On October 15th...

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1389 Pope Urban VI died.

1591 Pope Gregory XIV died.

1608 Scientist Evangelista Torricelli was born.

1783 J.F. Pilâtre de Rozier became the first person to make an ascent in a captive balloon.

1815 Napoleon Bonaparte began his life of exile on the island of St. Helena.

1817 Tadeusz Kosciuszko, general in both the American and Polish revolutions, died.

1830 Poet Helen Hunt Jackson was born.

1844 Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was born.

1858 The last debate between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place.

1860 11-year-old Grace Bedell wrote to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln suggesting that he would look better with a beard.

1874 Abraham Lincoln's Tomb was dedicated.

1878 The Edison Electric Light Company was incorporated.

1881 Author P.G. Wodehouse was born.

1894 Moshe Sharett, the first Foreign Minister of Israel, was born.

1912 U.S. Congressman Carl D. Perkins was born.

1914 The American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) was founded.
1914 The Clayton Antitrust Act became law.
1914 Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan, was born.

1915 Yitzhak Shamir, two-time Prime Minister of Israel, was born.

1917 Parisian dancer Mata Hari was executed for espionage by the French government after being convicted of passing military secrets to Germany.
1917 Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., was born.

1920 Novelist Mario Puzo was born.

1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the Statue of Liberty a national monument.
1924 Businessman Lee Iacocca was born.

1930 Industrialist Herbert Henry Dow died.

1934 Raymond Poincaré, former President of France, died.

1937 Actress Linda Lavin was born.

1939 New York City's LaGuardia Airport opened.

1940 The Great Dictator, a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, was released.

1942 Actress Penny Marshall was born.

1945 Pierre Laval, former Prime Minister of France and Head of Vichy France, was executed by firing squad for high treason.

1946 Musician Richard Carpenter was born.
1946 Gestapo founder Hermann Goering committed suicide.

1948 Singer Chris de Burgh was born.

1951 "I Love Lucy" debuted on CBS-TV.

1953 Musician Tito Jackson was born.

1959 Allis-Chalmers demonstrated a fuel-cell tractor.
1959 Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was born.
1959 Chef Emeril Lagasse was born.

1962 A U-2 reconnaissance aircraft took pictures of several possible SS-4 nuclear missiles in Cuba.

1964 The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, 4 games out of 7 over the New York Yankees.
1964 Composer Cole Porter died.

1966 The Department of Transportation was created by act of Congress.
1966 The Black Panther Party was created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

1968 Actress Bea Benaderet died.

1969 Somali President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated.

1970 A Soviet airliner was hijacked and forced to land in Turkey.
1970 The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Cincinnati Reds to win the World Series.

1976 "Crime boss" Carlo Gambino died.

1979 El Salvador's President, Carlos Humberto Romero, was overthrown in a military coup.

1985 The Space Shuttle Columbia carried Spacelab into orbit.

1986 The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros 7-6 in 16 innings to win the National League pennant (the longest ever post-season game).

1995 The Carolina Panthers won their first game ever by beating the New York Jets 26-16.

1997 The Cassini probe was launched on a mission to study Saturn.

2003 China launched Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.
2003 The Staten Island Ferry boat Andrew J. Barberi collided with a pier at the St. George Ferry Terminal, killing 11 persons and injuring 43.

2008 ActressEdie Adams died.
2008 Game show host Jack Narz died.

2011 Legoland Florida opened in Winter Haven, Florida.

2012 King Norodom Sihanouk of Canbodia died.

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This page was last updated on October 15, 2018.