# What happened on October 15 in history?

**Date:** October 15  
**Events recorded:** 42  
**Years spanned:** 1066 – 2018  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/october/15/

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## Featured Event

**2016** — One hundred and ninety-seven nations amend the Montreal Protocol to include a phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons.

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

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## Events on this date

- **1066** — Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings))
- **1211** — Battle of the Rhyndacus: The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rhyndacus_(1211)))
- **1529** — The Siege of Vienna ends when Austria routs the invading Ottoman forces, ending its European expansion. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vienna_(1529)))
- **1582** — Adoption of the Gregorian calendar begins, eventually leading to near-universal adoption. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar))
- **1651** — Qing forces capture the island of Zhoushan. Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, resident of the island and regent of the Southern Ming, flees to Kinmen. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_dynasty))
- **1781** — The Battle of Raft Swamp marks the last battle fought in North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War with a Patriot victory. It occurred four days before the British surrender at Yorktown. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raft_Swamp))
- **1783** — The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgolfier_brothers))
- **1793** — Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted of treason. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette))
- **1815** — Napoleon begins his exile on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon))
- **1864** — American Civil War: The Union garrison of Glasgow, Missouri surrenders to Confederate forces. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1888** — The "From Hell" letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_letter))
- **1910** — Airship America is launched from New Jersey in the first attempt to cross the Atlantic by a powered aircraft. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(airship)))
- **1923** — The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rentenmark))
- **1928** — The airship Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin))
- **1932** — Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India))
- **1939** — The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) is dedicated. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaGuardia_Airport))
- **1940** — President Lluís Companys of Catalonia is executed by the Francoist government. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llu%C3%ADs_Companys))
- **1944** — World War II: Germany replaces the Hungarian government after Hungary announces an armistice with the Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1951** — Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes completes the synthesis of norethisterone, the basis of an early oral contraceptive. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_E._Miramontes))
- **1954** — Hurricane Hazel devastates the eastern seaboard of North America, killing 95 and causing massive floods as far north as Toronto. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hazel))
- **1956** — FORTRAN, the first modern computer language, is first shared with the coding community. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran))
- **1965** — Vietnam War: A draft card is burned during an anti-war rally by the Catholic Worker Movement, resulting in the first arrest under a new law. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War))
- **1966** — The Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party))
- **1970** — During the construction of Australia's West Gate Bridge, a span of the bridge falls and kills 35 workers. The incident is the country's worst industrial accident to this day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Gate_Bridge))
- **1979** — Supporters of the Malta Labour Party ransack and destroy the Times of Malta building and other locations associated with the Nationalist Party. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Monday_(Malta)))
- **1979** — A coup d'état in El Salvador overthrows President Carlos Humberto Romero and begins the 12 year-long Salvadoran Civil War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Salvadoran_coup_d'%C3%A9tat))
- **1987** — Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460 crashes near Conca di Crezzo, Italy, killing all 37 people on board. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Trasporti_Italiani_Flight_460))
- **1987** — A coup d'état in Burkina Faso overthrows and kills then President Thomas Sankara. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Burkina_Faso_coup_d'%C3%A9tat))
- **1989** — Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev))
- **1991** — The "Oh-My-God particle", an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray measured at 40,000,000 times that of the highest energy protons produced in a particle accelerator, is observed at the University of Utah HiRes observatory in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh-My-God_particle))
- **1991** — The leaders of the Baltic States, Arnold Rüütel of Estonia, Anatolijs Gorbunovs of Latvia and Vytautas Landsbergis of Lithuania, signed the OSCE Final Act in Helsinki, Finland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states))
- **1994** — The United States, under the Clinton administration, returns Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to the island. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Bill_Clinton))
- **1997** — The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens))
- **2001** — NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles (180 km) of Jupiter's moon Io. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft)))
- **2003** — China launches Shenzhou 5, its first crewed space mission. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_5))
- **2006** — The 6.7 Mw Kiholo Bay earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the closure of Honolulu International Airport. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_magnitude_scales))
- **2007** — Seventeen activists in New Zealand are arrested in the country's first post-9/11 anti-terrorism raids. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_New_Zealand_police_raids))
- **2008** — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst percentage drop in the Dow's history. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average))
- **2013** — The 7.2 Mw Bohol earthquake strikes the Philippines. At least 215 were killed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_magnitude_scales))
- **2016** — One hundred and ninety-seven nations amend the Montreal Protocol to include a phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Protocol))
- **2018** — 13-year-old American girl, Jayme Closs, is kidnapped from her Barron, Wisconsin home after her parents were both murdered. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jayme_Closs))

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## Notable births on October 15

- **2005** — **Christian** — Crown Prince of Denmark ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian%2C_Crown_Prince_of_Denmark))
- **2000** — **Melki Sedek Huang** — Indonesian activist and sex offender ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melki_Sedek_Huang))
- **1999** — **Bailee Madison** — American-Canadian actress and singer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailee_Madison))
- **1999** — **Ben Woodburn** — Welsh footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Woodburn))
- **1998** — **Teuku Wariza Aris Munandar** — Indonesian activist and politician ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Banda_Aceh_anti-Rohingya_protest))
- **1996** — **Charly Musonda** — Belgian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charly_Musonda_(footballer%2C_born_1996)))
- **1996** — **Grace Van Dien** — American actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Van_Dien))
- **1996** — **Zelo** — South Korean rapper and dancer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelo))
- **1995** — **Jack Flaherty** — American baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Flaherty))
- **1995** — **Jakob Pöltl** — Austrian basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_P%C3%B6ltl))

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## Notable deaths on October 15

- **2025** — **Jim Bolger** — New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1935) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bolger))
- **2024** — **Mike Jackson** — English general (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Jackson_(British_Army_officer)))
- **2021** — **David Amess** — British politician, member of Parliament for Southend West (born 1952) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Amess))
- **2018** — **Paul Allen** — co-founder of Microsoft, philanthropist, owner of the Seattle Seahawks (born 1953) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen))
- **2017** — **Chinggoy Alonzo** — Filipino theater, movie & television actor (born 1950) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinggoy_Alonzo))
- **2014** — **Giovanni Reale** — Italian philosopher and historian (born 1931) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Reale))
- **2013** — **Donald Bailey** — American drummer (born 1933) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Bailey_(musician)))
- **2012** — **Claude Cheysson** — French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1920) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Cheysson))
- **2012** — **Erol Günaydın** — Turkish actor and screenwriter (born 1933) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erol_G%C3%BCnayd%C4%B1n))
- **2012** — **Maria Petrou** — Greek-English computer scientist and academic (born 1953) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Petrou))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/october/15/](https://thisday.info/events/october/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.