Tukuk-OS📅 May 15
26 events · 12 births · 12 deaths
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What happened on May 15? Below are the notable events chosen by Wikipedia’s editors for this date, followed by celebrated births, deaths and the observances recognised around the world.
Events
- 2024 — Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico is hospitalised after an assassination attempt.
Prime Minister of SlovakiaRobert FicoAttempted assassination of Robert Fico
- 2010 — Three days before her seventeenth birthday, Jessica Watson arrived in Sydney after sailing non-stop and unassisted around the world.
- 2004 — Arsenal became the first football team in England's top flight to finish a season undefeated since Preston North End did so in 1888–1889.
Arsenal F.C.Association footballEnglish football league system
- 2001 — A runaway train loaded with hazardous chemicals traveled driverless for 66 miles (106 km) through Ohio before being stopped near Kenton.
- 1990 — Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold at auction at Christie's in New York for US$82.5 million, making it the world's most expensive painting at the time.
- 1972 — The Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japan by the United States, and the U.S. occupation government was abolished.
Ryukyu IslandsUnited States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands
- 1970 — Police opened fire during a confrontation with a group of Jackson State College students, killing two students and injuring twelve others.
- 1966 — Disapproving of General Tôn Thất Đính's handling of the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ ordered an attack on his forces and ousted Đính from his post.
- 1957 — The United Kingdom tested its first hydrogen bomb over Malden Island in Operation Grapple.
- 1953 — Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, an event for Cub Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America where wooden cars built by the scouts are raced.
- 1945 — The British Army directed fleeing Croatian soldiers to surrender to the Yugoslav Partisans, beginning the Bleiburg repatriations.
British ArmyCroatian Armed Forces (Independent State of Croatia)Yugoslav Partisans
- 1928 — Mickey and Minnie Mouse made their film debuts in the animated cartoon Plane Crazy.
- 1916 — Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched in Waco, Texas.
- 1912 — During a match, baseball star Ty Cobb enters the stands and assaults a fan who had heckled him, leading to his suspension.
- 1911 — Mexican Revolution: A force of Maderistas captured Torreón and proceeded to massacre 303 of the city's Chinese residents.
Mexican RevolutionList of factions in the Mexican RevolutionTorreón
- 1904 — Russo-Japanese War: The Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima sank after striking several mines off Port Arthur, China.
Russo-Japanese WarJapanese battleship HatsuseJapanese battleship Yashima
- 1891 — Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum novarum, which addressed the condition of the working classes and is considered to be the foundation of modern Catholic social teaching.
- 1869 — Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, breaking away from the American Equal Rights Association which they had also previously founded.
Susan B. AnthonyElizabeth Cady StantonNational Woman Suffrage Association
- 1864 — American Civil War: A small Confederate force, which included cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, forced the Union army out of the Shenandoah Valley.
American Civil WarConfederate States ArmyVirginia Military Institute
- 1862 — Fertilisation of Orchids, the first book by Charles Darwin which demonstrated the power of natural selection in detail, was published.
- 1855 — Thieves stole 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold from a train travelling from London to Folkestone, England.
- 1836 — English astronomer Francis Baily observed Baily's beads (example pictured), a phenomenon during a solar eclipse in which the rugged topography of the lunar limb allows sunlight to shine through.
- 1725 — Bach led the first performance of his cantata Ich bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85, about Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
Johann Sebastian BachIch bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85Good Shepherd
- 1602 — Early English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold arrived on Cape Cod in present-day Massachusetts.
- 1252 — Pope Innocent IV issued the papal bull Ad extirpanda, authorizing the use of torture on heretics during the Medieval Inquisition.
- 392 — Roman emperor Valentinian II (pictured) was found hanged in his residence in Vienne, in present-day France.
Births
- 2006 — Haerin, Korean singer
- 2002 — Chase Hudson, American internet celebrity, singer, actor
- 2000 — Dayana Yastremska, Ukrainian tennis player
- 1999 — Anastasia Gasanova, Russian tennis player
- 1998 — Lucrezia Stefanini, Italian tennis player
- 1997 — Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer
- 1997 — Scott Drinkwater, Australian rugby league player
- 1996 — Birdy, English singer-songwriter
- 1993 — Jeremy Hawkins, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1993 — Tomáš Kalas, Czech international footballer
- 1990 — Jordan Eberle, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 — Lee Jong-hyun, Korean guitarist
Deaths
- 2025 — Robert Walls, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (born 1950)
- 2024 — Kamla Beniwal, Indian politician (born 1927)
- 2022 — Frank Curry, Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1950)
- 2022 — Kay Mellor, English actress (born 1951)
- 2021 — Oliver Gillie, British journalist and scientist (born 1937)
- 2020 — Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, and writer (born 1933)
- 2017 — Herbert R. Axelrod American tropical fish expert, publisher of pet books, and entrepreneur (born 1927)
- 2016 — Jelesko Grancharoff, Bulgarian-Australian resistance fighter and anarchist (born 1925)
- 2015 — Elisabeth Bing, German-American physical therapist and author (born 1914)
- 2015 — Jackie Brookner, American sculptor and educator (born 1945)
- 2015 — Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer (born 1928)
- 2015 — Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-American football player (born 1944)
Observances & holidays
- Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto)
- Army Day (Slovenia)
- Christian feast day: Achillius of Larissa
- Christian feast day: Athanasius of Alexandria (Coptic Church)
- Christian feast day: Hallvard Vebjørnsson (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Hilary of Galeata
- Christian feast day: Isidore the Laborer, celebrated with festivals in various countries, the beginning of bullfighting season in Madrid.
- Christian feast day: Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Kaleb of Axum
- Christian feast day: Peter, Andrew, Paul, and Denise (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Reticius (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Sophia of Rome (Roman Catholic church)
- Christian feast day:
May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar)
May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
- Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania)
- Independence Day (Paraguay), celebrates the independence of Paraguay from Spain in 1811. Celebrations for the anniversary of the independence begin on Flag Day, May 14.
- International Conscientious Objectors Day
- International Day of Families (International)
- La Corsa dei Ceri begins on the eve of the feast day of Saint Ubaldo. (Gubbio)
- Mother's Day (Paraguay)
- Nakba Day (Palestinian communities)
- Peace Officers Memorial Day (United States)
- Republic Day (Lithuania)
- Teachers' Day (Colombia, Mexico, and South Korea)
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