# What happened on November 15 in history?

**Date:** November 15  
**Events recorded:** 61  
**Years spanned:** 655 – 2022  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/november/15/

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## Featured Event

**2007** — Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Sidr)

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## Events on this date

- **655** — Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Winwaed))
- **1315** — Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Morgarten. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_the_Old_Swiss_Confederacy))
- **1532** — Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire: Commanded by Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistadors under Hernando de Soto meet Incan Emperor Atahualpa for the first time outside Cajamarca, arranging for a meeting in the city plaza the following day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_the_Inca_Empire))
- **1533** — Francisco Pizarro arrives in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Pizarro))
- **1705** — Rákóczi's War of Independence: The Habsburg Empire and Denmark win a military victory over the Kurucs from Hungary in the Battle of Zsibó. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1k%C3%B3czi's_War_of_Independence))
- **1760** — The secondly-built Castellania in Valletta is officially inaugurated with the blessing of the interior Chapel of Sorrows. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellania_(Valletta)))
- **1777** — American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War))
- **1806** — Pike Expedition: Lieutenant Zebulon Pike spots a mountain peak while near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is later named Pikes Peak in his honor. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_Expedition))
- **1842** — A slave revolt in the Cherokee Nation commences. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1842_Slave_Revolt_in_the_Cherokee_Nation))
- **1849** — Boilers of the steamboat Louisiana explode as she pulls back from the dock in New Orleans, killing more than 150 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler_explosion))
- **1864** — American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his March to the Sea through Georgia towards the city of Savannah. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1884** — The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 met on 15 November 1884, and after an adjournment concluded on 26 February 1885, with the signature of a General Act, regulating the European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Conference))
- **1889** — Brazil is declared a republic by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca as Emperor Pedro II is deposed in a military coup. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil))
- **1899** — Second Boer War: Battle of Chieveley, a British armored train is ambushed and partially derailed. British lose the battle, with 80 soldiers captured, along with war correspondent Winston Churchill. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War))
- **1917** — Eduskunta declares itself the supreme state power of Finland, prompting its declaration of independence and secession from Russia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Finland))
- **1920** — The first assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva, Switzerland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations))
- **1920** — The Free City of Danzig is established. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_City_of_Danzig))
- **1922** — At least 300 are massacred during a general strike in Guayaquil, Ecuador. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Guayaquil_general_strike))
- **1928** — The RNLI lifeboat Mary Stanford capsizes in Rye Harbour with the loss of the entire 17-man crew. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_National_Lifeboat_Institution))
- **1933** — Thailand holds its first election. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand))
- **1938** — Nazi Germany bans Jewish children from public schools in the aftermath of Kristallnacht. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany))
- **1942** — World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1943** — The Holocaust: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies are to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust))
- **1951** — Nikos Beloyannis, along with 11 comrades, is sentenced to death for attempting to reestablish the Communist Party of Greece. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Beloyannis))
- **1955** — The first part of the Saint Petersburg Metro is opened. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Metro))
- **1957** — Short Solent 3 crashes near Chessell. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_Aquila_Airways_Solent_crash))
- **1959** — Four members of the Clutter family are murdered near Holcomb, Kansas, by Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, a crime later detailed by Truman Capote in his 1966 non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clutter_family_murders))
- **1965** — Craig Breedlove sets a land speed record of 600.601 mph (966.574 km/h) in his car, the Spirit of America, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Breedlove))
- **1966** — Project Gemini: Gemini 12 completes the program's final mission, when it splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gemini))
- **1967** — The only fatality of the North American X-15 program occurs during the 191st flight when Air Force test pilot Michael J. Adams loses control of his aircraft which is destroyed mid-air over the Mojave Desert. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15))
- **1968** — The Cleveland Transit System becomes the first transit system in the western hemisphere to provide direct rapid transit service from a city's downtown to its major airport. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Cleveland_Regional_Transit_Authority))
- **1969** — Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War))
- **1969** — Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 250,000–500,000 protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War))
- **1971** — Intel releases the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel))
- **1976** — René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois take power to become the first Quebec government of the 20th century clearly in favor of independence. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_L%C3%A9vesque))
- **1978** — A chartered Douglas DC-8 crashes near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 183. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-8))
- **1979** — A package from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C., forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski))
- **1983** — Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declares independence; it is only recognized by Turkey. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Cyprus))
- **1985** — A research assistant is injured when a package from the Unabomber addressed to a University of Michigan professor explodes. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski))
- **1985** — The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Irish_Agreement))
- **1987** — In Brașov, Romania, workers rebel against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bra%C8%99ov))
- **1987** — Continental Airlines Flight 1713 crashes during takeoff from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado, killing 25. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Airlines_Flight_1713))
- **1988** — In the Soviet Union, the uncrewed Shuttle Buran makes its only space flight. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union))
- **1988** — Israeli–Palestinian conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict))
- **1988** — The first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched in the Netherlands. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade_certification))
- **1990** — The Communist People's Republic of Bulgaria is disestablished and a new republican government is instituted. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Bulgaria))
- **1990** — Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-38, a classified mission for the Department of Defense. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis))
- **1994** — A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits the central Philippine island of Mindoro, killing 78 people, injuring 430 and triggering a tsunami up to 8.5 m (28 ft) high. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Mindoro_earthquake))
- **2000** — A chartered Antonov An-24 crashes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, killing more than 40 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-24))
- **2000** — Jharkhand officially becomes the 28th state of India, formed from eighteen districts of southern Bihar. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jharkhand))
- **2001** — Microsoft launches the Xbox game console in North America. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft))
- **2002** — Hu Jintao becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new nine-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Jintao))
- **2003** — The first day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings, in which two car bombs, targeting two synagogues, explode, kill 25 people and wound 300 more. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Istanbul_bombings))
- **2006** — Al Jazeera English launches worldwide. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_English))
- **2007** — Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Sidr))
- **2010** — A fire in a high-rise apartment building in Shanghai, China kills 58 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Shanghai_fire))
- **2012** — Xi Jinping becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping))
- **2016** — Hong Kong's High Court bans elected politicians Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung from the city's Parliament. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_High_Court))
- **2017** — A flood a few miles outside of Athens results in the death of 25 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_West_Attica_floods))
- **2020** — Lewis Hamilton wins the Turkish Grand Prix and secures his seventh drivers' title, equalling the all-time record held by Michael Schumacher. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hamilton))
- **2022** — The world population reached eight billion. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population))

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## Notable births on November 15

- **2001** — **TyTy Washington Jr.** — American basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TyTy_Washington_Jr.))
- **1997** — **Paula Badosa** — Spanish tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Badosa))
- **1996** — **Kim Min-jae** — South Korean footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Min-jae_(footballer)))
- **1995** — **Blake Pieroni** — American swimmer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Pieroni))
- **1995** — **Karl-Anthony Towns** — Dominican-American basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Anthony_Towns))
- **1994** — **Ekaterina Alexandrova** — Russian tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekaterina_Alexandrova))
- **1994** — **Emma Dumont** — American actress and model ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Dumont))
- **1994** — **Bryce Cartwright** — Australian rugby league player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Cartwright))
- **1993** — **Arik Armstead** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arik_Armstead))
- **1993** — **Paulo Dybala** — Argentine footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Dybala))

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## Notable deaths on November 15

- **2024** — **Celeste Caeiro** — Portuguese pacifist (born 1933) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeste_Caeiro))
- **2024** — **Béla Károlyi** — Romanian-American gymnastics coach (born 1942) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_K%C3%A1rolyi))
- **2024** — **Jon Kenny** — Irish comedian and actor (born 1957) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kenny))
- **2024** — **Yuriko** — Princess Mikasa, Japanese princess (born 1923) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuriko%2C_Princess_Mikasa))
- **2023** — **Žarko Laušević** — Serbian actor (born 1960) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDarko_Lau%C5%A1evi%C4%87))
- **2017** — **Lil Peep** — American singer and rapper (born 1996) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Peep))
- **2016** — **Mose Allison** — American pianist and songwriter (born 1927) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mose_Allison))
- **2015** — **Gisèle Prassinos** — French author (born 1920) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gis%C3%A8le_Prassinos))
- **2015** — **Herbert Scarf** — American economist and academic (born 1930) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Scarf))
- **2015** — **Saeed Jaffrey** — Indian-British actor (born 1929) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Jaffrey))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/november/15/](https://thisday.info/events/november/15/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.