Title: October 15 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 533 – Byzantine general Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals. * 1066 - After the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the AEtheling is proclaimed King of England, but is never crowned. * 1529 - The Siege of Vienna ends, as the Austrians defeat the invading Ottoman Turks. * 1552 – Khanate of Kazan is conquered by troops of Ivan Grozny. * 1582 – Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15. * 1764 – Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. * 1783 - The Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon marks the first human flight in this mode of transport, by Jean-Jacques Pilatre de Rozier. * 1793 – Marie Antoinette is sentenced to death, being executed the next day. * 1815 – Napoleon I of France begins his exile on St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean. * 1863 – American Civil War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing its inventor. * 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Glasgow, Glasgow, Missouri. The town surrenders its garrison to the Confederacy. * 1878 – The Edison Electric Company begins operation. * 1880 – Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists. * 1883 – The Supreme Court of the United States declares part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to be unconstitutional. * 1888 - Investigators receives the "From Hell" letter, believed to have been written by the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. * 1894 – Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying – Dreyfus affair begins. === 1901 2000 === * 1904 – The Russian Baltic Fleet leaves Reval, Estonia for Port Arthur, Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War. * 1917 – World War I: At Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany. * 1928 - Airship Graf Zeppelin completes its first flight across the Atlantic Ocean when it lands at Lakehurst, New Jersey. * 1932 – Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight. * 1934 - The Soviet Republic of China collapses. * 1939 – The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) is dedicated. * 1940 – The Great Dictator, a satiric social commentary movie by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released. * 1944 - The Arrow Cross Party, allied to Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party, takes power in Hungary. * 1945 – World War II: Former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, is executed by firing squad for treason. * 1946 – Nuremberg Trials: Founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, Hermann Göring, poisons himself hours before his scheduled execution. * 1951 – Television sitcom I Love Lucy premieres. * 1953 – British nuclear test Totem 1 detonated at Emu Field, South Australia. * 1954 - Hurricane Hazel strikes the eastern United States, killing 95 people. * 1956 - Fortran, the first modern computer language, is first shared in the coding community. * 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: A stand-off ensues between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba. * 1963 - German Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer officially resigns. * 1965 – Vietnam War: The National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam stages the first public burning of a draft card in the United States. * 1966 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a bill creating the United States Department of Transportation. * 1969 – Vietnam War: Hundreds of thousands of people take part in National Moratorium antiwar demonstrations across the United States. * 1970 – Thirty-five construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses. * 1979 - A military junta takes over in El Salvador, after the overthrow of President Carlos Humberto Romero. * 1981 – Professional cheerleader Krazy George Henderson leads what is thought to be the first audience wave in Oakland, California. * 1982 - The first 400-year cycle of the Gregorian calendar ends. This date is therefore on exactly the same week-day as the same date in 1582 (the day it was first introduced). * 1987 – The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England in the night to October 16. * 1989 – Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL. * 1990 – Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is given the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation. * 1991 – Following a bitter confirmation hearing that involved allegations of sexual misconduct, the United States Senate votes to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States. * 1992 – In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 serial murders. * 1993 - Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk win the Nobel Peace Prize. * 1995 – Saddam Hussein gains 99.96% of votes in Iraq's presidential elections. * 1997 – The first supersonic land speed record is set by the ThrustSSC team from the United Kingdom. * 1997 – The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on its way to Saturn. === From 2001 === * 2001 – NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io. * 2003 – China launches Shenzhou 5, their first manned space mission. * 2003 – Ilham Aliyev becomes President of Azerbaijan succeeding his father Heydar Aliyev. * 2006 - The first Lusophone Games, for countries and territories speaking the Portuguese language, end in Macao. * 2008 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops by 733.08 points in a single day. * 2011 – Occupy Wall Street Campaign: In 951 cities in 82 countries, people protest against economic mismanagement. * 2012 - British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond sign a deal on the terms and conditions of the referendum on Scottish independence, due to be held on September 18, 2014. * 2013 - A magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes the Philippines, killing at least 215 people. * 2016 - 150 nations meeting at the UNEP summit in Kigali, Rwanda, agree to slowly get rid of hydrofluorocarbons. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 70 BC – Virgil, Roman poet (d. 19 BC) * 1265 - Temur Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan-China (d. 1307) * 1471 – Konrad Mutian, German humanist (d. 1526) * 1542 - Akbar the Great, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1605) * 1607 - Madeleine de Scudéry, French writer (d. 1701) * 1608 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist (d. 1647) * 1686 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet (d. 1758) * 1701 - Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian nun and saint (d. 1771) * 1711 - Elisabeth Teresa of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia (d. 1741) * 1762 - Samuel Adams Holyoake, American composer (d. 1820) * 1784 - Thomas Robert Bugeaud, Marshal of France (d. 1849) * 1785 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean general (d. 1821) * 1795 – Frederick William IV of Prussia (d. 1861) * 1801 - Seabury Ford, 20th Governor of Ohio (d. 1855) * 1802 - Louis-Eugene de Cavaignac, French general (d. 1857) * 1814 – Mikhail Lermontov, Russian writer (d. 1841) * 1818 - Alexander Dreyschock, Bohemian composer (d. 1869) * 1825 – Marie of Prussia (d. 1889) * 1829 – Asaph Hall, American astronomer (d. 1907) * 1831 - Horace Austin, Governor of Minnesota (d. 1905) * 1836 – James Tissot, French artist (d. 1902) * 1840 - August Mau, German archaeologist (d. 1909) * 1844 – Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (d. 1900) * 1852 - Yamamoto Gonnohyoe, Japanese admiral and politician (d. 1933) * 1858 – John L. Sullivan, boxing champion (d. 1918) * 1869 - Francisco Largo Caballero, Spanish politician (d. 1946) * 1872 – Wilhelm Miklas, President of Austria (d. 1956) * 1872 - August Nilsson, Swedish athlete (d. 1921) * 1872 - Edith Wilson, First Lady of the United States (d. 1961) * 1874 - Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1899) * 1878 - Paul Reynaud, French politician (d. 1966) * 1879 - Jane Darwell, American actress (d. 1967) * 1881 – P. G. Wodehouse, British comic novelist (d. 1975) * 1885 – Johannes Sveinsson Kjarval, Icelandic painter (d. 1972) * 1890 - Homer M. Adkins, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1964) * 1893 – King Carol II of Romania (d. 1953) * 1894 – Moshe Sharett, second Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1965) * 1897 - Johannes Sikkar, Estonian soldier and politician (d. 1960) * 1898 – Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (d. 1951) * 1900 – Mervyn LeRoy, movie director (d. 1987) === 1901 1925 === * 1905 – Angelo Schiavio, Italian footballer (d. 1990) * 1906 – Hiram Leong Fong, Hawaiian politician (d. 2004) * 1907 – Varian Fry, rescuer of Jewish and other intellectuals from Marseilles in 1940 (d. 1987) * 1908 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (d. 2006) * 1909 - Jesse Leonard Greenstein, American astronomer (d. 2002) * 1909 – Robert Trout, reporter (d. 2000) * 1911 - John S. McKiernan, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1997) * 1913 - Xi Zhongxun, Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician (d. 2002) * 1914 – Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan (d. 2007) * 1915 – Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli politician and Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2012) * 1916 - Hassan Gouled Aptidon, 1st President of Djibouti (d. 2006) * 1917 – Arthur Schlesinger Jr., American political commentator and writer (d. 2007) * 1917 – Jan Miner, American actress (d. 2004) * 1919 - Malcolm Ross, American balloonist and physicist (d. 1985) * 1920 – Mario Puzo, American novelist (d. 1999) * 1920 – Chris Economaki, American Indianapolis 500 reporter (d. 2012) * 1920 - Heinz Barth, German SS officer and war criminal (d. 2007) * 1923 – Italo Calvino. Italian writer (d. 1985) * 1924 – Lee Iacocca, industrialist * 1924 – José Quintero, stage director * 1924 – Mark Lenard, actor (d. 1996) === 1926 1950 === * 1926 – Michel Foucault, French philosopher (d. 1984) * 1926 – Evan Hunter (Ed McBain, Curt Cannon), American writer (d. 2005) * 1926 – Jean Peters, American actress (d. 2000) * 1926 – Karl Richter, German conductor (d. 1981) * 1926 - Agustin Garcia Calvo, Spanish philosopher (d. 2012) * 1927 - Jeannette Charles, English actress * 1927 - Bill Henry, American baseball player (d. 2014) * 1927 - B. S. Abdur Rahman, Indian entrepreneur (d. 2015) * 1930 - FM-2030, Iranian philosopher (d. 2000) * 1930 - Ned McWherter, Governor of Tennessee (d. 2011) * 1931 – Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, Indian scientist and former President of India (d. 2015) * 1931 - Pauline Perry, Baroness Perry of Southwark, English academic and politician * 1935 – Bobby Joe Morrow, American athlete * 1935 - Dick McTaggart, British boxer * 1935 - Maria Teresa Mirabal, Dominican activist (d. 1960) * 1937 – Barry McGuire, singer * 1937 - Linda Lavin, American actress, singer, director and producer * 1938 – Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician (d. 1997) * 1939 - Telesphore Toppo, Indian cardinal * 1939 - Carmelo Bossi, Italian boxer (d. 2014) * 1939 - Anna Maria Gherardi, Italian actress (d. 2014) * 1940 – Peter C. Doherty, Australian immunologist * 1940 – Benno Ohnesorg, German student (d. 1967) * 1942 – Penny Marshall, actress, comedienne, movie director * 1942 - Eric Charden, French singer (d. 2012) * 1943 - John F. Street, American politician * 1943 - Stanley Fischer, American economist and teacher * 1944 – Sali Berisha, Albanian politician * 1944 – David Trimble, Northern Irish politician, Nobel Peace Prize winner * 1945 – Jim Palmer, American baseball player * 1945 - Neophyte of Bulgaria, Bulgarian patriarch * 1945 - Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Spanish cardinal * 1946 – Richard Carpenter, singer, pianist, composer (Carpenters) * 1946 - Stewart Stevenson, Scottish politician * 1948 – Chris de Burgh, Irish singer * 1948 - Renato Corona, Filipino jurist (d. 2016) * 1950 - Candida Royalle, American pornographic actress, director and producer (d. 2015) === 1951 1975 === * 1951 - Roscoe Tanner, American tennis player * 1951 - Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, Egyptian politician * 1953 – Tito Jackson, American musician (Jackson 5) * 1953 - Günther Oettinger, German politician * 1954 - Princess Friederike of Hanover * 1954 - Jere Burns, American actor * 1955 - Tanya Roberts, American actress (d. 2021) * 1955 - Kulbir Bhaura, Indian field hockey player * 1956 - Soraya Post, Swedish politician * 1956 - Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal, 36th Vice President of the Dominican Republic * 1957 – Mira Nair, Indian director * 1957 - Stacy Peralta, American director * 1959 – Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York * 1959 – Emeril Lagasse, American chef * 1959 – Todd Solondz, director * 1964 – Roberto Vittori, Italian astronaut * 1966 - Jorge Campos, Mexican footballer * 1966 - Dave Stead, English musician (Beautiful South) * 1966 - Dougie Vipond, Scottish broadcaster and drummer (Deacon Blue) * 1968 – Jyrki 69, Finnish musician * 1968 – Didier Deschamps, French footballer * 1968 - Vanessa Marcil, American actress * 1969 – Dominic West, British actor * 1969 - Vitor Baia, Portuguese footballer * 1970 – Eric Benét, singer * 1971 – Andy Cole, British footballer * 1971 - Niko Kovac, Croatian footballer and coach * 1972 – Sandra Kim, Belgian singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner * 1972 - Fred Hoiberg, American basketball player * 1974 - Bianca Rinaldi, Brazilian actress * 1975 – Ginuwine, American singer === From 1976 === * 1977 – David Trezeguet, French footballer * 1979 – Paul Robinson, English footballer * 1979 – Maris Verpakovskis, Latvian footballer * 1981 – Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player * 1981 - Keyshia Cole, American singer * 1982 - Sachiko Yamada, Japanese swimmer * 1983 - Holly Montag, American television personality * 1983 - Bruno Senna, Brazilian racing driver * 1983 – Andreas Ivanschitz, Austrian footballer * 1986 - Lee Donghae, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress * 1986 - Carlo Janka, Swiss skier * 1987 - Chantal Strand, Canadian voice actress and singer * 1988 – Mesut Oezil, German footballer * 1989 - Anthony Joshua, English boxer * 1989 - Fedez, Italian rapper and singer * 1990 - Jeon Ji-yoon, South Korean singer and actress * 1990 - Kiko Mizuhara, American- Japanese model, actress and singer * 1995 - Billy Unger, American actor * 1996 - Zelo, South Korean rapper and dancer * 1999 - Bailee Madison, American actress * 2005 – Prince Christian of Denmark == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 412 - Pope Theophilus of Alexandria * 767 – Constantine II, Patriarch of Constantinople (executed) * 898 - Lambert, Holy Roman Emperor * 1002 – Otto- Henry, Duke of Burgundy (b. 949) * 1174 - Petronilla of Aragon (b. 1135) * 1326 - Walter de Stapledon, English bishop (b. 1261) * 1389 – Pope Urban VI (b. 1318) * 1564 - Andreas Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (b. 1514) * 1582 – Saint Teresa of Avila, Spanish Carmelite nun and poet (b. 1515) * 1715 - Humphry Ditton, English mathematician (b. 1675) * 1811 – Sir Nathaniel Dance- Holland, English painter (b. 1735) * 1817 - Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Lithuanian- Polish military figure (b. 1746) * 1819 - Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (b. 1744) * 1837 - Ivan Dimitriev, Russian poet and statesman (b. 1760) * 1865 - Andrés Bello, Venezuelan polymath (b. 1781) * 1880 – Victorio, Apache leader * 1891 – Gilbert Arthur a Beckett, British writer (b. 1837) * 1900 – Zdenek Fibich, Czech composer (b. 1850) === 1901 2000 === * 1904 - George, King of Saxony (b. 1832) * 1917 – Mata Hari, Dutch exotic dancer and spy (b. 1867) * 1918 - Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian guru and national saint of India (b. 1838) * 1933 - Nitobe Inazo, Japanese diplomat (b. 1862) * 1934 – Raymond Poincaré, French statesman (b. 1860) * 1945 – Pierre Laval, premier of Vichy France (b. 1860) * 1946 – Hermann Göring, German air force commander (b. 1893) * 1948 - Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863) * 1955 - Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese composer (b. 1914) * 1959 - Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian politician (b. 1909) * 1960 - Clara Kimball Young, American actress and producer (b. 1890) * 1964 – Cole Porter, American composer (b. 1891) * 1965 – Abraham Fraenkel, Israeli mathematician (b. 1891) * 1976 - Carlo Gambino, Italian-American crime boss (b. 1902) * 1980 - Mikhail Lavrentyov, Russian physicist and mathematician (b. 1900) * 1980 - Apostolis Nikolaidis, Greek footballer and volleyball player (b. 1896) * 1987 – Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso politician (b. 1949) * 1988 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Indian composer and classical pianist (b. 1892) * 1990 - Delphine Seyrig, French actress (b. 1932) * 1994 - Sarah Kofman, French philosopher (b. 1934) * 1995 - Marco Campos, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1976) * 1998 - Colette Darfeuil, French actress (b. 1906) * 2000 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist (b. 1912) === From 2001 === * 2001 – Zhang Xueliang, Chinese warlord and military figure (b. 1901) * 2003 – Ben Metcalfe, environmental activist (b. 1919) * 2005 - Jason Collier, American basketball player (b. 1977) * 2011 - Betty Driver, English actress (b. 1920) * 2012 - Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia (b. 1922) * 2012 - Claude Cheysson, French politician (b. 1920) * 2013 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss politician (b. 1923) * 2013 - Hans Riegel, German businessman (b. 1923) * 2014 - Marie Dubois, French actress (b. 1937) * 2014 - Giovanni Reale, Italian historian and philosopher (b. 1931) * 2014 - Robert Tiernan, American politician (b. 1929) * 2015 - Kenneth D. Taylor, Canadian diplomat (b. 1934) * 2015 - Nate Huffman, American basketball player (b. 1975) * 2015 - Sergei Filippenkov, Russian footballer (b. 1971) * 2015 - Larry N. Vanderhoef, American biochemist (b. 1941) * 2015 - Neill Sheridan, American baseball player (b. 1921) == Holydays and observances == * Saint Teresa of Ávila Feast Day * Global Handwashing Day * National Tree Planting Day (Sri Lanka) * Teachers' Day (Brazil) Category:Days of the year