May 15

Events

• 1602 - Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to discover 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).
• 1718 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun.
• 1756 - Seven Years' War: The war begins when England declares war on France.
• 1795 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France enters Milan in triumph.
• 1811 - Paraguay gains independence from Spain.
• 1836 - Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular solar eclipse.
• 1851 - Rama IV is crowed King of Thailand.
• 1858 - third Royal Opera House officially opened in London.
• 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed USDA).
• 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 Suffrage Association.
• 1902 - In a field outside Grass Valley, California, Lyman Gilmore reportedly becomes the first person to fly a powered airplane (a steam-powered glider).
• 1905 - Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres (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 dissolved.
• 1918 - Civil War in Finland ends.
• 1918 - The Post Office Department (later renamed the USPS) begins the first regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC).
• 1930 - Aboard a Boeing tri-motor, Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess (the flight was from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois).
• 1934 - The United States Department of Justice offers a $25,000 reward for John Dillinger.
• 1940 - Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the United States.
• 1940 - World War II: German troops occupy Amsterdam and invade Northern France.
• 1941 - Joe DiMaggio starts his record-breaking 56-game home run hitting streak.
• 1942 - World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
• 1948 - Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel.
• 1957 - Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.
• 1958 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
• 1960 - Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit.
• 1963 - Mercury program: NASA launches the last mission of the program, Mercury 9 (on June 12 NASA Administrator James Webb told Congress the program was complete).
• 1970 - The Beatles' last LP, Let It Be, is released in the United States
• 1972 - In Laurel, Maryland a disturbed, out-of-work janitor named Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while Wallace is campaigning to be president.
• 1988 - Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Red Army begins its withdraw from Afghanistan.
• 1990 - Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million.
• 1991 - Edith Cresson becomes France's first female premier
• 1992 - The Genoa Expo '92 World's Fair opens in Genoa, Italy

Births

• 1048 - Omar Khayyam, poet († 1123)
• 1567 - Claudio Monteverdi, composer († 1643)
• 1773 - Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, statesman († 1859)
• 1856 - L. Frank Baum, author († 1919)
• 1859 - Pierre Curie, physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics 1903 († 1906)
• 1862 - Arthur Schnitzler, dramatist and narrator († 1931)
• 1889 - Bessie Hillman, founder, Almalgamated Clothing Workers of America
• 1890 - Katherine Anne Porter, author († 1980)
• 1891 - Mikhail Bulgakov, writer († 1940)
• 1898 - Arletty, model, actress († 1992)
• 1902 - Richard J. Daley, mayor of Chicago, Illinois († 1976)
• 1905 - Joseph Cotten, actor († 1994)
• 1909 - James Mason, actor († 1984)
• 1911 - Max Frisch, author
• 1915 - Paul Samuelson, economist, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Prize in economics
• 1918 - Eddy Arnold, singer
• 1926 - Peter Shaffer, playwright
• 1930 - Jasper Johns, painter
• 1931 - Ken Venturi, golfer
• 1934 - Alvin F. Poussaint, physicist, psychiatrist, educator
• 1936 - Paul Zindel, novelist, playwright
• 1936 - Anna Maria Alberghetti, actress
• 1937 - Trini López, musician
• 1941 - K.T. Oslin, country musician
• 1945 – Duarte, Duke of Braganza and presumptive heir of the Portuguese crown
• 1948 - Brian Eno, musician, record producer
• 1951 - Jonathan Richman, musician
• 1953 - Mike Oldfield, composer
• 1959 - Khaosai Galaxy, boxer
• 1959 - Kaokor Galaxy, boxer
• 1965 - Lizi Rodriguez, psychologist and media psychotherapist
• 1967 - John Smoltz, baseball player
• 1969 - Emmitt Smith, American football player

Deaths

• 1634 - Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter
• 1782 - Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese prime minister
• 1886 - Emily Dickinson, poet
• 1937 - Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864)
• 1948 - Father Edward Flanagan, priest, founder of Boys Town
• 1971 - Sir Tyrone Guthrie, director, producer, writer
• 1983 - Meyer Lansky, gangster
• 1986 - Theodore H. White, writer
• 1994 - Gilbert Roland, actor
• 1995 - Eric Porter, actor
• 1998 - Earl Manigault, basketball player
• 2003 - June Carter Cash, musician, singer, wife of Johnny Cash

Holidays and Observances

• Paraguay - Independence Day
• Roman Empire - Mercuralia in honor of Mercury held.

May 14 - May 16 - April 15 - June 15 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By