September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 107 days remaining until the end of the year. [edit] Events - 668 – Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse, Italy.
- 921 – At Tetin Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law.
- 1556 – Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.
- 1584 – San Lorenzo del Escorial Palace in Madrid is finished.
- 1616 – The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.
- 1762 – Seven Years War: Battle of Signal Hill.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.
- 1789 – The United States Department of State is established (formerly known as the "Department of Foreign Affairs").
- 1812 – The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.
- 1812 – War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.
- 1820 – Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.
- 1821 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain.
- 1830 – The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens.
- 1831 – The locomotive John Bull operates for the first time in New Jersey on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
- 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands.
- 1851 – Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
- 1873 – Franco-Prussian War: The last German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.
- 1883 – The Bombay Natural History Society is founded in Bombay (Mumbai), India.
- 1894 – First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats China in the Battle of Pyongyang.
- 1916 – World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.
- 1928 – Tich Freeman becomes the only bowler to take 300 wickets in an English cricket season.
- 1931 – In Scotland, the two-day Invergordon Mutiny against Royal Navy pay cuts begins.
- 1935 – The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship.
- 1935 – Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag with the swastika.
- 1940 – World War II: The climax of the Battle of Britain, when the Royal Air Force shoots down large numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft.
- 1942 – World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is torpedoed at Guadalcanal.
- 1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.
- 1945 – A hurricane in southern Florida and the Bahamas destroys 366 planes and 25 blimps at NAS Richmond.
- 1947 – RCA releases the 12AX7 vacuum tube.
- 1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hit the Kanto Region in Japan killing 1,077.
- 1948 – The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h).
- 1950 – Korean War: United States forces land at Incheon
- 1952 – United Nations gives Eritrea to Ethiopia.
- 1958 – A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 58.
- 1959 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
- 1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 miles per hour.
- 1962 – The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1963 – The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: Four children killed at an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States
- 1966 – U.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.
- 1968 – The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
- 1972 – An Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö-Bulltofta Airport.
- 1974 – Air Vietnam flight 727 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.
- 1975 – The French département of Corse (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.
- 1981 – The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- 1981 – The 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.
- 1981 – Vanuatu becomes a member of the United Nations.
- 1983 – Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.
- 1987 – United States Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign a treaty to establish centers to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
- 1990 – France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf
- 1993 – Liechtenstein Prince Hans-Adam II disbands Parliament
- 1998 – With the landmark merger of WorldCom and MCI Communications completed the day prior, the new MCI WorldCom opens its doors for business.
- 2004 – National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.
- 2008 – Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
[edit] Births - 1254 – Marco Polo, Italian explorer (d. 1324)
- 1533 – Catherine of Austria, queen consort of Poland and Lithuania (d. 1572)
- 1580 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (d. 1659)
- 1613 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (d. 1680)
- 1649 – Titus Oates, English minister and plotter (d. 1705)
- 1666 – Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle (d. 1726)
- 1715 – Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French artillery specialist (d. 1789)
- 1760 – Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien, Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars (d. 1824)
- 1761 – Cornelio Saavedra, president of the Primera Junta and the Junta Grande, first patriotic governments of Argentina
- 1789 – James Fenimore Cooper, American novelist (d. 1851)
- 1828 – Aleksandr Mikhailovich Butlerov, Russian chemist (d. 1886)
- 1830 – Porfirio Díaz, President of Mexico (d. 1915)
- 1852 – Edward Bouchet, American physicist (d. 1918)
- 1857 – William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (d. 1930)
- 1858 – Jenő Hubay, Hungarian violinist (d. 1937)
- 1860 – Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, Indian engineer (d. 1962)
- 1863 – Horatio Parker, American composer (d. 1919)
- 1864 – Prince Sigismund of Prussia (d. 1866)
- 1867 – Vladimir May-Mayevsky, Russian counter-revolutionary (d. 1920)
- 1876 – Bruno Walter, German conductor (d. 1962)
- 1876 – Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian novelist (d. 1938)
- 1877 – Jakob Ehrlich, Austrian politician and zionist (d. 1938)
- 1879 – Joseph Lyons, 10th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1939)
- 1881 – Ettore Bugatti, Italian automobile engineer and designer (d. 1947)
- 1883 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, Spanish mathematician and engineer (d. 1950)
- 1887 – Carlos Dávila, former President of Chile (d. 1955)
- 1888 – Antonio Ascari, Italian racing driver (d. 1925)
- 1889 – Robert Benchley, American author (d. 1945)
- 1890 – Agatha Christie, English writer (d. 1976)
- 1890 – Frank Martin, Swiss composer (d. 1974)
- 1892 – Silpa Bhirasri, Italian sculptor (d. 1962)
- 1894 – Jean Renoir, French film director (d. 1979)
- 1894 – Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist (d. 1977)
- 1895 – Magda Lupescu, consort of King Carol II of Romania (d. 1977)
- 1895 – Charles "Chic" Harley, American football player (d. 1974)
- 1898 – J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and novelist (d. 1936)
- 1901 – Sir Donald Bailey, British engineer (d. 1985)
- 1903 – Roy Acuff, American country musician (d. 1992)
- 1904 – King Umberto II of Italy (d. 1983)
- 1906 – Jacques Becker, French screenwriter and director (d. 1960)
- 1907 – Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and writer (d. 1968)
- 1907 – Fay Wray, Canadian-born American actress (d. 2004)
- 1908 – Penny Singleton, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1909 – C.N.Annadurai, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 1969)
- 1910 – Betty Neels, English novelist (d. 2001)
- 1911 – Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-born American golf entrepreneur (d. 2000)
- 1913 – John N. Mitchell, United States Attorney General and Watergate figure (d. 1988)
- 1913 – Johannes Steinhoff, German fighter pilot & NATO commander (d. 1994)
- 1914 – Creighton Abrams, American Army general (d. 1974)
- 1914 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
- 1914 – Orhan Kemal, Turkish writer (d. 1970)
- 1915 – Albert Whitlock, English motion picture matte artist (d. 1999)
- 1915 – Ismail Yasin, Egyptian comedian and actor (d. 1972)
- 1915 – José Nicomedes Grossi, Brazilian bishop (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Margaret Lockwood, English actress (d. 1990)
- 1916 – Frederick C. Weyand, Former U.S. Army General
- 1918 – Nipsey Russell, American comedian (d. 2005)
- 1919 – Fausto Coppi, Italian racing cyclist (d. 1960)
- 1919 – Nelson Gidding, American screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1921 – Norma MacMillan, Canadian actress (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Jackie Cooper, American actor and director
- 1922 – Bob Anderson (fencer), English sword-master
- 1923 – Anton Heiller, Austrian organist (d. 1979)
- 1924 – Bobby Short, American musician (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Helle Virkner, Danish actress (d. 2009)
- 1925 – Stanley Chapman, British architect, designer, translator and writer (d. 2009)
- 1926 – Jean-Pierre Serre, French mathematician
- 1926 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director (d. 2006)
- 1927 – David Stove, Australian philosopher, (d. 1994)
- 1928 – Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1975)
- 1929 – Eva Burrows, the 13th General of The Salvation Army
- 1929 – Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 – Henry Darrow, American actor
- 1933 – Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor
- 1934 – Fred Nile, Australian politician
- 1937 – Robert Lucas, Jr., American economist, Nobel laureate
- 1937 – Fernando de la Rúa, 51st President of Argentina
- 1938 – Gaylord Perry, baseball player
- 1940 – Merlin Olsen, American football player and actor
- 1940 – Norman Spinrad, American science fiction author
- 1941 – Flórián Albert, Hungarian footballer
- 1941 – Signe Toly Anderson, American singer
- 1941 – Mirosław Hermaszewski, Polish cosmonaut
- 1941 – Yuri Norstein, Russian animator
- 1941 – Viktor Zubkov, Russian government official
- 1942 – Lee Dorman, American Bassist
- 1944 – Sotirios Hatzigakis, Greek politician
- 1945 – Hans-Gert Pöttering, German politician, President of the European Parliament.
- 1945 – Carmen Maura, Spanish actress
- 1945 – Jessye Norman, American opera singer
- 1945 – Ron Shelton, American film director
- 1946 – Ola Brunkert, Swedish session drummer for ABBA (d. 2008)
- 1946 – Tommy Lee Jones, American actor
- 1946 – Oliver Stone, American film director
- 1946 – Howard Waldrop, American science fiction author
- 1946 – Mike Procter, South African cricketer, coach and match referee
- 1947 – Theodore Long, American professional wrestling manager
- 1949 – Joe Barton, American politician
- 1951 – Pete Carroll, American football coach
- 1951 – Johan Neeskens, Dutch footballer
- 1954 – Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor (d. 2007)
- 1955 – Željka Antunović, Croatian politician
- 1955 – Renzo Rosso, Italian clothing designer
- 1955 – Bruce Reitherman, American voice actor
- 1956 – Jaki Graham, English singer
- 1956 – Maggie Reilly, Scottish folk singer
- 1958 – Dr. Know, American guitarist (Bad Brains)
- 1958 – Joel Quenneville, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1958 – Wendie Jo Sperber, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1960 – Kevin Allen, Welsh actor
- 1960 – Ed Solomon, American screenwriter
- 1961 – Terry Lamb, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1961 – Dan Marino, American football player
- 1962 – Dina Lohan, American actress and reality television star, mother of Lindsay Lohan
- 1962 – Scott McNeil, Australian voice actor
- 1963 – Pete Myers, American basketball player
- 1964 – Róbert Fico, Slovak Prime minister, populist
- 1964 – Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, American musician,The Misfits
- 1966 – Sherman Douglas, American basketball player
- 1968 – Danny Nucci, American actor
- 1969 – Jim Curtiss, American writer
- 1969 – David Ryon, American Politician
- 1969 – Jeffrey Schwarz, American film director/producer
- 1971 – Nathan Astle, New Zealand cricketer
- 1971 – Josh Charles, American actor
- 1971 – Ben Wallers, English musician and songwriter (Country Teasers)
- 1972 – Jimmy Carr, English comedian
- 1972 – Kit Chan, Singaporean singer
- 1972 – Letizia, Princess of Asturias, Spanish royalty
- 1973 – Julie Cox, English actress
- 1976 – Paul Thomson, Scottish drummer (Franz Ferdinand)
- 1976 – Matt Thornton, American baseball player
- 1977 – Angela Aki, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Sophie Dahl, English model
- 1977 – Tom Hardy, English actor
- 1977 – Leander Jordan, American football player
- 1977 – Marisa Ramirez, American actress
- 1977 – Jason Terry, American basketball player
- 1978 – Eiður Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer
- 1979 – Dave Annable, American actor
- 1979 – Amy Davidson, American actress
- 1979 – Patrick Marleau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Carlos Ruiz, Guatemalan footballer
- 1980 – David Diehl, American football player
- 1980 – Mike Dunleavy, Jr., American basketball player
- 1980 – Jolin Tsai, Taiwanese pop singer
- 1983 – Luke Hochevar, American baseball player
- 1984 – Prince Harry of Wales, UK royalty
- 1987 – Aly Cissokho, French footballer
- 1988 – Chelsea Staub, American actress
- 1989 – Steliana Nistor, Romanian gymnast
- 1989 – Kris Chetan Ramlu, New Zealand musician
[edit] Deaths - 668 – Constans II, Byzantine emperor (b. 630)
- 866 – Robert the Strong, Margrave of Neustria (b. 820)
- 1231 – Louis I, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1173)
- 1352 – Ewostatewos, Ethiopian monk and religious leader (b. 1273)
- 1500 – John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1420)
- 1596 – Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist
- 1613 – Thomas Overbury, English writer (b. 1581)
- 1643 – Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Irish politician (b. 1566)
- 1649 – John Floyd, English Jesuit preacher (b. 1572)
- 1700 – André Le Nôtre, French landscape architect (b. 1613)
- 1701 – Edmé Boursault, French writer (b. 1638)
- 1707 – George Stepney, English poet and diplomat (b. 1663)
- 1712 – Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician
- 1750 – Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1690)
- 1794 – Abraham Clark, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1725)
- 1803 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1719)
- 1805 – Christopher Gadsden, a soldier and statesman from South Carolina (b. 1724)
- 1830 – William Huskisson, first rail fatality (b. 1770)
- 1835 – Sarah Knox Taylor, wife of Jefferson Davis (b. 1814)
- 1842 – Pierre Baillot, French violinist and composer (b. 1771)
- 1842 – José Francisco Morazán Quezada, President of The Federal Republic of Central America (b. 1792)
- 1859 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (b. 1806)
- 1864 – John Hanning Speke, British explorer (b. 1827)
- 1883 – Joseph Plateau, Belgian physicist (b. 1801)
- 1885 – Jumbo, P. T. Barnum's circus elephant (hit by a train) (b. 1861)
- 1893 – Thomas Hawksley, English civil engineer (b. 1807)
- 1921 – Roman Ungern von Sternberg, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1886)
- 1926 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1846)
- 1930 – Milton Sills, American actor (b. 1882)
- 1945 – André Tardieu, Prime Minister of France (b. 1876)
- 1945 – Anton Webern, Austrian composer (b. 1883)
- 1965 – Steve Brown, American musician (b. 1890)
- 1972 – Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1887)
- 1973 – Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (b. 1882)
- 1973 – Victor Jara, Chilean musician (b. 1941)
- 1978 – Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft designer (b. 1898)
- 1978 – Robert Cliche, French Canadian politician and judge (b. 1921)
- 1980 – Bill Evans, American jazz pianist (b. 1929)
- 1981 – Harold Bennett, English actor (b. 1899)
- 1981 – Rafael Mendez, Mexican trumpet virtuoso (b. 1906)
- 1983 – Prince Far I, reggae toaster and producer
- 1985 – Cootie Williams, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1910)
- 1987 – Steven Tuomi, murder victim of Jeffery Dahmer (b. 1963)
- 1989 – Robert Penn Warren, American writer (b. 1905)
- 1991 – John Hoyt, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Ethan Allen, American baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1995 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (b. 1901)
- 2000 – Vincent Canby, American movie critic (b. 1924)
- 2003 – Jack Brymer, English clarinetist (b. 1915)
- 2003 – Josef Hirsal, Czech novelist (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (The Ramones) (b. 1948)
- 2004 – Walter Stewart, Canadian journalist (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Sidney Luft, American film director (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Raymond Baxter, British television presenter (b. 1922)
- 2006 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and writer (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Pablo Santos, Mexican actor (b. 1987)
- 2007 – Colin McRae, Scottish rally driver (b. 1968)
- 2007 – Aldemaro Romero, Venezuelan musician (b. 1928)
- 2007 – Brett Somers, Canadian-born American actress and Match Game panelist (b. 1924)
- 2007 – Sir Jeremy Moore, the commander of the British land forces during the Falklands War (b. 1928)
- 2008 – Richard Wright, keyboardist and founding member of Pink Floyd (b. 1943)
[edit] Holidays and observances - International Day of Democracy.
- In ancient Greece, the second day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the priests of Demeter declared the public start of the rites.
- Catholic Calendar of Saints – Feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows, Catherine of Genoa, Joseph Abibos, Saint Nicomedes, Roland de Medici
- Also see September 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
- The United Kingdom – the British commemorate the Battle of Britain on the day of the last massive Luftwaffe attack in 1940.
- Japan – Respect for the Aged Day before 2003; beginning in 2003, Respect for the Aged Day is held on the third Monday of September.
- Thailand – Silpa Bhirasri Day.
- In India Engineer's Day celebrated on birthday of Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya.
- Slovenia – Restoration of Primorska to the Motherland Day
- Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica – Independence Day
[edit] External links
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