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October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in Leap
years). There are 77 days remaining.
Events
- 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals.
- 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, skipping over 10 days. Other countries follow at various later dates.
- 1764 - While visiting Rome, Edward Gibbon observes a group of barefoot friars singing vespers in the ruined
Temple of Jupiter, a sight which inspires him to begin work on a
history that will be published as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- 1815 - Napoleon I of
France begins his exile on St. Helena in the
Atlantic Ocean.
- 1863 - American Civil
War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its
inventor) and a crew of seven.
- 1878 - The Edison Electric Company begins operation.
- 1880 - Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.
- 1883 - The Supreme Court of the United States declares part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to be unconstitutional since it
allowed individuals and corporations to discriminate based on race.
- 1917 - World War I: At Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing
squad for spying for Germany.
- 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.
- 1945 - World War II: Former
premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, is executed by firing squad for treason.
- 1946 - Nuremberg Trials:
Founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, Hermann Göring, poisons himself hours
before his scheduled execution.
- 1951 - Television sicom I Love
Lucy premiers starring comedian Lucille Ball and her real-life
husband, Desi Arnaz.
- 1962 - Cuban Missile
Crisis: A stand-off ensues between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, putting the entire world under threat of a
nuclear war (crisis lasts 13 days from this point).
- 1965 - Vietnam War: The anti-war
student-run National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam
stages the first public burning of a draft card in the United States.
- 1966 - US President Lyndon
B. Johnson signs a bill creating the United States Department of Transportation.
- 1969 - Vietnam War: Hundreds of
thousands of people take part in National Moratorium antiwar demonstrations across the United States.
- 1970 - 35 construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below.
- 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.
- 1991 - Following a bitter confirmation hearing that involved allegations of sexual
misconduct, the United States Senate votes 52 to 48 to
confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United
States.
- 1992 - In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 serial murders.
- 1997 - The first supersonic land speed record is set by the ThrustSSC team from the
United Kingdom.
- 1997 - The Cassini probe was launched 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, their first
manned space mission.
- 2003 - Ilham Aliyev becomes
President of Azerbaijan suceeding his father Heydar Aliyev.
Births
- 70 BC - Virgil, Roman poet
- 1829 - Asaph Hall, astronomer
- 1844 - Friedrich
Nietzsche, German philosopher
(d. 1900)
- 1858 - John L. Sullivan,
boxing champion
- 1881 - P. G. Wodehouse,
British comic novelist (d. 1975)
- 1894 - Moshe Sharett, second
Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1965)
- 1898 - Boughera El
Ouafi, Algerian athlete
- 1900 - Mervyn LeRoy, film
director (d. 1987)
- 1908 - John
Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist
- 1909 - Robert Trout, reporter (d. 2000)
- 1913 - Klaus Barbie, war
criminal
- 1917 - Arthur Schlesinger Jr., political commentator, author
- 1917 - Jan Miner, American actress (d.
2004)
- 1920 - Mario Puzo, American novelist (d. 1999)
- 1920 - Chris Economaki, Indianapolis 500
reporter
- 1924 - Lee Iacocca,
industrialist
- 1924 - Jose Quintero, stage director
- 1926 - Michel Foucault,
philosopher (d. 1984)
- 1926 - Evan Hunter (Ed McBain, Curt Cannon), author
- 1926 - Jean Peters, actress
- 1930 - FM-2030 born Fereidoun M.
Esfandiary, transhumanist philosopher
- 1931 - Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, Indian
president and scientist
- 1935 - Bobby Joe Morrow,
American athlete
- 1937 - Barry McGuire,
singer
- 1942 - Penny Marshall,
actress, comedienne, film director
- 1945 - Jim Palmer, baseball star
- 1946 - Richard
Carpenter, singer, pianist, composer (The Carpenters)
- 1957 - Mira Nair, Indian director
- 1959 - Sarah Ferguson,
Duchess of York
- 1959 - Emeril Lagasse,
chef
- 1959 - Todd Solondz, director
- 1970 - Eric Benet, singer
- 1975 - Ginuwine, singer
- 1981 - Elena Dementieva,
tennis player
Deaths
- 767 - Constantine II, former Patriarch of Constantinople (executed)
- 1002 - Otto-Henry, Duke of
Burgundy
- 1389 - Pope Urban VI
- 1880 - Victorio, Chiricahua Apache leader
- 1891 - Gilbert Arthur a Beckett, British writer
- 1917 - Mata Hari, Dutch exotic dancer and spy
- 1945 - Pierre Laval, former
premier of Vichy French government
- 1946 - Joachim
von Ribbentrop, German foreign minister
- 1946 - Hermann Göring,
German air force commander
- 1964 - Cole Porter, American composer
- 2000 - Konrad Emil
Bloch, German/American biochemist
Holidays and observances
October 14 - October 16 -
September 15 - November
15 - more historical anniversaries
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