What Happened on October 15
Significant Events
- 1581 Commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the 1st ballet "Ballet Comique de la Reine" is staged in Paris
- 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte arrives on island of St Helena to begin his exile
- 1951 Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesizes the first oral contraceptive
- 1969 Vietnam Moratorium Day; millions nationwide protest the war
- 1993 Nelson Mandela and South African President F. W. de Klerk awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- 2017 Actress Alyssa Milano tweeting “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’" prompts flood of replies across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Did You Know?
Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany during WWI at Vincennes near Paris
On October 15, 1917
Famous Birthdays
Akbar
(1542 - 1605)
Friedrich Nietzsche
(1844 - 1900)
John Kenneth Galbraith
(1908 - 2006)
Mario Puzo
(1920 - 1999)
Roscoe Tanner
66 Years Old
Jack Ma
53 Years Old
Would You Believe?
11-year-old Grace Bedell writes to Abraham Lincoln telling him to grow a beard
On October 15, 1860
Famous Weddings
- 1501 Heir to the English Prince Arthur marries Catherine of Aragon
- 1913 Author Beatrix Potter (47) weds solicitor William Heelis at St Mary Abbots in Kensington, London
- 1927 Writer Graham Greene (23) weds Vivien Dayrell-Browning at St. Mary's Church in Hampstead, North London
- 1948 38th US President Gerald Ford (35) weds department store fashion consultant Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Warren (30) at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Ford
- 1963 Folk singer Mary Travers (26) weds photographer Barry Feinstein
Famous Divorces
- 1993 Guardian Angel Lisa Evers Sliwa files for divorce from Curtis Sliwa
- 1993 Baseball player Darryl Strawberry (31) divorces Lisa Andrews after more than 8 years of marriage
- 2002 Comedian Tom Green (30) divorces actress Drew Barrymore (26) due to irreconcilable differences after less than a year of marriage
Mata Hari
Herbert Henry Dow
Pierre Laval
Hermann Goering
Carlo Gambino
Norodom SihanoukOctober in History
The Great Stand on the Ugra River
On one side of the Ugra River stood the Mongol Golden Horde, on the other, Ivan III, Grand Prince of the rising Muscovy Principality. At stake, everything.
October 8, 1480
Grim History of London's Speakers' Corner
Nowhere in England is the principal of free speech embodied more than at Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park. But this right was won through death and protest.
October 14, 1855
Hurricane on the Way? Don't Worry
A cosy assurance from a BBC weather forecaster for viewers not to worry about an impending storm has gone down as the most spectacular mis-forecast in history.
October 15, 1987
Test of Time for the Date of Creation
The assertion by a 17th Century bishop that the universe was created on this day in the year 4004 BC was put to the test in a famous trial in the United States.
October 23, 4004 BC