Wikipedia: January 15

January 15
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 350 days remaining (351 in leap years).

Events

1559 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
1759 - The British Museum opens.
1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United States Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.
1919 - The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people.
1919 - Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland.
1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).
1943 - World War II: Japanese driven off Guadalcanal.
1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).
1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany.
1967 - Super Bowl I is played -- The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.
1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
1975 - Portugal grants independence to Angola.
1974 - Happy Days premiers on ABC.
1976 - Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison.
1990 - AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
1998 - The stalker of Howard Stern, Lance Carvin, is sentenced to 2 1/2 years for threatening to kill Stern and his family.
2001 - Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online (Wikipedia Day).

Births

1432 - King Afonso V of Portugal, (d. 1481)
1622 - Molière, French playwright, (d. 1673)
1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian lyricist, (d. 1872)
1832 - Horatio Alger, American writer of "dime novels," (d. 1899)
1850 - Mihai Eminescu, outstanding Romanian poet, (d. 1889)
1863 - Wilhelm Marx, German politician, chancellor of the Weimar Republic
1870 - Pierre S. DuPont, industrialist
1879 - Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author, (d. 1961)
1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Soviet poet and essayist, (d. 1938)
1892 - Rex Ingram, director, writer, (d. 1950)
1893 - Ivor Novello, actor, musician, (d. 1951)
1899 - Goodman Ace, actor, comedian, writer, (d. 1982)
1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipowner, (d. 1975)
1908 - Edward Teller, (d. 2003)
1909 - Gene Krupa, drummer, (d. 1973)
1913 - Lloyd Bridges, actor, (d. 1998)
1918 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt, (d. 1970)
1918 - Robert Byrd, American politician
1923 - Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician
1926 - Maria Schell, Swiss actress
1929 - Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, American civil rights leader (d. 1968)
1937 - Margaret O'Brien, actress
1941 - Captain Beefheart, singer
1942 - Charo, singer, actress
1948 - Ronnie VanZant, lead vocal for Lynyrd Skynyrd, (d. 1977)
1957 - Mario Van Peebles, actor, director
1957 - Julian Sands, actor
1965 - Adam Jones, musician of Tool

Deaths

41 - Caligula, Roman Emperor, (b. 12)
1919 - Rosa Luxemburg, politician, (b. 1870)
1964 - Jack Teagarden, musician, (b. 1905)
1983 - Meyer Lansky, mobster (b. 1902)
1987 - Ray Bolger, actor, singer, dancer, (b. 1904)
1993 - Sammy Cahn, songwriter, (b. 1913)
1994 - Harry Nilsson, musician, (b. 1941)
1998 - Junior Wells, musician
2003 - Gladys Kamakakuokalani Ainoa Brandt, a pioneering Hawaiian educator, fought for native Hawaiian rights

Holidays and observances

Roman Empire - Second day of the Carmentalia in honor of Carmen
United States - Traditionally, Martin Luther King Day

See Also:

January 14 - January 16 - December 15 - February 15 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December