This Day in History for 15th May

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All Events Birthdays
Weddings Deaths

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 244

756 - Abd-al-Rahman I becomes emir of Cordova Spain
884 - Marinus I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1004 - Henry II the Saint crowned king of Italy
1213 - English king John names Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury
1248 - Archbishop Konrad v Hochstaden lays cornerstone for Koln cathedral
1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
1492 - Cheese & Bread rebellion: German mercenaries kills 232 Alkmaarse
1514 - Jodocus Badius Ascensius publishes Christiern Pedersen's Latin version of Saxo's Gesta Danorum, the oldest known version of that work.
1525 - German boer army surrounded/slaughters 5,000; ends Boer war
1525 - The battle of Frankenhausen ends the Peasants' War.
1536 - Anna Boleyn & George Boleyn Lord Rochford accused of adultery/incest
1572 - Louis van Nassau & huguenots occupy Valenciennes
1602 - Cape Cod discovered by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold
1610 - Parliament of Paris appoints Louis XIII (8) as French king
1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers harmonics law
1625 - 16 rebellious farmers hanged in Vocklamarkt Upper-Austria
1648 - Treaty of Munster: Spain & Netherlands ratified
1665 - Pope Alexander VII convicts Jansenisme
1672 - 1st copyright law enacted by Massachusetts
Astronomer Johannes Kepler 1701 - The War of the Spanish Succession begins.
1702 - War of Spanish Succession, 1st American conflict between England & France
1718 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents world's 1st machine gun
1730 - Robert Walpole becomes England 1st prime minister (was: chief min)
1791 - Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance.
1793 - Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 meters", at a height of 5-6 meters, during one of the first attempted flights.
1796 - France & Sardinia sign Peace treaty of Paris
1796 - French troops occupy Milan
1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph.
1800 - King George III survives a 2nd assassination attempt
1800 - Pope Pius VII calls on French bishops to return to Gospel principles
1817 - Ambonese uprising against Dutch authority, under T Matulesia
1817 - Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1829 - Joseph Smith ordained by John the Baptist according to Joseph Smith
1836 - Francis Baily observes "Baily's Beads" during annular solar eclipse
Religious Leader Joseph Smith Jr 1849 - Philadelphia Turngemeinde founded
1851 - Rama IV, [Phra Chomklao Chaoyuhua], king of Thai (1851-68), crowned
1856 - 2nd SF Vigilance Committee organized
1858 - Royal Italian Opera opens in Covent Garden London
1862 - -May 17] Battle of Princeton WV
1862 - Battle of Drewry's Bluff (Ft Darling), Virginia
1862 - Confederate cruiser The Alabama runs aground near London
1862 - Department of Agriculture created
1862 - Gen Benjamin F Butler delegates "Woman Order" of NO to be his whores
1862 - Union Grounds, Brooklyn, 1st baseball enclosure, opens
1864 - Battle of New Market, Virginia
1864 - Skirmish at Marksville (Avoyelles) (Red River Campaign)
1868 - Dutch government of Zuylen van Nijevelt falls
1869 - National Woman Suffrage Association forms
1876 - 2nd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Swim aboard Vagrant wins in 2:38.25
1882 - May Laws-Czar Alexander III bans Jews from living in rural Romania
1883 - Italy signs military treaty with Austria-Hungary & Germany
1885 - Canadian Meti insurgent Louis Reil captured, Saskatchewan
1891 - British Central African Protectorate (now Malawi) forms
1891 - Jules Massenets opera "Griselde," premieres in Paris
1891 - Operations begin at Philips & Co in Holland
1891 - Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Rerum novarum
1894 - 20th Kentucky Derby: Frank Goodale aboard Chant wins in 2:41
1896 - Tornado kills 78 in Texas
1897 - The Greek army retreats with heavy losses in the Greco-Turkish War.
1902 - Lyman Gilmore is 1st person to fly a powered craft
1902 - Portugal bankrupt by revolt in Angola
1905 - Las Vegas Nevada founded
1905 - Pierre de Brazza reaches Leopoldville
1906 - NY Giants' Hooks Wiltse strikes out 4 batters in 1 inning
1910 - The last time a major earthquake happened on the Elsinore Fault Zone.
1911 - British house of commons accept Parliament Bill
1911 - Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Indiana University, incorporates
1911 - Supreme Court dissolves Standard Oil (Sherman Antitrust Act)
1911 - The Georgios Averof cruiser is bought by Greece.
1912 - 37th Preakness: Clarnence Turner on Colonel Holloway wins in 1:56.6
1912 - Ty Cobb rushes a heckler at a NY Highlander game & is suspended
1914 - Henri Rabauds opera "Marouf, Savetier de Caire," premieres in Paris
1914 - Bolivia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1915 - A T & T becomes 1st corporation to have 1 million stockholders
1916 - Asiago Italy falls when Austrian troops attack the Italian front
1918 - 1st airmail postal service (NY, Phila & Wash DC)
1918 - 1st regular airmail service (between NY & Wash) inaugurated
1918 - 43rd Preakness: Johnny Loftus aboard War Cloud wins in 1:53.6
1918 - 44th Preakness: Charles Peak aboard Jack Hare Jr wins in 1:53.4
1918 - Greeks troops lands at Smyrna
1918 - Washington Senator Walter Johnson pitches 1-0, 18 inning game
1918 - The Finnish Civil War ends.
1919 - Bkln Dodgers score 10 runs in 13th to beat Reds 10-0
1920 - Soccer team ADO '20 forms in Heemskerk
1923 - Cooperation of Dutch Molen forms
1926 - 52nd Kentucky Derby: Albert Johnson on Bubbling Over wins in 2:03.8
1926 - British general strike ends, but mine workers go on strike
1928 - Mickey Mouse made his 1st appearance in "Plane Crazy"
1929 - Fire in X-ray film stock kills 125 at Crile Clinic (Cleve Ohio)
1930 - Ellen Church becomes 1st airline stewardess, United (SF to Cheyenne)
1931 - Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Quadragesimo anno
1932 - The May 15 Incident: in an attempted Coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed.
1933 - 1st voice amplification system to be used in US Senate
1934 - Dept of Justice offers $25,000 reward for Dillinger, dead or alive
1934 - Karlis Ulmanis names himself fascist dictator of Latvia
1935 - Pirates beat Phillies 20-5
1935 - The Moscow Metro is opened to public.
1936 - Amy Johnson arrives in Croydon England from S Afr in record 4d16h
1937 - 63rd Preakness: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 1:58.4
1938 - Paul-Henri Spak forms red coalition of Belgium

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Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 237

1565 - Henrick de Keyser, architect/master builder of Amsterdam
1567 - Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi, Cremona Italy, composer (L'Orfeo)
1608 - René Goupil, French Catholic missionary (Canadian Martyrs) (d. 1642)
1720 - Maximilian Hell, Slovakian astronomer (d. 1792)
1749 - Levi Lincoln, Sr., American revolutionary, statesman, politician, and acting Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1820)
1754 - Pierre Dutillieu, composer
1759 - Maria Theresia von Paradis, composer
1764 - Johann Nepomuk Kalcher, composer
1773 - Clemens L Metternich, Austrian prince
1786 - General Dimitris Plapoutas, a Revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence (d. 1864)
1791 - Baron Floris A van Hall, Dutch minister of Justice/Finance
1795 - Adolf B Marx, German music theorist
1802 - Isaac Ridgeway Trimble, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1888
1807 - Luigi Ferdinando Casamorata, composer
1808 - Gottfried Herrmann, composer
1808 - Michael William Balfe, composer
1810 - Jacob Thompson, (Confederacy), died in 1885
1813 - Stephen Heller, composer
1817 - Debendranath Tagore, Indian religious reformer (d. 1905)
1819 - Thomas Leonidas Crittenden, Major General (Union volunteers)
1830 - Laurence Simmons Baker, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1907
1830 - Martinus W van der Aa, author/Dutch head-editor (The Time)
1841 - Giovanni Bolzoni, composer
1845 - Ilja [Elias] Metsjnikov, USSR, zoologist/bacteriologist (Nobel 1908)
1848 - Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter (d. 1926)
1855 - Eduard von Keyserling, Baltic German writer (Dritte Stiege)
1856 - Lyman Frank Baum, NY, children's book author (Wizard of Oz)
1857 - Williamina Fleming, Scottish-born astronomer (d. 1911)
1859 - Pierre Curie, France, physicist (Nobel 1903)
1860 - Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, 1st wife of Woodrow Wilson
1862 - Arthur Schnitzler, Austria, playwright/novelist (La Ronde)
1865 - Albert Verwey, Dutch poet/literature historian (Motion)
1873 - Nikolay N Tcherepnin, St Petersburg, composer of ballets, songs [NS]
1878 - Francisco Pujol, composer
1880 - Otto Dibelius, German theologist/bishop (Confessional Church)
1883 - Stanley Robert Marchant, composer
1888 - Jean Wahl, French philosopher
1889 - Bessie Hillman, founder (Almalgamated Clothing Workers of America)
1890 - Katherine Anne Porter, US, novelist (Ship of Fools)
1891 - Chief Nipo T Strongheart, Yakima WA, US Native American actor (Pony Soldier)
1891 - David Vogel, Ukraine, author (Huwelijksleven)
1891 - Fritz Feigl, Austria, chemist (spot tests)
1891 - Mikhail Bulgakov, Russia, playwright/novelist (Black Snow)
1892 - Jimmy Wilde, boxer (d. 1969)
1893 - Michel Gusikoff, composer
1893 - Stanley Lupino, English comic (Cheer Up, Over She Goes)
1895 - Charles Lamont, SF CA, director (Abbott & Costello Go to Mars)
1895 - William D. Byron, U.S. Congressman (d. 1941)
1898 - Arlette-Leonie Arletty, [Bathiat], Courbevoie France, actress (Maxime)
1899 - Jean-Etienne Valluy, French general (d. 1970)
1901 - Xavier Herbert, Australian author (d. 1984)
1901 - Luis Monti, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1983)
1902 - Richard J Daley, (Mayor-D-Chic)
1903 - Anny Ondra, Czechoslovakia, actress (Blackmail, Manxman)
1903 - Maria Reiche, German-born mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998)
1904 - Clifton Fadiman, Bkln NY, TV host (Information Please, Quiz Kids)
1904 - Gustav-Adolf Boltenstein, Sweden, equest dressage (Oly-gold-1952, 56)
1905 - Joseph Cotten, Virginia, actor (3rd Man, Airport 77, Hearse)
1907 - Josef Alexander, composer
1907 - Phillip Piratin, communist
1907 - Sukhdev Thapar, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931)
1908 - Lars-Eric Vilner Larsson, Akarp Sweden, composer (Linden)
1909 - James Mason, England, actor (Lolita, Bloodline, Boys From Brazil)
1909 - Rodolfo Cornejo, composer
1910 - Constance Cummings, Wash, actress (John & Julie, 7 Sinners, Glamour)
1910 - Robert F Wagner, (Mayor-D-NYC, 1949-65) [or Apr 20]
1911 - Leo Fuchs, Polish/US Yiddish actor (Galitzianer Cowboy)
1911 - Max Frisch, Swiss architect/writer (Stiller, Biedermann)
1911 - Herta Oberheuser, Nazi doctor (d. 1978)
1912 - Alexis Kagame, Rwanda, priest/writer
1912 - Alexis Nihon, Bahamas, wrestler (Olympics-1968)
1912 - Arthur Victor Berger, NYC, composer (Ideas of Order)
1914 - Jack Pepys, immunologist
1914 - Pierre Froidebise, composer
1914 - Turk Broda, ice hockey goaltender (d. 1972)
1915 - Maurice B Latey, commentator (BBC World Service)
1915 - Paul A Samuelson, economist (1970 Nobel, 1947 John Bates Clark Medal)
1915 - Gus Viseur, French button accordionist (d. 1974)
1916 - Bill Williams, Bkln NY, actor (Starlit Time, Date With the Angels)
1917 - Hugh Edward Lance Falkus, filmmaker/naturalist
1918 - Eddy Arnold, Henderson TN, country singer (Cattle Call, Anytime)
1918 - Joseph Wiseman, Montreal, actor (Dr No, Viva Zapata, Les Miserables)
1919 - Charles Palmer, cricketer (one Test 1955, later MCC president)
1920 - Hugh Henry Home Popham, aviator/writer/poet
1922 - Enrico Berlinguer, Italian communist/sec-gen (CPI) [or May 25]
1922 - Jakucho Setouchi, Japanese writer and Buddhist nun
1923 - Richard Avedon, US, photographer (1957 ASMP award)
1923 - John Lanchbery, English composer (d. 2003)
1923 - Johnny Walker, Indian actor (d. 2003)
1924 - Andrea Gyarmati, Hungary water polo player (Olympics, 1948-60)
1924 - Don Kenyon, cricketer (England batsman in 8 Tests 1951-55)
1924 - Jaime Garcia Terre, poet/essayist
1924 - Ursula Thiess, Hamburg, actress (Monsoon, Bengal Brigade, Americano)
1924 - Maria Koepcke, German ornithologist (d. 1971)
1925 - Andrey Yakoulevich Eshpay, composer
1925 - Emmanuel Ghent, composer
1925 - Jos Jacobs, Flemish director (Madonna of Nedermunster)
1926 - Anthony Shaffer, twin brother playwright (Sleuth)
1926 - Clermont Pepin, composer
1926 - Peter Shaffer, twin brother playwright (5 Finger Exercise, Equus)

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Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 7 of 7

1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
1948 - Dancer and actress Cyd Charisse (26) weds singer Tony Martin (34)
1993 - Actress Jane Seymour weds actor James Kesch
1996 - Auto racing champ-turned-TV commentator Danny Sullivan (46) weds former Manhattan financial planner Brenda Bosveld (33) in Monte Carlo, Monaco
2009 - Former Bachelorette star Jen Schefft (32) weds Chicago's public relations executive Joe Waterman (35) at the Private Dining Rooms of Spiaggia in Chicago, Illinois
2010 - Actress and model Danneel Harris (33) weds actor Jensen Ackles (34) at the Rosewood Crescent Court Hotel in Dallas, Texas
2011 - Actress Tamera Mowry (32) weds Fox News Correspondent Adam Housley (39) at Villagio Inn & Spa in Napa, California

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 100 of 117

392 - Valentinianus II, emperor of Rome (375-392), murdered at 21
884 - Marinus I, [Martinus II], Pope (882-84), dies
913 - Hatto I, Archbishop of Mainz
1036 - Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan (b. 1008)
1157 - Yury Dolgoruky, Russian prince
1174 - Nur ad-Din, King of Syria (1146-1174), dies at 56
1381 - Eppelein von Gailingen, German robber baron
1470 - Charles VIII of Sweden (b. 1409)
1482 - Paolo Toscanelli, Italian physician & mapmaker, dies
1585 - Niwa Nagahide, Japanese warlord (b. 1535)
1591 - Dmitry Ivanovitch, youngest son of Russian Tsar Ivan IV, murdered at 8
1609 - Giovanni Croce, Italian composer (b. 1557)
1621 - Henrick de Keyser, Amsterdam's master builder, dies at 56
1622 - Peter Plancius, Flemish vicar/cartographer, dies at about 69
1634 - Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585)
1685 - Henri Otto, Spanish marquis of Caretto/Savona/Grana, dies
1698 - Marie Champmeslé, French actress (b. 1642)
1699 - Edward Petre, English Jesuit and privy councilor (b. 1631)
1714 - Roger Elliott, British general and Governor of Gibraltar
1740 - Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopaedist (b. 1680)
1746 - Giovanni Antonio Ricieri, composer, dies at 67
1760 - Alaungpaya, King of Burma (b. 1711)
1761 - Jacob Mossel, governor-general (Dutch East Indies), dies at 56
1773 - Alban Butler, English Catholic priest and writer (b. 1710)
1782 - Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1699)
1785 - Karel Blazej Kopriva, composer, dies at 29
1801 - Louis C count Barbiano de Belgioioso, Austrian diplomat, dies at 73
1821 - John Wall Calcott, composer, dies at 54
1822 - Christian Ludwig Dieter, composer, dies at 64
1823 - Antonio Frantisek Becvarovsky, composer, dies at 69
1824 - Alexander Campbell, composer, dies at 60
1832 - Carl Friedrich Zelter, composer, dies at 73
1833 - Edmund Kean, English actor (Shylock), dies at 46
1842 - Emanuel A D M J count de las Cases, French historian (Napoleon), dies at 76
1845 - Samuel I Wiselius, Dutch lawyer/businessman/writer, dies at 76
1855 - Jan Mazereeuw, Frisian farmer/sect leader, dies at 75
1872 - Thomas Hastings, composer, dies at 87
1873 - Alexander J Cuza, monarch of Moldavia/Romania, dies at 53
1879 - Gottfried Semper, German architect (b. 1803)
Poet Emily Dickinson (1886) 1886 - Emily Dickinson, US poet, dies at 55
1889 - Alfred Potocki, premier Austrian/governor/viceroy of Galicia, dies
1892 - Arthur Hodister, British ivory seller (Heart of Darkness), murdered
1895 - Joseph Whitaker, British publisher (Whitaker' Almanack), dies at 75
1899 - Francisque Sarcey, French writer (Le Temps), dies at 70
1924 - Paul d'Estornelles de Constant, French diplomat/pacifist, dies at 71
1926 - Mohammed VI Vahideddin, last sultan of Turkey (1918-22), dies
1932 - Ki Inukai, premier Japan (1931-32), murdered
1933 - Ernest Torrence, actor (I Cover the Waterfront), dies at 54
1935 - Kazimir Malevich, Polish/Ukrainian artist (b. 1878)
1937 - Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864)
1940 - Joseph Limburg, liberal 2nd-Member of parliament (1905-19), dies at 75
1940 - Willem A Bonger, Dutch criminologist (Race & Crime), suicide at 63
1945 - Major Courtney, US medal of honor marine, dies in battle of Sugar Loaf
1945 - Charles Williams, UK writer (b. 1886)
1948 - Edward Flanagan, American priest and founder of Boys Town (b. 1886)
1952 - Albert Basserman, actor (Madame Curie, Rhapsody in Blue), dies at 84
1952 - Italo Montemezzi, composer, dies at 76
1954 - William March, American writer (b. 1893)
1956 - Austin Osman Spare, English magician (b. 1886)
1958 - Michael G the Boer, historian (Harbor of Amsterdam), dies at 91
1959 - Berend van den Amstel, [Bernard CED Hattink], Dutch actor, dies at 56
1964 - Cornelis H Edelman, Dutch geologist, dies at 61
1964 - Vladko Maček, Kingdom of Yugoslavia deputy prime minister (b. 1879)
1965 - Adrian Schoevers, Dutch director (Schoevers Institution), dies
1967 - Edward Hopper, US painter (House by Railroad), dies at 84
1967 - Jaromir Fiala, composer, dies at 74
1971 - Tyrone Guthrie, English director, producer, and writer (b. 1900)
1972 - Nigel Green, actor (Skull, Tobruk, Ipcress File), dies at 47
1973 - Willem H Rassers, Dutch cult anthropologist (Pandji-Novel), dies at 95
1976 - Samuel Eliot Morison, US historian (Admiral of Ocean Sea), dies at 88
1978 - Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
1982 - Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (b. 1946)
1984 - Lionel Charles Robbins, British economist, dies at 85
1984 - Francis Schaeffer, American theologian, philosopher, and pastor (b. 1912)
1985 - Jackie Curtis, actor (Underground USA), dies of a drug overdose at 38
1986 - Theodore H White, US journalist (Making of Pres, Pulitzer), dies at 71
1986 - Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
1987 - John Baur, museum director, dies at 78
1987 - Wynne Gibson, actor (Night After Night, Aggie Appleby), dies
1988 - Andrew Duggan, actor (Jigsaw, Firehouse), dies of cancer at 64
1988 - Greta Nissen, actress (Ambassador Bill), dies
1989 - John Waldo Green, composer, dies at 80
1989 - Johnny Green, American songwriter (b. 1908)
1991 - Bud Freeman, jazz tenor saxophonist, dies of cancer at 84
1991 - Freddie Paris, dies
1991 - Reno Brown, dies
1991 - Ronald Lacey, actor (Raiders of Lost Ark, Next Victim), dies at 55
1991 - Andreas Floer, German mathematician (b. 1956)
1992 - Bruce Hopkins, performer/director, dies at 44
1992 - Robert Morris Page, US physicist (radar), dies at 88
1992 - Jovy Marcelo, Filipino race car driver (b. 1965)
1993 - Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese writer, poet, and diplomat (b. 1933)
1994 - Frederik baron van Pallandt, Danish singer (Nina & F), murdered at 61
1994 - Gilbert Roland, Mexican/US actor (Armand in Camille), dies at 88
1994 - Ronnie Potsdammer, singer/song/text writer/programmer, dies at 71
1994 - Royal Dano, actor (Ghoulies 2), dies of a heart attack at 71
1994 - [Henry] John Baker, resistance fighter/journalist (Slogan), dies at 79
1995 - Edouard Dermit, actor (Testament of Orpheus), dies at 69
1995 - Eric Richard Porter, actor (Crucible, Hennessy), dies at 67
1995 - Johnny Van Derrick, jazz violinist, dies at 68