May 15 facts for kids
May 15 is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 230 days remain until the end of the year.
Contents
Events
Up to 1900
- 495 BC - A newly-built temple in honour of the god Mercury is dedicated in Ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine Hills.
- 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which allows, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
- 1464 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Hexham - York defeats Lancaster.
- 1536 - Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is put on trial in London on charges of treason. It will result in her execution four days later.
- 1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband.
- 1602 - Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to sight Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
- 1618 - Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion.
- 1648 - The Treaty of Westphalia is signed.
- 1701 - The War of the Spanish Succession begins.
- 1718 - James Buckle, a London lawyer, patents the first machine gun.
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The Virginia Convention tells its Continental Congress delegation to propose resolution of independence from Great Britain.
- 1792 - War of the First Coalition: France declares war on the Kingdom of Sardinia.
- 1793 - Diego Marin Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 meters" at a height of 5–6 meters.
- 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte enters Milan in triumph.
- 1800 - King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield.
- 1811 - Paraguay declares itself independent from Spain.
- 1849 - Troops of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily.
- 1850 - The Bloody Island Massacre takes place in Lake County, California. A large number of Pomo Native Americans are slaughtered by the regiment of the United States Cavalry.
- 1851 - The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the gold was discovered three months earlier.
- 1858 - Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
- 1860 - Battle of Calatafilmi in Sicily: Giuseppe Garibaldi's "Red Shirts" defeat the Army of the Kingdom of Naples.
- 1869 - In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Women's Suffrage Association.
1901 – 1950
- 1904 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian minelayer Amur lays a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur, China, and sinks Japanese ships Hatsuse and Yashima.
- 1904 - The cruiser "Yoshino" collides with armored cruiser "Kasaga" to the east of China and sinks, killing 329 out of the 419 people on board.
- 1905 - Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 square kilometers), in what later becomes the downtown area, are auctioned off.
- 1910 - The German football club FC St. Pauli is founded. It is based in Hamburg.
- 1919 - The Winnipeg Strike begins. By 11:00am, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, had walked off the job.
- 1919 - The Greek invasion of Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey) occurs, in which the Greek army kills over 350 Turks. Those responsible are punishes by Greek commander Aristiades Stergiades.
- 1926 - The New York Rangers ice hockey team is founded.
- 1928 - Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance in the cartoon "Plane Crazy".
- 1929 - A fire at a clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, kills 123 people.
- 1932 - Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed in a coup attempt.
- 1934 - Karlis Ulmanis creates an authoritarian government in Latvia.
- 1935 - The Moscow Metro is opened to the public.
- 1940 - World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly-trained and equipped Dutch surrender to Germany, beginning five years of occupation.
- 1940 - McDonald's opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
- 1945 - World War II: The Battle of Poljana is fought in Slovenia, as the last battle in Europe during the war.
- 1948 - The Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia all declare war on the newly declared State of Israel.
1951 – 2000
- 1951 - Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz asks the government of France for political asylum.
- 1955 - Austria regains its independence.
- 1955 - Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy of France climb Makalu in the Himalayas. It is the world's 5th-highest mountain.
- 1957 - At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, the United Kingdom tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.
- 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 L. Gordon Cooper on board, is successful. He is 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.
- 1970 - US President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington as the first female United States Army generals.
- 1972 - The US returns Okinawa to Japanese control.
- 1972 – Governor George Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur H. Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland political rally.
- 1974 - Ma'a lot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school, killing 31 people, including 22 schoolchildren.
- 1974 - Walter Scheel is elected President of the Federal Republic of Germany, a post he takes up on July 1.
- 1980 - West Germany's National Olympic Committee decides to join the United States in boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
- 1988 - The Soviet Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- 1990 - The Vincent van Gogh painting A Portrait of Dr. Gachet sells for 82.5 million US Dollars, a then-record for a work of art sold at auction.
- 1991 - Edith Cresson becomes the first female Prime Minister of France.
- 1997 - The US acknowledges a "Secret War" in Laos.
From 2001
- 2004 – South Africa is announced as the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
- 2004 - Ruslana, representing Ukraine, wins the 49th Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Turkey.
- 2008 - California legalizes same-sex marriage.
- 2010 - Jessica Watson becomes the then-youngest person to sail single-handedly around the world.
- 2012 - François Hollande becomes President of France, replacing Nicolas Sarkozy.
- 2013 - An upsurge in violence in Iraq kills 389 people in three days.
- 2014 - US President Barack Obama opens a 9/11 memorial museum.
- 2016 - Max Verstappen becomes the youngest-ever driver to win a Formula One race.
Births
Up to 1900
- 1397 - Sejong the Great, Korean King (d. 1450)
- 1567 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (d. 1643)
- 1689 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English author (d. 1762)
- 1720 - Maximilian Hell, Hungarian astronomer (d. 1792)
- 1749 - Levi Lincoln, Sr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1820)
- 1764 - Johann Nepomuk Kalcher, German organist and composer (d. 1827)
- 1767 - Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1843)
- 1773 - Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, German-Austrian statesman (d. 1859)
- 1817 - Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (d. 1905)
- 1827 - Knud Bergslien, Norwegian painter (d. 1908)
- 1838 - Nicolae Grigorescu, Romanian painter (d. 1907)
- 1841 - James Henderson Berry, American politician, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1913)
- 1842 - Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria (d. 1919)
- 1845 - Jan Czerski, Polish-Russian scientist (d. 1892)
- 1845 - Ilya Mechnikov, Russian zoologist and immunologist (d. 1916)
- 1848 - Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter (d. 1926)
- 1854 - Ioannes Psycharis, Ukrainian-French philologist and author (d. 1929)
- 1856 - L. Frank Baum, American author (d. 1919)
- 1856 - Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1917)
- 1857 - Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer (d. 1911)
- 1859 – Pierre Curie, French physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1906)
- 1860 – Ellen Louise Wilson, American First Lady, wife of Woodrow Wilson (d. 1914)
- 1862 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian dramatist (d. 1931)
- 1863 - Frank Hornby, English businessman and politician, inventor of Meccano (d. 1936)
- 1867 - Hjalmar Johansen, Norwegian explorer (d. 1913)
- 1867 - Henry Stuart Jones, British classical philologist and historian (d. 1939)
- 1869 - Paul Probst, Swiss target shooter (d. 1945)
- 1873 - Pavlo Skoropadskiy, Ukrainian politician (d. 1945)
- 1873 - Nikolai Tcherepnin, Russian composer (d. 1945)
- 1890 - Katherine-Anne Porter, American journalist and author (d. 1980)
- 1891 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian writer (d. 1940)
- 1891 - Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist (d. 1971)
- 1892 - Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral (d. 1977)
- 1892 - Jimmy Wilde, Welsh boxer (d. 1969)
- 1895 – Astrid Zachrison, Swedish supercentenarian, oldest Swedish person on record (d. 2008)
- 1895 - Prescott Bush, American politician (d. 1972)
- 1895 - William D. Byron, American politician (d. 1941)
- 1898 - Arletty, French actress, model and singer (d. 1992)
- 1898 - Richard W. Leche, American politician, Governor of Louisiana (d. 1965)
1901 – 1950
- 1901 - Luis Monti, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1983)
- 1902 - Richard J. Daley, 48th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976)
- 1903 – Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998)
- 1904 - Clifton Fadiman, American game show host and author (d. 1999)
- 1905 - Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1905 - Abraham Zapruder, American businessman (d. 1970)
- 1907 - Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (d. 1931)
- 1908 – Joe Grant, American writer and animator (d. 2005)
- 1909 - James Mason, English actor, producer and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1909 - Clara Solovera, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
- 1910 - Constance Cummings, English actress (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Max Frisch, Swiss writer (d. 1991)
- 1911 - Herta Oberheuser, German Nazi physician (d. 1978)
- 1914 - Turk Broda, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1972)
- 1914 - Angus MacLean, Canadian politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (d. 2000)
- 1915 - Paul Samuelson, American economist (d. 2009)
- 1915 - Gus Viseur, Belgian-French accordion player (d. 1974)
- 1918 - Eddy Arnold, American singer (d. 2008)
- 1918 - Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
- 1920 - Nasrallah Boutros Sfar, Lebanese religious leader
- 1923 - Richard Avedon, American photographer (d. 2004)
- 1923 - John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
- 1924 - Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist (d. 1971)
- 1925 - Horacio Guarany, Argentine singer and writer
- 1925 - Mary F. Lyon, English geneticist (d. 2014)
- 1925 - Carl Sanders, American politician, 74th Governor of Georgia (d. 2014)
- 1925 - Andrei Eshpai, Russian composer (d. 2015)
- 1926 - Anthony Shaffer, British screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1926 - Peter Shaffer, British dramatist
- 1930 - Jasper Johns, American artist
- 1932 - John Glen, British director
- 1932 - Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, former Prime Minister of Thailand
- 1935 - Don Bragg, American pole vaulter
- 1935 - Akihiro Miwa, Japanese singer, actor, director and composer
- 1935 - Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
- 1936 - Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-American actress and singer
- 1936 - Wavy Gravy, American activist
- 1936 - Ralph Steadman, British caricaturist, cartoonist and illustrator
- 1937 – Madeleine Albright, 64th United States Secretary of State
- 1937 - Trini Lopez, American singer and actor
- 1938 - Mireille Darc, French actress
- 1940 - Don Nelson, American basketball player and coach
- 1942 - Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, Prime Minister of Swaziland
- 1942 - Lois Johnson, American country music singer (d. 2014)
- 1942 - Jusuf Kalla, 10th Vice President of Indonesia
- 1942 - Doug Lowe, Australian politician, 35th Premier of Tasmania
- 1943 - Pierre Bégin, Canadian politician
- 1944 - Ulrich Beck, German sociologist (d. 2015)
- 1945 - Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, Portuguese nobleman
- 1946 - Aly Bain, Scottish fiddler
- 1948 - Valentina Gerasimova, Kazakhstani middle-distance runner
- 1948 – Brian Eno, English musician and record producer
- 1948 – Kathleen Sebelius, American politician
1951 – 1975
- 1951 - Frank Wilczek, American mathematician and physicist
- 1951 - Dennis Frederiksen, American musician (d. 2014)
- 1952 - Chazz Palminteri, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
- 1952 - Phil Seymour, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993)
- 1953 - Mike Oldfield, British musician
- 1953 - Franco Selvaggi, Italian footballer
- 1953 - George Brett, American baseball player
- 1955 – Claudia Roth, German politician
- 1955 - El Gran Wyoming, Spanish humorist, actor, musician, writer and presenter
- 1955 - Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian politician (d. 2013)
- 1955 - Lia Vissi, Greek singer
- 1957 - Meg Gardiner, American crime fiction writer
- 1957 - Juan José Ibarretxe, Basque politician
- 1957 - John Mason, Scottish politician
- 1959 - Beverly Jo Scott, American-Belgian singer-songwriter
- 1959 - Ronald Pofalla, German politician
- 1961 - Katrin Cartlidge, British actress (d. 2002)
- 1963 - Grant Heslov, American actor and producer
- 1964 - Lars Lokke Rasmussen, 40th Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1966 - Orla Guerin, Irish journalist
- 1967 - Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress
- 1967 - Orlando Zapata, Cuban activist (d. 2010)
- 1968 - Seth Putnam, American musician (d. 2011)
- 1968 - Sophie Raworth, British journalist and broadcaster
- 1968 - Cecilia Malmström, Swedish politician
- 1970 - Frank de Boer, Dutch footballer
- 1970 - Ronald de Boer, Dutch footballer
- 1970 - Saira Khan, English businesswoman
- 1972 - Danny Alexander, Scottish politician
- 1972 - David Charvet, French actor and singer
- 1974 - Vassilis Kikilias, Greek basketball player and politician
From 1976
- 1976 - Jacek Krzynowek, Polish footballer
- 1978 - Eduardo César Gaspar, Brazilian footballer
- 1979 - Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
- 1979 - Li Yanfeng, Chinese discus thrower
- 1979 – Dominic Scott, Irish guitarist
- 1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player
- 1981 – Patrice Evra, French footballer
- 1981 - Zara Phillips, British royal and equestrian
- 1981 - Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
- 1981 - Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress
- 1982 - Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican sprinter
- 1982 - Jessica Sutta, American singer-songwriter, dancer and actress (Pussycat Dolls)
- 1985 - Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 - Matias Fernandez, Chilean footballer
- 1986 - Adam Moffat, Scottish footballer
- 1987 – Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player
- 1987 - Leonardo Mayer, Argentine tennis player
- 1989 - Sunny, American-South Korean singer, dancer and actress (Girls' Generation)
- 1990 - Lee Jong-hyun, South Korean singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
- 1991 - Jennifer Hof, German model
- 1993 - Mahfizur Rahman Sagor, Bangladeshi swimmer
- 1995 - Ksenia Sitnik, Belarussian singer
- 1996 - Birdy, English singer
Deaths
Up to 1900
- 392 - Valentinian II, Roman emperor (b. 371)
- 1036 – Emperor Go-Ichijo of Japan
- 1157 - Yuri Dolgorukiy, Russian prince (b. 1099)
- 1470 – Charles VIII of Sweden
- 1585 – Niwa Nagahide, Japanese retainer, samurai, and daimyo (b. 1535)
- 1609 - Giovanni Croce, Italian composer (b. 1557)
- 1634 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585)
- 1700 - John Hale, American minister (b. 1636)
- 1740 – Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopaedist (b. 1680)
- 1782 – Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1699)
- 1845 - Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican statesman (b. 1800)
- 1879 - Gottfried Semper, German architect and educator (b. 1803)
- 1886 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (b. 1830)
1901 – 2000
- 1919 - Hasan Tahsan, Turkish nationalist journalist (b. 1888)
- 1924 - Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician (b. 1852)
- 1928 - Umegatani Totaro, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1845)
- 1932 - Inukai Tsuyoshi, Prime Minister of Japan
- 1935 - Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian-Russian painter (b. 1878)
- 1937 – Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864)
- 1945 - Charles Williams, British author, poet and critic (b. 1886)
- 1948 – Father Edward Flanagan, priest, founder of Boys Town
- 1956 – Austin Osman Spare, magician (b. 1886)
- 1967 – Edward Hopper, American painter (b. 1882)
- 1969 - Joe Malone, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890)
- 1971 – Sir Tyrone Guthrie, director, producer, and writer (b. 1900)
- 1978 - Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
- 1980 - Johann Hafstein, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1915)
- 1984 - Francis Schaeffer, American theologian, philosopher and pastor (b. 1912)
- 1986 - Elio de Angelis, Italian racing driver (b. 1958)
- 1986 – Theodore H. White, writer (b. 1915)
- 1991 - Ronald Lacey, English actor (b. 1935)
- 1993 - Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese poet and diplomat (b. 1933)
- 1994 – Gilbert Roland, Mexican actor (b. 1904)
- 1995 – Eric Porter, British actor (b. 1928)
- 1996 – Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (b. 1910)
- 1998 – Earl Manigault, American basketball player (b. 1944)
- 1998 - Naim Talu, Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1919)
From 2001
- 2003 – June Carter Cash, American musician and singer (b. 1929)
- 2003 – George Francis, British mobster
- 2003 – Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist
- 2005 – Les Bartley, National Lacrosse League coach (b. 1954)
- 2007 - Jerry Falwell, American pastor (b. 1933)
- 2007 - Yolanda King, American activist (b. 1955)
- 2008 – Astrid Zachrison, Swedish supercentenarian, oldest Swedish person on record (b. 1895)
- 2008 – Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1956)
- 2009 - Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player (b. 1964)
- 2010 - Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President of India (b. 1923)
- 2010 - John Shepherd-Barron, Scottish inventor (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Besian Idrizaj, Austrian footballer (b. 1987)
- 2011 - Samuel Wanjiru, Kenyan runner (b. 1986)
- 2012 - Carlos Fuentes, Mexican writer (b. 1928)
- 2012 - Zakaria Mohieddin, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1918)
- 2013 - Henrique Rosa, acting President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1946)
- 2014 - Jean-Luc Dehaene, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1940)
- 2015 - Corey Hill, American mixed martial artist (b. 1978)
- 2015 - Carlos Maggi, Uruguayan writer (b. 1922)
- 2015 - John Stephenson, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2015 - Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-born American football player (b. 1944)
- 2015 - Donald Wrye, American film director (b. 1934)
- 2015 - Jackie Brookner, American artist (b. 1945)
Observances
- International Day of conscientious objectors
- Independence Day (Paraguay)
- Nakba Day (Palestinian Community)
- Army Day (Slovenia)
- Teachers' Day (Mexico and South Korea)
- Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania)
See also
In Spanish: 15 de mayo para niños
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May 15 Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.