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This day in history

This day in history: 15 April

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day258 · 97

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Key facts

399 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 15 April.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2026: Twelve people and the perpetrator are killed and twelve others injured in a mass shooting at a school in Onikişubat, Turkey.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Abbo II of Metz

Christian feast day: April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Blessed César de Bus

Christian feast day: Father Damien (Catholic and Episcopal Church)

Christian feast day: Hunna

Christian feast day: Paternus of Avranches

Day of the Sun (North Korea)

Father Damien Day (Hawaii)

Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)

Jackie Robinson Day (United States)

National American Sign Language Day (United States)

Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year; India)

Events

2026Twelve people and the perpetrator are killed and twelve others injured in a mass shooting at a school in Onikişubat, Turkey.

2021A mass shooting occurs at a FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven.

2019The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.

2014In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, more than 400 civilians are gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.

2013A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.

2013Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring over 500 others.

2002Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.

1994Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.

1989Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.

1989Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.

1986The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.

1970During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.

1969The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

1960At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

1955McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

1952First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

1947Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.

1945Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

1942World War II: The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI.

1941World War II: In the Belfast Blitz, 200 bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing some 1,000 people.

1936First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.

1923Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.

1923Racially motivated Nihon Shōgakkō fire lit by a serial arsonist kills 10 children in Sacramento, California.

1922U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.

1920Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.

1912The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,224 passengers and crew on board survive.

1900Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.

1896Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.

1892The General Electric Company is formed.

1865President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president.

1861President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.

1817Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons), the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Con

1755Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.

1738Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, receives its premiere performance in London, England.

1736Foundation of the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica.

1715The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.

1642Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.

1632Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

1450Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.

1277The Mamluk Sultanate defeats the Mongols in the battle of Elbistan.

Born on this day

2001Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

1998Sexyy Red, American rapper

1997Ashleigh Gardner, Australian cricketer

1997Maisie Williams, English actress

1995Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer

1994Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player

1994Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter

1993Felipe Anderson, Brazilian footballer

1992Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player

1992John Guidetti, Swedish footballer

1992Remo Freuler, Swiss footballer

1991Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor

1991Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater

1990Emma Watson, English actress

1989Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player

1988Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player

1988Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher

1988Steven Defour, Belgian footballer

1986Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer

1986Tom Heaton, English footballer

1985Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player

1984Antonio Cromartie, American football player

1984Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player

1984Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player

1983Alice Braga, Brazilian actress

1983Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (died 2014)

1983Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer

1983Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player

1983Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist

1983Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1982Albert Riera, Spanish footballer and manager

1982Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter

1982Michael Aubrey, American baseball player

1982Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

1981Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer

1980Billy Yates, American football player

1980James Foster, English cricketer

1980Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer

1980Raül López, Spanish basketball player

1980Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player

Died on this day

2026José Santamaría, Uruguayan-Spanish footballer and manager (born 1929)

2025Wink Martindale, American DJ, radio personality, and TV personality (born 1933)

2024Josip Manolić, Croatian politician, prime minister, and speaker of the Chamber of Counties (born 1920)

2024Whitey Herzog, American professional baseball outfielder and manager (born 1931)

2022Bilquis Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (born 1947)

2022Henry Plumb, British politician and farmer (born 1925)

2022Liz Sheridan, American actress (born 1929)

2018R. Lee Ermey, American actor (born 1944)

2018Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (born 1929)

2017Clifton James, American actor (born 1920)

2017Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (born 1899)

2015Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (born 1966)

2015Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1928)

2014Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (born 1935)

2014John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (born 1919)

2013Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (born 1930)

2013Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (born 1928)

2013Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (born 1946)

2012Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (born 1968)

2012Paul Bogart, American director and producer (born 1919)

2011Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (born 1975)

2010Jack Herer, American author and activist (born 1939)

2010Michael Pataki, American actor and director (born 1938)

2009Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (born 1924)

2009László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (born 1907)

2009Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (born 1947)

2008Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (born 1921)

2007Brant Parker, American illustrator (born 1920)

2004Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (born 1934)

2002Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (born 1917)

Quote of the day

“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”

Epictetus

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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