing for a system of government and law based on those of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, was adopted by a national referendum.
• 2003 – In one of the largest anti-war rallies in history, millions around the world in approximately 800 cities took part in protests against the impending invasion of Iraq.

• More anniversaries:
  • February 14
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  • February 16

The Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to quality country music collaborations for artists who do not normally perform together. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". Originally called the Best Country Vocal Performance, Duet, the award was first presented to Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap at the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988 for the single "Make No Mistake, She's Mine". Alison Krauss (pictured) holds the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of five. She is followed by seven others, who have all won the award twice. Among the most nominated are Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, both nine-time nominees. (Full list...)

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