Title: May 15 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 495 BC - A newly built temple in honour of the god Mercury is dedicated in Ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine Hills. * 392 - Roman Emperor Valentinian II mysteriously dies while advancing into Gaul (present-day France) against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. It is not clear if he was murdered or committed suicide. * 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which allows, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. * 1464 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Hexham - York defeats Lancaster. * 1536 - Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is put on trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest. It will result in her execution four days later. * 1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband. * 1602 - Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to sight Cape Cod, Massachusetts. * 1618 - Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion. * 1648 - The Treaty of Westphalia is signed. * 1701 - The War of the Spanish Succession begins. * 1718 - James Buckle, a London lawyer, patents the first machine gun. * 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The Virginia Convention tells its Continental Congress delegation to propose resolution of independence from Great Britain. * 1792 - War of the First Coalition: France declares war on the Kingdom of Sardinia. * 1793 - Diego Marin Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 meters" at a height of 5–6 meters. * 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte enters Milan in triumph. * 1800 - King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield. * 1811 - Paraguay declares itself independent from Spain. * 1849 - Troops of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily. * 1850 - The Bloody Island Massacre takes place in Lake County, California. A large number of Pomo Native Americans are slaughtered by the regiment of the United States Cavalry. * 1851 - The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the gold was discovered three months earlier. * 1858 - Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. * 1860 - Battle of Calatafilmi in Sicily: Giuseppe Garibaldi's "Red Shirts" defeat the Army of the Kingdom of Naples. * 1869 - In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Women's Suffrage Association. === 1901 1950 === * 1904 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian minelayer Amur lays a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur, China, and sinks Japanese ships Hatsuse and Yashima. * 1904 - The cruiser "Yoshino" collides with armored cruiser "Kasaga" to the east of China and sinks, killing 329 out of the 419 people on board. * 1905 - Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 square kilometers), in what later becomes the downtown area, are auctioned off. * 1910 - The German football club FC St. Pauli is founded. It is based in Hamburg. * 1919 - The Winnipeg Strike begins. By 11:00am, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, had walked off the job. * 1919 - The Greek invasion of Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey) occurs, in which the Greek army kills over 350 Turks. Those responsible are punishes by Greek commander Aristiades Stergiades. * 1926 - The New York Rangers ice hockey team is founded. * 1928 - Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance in the cartoon "Plane Crazy". * 1929 - A fire at a clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, kills 123 people. * 1932 - Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed in a coup attempt. * 1934 - Karlis Ulmanis creates an authoritarian government in Latvia. * 1935 - The Moscow Metro is opened to the public. * 1940 - World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly-trained and equipped Dutch surrender to Germany, beginning five years of occupation. * 1940 - McDonald's opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California. * 1945 - World War II: The Battle of Poljana is fought in Slovenia, as the last battle in Europe during the war. * 1948 - The Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia all declare war on the newly declared State of Israel. === 1951 2000 === * 1951 - Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz asks the government of France for political asylum. * 1955 - Austria regains its independence. * 1955 - Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy of France climb Makalu in the Himalayas. It is the world's 5th-highest mountain. * 1957 - At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, the United Kingdom tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple. * 1958 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3. * 1960 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4. * 1963 - Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9, with L. Gordon Cooper on board, is successful. He is the first American to spend more than a day in space. * 1966 - After a policy dispute, Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky of South Vietnam's ruling junta, launches a military attack on the forces of General Ton That Dinh, forcing him to abandon his command. * 1970 - US President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington as the first female United States Army generals. * 1972 - The US returns Okinawa to Japanese control. * 1972 – Governor George Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur H. Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland political rally. * 1974 - Ma'a lot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school, killing 31 people, including 22 schoolchildren. * 1974 - Walter Scheel is elected President of the Federal Republic of Germany, a post he takes up on July 1. * 1980 - West Germany's National Olympic Committee decides to join the United States in boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. * 1988 - The Soviet Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan. * 1990 - The Vincent van Gogh painting A Portrait of Dr. Gachet sells for 82.5 million US Dollars, a then-record for a work of art sold at auction. * 1991 - Edith Cresson becomes the first female Prime Minister of France. * 1997 - The US acknowledges a "Secret War" in Laos. === From 2001 === * 2004 – South Africa is announced as the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. * 2004 - Ruslana, representing Ukraine, wins the 49th Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Turkey. * 2008 - California legalizes same-sex marriage. * 2010 - Jessica Watson becomes the then-youngest person to sail single-handedly around the world. * 2012 - François Hollande becomes President of France, replacing Nicolas Sarkozy. * 2013 - An upsurge in violence in Iraq kills 389 people in three days. * 2014 - US President Barack Obama opens a 9/11 memorial museum. * 2016 - Max Verstappen becomes the youngest-ever driver to win a Formula One race. * 2017 - French President Emmanuel Macron names Edouard Philippe as Prime Minister of France. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 1397 - Sejong the Great, Korean King (d. 1450) * 1567 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (d. 1643) * 1689 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English author (d. 1762) * 1720 - Maximilian Hell, Hungarian astronomer (d. 1792) * 1749 - Levi Lincoln, Sr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1820) * 1764 - Johann Nepomuk Kalcher, German organist and composer (d. 1827) * 1767 - Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1843) * 1773 - Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, German-Austrian statesman (d. 1859) * 1817 - Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (d. 1905) * 1827 - Knud Bergslien, Norwegian painter (d. 1908) * 1838 - Nicolae Grigorescu, Romanian painter (d. 1907) * 1841 - James Henderson Berry, American politician, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1913) * 1842 - Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria (d. 1919) * 1845 - Jan Czerski, Polish-Russian scientist (d. 1892) * 1845 - Ilya Mechnikov, Russian zoologist and immunologist (d. 1916) * 1848 - Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter (d. 1926) * 1854 - Ioannes Psycharis, Ukrainian-French philologist and author (d. 1929) * 1856 - L. Frank Baum, American author (d. 1919) * 1856 - Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1917) * 1857 - Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer (d. 1911) * 1859 – Pierre Curie, French physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1906) * 1860 – Ellen Louise Wilson, American First Lady, wife of Woodrow Wilson (d. 1914) * 1862 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian dramatist (d. 1931) * 1863 - Frank Hornby, English businessman and politician, inventor of Meccano (d. 1936) * 1867 - Hjalmar Johansen, Norwegian explorer (d. 1913) * 1867 - Henry Stuart Jones, British classical philologist and historian (d. 1939) * 1869 - Paul Probst, Swiss target shooter (d. 1945) * 1873 - Pavlo Skoropadskiy, Ukrainian politician (d. 1945) * 1873 - Nikolai Tcherepnin, Russian composer (d. 1945) * 1890 - Katherine-Anne Porter, American journalist and author (d. 1980) * 1891 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian writer (d. 1940) * 1891 - Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist (d. 1971) * 1892 - Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral (d. 1977) * 1892 - Jimmy Wilde, Welsh boxer (d. 1969) * 1895 – Astrid Zachrison, Swedish supercentenarian, oldest Swedish person on record (d. 2008) * 1895 - Prescott Bush, American politician (d. 1972) * 1895 - William D. Byron, American politician (d. 1941) * 1898 - Arletty, French actress, model and singer (d. 1992) * 1898 - Richard W. Leche, American politician, Governor of Louisiana (d. 1965) === 1901 1950 === * 1901 - Luis Monti, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1983) * 1902 - Richard J. Daley, 48th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976) * 1903 – Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998) * 1904 - Clifton Fadiman, American game show host and author (d. 1999) * 1905 - Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994) * 1905 - Abraham Zapruder, American businessman (d. 1970) * 1907 - Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (d. 1931) * 1908 – Joe Grant, American writer and animator (d. 2005) * 1909 - James Mason, English actor, producer and screenwriter (d. 1984) * 1909 - Clara Solovera, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1992) * 1910 - Constance Cummings, English actress (d. 2005) * 1911 – Max Frisch, Swiss writer (d. 1991) * 1911 - Herta Oberheuser, German Nazi physician (d. 1978) * 1914 - Turk Broda, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1972) * 1914 - Angus MacLean, Canadian politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (d. 2000) * 1915 - Paul Samuelson, American economist (d. 2009) * 1915 - Gus Viseur, Belgian-French accordion player (d. 1974) * 1918 - Eddy Arnold, American singer (d. 2008) * 1918 - Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor (d. 2009) * 1920 - Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Lebanese religious leader * 1923 - Richard Avedon, American photographer (d. 2004) * 1923 - John Lanchbery, English- Australian composer and conductor (d. 2003) * 1924 - Maria Koepcke, German- Peruvian ornithologist (d. 1971) * 1925 - Horacio Guarany, Argentine singer and writer (d. 2017) * 1925 - Mary F. Lyon, English geneticist (d. 2014) * 1925 - Carl Sanders, American politician, 74th Governor of Georgia (d. 2014) * 1925 - Andrei Eshpai, Russian composer (d. 2015) * 1926 - Anthony Shaffer, British screenwriter (d. 2001) * 1926 - Peter Shaffer, British dramatist (d. 2016) * 1929 - Frank Heart, American computer engineer (d. 2018) * 1930 - Jasper Johns, American artist * 1932 - John Glen, British director * 1932 - Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, former Prime Minister of Thailand * 1935 - Don Bragg, American pole vaulter * 1935 - Akihiro Miwa, Japanese singer, actor, director and composer * 1935 - Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008) * 1936 - Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-American actress and singer * 1936 - Wavy Gravy, American activist * 1936 - Ralph Steadman, British caricaturist, cartoonist and illustrator * 1937 – Madeleine Albright, 64th United States Secretary of State (d. 2022) * 1937 - Ted Dabney, American electrical engineer (d. 2018) * 1937 - Trini Lopez, American singer and actor * 1938 - Mireille Darc, French actress (d. 2017) * 1940 - Don Nelson, American basketball player and coach * 1940 - Roger Ailes, American television executive (Fox News) (d. 2017) * 1942 - Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, Prime Minister of Swaziland * 1942 - Lois Johnson, American country music singer (d. 2014) * 1942 - Jusuf Kalla, 10th Vice President of Indonesia * 1942 - Doug Lowe, Australian politician, 35th Premier of Tasmania * 1943 - Pierre Bégin, Canadian politician * 1944 - Ulrich Beck, German sociologist (d. 2015) * 1945 - Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, Portuguese nobleman * 1946 - Aly Bain, Scottish fiddler * 1947 - Paulo de Carvalho, Portuguese singer * 1948 - Valentina Gerasimova, Kazakhstani middle-distance runner * 1948 – Brian Eno, English musician and record producer * 1948 – Kathleen Sebelius, American politician === 1951 1975 === * 1951 - Frank Wilczek, American mathematician and physicist * 1951 - Dennis Frederiksen, American musician (d. 2014) * 1952 - Chazz Palminteri, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter * 1952 - Phil Seymour, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993) * 1953 - Mike Oldfield, British musician * 1953 - Franco Selvaggi, Italian footballer * 1953 - Amy Holland, American actress * 1953 - George Brett, American baseball player * 1955 – Claudia Roth, German politician * 1955 - El Gran Wyoming, Spanish humorist, actor, musician, writer and presenter * 1955 - Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian politician (d. 2013) * 1955 - Lia Vissi, Greek singer * 1957 - Meg Gardiner, American crime fiction writer * 1957 - Juan José Ibarretxe, Basque politician * 1957 - John Mason, Scottish politician * 1959 - Beverly Jo Scott, American-Belgian singer-songwriter * 1959 - Ronald Pofalla, German politician * 1961 - Katrin Cartlidge, British actress (d. 2002) * 1963 - Brenda Bakke, American actress * 1963 - Grant Heslov, American actor and producer * 1964 - Lars Lokke Rasmussen, 40th Prime Minister of Denmark * 1966 - Gianluca Buonanno, Italian politician (d. 2016) * 1966 - Orla Guerin, Irish journalist * 1966 - Greg Wise, English actor and producer * 1967 - Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress * 1967 - Orlando Zapata, Cuban activist (d. 2010) * 1968 - Seth Putnam, American musician (d. 2011) * 1968 - Sophie Raworth, British journalist and broadcaster * 1968 - Cecilia Malmström, Swedish politician * 1970 - Frank de Boer, Dutch footballer * 1970 - Ronald de Boer, Dutch footballer * 1970 - Saira Khan, English businesswoman * 1972 - Danny Alexander, Scottish politician * 1972 - David Charvet, French actor and singer * 1972 - André Segatti, Brazilian actor and model * 1974 - Vassilis Kikilias, Greek basketball player and politician === From 1976 === * 1976 - Jacek Krzynowek, Polish footballer * 1978 - Eduardo César Gaspar, Brazilian footballer * 1978 - David Krumholtz, American actor * 1979 - Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer * 1979 - Li Yanfeng, Chinese discus thrower * 1979 – Dominic Scott, Irish guitarist * 1979 - Renato Dirnei Florencio, Brazilian footballer * 1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player * 1981 – Patrice Evra, French footballer * 1981 - Zara Phillips, British royal and equestrian * 1981 - Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player * 1981 - Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress * 1982 - Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican sprinter * 1982 - Jessica Sutta, American singer-songwriter, dancer and actress (Pussycat Dolls) * 1984 - Alex Brooker, English comedian and television presenter * 1985 - Cristiane, Brazilian footballer * 1986 - Matias Fernandez, Chilean footballer * 1986 - Adam Moffat, Scottish footballer * 1987 – Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player * 1987 - Leonardo Mayer, Argentine tennis player * 1988 - Jessica Falkholt, Australian actress (d. 2018) * 1989 - James Holland, Australian footballer * 1989 - Sunny, American-South Korean singer, dancer and actress (Girls' Generation) * 1990 - Lee Jong-hyun, South Korean singer- songwriter, guitarist and actor * 1991 - Jennifer Hof, German model * 1993 - Mahfizur Rahman Sagor, Bangladeshi swimmer * 1995 - Ksenia Sitnik, Belarussian singer * 1996 - Birdy, English singer * 1997 - Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 392 - Valentinian II, Roman emperor (b. 371) * 1036 – Emperor Go-Ichijo of Japan * 1157 - Yuri Dolgorukiy, Russian prince (b. 1099) * 1470 – Charles VIII of Sweden * 1585 – Niwa Nagahide, Japanese retainer, samurai, and daimyo (b. 1535) * 1609 - Giovanni Croce, Italian composer (b. 1557) * 1634 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585) * 1700 - John Hale, American minister (b. 1636) * 1740 – Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopaedist (b. 1680) * 1782 – Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1699) * 1845 - Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican statesman (b. 1800) * 1879 - Gottfried Semper, German architect and educator (b. 1803) * 1886 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (b. 1830) === 1901 2000 === * 1919 - Hasan Tahsan, Turkish nationalist journalist (b. 1888) * 1924 - Paul- Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician (b. 1852) * 1928 - Umegatani Totaro, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1845) * 1932 - Inukai Tsuyoshi, Prime Minister of Japan * 1935 - Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian- Russian painter (b. 1878) * 1937 – Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864) * 1945 - Charles Williams, British author, poet and critic (b. 1886) * 1945 - Kenneth J. Alford, British composer (b. 1881) * 1948 – Father Edward Flanagan, priest, founder of Boys Town * 1956 – Austin Osman Spare, magician (b. 1886) * 1967 – Edward Hopper, American painter (b. 1882) * 1969 - Joe Malone, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890) * 1971 – Sir Tyrone Guthrie, director, producer, and writer (b. 1900) * 1978 - Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894) * 1980 - Johann Hafstein, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1915) * 1984 - Francis Schaeffer, American theologian, philosopher and pastor (b. 1912) * 1986 - Elio de Angelis, Italian racing driver (b. 1958) * 1986 – Theodore H. White, writer (b. 1915) * 1991 - Ronald Lacey, English actor (b. 1935) * 1993 - Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese poet and diplomat (b. 1933) * 1994 – Gilbert Roland, Mexican actor (b. 1904) * 1995 – Eric Porter, British actor (b. 1928) * 1996 – Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (b. 1910) * 1998 – Earl Manigault, American basketball player (b. 1944) * 1998 - Naim Talu, Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1919) === From 2001 === * 2003 – June Carter Cash, American musician and singer (b. 1929) * 2003 – George Francis, British mobster * 2003 – Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist * 2005 – Les Bartley, National Lacrosse League coach (b. 1954) * 2007 - Jerry Falwell, American pastor (b. 1933) * 2007 - Yolanda King, American activist (b. 1955) * 2008 – Astrid Zachrison, Swedish supercentenarian, oldest Swedish person on record (b. 1895) * 2008 – Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1956) * 2009 - Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player (b. 1964) * 2010 - Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President of India (b. 1923) * 2010 - John Shepherd-Barron, Scottish inventor (b. 1925) * 2010 – Besian Idrizaj, Austrian footballer (b. 1987) * 2011 - Samuel Wanjiru, Kenyan runner (b. 1986) * 2012 - Carlos Fuentes, Mexican writer (b. 1928) * 2012 - Zakaria Mohieddin, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1918) * 2013 - Henrique Rosa, acting President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1946) * 2014 - Jean-Luc Dehaene, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1940) * 2015 - Corey Hill, American mixed martial artist (b. 1978) * 2015 - Carlos Maggi, Uruguayan writer (b. 1922) * 2015 - John Stephenson, American actor (b. 1923) * 2015 - Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-born American football player (b. 1944) * 2015 - Donald Wrye, American film director (b. 1934) * 2015 - Jackie Brookner, American artist (b. 1945) * 2016 - Erika Berger, German television presenter and author (b. 1930) * 2016 - Clovis Maksoud, American diplomat, journalist and educator (b. 1926) * 2016 - Cauby Peixoto, Brazilian singer and actor (b. 1931) * 2016 - Michael Roberds, Canadian actor (b. 1964) * 2016 - Marion Tournon-Branly, French architect (b. 1924) * 2017 - Karl-Otto Apel, German philosopher (b. 1922) * 2017 - Chu Ke- liang, Taiwanese actor (b. 1946) * 2017 - Nasser Givehchi, Iranian wrestler (b. 1932) * 2017 - Neil Rolde, American historian and politician (b. 1931) * 2017 - Oleg Vidov, Russian-American actor (b. 1943) * 2017 - Ian Brady, British serial killer (Moors murders) (b. 1938) * 2017 - Thomas James Kinsman, American soldier (b. 1945) * 2017 - Bob Kuzava, American baseball player (b. 1923) * 2018 - Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (b. 1981) * 2018 - Ray Wilson, English footballer (b. 1934) == Observances == * International Day of conscientious objectors * Independence Day (Paraguay) * Nakba Day (Palestinian Community) * Army Day (Slovenia) * Teacher's Day (Mexico and South Korea) * Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania) Category:Days of the year