October 15

### 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 – the 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.

### 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) (d. 2024)
- 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

### 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)

## Holidays and observances

- Saint Teresa of Ávila Feast Day
- Global Handwashing Day
- National Tree Planting Day (Sri Lanka)
- Teachers' Day (Brazil)