On This Day in History for July 15

Events 1 - 100 of 143

• 1099 City of Jerusalem is captured and plundered by Christian forces during the First Crusade
• 1205 Pope Innocent III states Jews are doomed to perpetual servitudea and subjugation due to crucifixion of Jesus
• 1207 King John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton.

• 1307 Duke Henrik of Corinthia chosen as King of Bohemia
• 1381 John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England

• 1500 Duke Albrecht of Saxon beats Friese rebellion
• 1500 Baglione family massacre at the "Blood Wedding" of Astorre Baglione and Lavinia Colonna in Perugia
• 1501 Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral arrives back in Lisbon after successfully discovering Brazil and returning from India
• 1524 Emperor Charles I bans German national synode
• 1538 Peace talks between Charles I and King Francois I

• 1741 Alexei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska
• 1755 French ambassador recalled from London
• 1779 American troops under General A Wayne conquer Fort Stony Point, NY


• 1783 1st steamboat, Pyroscaphe, 1st run in France
• 1787 Parliament of Paris banished to Troyes
• 1789 Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, is named by acclamation colonel-general of the new National Guard of Paris

• 1806 Zebulon Pike begins his journey to explore the American Southwest
• 1808 French marshal Joachim Murat becomes king of Naples
• 1815 Napoleon surrenders to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS Bellerophon at Rochefort after his earlier defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
• 1823 A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.
• 1830 Indian tribes, Sioux, Sauk & Fox, sign fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien giving the US most of Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri
• 1840 Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia sign Quadruple Alliance
• 1850 John Wisden bowls all 10 South batsmen, North v South at Lord's
• 1856 Natal forms as a British colony separate from Cape Colony
• 1862 CSS Arkansas vs USS Carondelet & Queen of the West engage at Yazoo River
• 1863 President Davis orders service duty for confederate army
• 1864 Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collided with a coal train killing 65 and injuring 109 of 955 aboard
• 1867 San Francisco Merchants' Exchange opens
• 1869 Margarine is patented by Hippolye Méga-Mouriès for use by French Navy
• 1870 Georgia becomes last confederate to be readmitted to US
• 1870 Manitoba becomes 5th Canadian province and NW Territories created
• 1870 Hudson's Bay and Northwest Territories transferred to Canada
• 1888 Bandai volcano (Japan) erupts for 1st time in 1,000 years

• 1900 President Steyn/General De Law escape Brandwater Basin
• 1901 NY Giant Christy Mathewson no-hits St Louis, 5-0
• 1902 Ranjitsinhji scores 180 before lunch, for Sussex v Surrey


• 1904 1st Buddhist temple in US forms, Los Angeles
• 1906 Republic museum opens Rembrandt hall in Amsterdam
• 1911 46" of rain (beginning 7/14) falls in Baguio, Philippines
• 1912 British National Health Insurance Act goes into effect
• 1914 Mexican president Huerta flees with 2 million pesos to Europe
• 1915 The head of German propaganda in the US, Dr Heinrich Albert, loses his briefcase on a subway in New York City; an examination of its content reveals an extensive network of German espionage and subversion across the US
• 1915 The Austro-German forces launch an offensive along the Eastern Front
• 1916 22.22" (56.4 cm) of rain falls in Altapass NC (state record)
• 1916 Boeing Company (Pacific Aero) formed by William Boeing in Seattle Wash
• 1918 World War I: Second Battle of Marne begins
• 1920 Ruth ties his record of 29 HRs in a season
• 1922 1st duck-billed platypus publicly exhibited in US, at NY Zoo
• 1923 Italian parliament accepts new constitution
• 1926 VPRO (Free thinking Protestant Radio Broadcast) forms
• 1927 Massacre in Vienna: 89 protesters are killed by the Austrian police
• 1929 1st airport hotel opens at Oakland, California

• 1933 Wiley Post began 1st solo flight around world
• 1934 Continental Airlines commences operations.
• 1936 Dutch 2nd Chamber agree to temporarily increase defense budget
• 1937 Buchenwald Concentration Camp opens
• 1937 Japanese attack Marco Polo Bridge, invade China
• 1939 Clara Adams (NYC) is 1st woman to complete round world flight
• 1940 1st betatron placed in operation, Urbana, Illnois
• 1940 Nazi occupiers seize library of IISG Amsterdam
• 1940 Physicist Donald Kerst becomes the first person to accelerate electrons using electromagnetic induction, reaching energies of 2.3 MeV, when his betatron device (for particle acceleration) becomes operational

• 1942 1st deportation camp at Westerbork, Jews sent to Auschwitz
• 1942 Dutch Jews invoked for "Labor camps"
• 1944 Greenwich Observatory damaged by WW II flying bomb
• 1946 British North Borneo Company transfers its rights to modern day Sabah to the British Crown
• 1948 Israel bombs Cairo during Arab-Israeli War
• 1948 Alcoholic Anonymous founded in Britain
• 1948 US President Harry Truman nominated for another term (Philadelphia)
• 1952 1st transatlantic helicopter flight begins
• 1953 ANC members, Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe leave South Africa and go overseas under false names
• 1954 110°F (43°C) at Balcony Falls, Virginia (state record)
• 1954 1st commercial jet transport plane built in US tested (Boeing 707)
• 1955 18 Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by 34 more laureates
• 1956 Iharos runs world record 10k (28:42.8)
• 1957 Dutch Super Constellation crashes near New Guinea, 56 die
• 1957 US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site

• 1959 The US steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
• 1960 UN troops arrive in Congo to help deal with the political crisis after Moïse-Kapenda Tshombé's declaration of independence for Katanga province
• 1961 Spain accepts equal rights for men and women
• 1962 Algeria becomes member of Arab League
• 1962 Netherlands and Indonesia reach agreement over New Guinea
• 1963 Paul McCartney is fined £17 for speeding
• 1964 Barry M Goldwater (Sen-R-Az) nominated for president by Republicans
• 1965 "Mariner IV" sends back 1st pictures of Mars
• 1965 Athanassiades Novas succeeds Papandreo as premier of Greece
• 1967 LA Wolves beat Wash Whips 6-5 in OT to be United Soccer Ass champs
• 1967 USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1968 Commercial air travel begins between US & USSR
• 1968 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa atoll
• 1968 NJ Americans moved to Comack & become NY Nets (ABA)
• 1969 Rod Carew ties record with his 7th steal of home in a season

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• 1273 Ewostatewos, Ethiopian monk and religious leader (d. 1352)
• 1353 Vladimir the Bold, Russian prince (d. 1410)
• 1471 Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (d. 1494)
• 1553 Archduke Ernest of Austria (d. 1595)
• 1573 Inigo Jones, architect (Old St Paul's Cathedral, Coven Garden), born in London, England

• 1631 Jens Juel, Danish diplomat (d. 1700)
• 1701 Pierre Joubert, became oldest known Canadian (113 y 124 d at death)
• 1704 August Gottlieb Spangenberg, founder of Moravian Church in North America
• 1737 Louise of Orléans, Daughter of King Louis XV and Queen of Belgium, born in Palermo, Sicily (d. 1787)
• 1779 Clement Clarke Moore, US professor and author ('Twas the Night Before Xmas), born in NYC, New York (d. 1863)
• 1796 Thomas Bulfinch, mythologist (Bulfinch's Mythology)
• 1798 Charles H Bell, Comm (Union Navy), (d. 1875)
• 1808 Henry Cole, promotor (Great Exhibition of 1851)
• 1808 Henry Edward Manning, cardinal/archbishop (Westminster)
• 1812 Benno Adam, animal painter
• 1812 James Hope-Scott, English barrister (d. 1873)
• 1817 John Fowler, English engineer (London Metropolitan Railway)
• 1837 Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, queen of Portugal (d. 1859)
• 1848 Vilfredo F D Pareto, Italian economist/sociologist
• 1850 Francesca Xavier Cabrini, [Mother Cabrini], 1st US saint
• 1851 Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian author (d. 1889)

• 1865 Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st viscount Northcliffe
• 1865 Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian mathematician (d. 1945)
• 1867 Maggie Mitchell Walker, 1st woman bank director/philanthropist
• 1867 Maggie L. Walker, African-American teacher and businesswoman (1st female Bank President), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1934)
• 1871 Kunikida Doppo, Japanese writer (d. 1908)
• 1875 Jean van den Eeckhoudt, Belgian painter
• 1878 Willem Paerels, Neth/Belgian painter and graphic artist
• 1892 Walter Benjamin, German literature critic/writer
• 1892 Henry Johnson, American soldier of 369th regiment (aka Harlem Hell Fighters), 1st US WWI soldier to receive the Croix de guerre after fighting a German raid in hand-to-hand combat to rescue a fellow soldier (posthumous Medal of Honour, 2015), born in Tallahassee, Florida, (d. 1929)
• 1894 Tadeusz Sendzimir, Polish-American engineer and inventor (d. 1989)
• 1899 Seán Lemass, Irish leader (d. 1971)
• 1901 Pyke F C Koch, Dutch surrealistic painter (Dolores' Breakfast)
• 1902 Jean Rey, Belgian President of European Commission (1967-70)
• 1903 Kumaraswami Kamaraj, Indian politician (d. 1975)
• 1904 Rudolf Arnheim, German-born author (d. 2007)
• 1906 Edmund Davies, British lord of appeal
• 1907 Paterson Fraser, British air marshal
• 1909 Enid Kathleen Hutchinson, adult educationalist
• 1911 Juliet Pannett, English portrait painter
• 1911 Lord Shackelton, explorer/government minister
• 1911 Edward Shackleton, English explorer (d. 1994)
• 1913 Ralph Hammond Innes, English author
• 1913 Abraham Sutzkever, Yiddish language poet and memoirist.
• 1914 Akhtar Hameed Khan, pioneer of Microcredit in developing countries (d. 1999)
• 1915 Alexander Durie, vice president (British AA)
• 1915 Ron Smith, union leader (British Postal Workers)
• 1916 George Maduro, Dutch Antillian resistance fighter (Willemsorde/Madurodam), born in Willemstad, Curaçao (d. 1945)
• 1917 Robert Conquest, English historian and poet (The Great Terror), born in Great Malvern, Worcestershire (d. 2015)
• 1919 Iris Murdoch, novelist (Severed Head, Unicorn), born in Dublin, Ireland
• 1920 Eldon Rudd, (Rep-R-AZ, 1977- )
• 1920 Ruthven Wade, British Air Chief marshal
• 1922 Jef Houthuys, chairman Belgian labor union (ACV 1968-87)
• 1922 Jeffrey Benson, CEO (600 group)
• 1922 Jiri Lederer, Czechoslovakia, journalist/dissident
• 1924 David Cox, warden (Nuffield College, Oxford)
• 1924 Jeremiah A Denton, (Sen-R-AL, 1981-86)
• 1926 John Graham, British ambassador to NATO
• 1926 Driss Chraïbi, Moroccan author
• 1926 Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine dictator (d. 2003)
• 1927 Ann Jellicoe, British theater director and playwright (Knack), born in Middlesborough
• 1928 Carl Woese, American microbiologist
• 1929 Larry Lamb, newspaper editor
• 1930 Charles Kelly, chief constable (Staffordshire England)
• 1930 Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (d. 2004)
• 1930 Stephen Smale, American mathematician
• 1931 Clive Cussler, Aurora Illinois, American writer (Raise The Titanic, Sahara)
• 1931 Eugene Louw, South African minister of Internal affairs
• 1933 James Ball, British economist
• 1934 Simon Gournlay, president (British National Farmer's Union)
• 1936 George V. Voinovich, US politician (R), Senator and Governor of Ohio, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2016)
• 1938 Carmen Callil, publisher
• 1939 Ronald Hadfield, chief constable (West Midlands England)
• 1942 Henry McCubbin, MEP (Labour)
• 1942 Philip R Sharp, (Rep-D-Indiana, 1975- )
• 1943 Diligenti quintuplets, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 1943 Jocelyn Burnell, astronomer
• 1945 Jürgen Möllemann, German politician (d. 2003)
• 1946 Hassabal Bolkiah Mu'izzadin Waddaulah, sultan of Brunei
• 1949 WiIlliam Faure, producer
• 1949 Carl Bildt, Swedish politician
• 1949 Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (2006-present), born in Al Shindagha, Dubai, Trucial States
• 1950 Colin Barnett, Australian politician

• 1952 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (Rep-R-Florida)
• 1952 Jill Long, (Rep-D-Indiana)
• 1952 Judy McGrath, American television executive
• 1953 Jean-Bertrand Aristide, president of Haiti (1991, 1994- )
• 1953 John Denham, Seaton, Devon, England, MP (Labour)
• 1957 Kate Kellaway, English literary critic
• 1958 Mac Thornberry, American politician
• 1960 Alexander W Dunlap, astronaut, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
• 1961 Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector in Iraq
• 1965 David Miliband, British politician

• 1500 "Blood Wedding" of Astorre Baglione & Lavinia Colonna in Perugia family Baglione massacre
• 1952 Gerald Lascelles, son of English Princess Mary, weds Angela Dowding
• 2011 Former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy (44) weds Amy Petitgout in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

• 668 Constantius II, emperor of Byzantium, dies at 37
• 1085 Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia & Calabria, dies at 70
• 1262 Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, English soldier (b. 1222)
• 1274 John F Bonaventura, Ital/French theologist/dominican/saint, dies
• 1291 Rudolf I, King of Germany & Holy Roman Empire, dies
• 1291 Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1273-91), dies at 73
• 1381 John Ball, English priest/ideologist of Boer uprising, hanged
• 1406 Duke William of Austria (b. c.1370)
• 1410 Ulrich von Jungingen, German Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, killed at the Battle of Grunwald (b. 1360)
• 1411 Johannes Parvus, [Jean Petit], French theologist, dies
• 1416 John, Duke of Berry, French art collector and third son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxemburg, dies at 75
• 1417 Willem J Eggert, financier (W E Center, Purmerend), dies

• 1571 Shimazu Takahisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1514)
• 1609 Annibale Carracci, Italian painter, dies at 48
• 1614 Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme, French historian and biographer (b. c.1540)
• 1655 Girolamo Rainaldi, Italian architect (b. 1570)
• 1685 James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, bastard son of English king Charles II, executed at 36
• 1738 Alexander Voznitsyn, Rus Naval officer converted to Judaism, executed
• 1738 Baruch Leibov, converted Russian Naval officer to Judaism, executed
• 1750 Vasily Tatishchev, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
• 1751 John Wilson, botanist, dies
• 1765 Charles-André van Loo, French painter (b. 1705)
• 1767 Michael Bruce, Scottish poet (Elegy written in Spring), dies at 21
• 1784 Johan B Straub, South German sculptor, dies
• 1828 Jean Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (b. 1741)
• 1839 Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English politician and poet, dies at 36
• 1844 Claude Charles Fauriel, French historian (b. 1772)
• 1856 Margaretha J de Neufville, author (The Kidnap), dies at 81
• 1862 David Emanuel Twiggs, US Confederate gen-mjr (Monterrey), dies at 72
• 1865 Reinier C Bakhuizen van de Brink, Dutch historian, dies at 55
• 1868 William Thomas Morton, dentist (1st to use ether), dies
• 1869 A J Haynes, US army captain and civil war veteren, assassinated by KKK
• 1883 Tom Thumb, famous small person (40"), dies of a stroke at 44
• 1885 Rosalia de Castro, Spanish writer and poet in the Galician language ('Séculos Escuros') (b. 1837)
• 1898 Jean Baptiste Salpointe, second Archbishop of Santa Fe (d. 1825)

• 1906 William Painter, American inventor (crown cork bottle cap and opener), dies at 67
• 1907 Qiu Jin, Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer considered a national heroine in China, executed after a failed uprising at 32
• 1916 Ilya Mechnikov, Russian zoologist and bacteriologist known as the "father of natural immunity" (Nobel 1908), dies of heart failure at 71

• 1929 Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, playwright/poet, dies
• 1931 Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian economist (b. 1868)
• 1933 Irving Babbitt, American writer (Democracy & Leadership), dies at 67
• 1934 Jules Renkin, Belgian PM (1931-32), dies
• 1935 Pieter WA Cort van de Linden, Dutch premier (1913-18), dies at 89
• 1937 Walter Gay, artist, dies
• 1939 Johon Mellanby, physiologist, dies
• 1939 Percy Scott Worthington, architect, dies
• 1940 Robert Wadlow, world's tallest man (8'11.1"), dies at 32

• 1953 Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios (b.1882)
• 1957 Marie C of Zeggelen, author (Dessajongen), dies at 87
• 1957 James M. Cox, American politician (b. 1870)
• 1957 Vasily Maklakov, Russian orator and liberal politician (b. 1869)
• 1958 Nuries-Said, Iraqi soldier/statesman, assassinated, dies
• 1959 Peter A Egge, Norwegian writer (The Dream), dies
• 1959 Vance Palmer, Australian author, dies at 73
• 1960 Set Persson, Swedish communist politician (b. 1897)
• 1961 John E. Brownlee, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
• 1965 Francis Cherry, American politician (b. 1908)
• 1968 Lura Anson, dies in Woodland at 76
• 1974 Christine Chubbuck, television news reporter, commits suicide live on TV at 29
• 1975 Charles Weidman, US dancer/choreographer (Fables for Our Time), dies
• 1976 Paul William Gallico, writer, dies at 78
• 1977 Konstantin Fedin, writer, dies
• 1979 Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, President of Mexico (b. 1911)
• 1982 Wendy Caulfield, 1st Green River victim, found near Seattle
• 1988 Eleanor Estes, author (Ginger Pye, Moffats), dies at 82
• 1992 Chingiz Mustafayev, Azerbaijan's most noted journalist (b. 1960)
• 1992 Hammer DeRoburt, First President of Nauru, dies at 69
• 1993 Bobby Kent, alleged Florida bully murdered by his friends (b. 1973)
• 1994 Jeanne Bieruma Oosting, Dutch painter/illustrator, dies

• 2003 Roberto Bolaño, Chilean writer (b. 1953)
• 2006 Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters of America (b. 1937)
• 2010 James E. Akins, American diplomat and advisor to Richard Nixon (b. 1926)
• 2014 James MacGregor Burns, American political writer (The Lion & the Fox), dies at 95
• 2015 Wan Li, Chinese reform politician, dies at 98

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