May 15

May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). There are 230 days remaining.

Events

• 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. Torture quickly gains widespread usage across Catholic Europe.
• 1514 - Jodocus Badius Ascensius publishes Christiern Pedersen's Latin version of Saxo’s Gesta Danorum, the oldest known version of that work.
• 1525 - The battle of Frankenhausen ends the Peasants' War.
• 1602 - Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to see Cape Cod.
• 1618 - Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).
• 1701 - The War of the Spanish Succession begins.
• 1718 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun.
• 1756 - The Seven Years' War begins when England declares war on France.
• 1776 - American Revolution: Virginia convention instructs its delegates to propose a declaration of independence from Great Britain.
• 1795 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France enters Milan in triumph.
• 1836 - Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse.
• 1851 - Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
• 1858 - The third Royal Opera House officially opens in London.
• 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed USDA).
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia – Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
• 1869 - Woman's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
• 1897 - The Greek army retreats with heavy losses in Greco-Turkish War
• 1902 - In a field outside Grass Valley, California, Lyman Gilmore reportedly becomes the first person to fly a powered airplane (a steam-powered glider).
• 1905 - Las Vegas, Nevada, is founded when 110 acres (0.4 km²), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
• 1911 - The United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be dissolved.
• 1914 - Bolivia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1918 - Civil War in Finland ends.
• 1918 - The US Post Office Department (later renamed the USPS) begins the first regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC).
• 1919 - The Winnipeg General Strike began. By 11:00, virtually the entire working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job.
• 1928 - Release of the animated short "Plane Crazy", featuring the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
• 1930 - Aboard a Boeing tri-motor, Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess, on a flight from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois.
• 1932 - The May 15 incident. In an attempted coup the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed.
• 1934 - The United States Department of Justice offers a $25,000 reward for John Dillinger.
• 1934 - Karlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia.
• 1940 - Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the United States.
• 1940 - World War II: German troops occupy Amsterdam and invade Northern France.
• 1941 - Baseball player Joe DiMaggio starts his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak.
• 1942 - World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
• 1943 - Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).
• 1945 - Last skirmish of the Second World War in Europe fought near Prevalje, Slovenia.
• 1948 - Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel.
• 1951 - The Polish cultural attache in Paris, Czeslaw Milosz, asks the French government for political asylum.
• 1955 - Austrian Independence Treaty signed.
• 1955 - First ascent of Makalu, the world's fifth highest mountain.
• 1957 - Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.
• 1958 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
• 1960 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.
• 1963 - Mercury program: America launches the last mission of the program, Mercury 9 (on June 12 NASA Administrator James E. Webb told Congress the program was complete).
• 1964 - The Smothers Brothers give their first concert in Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• 1970 - The Beatles' last LP, Let It Be, is released in the United States.
• 1970 - President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals.
• 1970 - Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
• 1972 - In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while Wallace is campaigning to be American President.
• 1978 - Lagumot Harris, having only been elected President less than a month before, is replaced as the leader of the republic of Nauru. He is succeeded by Hammer DeRoburt.
• 1988 - Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Red Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• 1990 - Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million, the most expensive painting at the time.
• 1991 - Edith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister.
• 1992 - The Genoa Expo '92 World's Fair opens in Genoa, Italy.
• 2004 - The largest prime number to be discovered, 2^24036583 − 1, is found by Josh Findley and the GIMPS collaborative effort.
• 2004 - Miss Grace Leung was married to Jackie L Chan.
• 2005 - Czechs win the 64th World Ice Hockey Championship.

Births

• 1567 - Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• 1773 - Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, statesman (d. 1859)
• 1817 - Debendranath Tagore, Indian religious reformer (d. 1905)
• 1856 - L. Frank Baum, American author (d. 1919)
• 1857 - Williamina Fleming, astronomer (d. 1911)
• 1859 - Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
• 1862 - Arthur Schnitzler, dramatist and narrator (d. 1931)
• 1889 - Bessie Hillman, American labor organizer
• 1890 - Katherine Anne Porter, American author (d. 1980)
• 1891 - Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian writer (d. 1940)
• 1892 - Jimmy Wilde, boxer (d. 1969)
• 1898 - Arletty, model and actress (d. 1992)
• 1899 - Jean-Etienne Valluy, French general (d. 1970)
• 1902 - Richard J. Daley, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976)
• 1905 - Joseph Cotten, actor (d. 1994)
• 1909 - James Mason, English actor (d. 1984)
• 1911 - Max Frisch, Swiss author (d. 1991)
• 1914 - Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa and mountaineer (d. 1986)
• 1915 - Paul Samuelson, economist
• 1918 - Eddy Arnold, singer
• 1922 - Setouchi Jakucho, Japanese writer and Buddhist nun
• 1923 - Richard Avedon, photographer (d. 2004)
• 1923 - John Lanchbery, English composer (d. 2003)
• 1926 - Peter Shaffer, playwright, Equus, Amadeus
• 1926 - Anthony Shaffer, playwright, Sleuth; The Wicker Man
• 1930 - Jasper Johns, painter
• 1931 - Ken Venturi, golfer
• 1934 - Alvin F. Poussaint, physicist, psychiatrist, and educator
• 1936 - Anna Maria Alberghetti, actress
• 1936 - Hugh Romney, better known as Wavy Gravy
• 1936 - Paul Zindel, novelist, playwright
• 1937 - Madeline Albright, U.S. Secretary of State
• 1937 - Trini López, musician
• 1941 - K.T. Oslin, country musician
• 1945 - Lars Berhagen, Swedish singer and songwriter
• 1945 - Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
• 1948 - Brian Eno, musician and record producer
• 1951 - Chazz Palminteri, actor
• 1951 - Jonathan Richman, musician
• 1951 - Frank Wilczek, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1953 - George Brett, baseball player
• 1953 - Mike Oldfield, composer
• 1955 - Melinda Culea, actress
• 1956 - Dan Patrick, sportscaster
• 1958 - Ron Simmons, professional wrestler
• 1959 - Andrew Eldritch, singer and songwriter (The Sisters of Mercy)
• 1959 - Kaokor Galaxy, boxer
• 1959 - Khaosai Galaxy, boxer
• 1962 - Melle Mel, musician
• 1967 - John Smoltz, baseball player
• 1969 - Emmitt Smith, American football player
• 1970 - Rod Smith, American football player
• 1972 - David Charvet, actor
• 1974 - Ahmet Zappa, musician
• 1974 - Andrew Johns, Australian Rugby League Player
• 1975 - Ray Lewis, American football player
• 1976 - Tyler Walker, Major League Baseball pitcher
• 1978 - Amy Chow, gymnast
• 1979 - Bradley G Stratton, soldier, scholar
• 1979 - Elisabeth Harnois, actress
• 1981 - Jamie-Lynn DiScala, actress
• 1987 - Andrew Murray, Scottish tennis player
• 1988 - Hanmo Botul, cartoonist

Deaths

• 1036 - Emperor Go-Ichijo of Japan (d. 1036)
• 1470 - Charles VIII of Sweden
• 1585 - Niwa Nagahide, Japanese retainer, samurai, and daimyo (b. 1535)
• 1634 - Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585)
• 1698 - Marie Champmeslé, French actress (b. 1642)
• 1699 - Edward Petre, English Jesuit and privy councillor (b. 1631)
• 1740 - Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopaedist (b. 1680)
• 1782 - Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1699)
• 1886 - Emily Dickinson, American poet (b. 1830)
• 1937 - Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864)
• 1948 - Father Edward Flanagan, priest, founder of Boys Town
• 1956 - Austin Osman Spare, magician (b. 1886)
• 1967 - Edward Hopper, painter (b. 1882)
• 1971 - Sir Tyrone Guthrie, director, producer, and writer (b. 1900)
• 1986 - Theodore H. White, writer (b. 1915)
• 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, basketball player
• 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)

Holidays and observances

• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
  • Denise
  • Saint Achillius
  • Dympna
  • Reticius
  • Jean-Baptiste de la Salle
• Paraguay - Independence Day. Celebrations for the anniversary of the independence begin on Flag Day, 14 May.
• Roman Empire - Mercuralia in honor of Mercury held.
• International day of families.
• International day of climate changes.
• International conscientious objectors' day
• Buddha's Birthday in Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea (2005)
• United States - Peace Officers Memorial Day
• Slovenia - Day of Slovenian armed forces
• Mexico - Teacher's Day (Día del Maestro)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• Today in History: May 15

May 14 - May 16 - April 15 - June 15 – listing of all days