September 15Birthdays & History

On this day: September 15 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 533The Byzantine army under Belisarius enters Carthage following their victory over the Vandals at Ad Decimum.EuropeAfrica
2. 608Consecration of pope Boniface IV following his approval by the Byzantine emperor.Europe
3. 994Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.Europe
4. 1440Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by Jean de Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes.Europe
5. 1530Appearance of the miraculous portrait of Saint Dominic in Soriano in Soriano Calabro, Calabria, Italy; commemorated as a feast day by the Roman Catholic Church 1644–1912.Europe
6. 1556Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.Europe
7. 1762Seven Years' War: Battle of Signal Hill.North America
8. 1776American Revolutionary War: British forces successfully land at Kip's Bay, forcing the Continental Army, which was already withdrawing from New York City, to cede control of the lower half of Manhattan Island.North AmericaEurope
9. 1789The United States "Department of Foreign Affairs", established by law in July, is renamed the Department of State and given a variety of domestic duties.North America
10. 1794French Revolutionary Wars: Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) sees his first combat at the Battle of Boxtel during the Flanders Campaign.EuropeOceania
11. 1795Britain seizes the Dutch Cape Colony in southern Africa to prevent its use by the Batavian Republic.EuropeAfrica
12. 1812War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.North America
13. 1812The Grande Armée under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow during the failed French invasion of Russia.Europe
14. 1813Followers of the Eight Trigram Sect loyal to Lin Qing attack the Forbidden City in a failed attempt to oust the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty.Asia
15. 1816HMS Whiting runs aground on the Doom Bar.Europe
16. 1820Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.Europe
17. 1821The Captaincy General of Guatemala declares independence from Spain.Latin AmericaEurope
18. 1830The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens; British MP William Huskisson becomes the first widely reported railway passenger fatality when he is struck and killed by the locomotive Rocket.Europe
19. 1835HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.Latin America
20. 1862American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.North America
21. 1873Franco-Prussian War: The last Imperial German Army troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.Europe
22. 1894First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats the Qing dynasty in the Battle of Pyongyang, causing the Qing army to withdraw to the Chinese border with Korea.AsiaAsia
23. 1915New Culture Movement: Chen Duxiu establishes the New Youth magazine in Shanghai.Asia
24. 1916World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.Europe
25. 1918World War I: Allied troops break through the Bulgarian defenses on the Macedonian front.Europe
26. 1935Nazi Germany announces two new laws related to race and the rights of Jews. These became known as the Nuremberg Race Laws.Europe
27. 1935Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag bearing the swastika.Europe
28. 1940World War II: The climax of the Battle of Britain, when the Luftwaffe launches its largest and most concentrated attack of the entire campaign.Europe
29. 1942World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is sunk by Japanese torpedoes at Guadalcanal.North AmericaAsiaOceania
30. 1944Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.North America
31. 1944World War II: The Battle of Peleliu begins as the United States Marine Corps' 1st Marine Division and the United States Army's 81st Infantry Division hit White and Orange beaches under heavy fire from Japanese infantry and artillery.North AmericaAsia
32. 1945A hurricane strikes southern Florida and the Bahamas, destroying 366 airplanes and 25 blimps at Naval Air Station Richmond.North AmericaLatin America
33. 1947Typhoon Kathleen hits the Kantō region, in Japan killing around 1,000-2,000 people.Asia
34. 1948The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h).North America
35. 1948The Indian Army captures the towns of Jalna, Latur, Mominabad, Surriapet and Narkatpalli as part of Operation Polo.Asia
36. 1950Korean War: The U.S. X Corps lands at Inchon.AsiaNorth America
37. 1952The United Nations cedes Eritrea to Ethiopia.Africa
38. 1954Marilyn Monroe's iconic skirt scene is shot during filming for The Seven Year Itch.North America
39. 1958A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.North America
40. 1959Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.EuropeNorth America
41. 1962The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.EuropeLatin America
42. 1963Baptist Church bombing: Four children are killed in the bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.AfricaNorth America
43. 1966U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.North America
44. 1968The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.Europe
45. 1971The first Greenpeace ship departs from Vancouver to protest against the upcoming Cannikin nuclear weapon test in Alaska.North America
46. 1972A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö Bulltofta Airport.Europe
47. 1974Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.Asia
48. 1975The French department of "Corse" (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica).Europe
49. 1978At the Superdome in New Orleans, Muhammad Ali outpoints Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times.North America
50. 1981The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.North America
51. 1981The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.North America
52. 1983Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.Middle East
53. 1995Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 crashes at Tawau Airport in Malaysia, killing 34.Asia
54. 2001During a CART race at the Lausitzring in Germany, former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi suffers a heavy accident resulting in him losing both his legs.Europe
55. 2004National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players' union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.North America
56. 2008Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.North America
57. 2011Four miners are killed in the Gleision Colliery mining accident in the Swansea Valley, Wales.Europe
58. 2017The Parsons Green bombing takes place in London.Europe
59. 2020Signing of the Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement occurs in Washington, D.C., normalizing relations between Israel and two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.Middle EastNorth America

Source: Wikipedia "September 15" / CC BY-SA 4.0