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This day in history

This day in history: 15 May

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

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Key facts

401 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 15 May.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico is shot and critically injured while meeting with supporters at an event in Handlová.

Holidays and observances

Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto)

Army Day (Slovenia)

Christian feast day: Achillius of Larissa

Christian feast day: Athanasius of Alexandria (Coptic Church)

Christian feast day: Hallvard Vebjørnsson (Roman Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: Hilary of Galeata

Christian feast day: Isidore the Laborer, celebrated with festivals in various countries, the beginning of bullfighting season in Madrid.

Christian feast day: Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (Roman Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: Kaleb of Axum

Christian feast day: May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar)

Christian feast day: Peter, Andrew, Paul, and Denise (Roman Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: Reticius (Roman Catholic Church)

Events

2024Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico is shot and critically injured while meeting with supporters at an event in Handlová.

2013An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days.

2010Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo.

2008California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state's own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.

2004Arsenal F.C. go an entire league campaign unbeaten in the English Premier League, joining Preston North End F.C. with the right to claim the title "The Invincibles".

2001A CSX EMD SD40-2 8888 rolls out of a train yard in Walbridge, Ohio, with 47 freight cars, including some tank cars with flammable chemical, after its engineer fails to reboard it after setting a yard switch. It travels south driverless for

1997The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-84 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

1997The United States government acknowledges the existence of the "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.

1991Édith Cresson becomes France's first female Prime Minister.

1988Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan.

1976Aeroflot Flight 1802 crashes near Viktorivka, Chernihiv Raion, Chernihiv Oblast, killing 52.

1974Ma'alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.

1972The Ryukyu Islands, under U.S. military governance since their conquest in 1945, revert to Japanese control.

1970President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington as the first female United States Army generals.

1963Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone.

1957At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.

1948Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel, thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

1945World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe, is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia.

1943Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).

1942World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.

1941First flight of the Gloster E.28/39, the first British and Allied jet aircraft.

1940Richard and Maurice McDonald open the first McDonald's restaurant.

1940USS Sailfish is recommissioned. It was originally the USS Squalus.

1940World War II: The Battle of the Netherlands: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.

1934A self coup by prime minister Kārlis Ulmanis succeeds in Latvia, suspending its constitution and dissolving its Saeima.

1933All military aviation organizations within or under the control of the RLM of Germany are officially merged in a covert manner to form its Wehrmacht military's air arm, the Luftwaffe.

1932In an attempted coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan, Inukai Tsuyoshi, is assassinated.

1929A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123.

1919Greek occupation of Smyrna. During the occupation, the Greek army kills or wounds 350 Turks; those responsible are punished by Greek commander Aristides Stergiades.

1919The Winnipeg general strike begins. By 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job.

1918The Finnish Civil War ends when the Whites take over Fort Ino, a Russian coastal artillery base on the Karelian Isthmus, from Russian troops.

1916A seventeen-year-old farmworker, Jesse Washington, is lynched in Waco, Texas, USA, after being convicted of rape and murder.

1911In Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up.

1911More than 300 Chinese immigrants are killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution led by Emilio Madero take the city of Torreón from the Federales.

1891Pope Leo XIII defends workers' rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching.

1864American 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.

1851The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier.

1850The Arana–Southern Treaty is ratified, ending "the existing differences" between Great Britain and Argentina.

1849The Sicilian revolution of 1848 is finally extinguished.

1836Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse.

Born on this day

2006Haerin, Korean singer

2002Chase Hudson, American internet celebrity, singer, actor

2000Dayana Yastremska, Ukrainian tennis player

1999Anastasia Gasanova, Russian tennis player

1998Lucrezia Stefanini, Italian tennis player

1997Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer

1997Scott Drinkwater, Australian rugby league player

1996Birdy, English singer-songwriter

1993Jeremy Hawkins, New Zealand rugby league player

1993Tomáš Kalas, Czech international footballer

1990Jordan Eberle, Canadian ice hockey player

1990Lee Jong-hyun, Korean guitarist

1990Stella Maxwell, New Zealand model

1989Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, French footballer

1989Susan Soonkyu Lee, Korean-American singer and entertainer

1988Indrek Kajupank, Estonian basketball player

1988Scott Laird, English footballer

1987Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player

1987Brian Dozier, American baseball player

1987David Adams, American baseball player

1987Ersan İlyasova, Turkish basketball player

1987Leonardo Mayer, Argentinian tennis player

1987Mark Fayne, American ice hockey player

1987Michael Brantley, American baseball player

1986Adam Moffat, Scottish footballer

1986Matías Fernández, Chilean footballer

1986Thomas Brown, American football player

1985Cristiane, Brazilian footballer

1985Denis Onyango, Ugandan football goalkeeper

1985Justine Robbeson, South African javelin thrower

1985Laura Harvey, English football coach

1985Tania Cagnotto, Italian diver

1985Tathagata Mukherjee, Indian actor

1984Beau Scott, Australian rugby league player

1984Jeff Deslauriers, Canadian ice hockey player

1984Mr Probz, Dutch singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer

1984Samantha Noble, Australian actress

1984Sérgio Jimenez, Brazilian race car driver

1982Layal Abboud, Lebanese singer

1982Rafael Pérez, Dominican baseball player

Died on this day

2025Robert Walls, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (born 1950)

2024Kamla Beniwal, Indian politician (born 1927)

2022Frank Curry, Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1950)

2022Kay Mellor, English actress (born 1951)

2021Oliver Gillie, British journalist and scientist (born 1937)

2020Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, and writer (born 1933)

2017Herbert R. Axelrod American tropical fish expert, publisher of pet books, and entrepreneur (born 1927)

2016Jelesko Grancharoff, Bulgarian-Australian resistance fighter and anarchist (born 1925)

2015Elisabeth Bing, German-American physical therapist and author (born 1914)

2015Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer (born 1928)

2015Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-American football player (born 1944)

2015Jackie Brookner, American sculptor and educator (born 1945)

2014Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (born 1940)

2014Noribumi Suzuki, Japanese director and screenwriter (born 1933)

2013Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (born 1946)

2012Arno Lustiger, German historian and author (born 1924)

2012Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (born 1928)

2012Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian soldier and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (born 1918)

2010Besian Idrizaj, Austrian footballer (born 1987)

2010Loris Kessel, Swiss race car driver (born 1950)

2009Bud Tingwell, Australian actor, director, and producer (born 1923)

2009Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (born 1964)

2008Alexander Courage, American composer and conductor (born 1919)

2008Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1956)

2008Will Elder, American illustrator (born 1921)

2007Jerry Falwell, American pastor, founded Liberty University (born 1933)

2006Nizar Abdul Zahra, Iraqi footballer (born 1961)

2003June Carter Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (born 1929)

1998Earl Manigault, American basketball player (born 1944)

1998Naim Talu, Turkish economist, banker, politician, 15th Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1919)

Quote of the day

“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.”

Zen saying

Questions people ask

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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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