July 15 facts for kids

July 15 is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 169 days remain until the end of the year. Every day is special, and July 15th is no exception! Throughout history, many important events have happened, and many famous people were born or passed away on this date. Let's explore some of the most interesting moments from July 15th.

Big Moments in History

Ancient Times (Before 1600)

• 484 BC – A famous temple dedicated to the gods Castor and Pollux was officially opened in ancient Rome.
• 70 – During the First Jewish–Roman War, Roman soldiers led by Titus broke through the walls of Jerusalem. This was a major event in the war.
• 1099 – Christian soldiers captured the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after a long and difficult fight during the First Crusade.
• 1149 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which had been rebuilt, was officially blessed and opened again.
• 1207 – King John of England sent away the monks from Canterbury because they supported Archbishop Stephen Langton.
• 1240 – A Novgorodian army, led by Alexander Nevsky, won a big victory against the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
• 1381 – John Ball, a leader of the Peasants' Revolt in England, was executed in front of King Richard II of England.
• 1410 – In the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, the combined armies of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the powerful Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald.
• 1482 – Muhammad XII became the last king of Granada from the Nasrid dynasty.

From 1601 to 1900

• 1640 – The first university in Finland, the Royal Academy of Turku, opened its doors in Turku.
• 1741 – Explorer Aleksei Chirikov spotted land in Southeast Alaska. He sent some of his crew ashore, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.
• 1789 – During the French Revolution, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette was chosen by everyone to be the leader of the new National Guard in Paris.
• 1799 – The famous Rosetta Stone was discovered in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French soldiers during Napoleon's journey in Egypt. This stone later helped people understand ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs!
• 1806 – United States Army officer Zebulon Pike started an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, Missouri, to explore the western parts of America.
• 1815 – During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon Bonaparte gave up and surrendered aboard the ship HMS Bellerophon.
• 1823 – A fire destroyed the very old Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy.
• 1834 – The Spanish Inquisition, a powerful religious court that had been active for nearly 356 years, was officially closed down.
• 1849 – The first ever air raid happened when Austria used pilotless balloons to attack the city of Venice.
• 1862 – In the American Civil War, the CSS Arkansas, a strong ironclad ship, fought against Union Navy ships on the Mississippi River.
• 1870 – Georgia became the last of the former Confederate states to rejoin the Union after the American Civil War.
• 1870 – Large areas of land called Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory were transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company. This led to the creation of the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.
• 1888 – The stratovolcano Mount Bandai in Japan erupted, sadly killing about 500 people.

Modern Times (1901–Present)

• 1910 – In his book, Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gave a name to Alzheimer's disease, honoring his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
• 1916 – In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt started a company called Pacific Aero Products, which later became the famous airplane company Boeing.
• 1918 – During World War I, the Second Battle of the Marne began near the River Marne with a German attack.
• 1922 – The Japanese Communist Party was formed in Japan.
• 1941 – During The Holocaust, Nazi Germany began sending 100,000 Jewish people from the occupied Netherlands to extermination camps.
• 1946 – The State of North Borneo, which is now Sabah, Malaysia, became part of the United Kingdom.
• 1954 – The Boeing 367-80, a test airplane that led to the creation of both the Boeing 707 and C-135 planes, took its very first flight.
• 1955 – Eighteen scientists who had won the Nobel Prize signed the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons. Many others signed it later.
• 1966 – In the Vietnam War, the United States and South Vietnam started Operation Hastings to push North Vietnamese forces out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.
• 1974 – In Nicosia, Cyprus, a group supported by the Greek military tried to take over the government, removing President Makarios.
• 1975 – A huge moment in the Space Race happened: the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. An Apollo spacecraft from the US and a Soyuz spacecraft from the Soviet Union launched together for the first time with people on board from both countries. It was the last launch for an Apollo spacecraft and the Saturn family of rockets.
• 1983 – Nintendo released the Famicom in Japan, which later became known worldwide as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
• 2003 – AOL Time Warner closed down Netscape. On the same day, the Mozilla Foundation was created.
• 2006 – Twitter, which became one of the biggest social media platforms, was launched.
• 2009 – Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed in Iran, tragically killing 168 people.
• 2012 – South Korean rapper Psy released his super hit song Gangnam Style, which became a global sensation.
• 2016 – Some parts of the Turkish Armed Forces attempted a coup in Turkey.
• 2018 – The French national football team won their second World Cup title, beating Croatia 4–2 in the final match.

People Born on This Day

Born Before 1600

• 980 – Ichijō, a Japanese emperor.
• 1273 – Ewostatewos, an Ethiopian monk and saint.
• 1353 – Vladimir the Bold, a Russian prince.
• 1455 – Queen Yun, a Korean queen.
• 1573 – Inigo Jones, a famous English architect who designed buildings like the Queen's House.
• 1600 – Jan Cossiers, a Flemish painter.

Born Between 1601 and 1900

• 1606 – Rembrandt, one of the most famous Dutch painters and artists.
• 1611 – Jai Singh I, a maharaja (ruler) of Jaipur.
• 1779 – Clement Clarke Moore, an American author and poet, known for "A Visit from St. Nicholas."
• 1796 – Thomas Bulfinch, an American writer who collected and retold myths.
• 1838 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, an important American writer and philosopher.
• 1850 – Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian-American nun and saint.
• 1858 – Emmeline Pankhurst, a powerful English political activist who fought for women's right to vote.
• 1865 – Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, an Anglo-Irish businessman who founded the Amalgamated Press.
• 1867 – Jean-Baptiste Charcot, a French doctor and explorer.
• 1892 – Walter Benjamin, a German philosopher and critic.
• 1899 – Seán Lemass, an Irish soldier and politician who became the 4th Taoiseach of Ireland (Prime Minister).

Born After 1901

• 1902 – Jean Rey, a Belgian politician who was the 2nd President of the European Commission.
• 1903 – K. Kamaraj, an important Indian journalist and politician.
• 1905 – Dorothy Fields, an American songwriter who wrote many famous songs.
• 1909 – Jean Hamburger, a French doctor and surgeon.
• 1918 – Bertram Brockhouse, a Canadian physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
• 1918 – Brenda Milner, an English-Canadian neuropsychologist who studies the brain.
• 1919 – Iris Murdoch, a famous Anglo-Irish British novelist and philosopher.
• 1922 – Leon M. Lederman, an American physicist and mathematician who won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
• 1926 – Leopoldo Galtieri, an Argentinian general and politician who was the 44th President of Argentina.
• 1930 – Jacques Derrida, an Algerian-French philosopher.
• 1931 – Clive Cussler, an American archaeologist and author of adventure novels.
• 1935 – Alex Karras, an American football player, wrestler, and actor.
• 1939 – Aníbal Cavaco Silva, a Portuguese economist and politician who was the 19th President of the Portuguese Republic.
• 1943 – Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a Northern Irish astrophysicist and astronomer.
• 1944 – Millie Jackson, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1945 – Linda Ronstadt, a very popular American singer-songwriter and producer.
• 1946 – Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei.
• 1949 – Carl Bildt, a Swedish politician and diplomat who was the Prime Minister of Sweden.
• 1949 – Trevor Horn, an English singer-songwriter and music producer.
• 1951 – Jesse Ventura, an American wrestler, actor, and politician who became the 38th Governor of Minnesota.
• 1952 – Terry O'Quinn, an American actor.
• 1952 – Marky Ramone, an American drummer and songwriter, famous from the band The Ramones.
• 1956 – Ian Curtis, an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from the band Joy Division.
• 1956 – Joe Satriani, a highly skilled American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1961 – Forest Whitaker, a well-known American actor.
• 1963 – Brigitte Nielsen, a Danish-Italian actress.
• 1965 – David Miliband, an English politician.
• 1966 – Jason Bonham, an English drummer and son of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.
• 1967 – Adam Savage, an American actor and special effects designer, known from MythBusters.
• 1968 – Eddie Griffin, an American comedian and actor.
• 1972 – Scott Foley, an American actor.
• 1973 – Brian Austin Green, an American actor.
• 1976 – Diane Kruger, a German actress and model.
• 1976 – Gabriel Iglesias, a Mexican-American comedian and voice actor.
• 1977 – Lana Parrilla, an American actress.
• 1979 – Laura Benanti, an American actress and singer.
• 1980 – Damian Lillard, an American basketball player.
• 1987 – Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, an American actor.
• 1990 – Olly Alexander, an English singer and actor.
• 1996 – Vivianne Miedema, a Dutch football (soccer) player.
• 2008 – Iain Armitage, an American child actor, known for playing young Sheldon Cooper.

People Who Passed Away on This Day

Passed Away Before 1600

• 756 – Yang Guifei, a famous consort of a Chinese emperor.
• 998 – Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī, a Persian mathematician and astronomer.
• 1015 – Vladimir the Great, a powerful prince of Kievan Rus'.
• 1274 – Bonaventure, an Italian bishop and saint.
• 1291 – Rudolf I of Germany, a German king.
• 1381 – John Ball, an English priest and leader of the Peasants' Revolt.
• 1410 – Ulrich von Jungingen, a German Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
• 1445 – Joan Beaufort, the Queen of Scotland.
• 1542 – Lisa del Giocondo, believed to be the woman in Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting Mona Lisa.

Passed Away Between 1601 and 1900

• 1609 – Annibale Carracci, an Italian painter.
• 1685 – James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, a Dutch-English general and politician.
• 1750 – Vasily Tatishchev, a Russian historian and politician.
• 1828 – Jean-Antoine Houdon, a French sculptor.
• 1857 – Carl Czerny, an Austrian pianist and composer.
• 1883 – General Tom Thumb, a famous American circus performer.
• 1885 – Rosalía de Castro, a Spanish author and poet.
• 1890 – Gottfried Keller, a Swiss author and playwright.

Passed Away After 1901

• 1904 – Anton Chekhov, a very famous Russian playwright and short story writer.
• 1919 – Emil Fischer, a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1929 – Hugo von Hofmannsthal, an Austrian author and playwright.
• 1940 – Robert Wadlow, known as the tallest person in recorded history.
• 1948 – John J. Pershing, a famous American general.
• 1959 – Ernest Bloch, a Swiss-American composer.
• 1974 – Christine Chubbuck, an American journalist.
• 1976 – Paul Gallico, an American journalist and author.
• 1979 – Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, a Mexican politician who was the 29th President of Mexico.
• 1997 – Gianni Versace, a famous Italian fashion designer who founded the brand Versace.
• 2003 – Roberto Bolaño, a Chilean novelist and poet.
• 2012 – Celeste Holm, an American actress and singer.
• 2017 – Martin Landau, an American film and television actor.
• 2021 – Peter R. de Vries, a Dutch investigative journalist.

Holidays and Celebrations

• Bon Festival (in the Kantō region, Japan)
• Christian feast days for various saints like Bonaventure and Vladimir the Great.
• Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera (celebrated in Puerto Rico on the third Monday of July).
• Galla Bayramy (celebrated in Turkmenistan on the third Sunday of July).
• Marine Day (celebrated in Japan on the third Monday of July).
• President's Day (celebrated in Botswana on the third Monday of July).
• Elderly Men Day (Kiribati)
• Festival of Santa Rosalia (a big celebration in Palermo, Sicily)
• Sultan's Birthday (celebrated in Brunei Darussalam)
• Statehood Day (Ukraine)

See also

A friendly robot to guide you!

In Spanish: 15 de julio para niños