January 15 facts for kids
January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 350 days remain until the end of the year (351 in leap years).
Contents
Events
Up to 1900
- 1362 – A North Sea flood kills many thousands of people.
- 1541 - King Francis I of France gives Jean-Francois Roberval a commission to settle the Province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the Roman Catholic Faith.
- 1559 – Queen Elizabeth I of England is officially crowned Queen of England.
- 1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- 1759 – The British Museum is opened.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence.
- 1790 – The Bounty mutineers, led by Fletcher Christian, arrive on Pitcairn Island.
- 1815 - War of 1812: American frigate USS President, commanded by Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
- 1822 - Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected President of the Legislative Assembly.
- 1844 - The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to Union forces.
- 1870 - A political cartoon (by Thomas Nast) for the first time uses a donkey as a symbol of the Democratic Party in the United States.
- 1876 - The first newspaper in Afrikaans, De Afrikaans Patriot, is published.
- 1885 – American Wilson Bentley takes the first photographs of snowflakes.
- 1889 - The Coca Cola Company, then-known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia, US.
- 1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
1901 – 2000
- 1910 - Building work begins ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, at 99 meters.
- 1919 – German socialist activists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are tortured and executed by the Freikorps.
- 1919 – The Boston Molasses Disaster, killing 21 and injuring 150 others.
- 1933 - A 12-year-old girl is said to have experienced the first Marian Apparition of Our Lady of Banneux in Banneux, Belgium.
- 1934 – A magnitude 8.1 earthquake on the India-Nepal border kills around 10,700 people.
- 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company is completed in Toledo, Ohio, United States.
- 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republicans both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
- 1943 – The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
- 1943 - World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive in Voronezh begins.
- 1944 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in San Juan, Argentina, kills around 5,000 people.
- 1949 - Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the National Government.
- 1962 - The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest-surviving manuscript dating back to 340 BC, is found in Northern Greece.
- 1966 - Nigeria's First Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in military coup d'état.
- 1967 – The first-ever Super Bowl takes place in Los Angeles, as the Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.
- 1969 – The Soyuz 5 spacecraft is launched by the Soviet Union.
- 1970 - Nigerian Civil War: Biafra surrenders.
- 1970 - Muammar al-Gaddafi is proclaimed Premier of Libya.
- 1971 – The Aswan Dam in Egypt is officially opened.
- 1973 - Vietnam War: Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam, citing the progress of peace negotiations.
- 1975 - The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence.
- 1976 - Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to kill President Gerald Ford.
- 1981 - Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish Solidarity Trade Union, led by Lech Walesa.
- 1991 – The United Nations deadline for Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait expires.
- 1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from Yugoslavia.
- 1993 – Mafia boss Salvatore Riina is arrested by police.
- 1996 – Lesotho's King, Moshoeshoe II dies in a car crash. He is succeeded by his son, Letsie III.
From 2001
- 2001 – Wikipedia goes online.
- 2004 – The South Korean Foreign Minister, Yoon Young-kwan resigns following his support for American policy towards North Korea.
- 2005 - The European Space Agency's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminium, silicon, iron and other elements on the Moon.
- 2006 – Michelle Bachelet is elected President of Chile. She becomes Chile's first female president when she takes office on March 11.
- 2009 – Chesley Sullenberger, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, steers the plane to a safe emergency landing on the Hudson River after experiencing trouble shortly after take off from New York's LaGuardia Airport.
- 2015 - Two suspected Jihadists are killed in an anti-terror raid in Verviers, Belgium.
Births
Up to 1850
- 5 BC – Emperor Guang Wu of Han in China (d. 57)
- 1342 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
- 1432 – Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1481)
- 1481 - Ashikaga Yoshizuni, Japanese shogun (d. 1511)
- 1538 - Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)
- 1622 – Molière, French writer and philosopher (d. 1673)
- 1716 - Philip Livingston, American founding father (d. 1778)
- 1780 - Cornelius P. Comegus, American politician, Governor of Delaware (d. 1850)
- 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (d. 1872)
- 1795 - Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright (d. 1829)
- 1807 - Hermann Burmeister, German naturalist (d. 1892)
- 1809 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)
- 1815 - William Bickerton, English-American religious leader (d. 1905)
- 1824 – Marie Duplessis, French courtesan (d. 1847)
- 1841 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)
- 1842 – Mary MacKillop, Australian saint (d. 1909)
- 1850 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)
- 1850 – Leonard Darwin, son of Charles Darwin (d. 1943)
- 1850 - Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1891)
1851 – 1900
- 1858 - Giovanni Segantini, Italian painter (d. 1899)
- 1859 - Archibald Peake, Australian politician, Premier of South Australia (d. 1920)
- 1859 - Nathaniel Lord Britton, American geologist and botanist (d. 1934)
- 1862 - Loie Fuller, American dancer (d. 1928)
- 1863 – Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
- 1866 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop (d. 1931)
- 1867 - Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (d. 1900)
- 1869 - Ruby Laffoon, American politician, 43rd Governor of Kentucky (d. 1941)
- 1869 - Stanislaw Wyspianski, Polish dramatist (d. 1907)
- 1870 – Pierre S. du Pont, American industrialist (d. 1954)
- 1875 - Thomas Burke, American athlete (d. 1929)
- 1878 - Johanna Mueller-Hermann, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1941)
- 1882 - Princess Margaret of Connaught (d. 1920)
- 1885 - Huang Yuanyong, Chinese writer (d. 1915)
- 1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet (d. 1938)
- 1892 - Rex Ingram, Irish director (d. 1950)
- 1893 – Ivor Novello, Welsh entertainer and composer (d. 1951)
- 1893 - George, Crown Prince of Saxony (d. 1943)
- 1894 - Ecaterina Teodoriu, Romanian World War I heroine (d. 1917)
- 1895 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist (d. 1973)
- 1897 – Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (d. 1931)
- 1898 - Erik Byléhn, Swedish runner (d. 1986)
- 1900 – William Heinesen, Faroese writer, poet and artist (d. 1991)
- 1900 – Stanley Lucas, British supercentenarian (d. 2010)
1901 – 1950
- 1902 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969)
- 1903 - Paul A. Dever, American politician, 58th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
- 1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
- 1908 – Edward Teller, Hungarian physicist (d. 2003)
- 1909 - Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
- 1909 - Gene Krupa, American automobile designer (d. 1973)
- 1912 – Michel Debré, Prime Minister of France (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1913 - Alexander Marinesko, German submarine captain (d. 1963)
- 1914 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, British historian (d. 2003)
- 1916 - Maurice Bavaud, Swiss activist (d. 1941)
- 1918 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
- 1918 – Joao Figueiredo, President of Brazil (d. 1999)
- 1919 – George Cadle Price, 1st Prime Minister of Belize (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer (d. 2012)
- 1920 - Pamela Cundell, English actress (d. 2015)
- 1920 - John Joseph O'Connor, American cardinal and Archbishop of New York City (d. 2000)
- 1921 - Babasaheb Bhasale, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2007)
- 1923 - Lee Twng-hui, 4th President of the Republic of China
- 1924 - George Lowe, New Zealand mountaineer (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI
- 1925 – Ernst Benda, German politician (d. 2009)
- 1926 – Maria Schell, Austrian actress (d. 2005)
- 1927 - Phyllis Coates, American actress
- 1928 - M. V. Devan, Indian artist and writer (d. 2014)
- 1928 - W. R. Mitchell, English writer (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights activist (d. 1968)
- 1929 - Earl Hooker, American blues guitarist (d. 1970)
- 1934 - V. S. Ramadevi, Indian politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (d. 2013)
- 1939 - Per Ahlmark, Swedish journalist and politician
- 1941 – Captain Beefheart, American singer (d. 2010)
- 1943 - Ashraf Aman, Pakistani mountaineer
- 1943 – Margaret Beckett, British politician
- 1944 - Jenny Nimmo, British author
- 1945 – Princess Michael of Kent
- 1945 - David Pleat, English footballer
- 1945 - Maria Antonia Iglesias, Spanish writer (d. 2014)
- 1945 - Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor, director and politician (d. 2015)
- 1947 - Martin Chalfie, American biologist and Nobel Prize winner
- 1947 - Pete Waterman, English songwriter and producer
- 1948 – Ronnie Van Zant, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
1951 – 1975
- 1951 - Catherine Trautmann, French politician
- 1954 - Nikos Sarganis, Greek footballer
- 1955 - Khalid Islambouli, Egyptian assassin (d. 1982)
- 1956 - Mayawati, Indian politician, 23rd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
- 1957 – Mario Van Peebles, American actor
- 1957 - David Ige, American politician, 8th Governor of Hawaii
- 1958 - Ken Judge, Australian rules footballer (d. 2016)
- 1958 – Boris Tadic, former President of Serbia
- 1959 - Pavle Kozjek, Slovenian climber (d. 2008)
- 1962 - Margherita Buy, Italian actress
- 1965 – Bernard Hopkins, American boxer
- 1965 – James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
- 1968 - Chad Lorre, American director, actor and producer
- 1968 – Iñaki Urdangarin, Spanish former handball player and royal
- 1970 – Shane McMahon, American professional wrestler, son of WWE President Vince McMahon
- 1972 - Claudia Winkleman, English television presenter
- 1973 – Essam El-Hadary, Egyptian footballer
- 1974 - Edith Bowman, Scottish television and radio presenter
- 1975 – Mary Pierce, French tennis player
From 1976
- 1977 - Giorgia Meloni, Italian politician
- 1978 – Ryan Sidebottom, English cricketer
- 1979 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1979 - Ken Chu, Taiwanese singer, actor and Tai-chi champion
- 1980 – Matt Holliday, American baseball player
- 1981 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- 1981 – Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby player
- 1981 - Pitbull, American rapper
- 1982 - Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia
- 1982 - Prince Philip of Yugoslavia
- 1983 - Matic Kralj, Slovenian ice hockey player
- 1983 - Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
- 1985 – René Adler, German footballer and goalkeeper
- 1985 - Clara Lee, Swiss-born British-South Korean actress
- 1985 - Enrico Patrizio, Italian rugby player
- 1986 - Jessie Schram, American actress
- 1987 - Tsegaye Kebede, Ethiopian runner
- 1987 - Kelly Kelly, American professional wrestler
- 1987 - Michael Seater, Canadian actor, director, producer and screenwriter
- 1988 - Jun. K, South Korean singer
- 1988 - Skrillex, American musician and producer
- 1989 - Ryan Corr, Australian actor
- 1990 - Paul Blake, English Paralympic athlete
- 1996 - Dove Cameron, American actress and singer
- 2000 - Thomas C. C. Groomes, III, American engineering student and multi-instrumentalist.
Deaths
Up to 1900
- 41 – Caligula, Roman Emperor (b. 12)
- 69 – Galba, Roman Emperor (b. 3 BC)
- 570 – Saint Ides, Irish nun (b. ca. 475)
- 936 - King Rudolph of France
- 1519 - Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1595 – Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)
- 1623 - Fra Paolo Sarpi, Italian patriot, scholar, scientist and church reformer (b. 1552)
- 1683 - Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (b. 1609)
- 1775 - Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1700)
- 1781 - Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, Queen Regent of Portugal (b. 1718)
- 1815 – Emma, Lady Hamilton, mistress of Horatio Nelson (b. 1765)
- 1876 - Eliza Johnson, First Lady of the United States (b. 1810)
- 1893 - Fanny Kemble, British actress and author (b. 1809)
- 1896 - Mathew Brady, American photographer (b. 1822)
- 1899 - Serafino Dubois, Italian chess player (b. 1817)
1901 – 2000
- 1915 – Mary Slessor, Scottish Christian missionary to West Africa (b. 1848)
- 1916 - Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian playwright (b. 1850)
- 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg, German politician and activist (b. 1870)
- 1919 – Karl Liebknecht, German politician and activist (b. 1871)
- 1926 - Enrico Toselli, Italian composer (b. 1883)
- 1927 - David R. Francis, American politician, Governor of Missouri (b. 1850)
- 1936 - Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1866)
- 1948 - Josephus Daniels, American publisher and diplomat (b. 1862)
- 1952 - Ned Hanlon, Australian politician, Premier of Queensland (b. 1866)
- 1955 – Yves Tanguy, French Surrealist painter (b. 1900)
- 1964 – Jack Teagarden, musician (b. 1905)
- 1968 - William Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
- 1983 – Meyer Lansky, mobster (b. 1902)
- 1987 – Ray Bolger, actor, singer, dancer (b. 1904)
- 1988 - Sean MacBride, Irish politician (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Gordon Jackson, Scottish movie and TV actor; best known as the butler "Hudson" on Upstairs Downstairs (b. 1923)
- 1993 – Sammy Cahn, songwriter (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Harry Nilsson, American musician (b. 1941)
- 1994 - Georges Cziffra, Hungarian-French pianist (b. 1921)
- 1996 – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
- 1998 – Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician (b. 1898)
- 2000 – Zeljko Raznatovic, Serbian leader (b. 1952)
2001 – 2015
- 2003 – Doris Fisher, singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Walter Ernsting, German science fiction writer (Perry Rhodan) (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Elizabeth Janeway, United States feminist writer (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Dan Lee, animator for movie Finding Nemo (b. 1969)
- 2005 – Ruth Warrick, United States actress best known for Citizen Kane and All My Children (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
- 2007 – James Hiller, Canadian inventor (b. 1915)
- 2008 – Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
- 2009 – Said Seyam, Palestinian military commander (b. 1959)
- 2010 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist, won the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1927)
- 2011 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Susannah York, English actress (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Manuel Fraga Iribarne, former Prime Minister of Spanish Galicia (b. 1922)
- 2012 - Ed Derwinski, American politician (b. 1926)
- 2013 - Nagisa Oshima, Japanese movie director and screenwriter (b. 1932)
- 2014 - Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (b. 1944)
- 2014 - John Dobson, American astronomer (b. 1915)
- 2015 - Ervin Drake, American songwriter (b. 1919)
- 2015 - Kim Fowley, American record producer (b. 1939)
- 2015 - Val Holten, Australian cricketer (b. 1927)
- 2015 - Ethel Lang, British supercentenarian (b. 1900)
- 2015 - Jean-Claude Baker, French-American restaurateur (b. 1943)
- 2015 - Joseph Mukasa Zuza, Malawian bishop (b. 1955)
- 2015 - Rameshwar Thakur, Indian politician (b. 1927)
- 2016 - Ken Judge, Australian rules footballer (b. 1958)
- 2016 - Dan Haggerty, American actor (b. 1941)
- 2016 - Oleksandr Shevchenko, Ukrainian scientist, jurist and politician (b. 1937)
- 2016 - P. J. Mara, Irish public affairs consultant and senator (b. 1942)
Observances
- Earliest day that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day can fall, while January 21 is the latest, on the third Monday in January (United States)
- Armed Forces Day (Nigeria)
- Army Day (India)
- Tree Planting Day (Egypt)
See also
In Spanish: 15 de enero para niños
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January 15 Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.