May 15

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

Events

• 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
• 1525 – The battle of Frankenhausen ends the German Peasants' War.
• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest. She is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury.
• 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband.
• 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).
• 1648 – The Treaty of Westphalia signed.
• 1701 – The War of the Spanish Succession begins.
• 1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun.
• 1755 – Laredo, Texas is established by the Spaniards.
• 1776 – American Revolution: the Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
• 1791 – Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance.
• 1792 – War of the First Coalition: France declares war on Kingdom of Sardinia.
• 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 – First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph.
• 1800 – George III survives two assassination attempts in one day.
• 1811 – Paraguay declares independence from Spain.
• 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.
• 1836 – Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse.
• 1849 – Troops of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily
• 1850 – The Bloody Island Massacre takes place in Lake County, CA, in which a large number of Pomo Indians in Lake County were slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry, led by Nathaniel Lyon.
• 1851 – Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
• 1858 – Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
• 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
• 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's Suffrage Association.
• 1905 – The Russian minelayer Amur laid a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur and sank Japan's battleship Hatsuse, 15,000 tons, with 496 crew.
• 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 broken up.
• 1919 – The Winnipeg General Strike begins. By 11:00 a.m., almost the whole working population of Winnipeg, Manitoba had walked off the job.
• 1919 – Greek invasion of İzmir. During the invasion, the Greek army kills or wounds 350 Turks. Those responsible are punished by the Greek Commander Aristides Stergiades.
• 1928 – Mickey Mouse premiered in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy
• 1929 – A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123.
• 1932 – The May 15 Incident: in an attempted Coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed.
• 1934 – Kārlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia.
• 1935 – The Moscow Metro is opened to public.
• 1936 – Amy Johnson arrives back in England after a record-breaking return flight to Cape Town
• 1940 – USS Sailfish (SS-192) recommissioned, originally the USS Squalus.
• 1940 – World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.
• 1940 – McDonald's opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
• 1942 – World War II: in the United States, a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
• 1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).
• 1945 – World War II: The final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia.
• 1948 – Following the demise of the British Mandate of Palestine, Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade the territory partitioned for the Arab state by the British Mandate of Palestine thus starting the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
• 1951 – The Polish cultural attache in Paris, Czesław Miłosz, asks the French government for political asylum.
• 1957 – At Malden Island in the Pacific, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple. The device fails to detonate properly.
• 1958 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
• 1960 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.
• 1963 – Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut L. Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space.
• 1966 – After a policy dispute, Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky of South Vietnam's ruling junta launches a military attack on the forces of General Ton That Dinh, forcing him to abandon his command.
• 1969 – People's Park: California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti-war protestors, sparking a riot called Bloody Thursday.
• 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals.
• 1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
• 1972 – The island of Okinawa, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.
• 1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to be become President.
• 1974 – Ma'alot massacre: In an Arab terrorist attack and hostage taking at an Israeli school, a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.
• 1987 – The Soviet Union launches the Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform. It fails to reach orbit.
• 1988 – Soviet war in 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.
• 1997 – The 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.
• 2008 – California 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.
• 2010 – Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo.

Births

• 1567 – (baptism) Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• 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)
• 1767 or 1770 – Ezekiel Hart, Canadian entrepreneur and politician, and the first Jew to be elected to public office in the British Empire (d. 1843)
• 1773 – Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (d. 1859)
• 1786 – General Dimitris Plapoutas, a Revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence (d. 1864)
• 1817 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian religious reformer (d. 1905)
• 1848 – Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter (d. 1926)
• 1856 – L. Frank Baum, American author (d. 1919)
• 1856 – Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer and guide (d. 1917)
• 1857 – Williamina Fleming, British-born astronomer (d. 1911)
• 1859 – Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
• 1862 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian dramatist and narrator (d. 1931)
• 1890 – Katherine Anne Porter, American author (d. 1980)
• 1891 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian writer (d. 1940)
• 1891 – Fritz Feigl, Austria-born chemist (d. 1971)
• 1892 – Jimmy Wilde, boxer (d. 1969)
• 1895 – William D. Byron, U.S. Congressman (d. 1941)
• 1895 – Astrid Zachrison, Swedish supercentenarian (d. 2008)
• 1898 – Arletty, French model and actress (d. 1992)
• 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 of Chicago (d. 1976)
• 1903 – Maria Reiche, German-born mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998)
• 1905 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1905 – Abraham Zapruder, American businessman who unexpectedly filmed the assassination of John F. Kennedy. (d. 1970)
• 1907 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931)
• 1909 – James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
• 1909 – Clara Solovera, Chilean folk musician (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Constance Cummings, British actress (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Max Frisch, Swiss author (d. 1991)
• 1911 – Herta Oberheuser, Nazi doctor (d. 1978)
• 1912 – Arthur Berger, American composer (d. 2003)
• 1914 – Turk Broda, ice hockey goaltender (d. 1972)
• 1915 – Hilda Bernstein, British-born South African author, artist, and activist (d. 2006)
• 1915 – Mario Monicelli, Italian director and screenwriter
• 1915 – Paul Samuelson, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
• 1915 – Gus Viseur, French button accordionist (d. 1974)
• 1916 – Vera Gebuhr, Danish actress
• 1918 – Eddy Arnold, American country music singer (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Nasrallah Sfeir, Lebanese cardinal
• 1922 – Jakucho Setouchi, Japanese writer and Buddhist nun
• 1923 – Richard Avedon, American photographer (d. 2004)
• 1923 – John Lanchbery, British composer (d. 2003)
• 1923 – Johnny Walker, Indian actor (d. 2003)
• 1924 – Maria Koepcke, German ornithologist (d. 1971)
• 1926 – Anthony Shaffer, British playwright (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Peter Shaffer, British playwright
• 1930 – Jasper Johns, American painter
• 1931 – Ken Venturi, American golfer
• 1935 – Utah Phillips, American labor organizer and folk singer (d. 2008)
• 1936 – Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-born actress
• 1936 – Wavy Gravy, American clown and activist
• 1936 – Ralph Steadman, British cartoonist
• 1936 – Paul Zindel, American writer (d. 2003)
• 1937 – Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State
• 1937 – Trini López, American musician
• 1937 – Joe Tait, American broadcaster
• 1938 – Mireille Darc, French actress
• 1938 – Diane Nash, American 1960s Civil Rights Movement leader
• 1938 – Lenny Welch, American singer
• 1939 – Dorothy Shirley, British athlete
• 1940 – Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
• 1940 – Roger Ailes, American businessman
• 1940 – Don Nelson, American basketball coach, currently of the Golden State Warriors
• 1941 – K.T. Oslin, American musician
• 1942 – Jusuf Kalla, vice- president of Indonesia and Chairman of the Golkar Party.
• 1942 – Doug Lowe, 35th Premier of Tasmania
• 1944 – Ulrich Beck, German sociologist
• 1944 – Bill Alter, Missouri State Senator
• 1945 – Lasse Berghagen, Swedish singer
• 1945 – Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, heir to the Portuguese crown
• 1947 – Graeham Goble, Australian musician, singer/songwriter, and record producer (co-founding member of Little River Band)
• 1948 – Brian Eno, British musician and record producer
• 1948 – Kathleen Sebelius, American politician, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
• 1948 – Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese professional baseball pitcher
• 1950 – Nicholas Hammond, American actor
• 1951 – Frank Wilczek, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1952 – Chazz Palminteri, American actor, writer and director
• 1953 – George Brett, American baseball player
• 1953 – Mike Oldfield, British composer
• 1954 – Robert P. Harrison, American thinker
• 1955 – Lee Horsley, American actor
• 1956 – Andreas Loverdos, Greek lawyer and politician
• 1956 – Dan Patrick, American sportscaster
• 1957 – Juan José Ibarretxe, Basque Lehendakari (Prime Minister)
• 1957 – Kevin Von Erich, American professional wrestler
• 1958 – Ron Simmons, American professional wrestler
• 1959 – Andrew Eldritch, British singer and songwriter (The Sisters of Mercy)
• 1959 – Kaokor Galaxy, Thai boxer
• 1959 – Luis Perez-Sala, Spanish racing driver
• 1960 – Rob Bowman, American film director
• 1960 – Rhonda Burchmore, Australian Entertainer
• 1961 – Katrin Cartlidge, British actress (d. 2002)
• 1961 – Melle Mel, American musician
• 1962 – Lisa Curry-Kenny, Australian Ironwoman
• 1964 – Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
• 1964 – Digna Ochoa, Mexican politician
• 1965 – André Abujamra, Brazilian film score composer
• 1965 – Raí, Brazilian footballer
• 1966 – Pete Wiggs, British musician (Saint Etienne)
• 1967 – Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress
• 1967 – Laura Hillenbrand, American author (Seabiscuit: An American Legend)
• 1967 – John Smoltz, baseball player
• 1968 – Cecilia Malmström, Swedish politician
• 1968 – Seth Putnam, American musician
• 1969 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese baseball player
• 1969 – Emmitt Smith, American football player
• 1969 – Asalah Nasri, Syrian singer
• 1970 – Martin Rossiter, British Musician
• 1970 – Frank de Boer, Dutch football player
• 1970 – Ronald de Boer, Dutch football player
• 1970 – Desmond Howard, American football player
• 1970 – Rod Smith, American football player
• 1971 – Phil Pfister, American strength athlete
• 1972 – David Charvet, French actor
• 1973 – Emilia Tsoulfa, Greek sailing champion
• 1974 – Vassilis Kikilias, Greek basketball player
• 1974 – Ahmet Zappa, American musician
• 1974 – Shiney Ahuja, Indian actor
• 1975 – Peter Iwers, Swedish Musician
• 1975 – Ray Lewis, American football player
• 1976 – Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
• 1976 – Torraye Braggs, American basketball player
• 1976 – Jacek Krzynówek, Polish footballer
• 1976 – Ryan Leaf, American football player
• 1976 – Tyler Walker, baseball player
• 1978 – Amy Chow, American gymnast
• 1978 – Dwayne DeRosario, Canadian footballer
• 1978 – Caroline Dhavernas, Canadian actress
• 1978 – Edu, Brazilian footballer
• 1978 – David Krumholtz, American actor
• 1978 – Robert Royal, American football player
• 1978 – Krissy Taylor, American model (d. 1995)
• 1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player
• 1980 – Rocky Marquette, American actor
• 1981 – Patrice Evra, French footballer
• 1981 – Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
• 1981 – Zara Phillips, British royal and eventer
• 1981 – Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress
• 1982 – Alex Breckenridge, American actress
• 1982 – Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican athlete
• 1982 – Segundo Castillo, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1982 – Tatsuya Fujiwara, Japanese actor
• 1982 – Jessica Sutta, American dancer, singer and actress (Pussycat Dolls)
• 1984 – Sérgio Jimenez, Brazilian racing driver
• 1985 – Tania Cagnotto, Italian diver
• 1985 – Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Thomas Brown, American football player
• 1986 – Matías Fernández, Chilean footballer
• 1986 – Adam Moffat, British football player
• 1987 – Ersan İlyasova, Turkish basketball player
• 1987 – Jennylyn Mercado, Filipina actress and singer
• 1987 – Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player
• 1989 – Sunny, Korean singer
• 1990 – Joe Mattock, English footballer
• 1995 – Ksenia Sitnik, Belarusian singer

Deaths

• 913 – Hatto I, Archbishop of Mainz
• 1036 – Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan (b. 1008)
• 1157 – Yury Dolgoruky, Russian prince
• 1174 – Nur ad-Din Zangi, ruler of Syria (b. 1118)
• 1381 – Eppelein von Gailingen, German robber baron
• 1470 – Charles VIII of Sweden (b. 1409)
• 1585 – Niwa Nagahide, Japanese warlord (b. 1535)
• 1591 – Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsarevich (b. 1582)
• 1609 – Giovanni Croce, Italian composer (b. 1557)
• 1634 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585)
• 1698 – Marie Champmeslé, French actress (b. 1642)
• 1699 – Edward Petre, British Jesuit and privy councilor (b. 1631)
• 1700 – John Hale, pastor during the Salem witch hunt (b.1636)
• 1703 – Charles Perrault, French writer (b. 1628)
• 1714 – Roger Elliott, British general and Governor of Gibraltar
• 1740 – Ephraim Chambers, British encyclopaedist (b. 1680)
• 1760 – Alaungpaya, King of Burma (b. 1711)
• 1773 – Alban Butler, British Catholic priest and writer (b. 1710)
• 1782 – Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1699)
• 1845 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican Head of State (b. 1800)
• 1879 – Gottfried Semper, German architect (b. 1803)
• 1886 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (b. 1830)
• 1924 – Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1852)
• 1928 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15^th Yokozuna (b. 1845)
• 1935 – Kazimir Malevich, Polish/Ukrainian artist (b. 1878)
• 1937 – Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864)
• 1940 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author and polemicist (b. 1902)
• 1945 – Charles Williams, British writer (b. 1886)
• 1948 – Edward Flanagan, American priest and founder of Boys Town (b. 1886)
• 1954 – William March, American writer (b. 1893)
• 1956 – Austin Osman Spare, British artist and magician (b. 1886)
• 1964 – Vladko Maček, Kingdom of Yugoslavia deputy prime minister (b. 1879)
• 1967 – Edward Hopper, American painter (b. 1882)
• 1971 – Tyrone Guthrie, British director, producer, and writer (b. 1900)
• 1978 – Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
• 1982 – Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (b. 1946)
• 1984 – Francis Schaeffer, American theologian, philosopher, and pastor (b. 1912)
• 1986 – Theodore White, American writer (b. 1915)
• 1986 – Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
• 1989 – Johnny Green, American songwriter (b. 1908)
• 1991 – Andreas Floer, German mathematician (b. 1956)
• 1991 – Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Malian writer (b. c. 1900)
• 1991 – Ronald Lacey, British actor (b. 1935)
• 1992 – Jovy Marcelo, Filipino race car driver (b. 1965)
• 1993 – Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese writer, poet, and diplomat (b. 1933)
• 1994 – Gilbert Roland, Mexican actor (b. 1905)
• 1995 – Eric Porter, British actor (b. 1928)
• 1996 – Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Earl "the Goat" Manigault, American basketball player (b. 1944)
• 2003 – June Carter Cash, American musician and singer (b. 1929)
• 2003 – George Francis, British gangster (b. 1940)
• 2005 – Alan B. Gold, Quebec Chief Justice (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Jerry Falwell, Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and Founder of Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA (b. 1933)
• 2007 – Yolanda King, American actress and activist, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1955)
• 2008 – Alexander Courage, composer of original Star Trek theme (b. 1919)
• 2008 – Tommy Burns, British footballer (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Robert Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle racer, younger brother of Joey Dunlop (b. 1960)
• 2008 – Astrid Zachrison, Swedish supercentenarian (b. 1895)
• 2009 – Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Australian actor (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player (b. 1964)
• 2010 – Loris Kessel, Swiss racing driver (b. 1950)
• 2010 – Besian Idrizaj, Footballer (b. 1987)

Holidays and observances

• Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto)
• Christian Feast Day
  • Achillius of Larissa
  • Athanasius of Alexandria (Coptic Church)
  • Dymphna
  • Hilary of Galeata
  • Isidore the Laborer, celebrated with festivals in various countries, the beginning of bullfighting season in Madrid.
  • Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Reticius (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Peter, Andrew, Paul, and Denise (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Hallvard Vebjørnsson (Norway)
  • May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of Slovenian Army (Slovenia)
• Earliest date on which Armed Forces Day can fall, while May 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Saturday of May. (United States)
• Earliest date on which Bike-to-Work Day can fall, while May 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Friday of May. (United States)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Paraguay from Spain in 1811. Celebrations for the anniversary of the independence begin on Flag Day, 14 May.
• International Day of Families (International)
• Kanda Matsuri, held on Saturday and Sunday closest to May 15, every odd years. (Kanda Shrine)
• La Corsa dei Ceri begins on the eve of the feast day of Saint Ubaldo. (Gubbio)
• Mercuralia, in honor of Mercury. (Roman Empire)
• Nakba Day (Palestinian communities)
• Peace Officers Memorial Day (United States)
• Teacher's Day (Mexico and South Korea)

External links

• On This Day - from the BBC
• The New York Times: On This Day - New York Times
• On This Day in Canada