Historical EventsToday: 15 October

Events

• 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals.


• 1552 - Khanate of Kazan is conquered by troops of Ivan Grozny.


• 1582 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.


• 1764 - Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire


• 1815 - Napoleon I of France begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.


• 1863 - American Civil War: The CSS H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley.


• 1864 - American Civil War: The Battle of Glasgow is fought, resulting in the surrender of Glasgow, Missouri, and its Union garrison, to the Confederacy.


• 1878 - The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.


• 1880 - Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.


• 1888 - The "From Hell" letter sent by Jack the Ripper is received by the investigators.


• 1894 - Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying - Dreyfus affair begins.


• 1904 - The Russian Baltic Fleet leaves Reval, Estonia for Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War.


• 1917 - World War I: At Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany.


• 1928 - The airship, the Graf Zeppelin completed its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA.


• 1932 - Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.


• 1934 - The Soviet Republic of China collapses when Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army successfully encircle Ruijin, forcing the fleeing Communists to begin the Long March.


• 1939 - The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) is dedicated.


• 1940 - "The Great Dictator", a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released.


• 1944 - The Arrow Cross Party (very similar to Hitler's NSDAP (Nazi party)) takes over the power in Hungary.


• 1945 - World War II: The former premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval is shot by a firing squad for treason.


• 1946 - Nuremberg Trials: Hermann Göring poisons himself the night before his execution.


• 1951 - Television sitcom I Love Lucy premieres.


• 1951 - Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized the first oral contraceptive


• 1953 - British nuclear test Totem 1 detonated at Emu Field, South Australia.


• 1965 - Vietnam War: The National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam stages the first public burning of a draft card in the United States to result in arrest under a new law.


• 1966 - Black Panther Party was created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.


• 1969 - Vietnam War: Hundreds of thousands of people take part in National Moratorium antiwar demonstrations across the United States.


• 1970 - Thirty-five construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses.


• 1970 - Anwar Sadat becomes president of Egypt


• 1971 - The start of the 2500-year celebration of Iran, celebrating the birth of Persia.


• 1973 - The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Gabon were established.


• 1981 - Professional cheerleader Krazy George Henderson leads what is thought to be the first audience wave in Oakland, California.


• 1987 - The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England.


• 1989 - Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.


• 1990 - Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.


• 1997 - The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC (United Kingdom).


• 1997 - The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.


• 2001 - NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.


• 2003 - China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.


• 2003 - The Staten Island Ferry boat Andrew J. Barberi collides with a pier at the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island, killing 11 people and injuring 43.


• 2005 - Iraqi constitution ratification vote


• 2005 - Riot in Toledo, Ohio breaks out during a National Socialist/Neo-Nazi protest; over 100 are arrested.


• 2007 - 17 Activists in Aotearoa New Zealand arrested in the country's first post 9/11 anti-terrorism raids across the country.