October 15



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)

Observances 
 Global Handwashing Day
 National Tree Planting Day (Sri Lanka)
 Teachers' Day (Brazil)

Days of the year