15th January, on this day

588 BC Nebuchadrezzarr II of Babylon lays seige to Jerusalem
0069 Marcus Salvius Otho is proclaimed Emperor of Rome. Three months later Otho commits suicide after his army is defeated
0708 Sisinnius begins his reign as Catholic Pope (dies 20 days later)
0946 Caliph al-Mustaqfi blinded/ousted
1535 Henry VIII declares himself head of English Church
1552 France signs secret treaty with German Protestants
1559 Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey
1562 3rd sitting of Council of Trente opens
1582 Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland, loses access to the Baltic
1586 Battle at Boxum Spanish troops under Tassis beat state army
1680 French explorer Sieur de la Salle builds Fort Crèvecoeur
1752 Tobias Smollett publishes pamphlet accusing Fielding of plagiarism
1754 Riot at burial of doelist Daniel Raap in Amsterdam
1759 British Museum opens in Montague House, London
1777 People of New Connecticut (Vermont) declare independence from England
1785 Mozarts string quartet opus 10 premieres
1797 1st top hat worn (John Etherington of London)
1831 1st US-built locomotive to pull a passenger train makes 1st run; Mr and Mrs Pierson of Charleston SC make 1st US railroad honeymoon trip
1833 HMS Beagle anchors at Goeree Tierra del Fuego
1844 U of Notre Dame receives its charter in Indiana
1851 General Arista replaces Mexican President Herrera
1861 Steam elevator patented by Elisha Otis
1863 1st US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston Morning Journal
1865 Fort Fisher, NC falls to Union troops
1870 Donkey 1st used as symbol of Democratic Party, in Harper's Weekly
1871 Battle of the Lisaine starts
1895 Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" premieres, St Petersburg
1895 French fleet reaches Majunga, Madagascar
1907 3-element vacuum tube patented by Dr Lee de Forest
1907 Gold dental inlays 1st described by William Taggart, who invented them
1915 Japan claims economic control of China
1919 Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the leaders of a radical socialist revolution launched in Berlin, Germany are murdered a by right-wing paramilitary
1919 2 million gallons of molasses "Tidal wave" Boston MA, drowning 21
1919 Pianist and statesman Ignace Paderewski becomes 1st premier of Poland
1919 Semana Tragica (Tragic Week) Bloodbath in Buenos Aires Y
1920 Battle of Daugavpils ends
1922 Irish Free State forms; Michael Collins becomes 1st premier
1934 8.4 earthquake in India/Nepal, 10,700 die
1936 1st all-glass windowless structure in US completed, Toledo, Ohio
1936 Non-profit Ford Foundation incorporates
1942 Battle of Changsha ends
1943 1,000 workers complete the air conditioning system for the Pentagon
1943 Japanese driven off Guadalcanal
1943 1st transport of Jews from Amsterdam to concentration camp Vught
1944 European Advisory Commission decides to divide Germany
1944 General Eisenhower arrives in England
1944 Vught Concentration Camp puts 74 women in 1 cell, 10 die
1945 Red Army frees Crakow-Plaszow concentration camp
1947 Elizabeth Short, nicknamed 'The Black Dahlia', is found dead in California, U.S.A. Her murderer has never been found
1949 Mao's Red army conquers Ten-tsin
1950 4,000 attend National Emergency Civil Rights Conference in Washington DC
1951 "Cloud of Death" rolls down Mount Lamington, New Guinea kills 3-5,000
1951 Ilse Koch, wife on the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany. Koch was nicknamed the 'With of Buchenwald' for her extraordinary sadism
1953 16 car Federal Express train loses brakes and crashes in Washington DC station
1953 A purge of senior officials in the East German government begins
German Democratic Republic Minister of Foreign affairs Georg Dertingen arrested for "espionage"
1955 USSR ends state of war with German Federal Republic
1961 Supremes signed with Motown Records
1962 Asked at a news conference whether U.S. troops are fighting in Vietnam, President Kennedy answers 'No'
1965 Rock group The Who releases 1st album "I Can't Explain"
1969 Soyuz 5 launched by Soviet Union
1969 Nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
1970 The Republic of Biafra, a breakaway state of eastern Nigeria, surrenders to the Nigerian government after three years of resistance
1971 George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord"
1971 Aswan Dam official opens in Egypt
1973 4 Watergate burglars plead guilty in federal court
1973 Pope Paul VI has an audience with Golda Meir at Vatican
1973 Following peace talks in Paris, U.S. President Nixon orders a halt to American bombing in Vietnam
1974 Expert panel reports 18½-m gap in Watergate tape, 5 separate erasures
1974 The first episode of 'Happy Days' airs on American television. A minor character, super-cool biker Arthur 'the Fonz' Fonzarelli, soon came to be the show's central character
1975 Portugal signs accord for Angola's independence
1976 Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life for attempting to shoot President Ford
1976 US-German Helios B solar probe launched into solar orbit
1976 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakstan/Semipalatinsk USSR
1977 A Skyline Sweden Vickers Viscount 838 crashes in Kälvesta, Sweden just outside Stockholm, killing all 22 on board
1978 Theodore Bundy kills Florida State University co-eds Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman
1981 "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV k
1984 After losing his seat at the 1983 British General Election, Tony Benn wins Labour's nomination for the Chesterfield by-election. Benn subsequently won the by-election and retained his seat until he retired from the House of Commons in 2001
1985 Civil rights activist, Tancredo Neves becomes 1st elected President of Brazil in 21 years
1988 Arab uprising in Israel begins
1991 UN's deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait passes
1992 EC recognizes Slovenian and Croatian independence
1992 Supreme Court rules 5-3 that Joseph Doherty isn't entitled to asylum
1992 Bulgaria recognizes Macedonia
1992 Cleaning woman finds intimate photos of Sarah Ferguson with US man
1993 7.5 earthquake strikes northern Japan, 2 die
1993 Top mafia leader Salvatore "Totò" Riina arrested in Palermo
1994 Queen Elizabeth falls off her horse and breaks her left wrist
1997 In Britain, Diana, Princess of Wales is criticised for becoming embroiled in international politics by calling for a ban on the production and sale of landmines during her four-day visit to Angola
1997 Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with Mir Space Station
1998 NASA announces John Glenn, 76, may fly in space again
1999 The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak are killed by Yugoslav security forces.
2001 Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
2005 An intense solar flare blasts X rays across the solar system.
2005 ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
2007 Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.

15th January 2006

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber buried

Afghan bomber targets Nato troops

Fourth 'bird flu' death in Turkey

15th January 2007

Hanging of Saddam's aides filmed

Six accused of London bomb plot

Millions bathe in India's Ganges

15th January 2008

Israeli Gaza City raid kills 18

Four killed in Beirut explosion

Shares slump on recession fears

15th January 2009

Airbus crashes in New York river

Thais 'leave boat people to die'

New light on Mars methane mystery

15th January 2010

Yemen jets strike al-Qaeda killing 6

Kenya police shoot hate cleric al-Faisal supporters

3 militants killed in drone strike

Birthdates which occurred on 15th January :

1432 Afonso V "the African" king of Portugal (1438-1481)
1507 Johann Oporinus [Herbster] Swiss book publisher (Koran)
1567 Black Box [Catherine Quinol], Guadeloupe, vocalist (Love Sensation)
1622 Molière France, dramatist (Tartuffe, Le Misanthrope) (baptized)
1715 Georg C Wagenzeil Austria (court)composer/pianist
1716 Philip Livingston merchant (signed Declaration of Independence)
1730 John Malchair composer
1733 Joseph Lederer composer
1742 Eugene Godecharle composer
1779 Jean Coralli Paris, ballet producer/choreographer
1791 Franz Gillparzer Austrian tragic dramatist (Golden Fleece)
1793 Ferdinand G Waldmüller Austrian painter
1795 Willem de Clerq Dutch merchant/man of letters
1798 Thomas Crofton Croker Irish story teller (Fairy legends)
1809 Cornelia Connelly Philadelphia PA, founder (Society of the Holy Child Jesus)
1809 Pierre Joseph Proudhon France, politician (libertarian socialist)
1812 Peter C Asbjørnsen Norwegian fairy tale writer
1813 James Marion Sims South Carolina, surgeon/gynecologist (vesicovaginal operation)
1814 Ludwig Schläfli Swiss vicar/mathematician
1815 Henry Morris Naglee Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1817 Lewis Golding Arnold Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1871
1821 Lafayette McLaws Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1897
1826 Mikhail Saltykov Spas-Ugol Russia, radical novelist/satirist (Family of Noblemen)
1841 Lord Frederick Stanley presenter of hockey's Stanley Cup
1845 Ella Flagg Young 1st woman president (National Educational Association)
1845 Heinrich Vogl composer
1850 Mihail Eminesco [Eminovici], Romanian poet (Samanul Dionis)
1850 Sonya Kurtovsky Kovalevsky Russia, mathemetician (Academy of Science)
1858 Giovanni Segantini Italy, painter
1863 Adolph Goldschmidt German historian
1863 Wilhelm Marx premier (Prussia)
1866 Nathan Soderblom Lutheran archbishop, internationalist (Nobel '30)
1868 Noach Zjordanija Georgian veterinarian/premier (1918-21)
1870 Johan Peter Koch Danish officer/explorer (Greenland)
1871 Bertram Shapleigh composer
1873 Max Adler Austria sociologist/socialist theorist
1877 Lewis M Terman Indiana, psychologist (developed Stanford-Binet IQ test)
1878 Johanna Muller-Hermann composer
1879 Ernest Thesiger London England, actor (Bride of Frankenstein, Ghoul)
1882 Florian Znaniecki Polish/US sociologist (Polish Peasant in Europe)
1888 Joseph Henabery Omaha NE, director (Cobra)
1891 Osip E Mandelstam Warsaw Poland, Russian poet (Noise of Time)
1892 Frank Hutchens composer
1892 Rex Ingram [Reginald IM Hitchcock], director (4 Horsemen of Apocalypse)
1893 D Ivor D Novello Cardiff Wales, British actor/composer/writer (Lodger, Phantom Fiend, Truth Game)
1893 Dragisa Cvetkovic Serbian premiere of Yugoslavia (1939-41)
1894 Edmond Rubbens Belgian attorney/minister of colonization
1896 Jacobo Ficher composer
1899 Goodman Ace radio/TV actor/writer/columnist/humorist (Better of Goodman)
19-- Charles Brown Talladega AL, actor (Dwayne Thompson-Today's FBI)
19-- Count Stovall California, actor (Cal-All My Children, Roy-As the World Turns)
19-- Victor Campos New York City NY, actor (Cade's County, Doctor's Hospital)
1900 César Domela Dutch painter (Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis son)
1900 William Heinesen Färoës Island, writer (Noatun)
1902 Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Faisal al-Saud king (Saudi Arabia)
1906 Aristotle Onassis Greece, rich shipping magnate
1906 Rezso Kokai composer
1908 Edward Teller Budapest Hungary, fathered H-bomb (Manhattan Project)
1908 Roberta Bitgood composer
1909 Elie Siegmeister New York City NY, composer (Plough & the Stars)
1909 Enrique Sasal y Chapi composer
1909 Gene Krupa Benny Goodman's drummer (Sing Sing Sing)
1911 Cy Feuer New York City NY, Broadway producer (Feuer & Martin-Chorus Line)
1911 Wim Kan Dutch cabaretier
1912 Michel J-P Debré premier of France (1959-62)
1913 Lloyd Bridges San Leandro CA, actor (Sea Hunt, Roots, Airplane)
1914 Lord Dacre of Glanton British historian
1916 Mikki Doyle journalist
1918 Gamal Abdel Nasser President of Egypt (1954-1970)
1918 Andreas M Donner Dutch jurist (constitutional law)
1920 John J "Cardinal" O'Connor Philadelphia PA, Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York
1920 John Junor British editor in chief (Sunday Express)
1922 Franz Fühmann writer
1923 Lee Teng-hui president of ROC (Taiwan), head of KMT (1988- )
1925 Ruth Slenczynska Sacramento CA, pianist
1925 Keith Bentley international racing cyclist
1926 Maria Schell Vienna Austria, actress (Space 1999)
1927 Francis Routh composer
1927 Norm Crosby Boston MA, comedian (Young at Heart Comedians)
1929 Reverand Dr Martin Luther King Jr Atlanta GA, dreamer (Nobel 1964)
1929 "Queen Ida" Guillory Ziadaco music
1929 Eva Badura-Skoda composer
1931 Thomas Hoving New York City NY, news correspondent (20/20)
1931 Derek Meddings special effects technician
1931 Murad Kazhlayev composer
1932 Dean Smith US actor/relay runner (Olympics-gold-1952)
1932 Enrique Raxach composer
1932 Louis Woodard Jones New Rochelle NY, 4X400m relayer (Olympics-gold-56)
1935 Malcolm Frager St Louis MO, pianist
1935 Robert Silverberg US, sci-fi author (Hugo, Regan's Planet)
1937 Margaret O'Brien San Diego CA, actress (Jane Eyre, Meet Me in St Louis)
1939 Charles Christopher Steel composer
1941 Captain Beefheart [Don Van Vilet], rocker (Bongo Fury, Shiny Beast)
1942 Edward "Sonny" Bivins US singer (Manhattans-Kiss & Say Goodbye)
1943 Mike Marshall Major League Baseball pitcher (1974 Cy Young Award)
1945 Marie-Christine AHI von Leibnitz German/British princess
1947 Pete Waterman rocker (Stock Aitken & Waterman-Road Block)
1947 Andrea Martin Portland ME, actress/comedienne (Wag The Dog, Club Paradise, SCTV)
1948 Dini Petty Canadian talk show host (CITY-TV)
1948 Tommy Nolan Montréal Québec Canada, actor (Jody-Buckskin)
1948 Ronnie Van Zant rocker (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1949 Howard Allen Twitty Phoenix AZ, PGA golfer (1979 BC Open)
1950 David Lynn Jones Bexar AR, country singer (Bonnie Jean)
1951 Charo Murcia Spain, actress/singer (Chico & the Man, Love Boat)
1951 Martha Davis California, vocalist/guitar (Motels-Only the Lonely, Shame)
1952 Melvyn Gale rocker (ELO)
1953 Boris Blank rocker (Yello)
1953 Randy White NFL tackle (Dallas Cowboys)
1955 Enrico Mentana Milan Italy, Italian newscaster (RAI)
1956 Vera Sosulya USSR, toboggan (Olympics-gold-1980)
1956 Paul Parker cricketer (one Test England vs Australia 1981)
1957 Mario Van Peebles Mexico, actor (Posse, South Bronx Heroes)
1958 Julian Sands actor (One Night Stand)
1959 Pete Trewavas Middlesbrough, rock bassist, (Marillion-Clutching at Straws, Real to Reel)
1960 Tim Curtis cricketer (England righty batsman in 5 Tests 1988-89)
1961 Iris DeMent Paragould AR, country singer (Our Town)
1963 Erling Kagge Norway, explorer (South Pole)
1963 Lijuan Geng Hebei China, Canadian tennis player (Olympics-96)
1963 Richard Nasheim hockey forward (Team Austria 1998)
1963 Yaro Dachniwsky Chicago IL, team handball goalie (Olympics-1996)
1964 Cees van der de Linden soccer player
1964 Paula Schnurr Kirkland Lake Ontario, 1.5k (Olympics-8-92, 96)
1965 Derek B rocker (Bullet from a Gun)
1965 Michael Clemons CFL running back (Toronto Argonauts)
1967 Lisa Lisa (Velez) rock vocalist (& Cult Jam)
1967 Richard Blakey cricketer (England wicket-keeper in India 1993)
1967 Ted N Tryba Wilkes-Barre PA, PGA golfer (1995 Anheuser-Busch Golf)
1968 Chad Lowe Dayton OH, actor (Spencer, Apprentice to Murder)
1968 Bob Dahl NFL guard (Washington Redskins)
1968 Felton Spencer NBA center (San Francisco Warriors)
1968 Laurie Fellner Appleton WI, team handball goalie (Olympics-92, 96)
1968 Steve McConaghy Australian soling yachter (Olympics-96)
1969 Adam Burt Detroit MI, NHL defenseman (Hartford Whalers)
1969 Delino DeShields Seaford DE, infielder (Montréal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers)
1969 Demetra Hampton actress (Valentina)
1969 Leonard Wheeler NFL safety/cornerback (Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings)
1969 Marsha Miller Rochester NY, WPVA volleyballer (National-17th-1995)
1969 Rob van Dijk Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord)
1969 Rod de Highden Australian 5k/10k/marathoner (Olympics-96)
1969 Siupeli Malamala NFL guard/tackle (New York Jets)
1970 Dan Landry San Diego CA, volleyball opposite hitter (Olympics-96)
1970 Elroy Kromheer soccer player (FC Volendam)
1970 Michele Granger Anaheim CA, softball pitcher (Olympics-gold-96)
1971 LeShon Johnson running back (Arizona Cardinals)
1971 Regina King Los Angeles CA, actress (Brenda Jenkins-227)
1972 Ernie Reyes Jr San Jose CA, actor (Ernie-Sidekicks)
1972 Kimberly Anne Massaro St Louis MO, Miss Missouri-America-5th (1996)
1973 Daniel Nijhof Dutch soccer player (FC Twente)
1973 Randy Srochenski CFL linebacker (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
1974 Aubrey Jo Hiller Missoula MT, Miss Montana-America (1996)
1974 Mike Minter safety (Carolina Panthers)
1975 Greg Loveridge cricketer (New Zealand leg-spinner, did not bowl vs Zimbabwe 1996)
1975 Mary Pierce Montréal Québec Canada, tennis star (1995 Australian Open)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Deaths which occurred on January 15:
0069 Servius Sulpicius Galba 6th emperor of Rome (68-69), killed by Praetorian guard in the Forum Rome, at 70
1208 Peter of Castelnau French nobleman, murdered
1684 Caspar Netscher Dutch portrait painter, dies at about 48
1705 Walraad the Young, Earl of Nassau-Ottweiler/Governor of Nijmegen, dies
1744 Charles-Hubert Gervais composer, dies at 72
1755 Azzolino Bernardino Della Ciaia composer, dies at 83
1765 Carlmann Kolb composer, dies at 61
1775 Giovanni Battista Sammartini composer, dies
1788 Gaetano Latilla composer, dies at 77
1812 Johannes Herbst composer, dies at 76
1816 Henry Harington composer, dies at 88
1844 Joseph Mazzinghi composer, dies at 78
1866 M T d'Azeglio writer, dies
1896 Matthew B Brady US photographer (Civil War), dies at about 72
1904 Eduard Lassen composer, dies at 73
1909 Ernest Reyer composer, dies at 85
1909 Ernest von Wildenbruch German playwright (Das Edle Blut), dies at 63
1911 Wilhelm Berger composer, dies at 49
1915 Guillaume Couture composer, dies at 63
1919 Karl Liebknecht Marxist revolutionary, murdered at 47
1919 Rosa Luxembourg Marxist revolutionary, murdered
1922 John Kirk Barry Dr/explorer David Livingstone's companion, dies at 89
1924 Geza Zichy composer, dies at 74
1926 Enrico Toselli composer, dies at 42
1932 Georg Kerschensteiner German educationalist, dies at 77
1934 Hermann Bahr Austrian writer (Concert), dies at 70
1934 Patrick O'Malley US policeman, killed by John Dillinger
1936 Henry Forster cricket (Hants & Oxford University, Governor-General of Australia), dies
1942 Melvin Winfield Sheppard runner (Olympics-gold-08, 12), dies at 58
1949 Black Dahlia murder victim found in Los Angeles (basis of the movie)
1949 Pompeo Aloisi Italian baron/diplomat/senator, dies at 63
1953 Viktor Patrick Vretblad composer, dies at 76
1955 Yves Tanguy French/American sailor/surrealistic painter, dies
1961 Francesco Maria Saraceni composer, dies at 49
1962 Kenneth MacKenna actor (Men Without Women), dies of cancer at 62
1964 Weldon John "Jack" Teagarden US jazz trombonist/singer, dies at 58
1965 Pierre Ngendandumwe premier of Burundi, murdered
1966 Betsy Mitchell US 100m backstroke swimmer, dies at 25
1967 Albert Szirmai composer, dies at 86
1968 Bill Masterson 1st NHLer fatally injured during game (Jan 13), dies
1968 John Davidson actor (Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc), dies at 80
1968 Leopold Infeld Polish nuclear physicist (Motion & Relativity), dies at 69
1969 Theodor Werner German painter, dies at 82
1971 John Dall actor (Corn is Green, Rope), dies of heart attack at 50
1973 Jef Alpaerts Flemish pianist/conductor, dies at 68
1974 Karel Salmon composer, dies at 76
1978 Margaret Bowman & Lisa Levy Chi Omega, FSU, killed by Ted Bundy
1981 Emanuel Celler (Representative-D-NY, 1923-73), dies at 92
1982 Red Smith sportscaster (Pulitzer, Fight Talk), dies at 76
1983 Meyer Lansky reputed mobster, dies in Miami Beach FL at 81
1983 Shepperd Strudwick actor (Psychomania), dies of cancer at 75
1986 James H "Jim" Crowley US football player (Notre Dame), dies at 83
1987 Dolores Hawkins singer (Guy Mitchell Show), dies at 58
1987 Ray Bolger actor/dancer (Wizard of Oz), dies at 82
1987 Gerrit Borgers Dutch literary, dies at 69
1988 Sean MacBride Ireland, commander of Irish Republican Army, dies at 83
1989 Wilf Slack cricketer (whilst bat in Gambia England player 1986), dies
1990 Gordon Jackson actor (Hamlet), dies after a short illness at 66
1993 Henry Iba basketball coach, dies at 88
1993 Huub H Jacobse Dutch MP (VVD), dies at 68
1993 Ken Cory dies of AIDS at 51
1993 Sammy Cahn [Cohen], US songwriter (Bei Mir Bist Du Schön), dies at 79
1994 György Cziffra Hungarian/French pianist (Chopin/Liszt), dies at 72
1994 Harry Nilsson rock vocalist (Without You, Everybody's Talkin'), dies at 52
1994 Philippe Brun jazz trumpeter, dies at 85
1995 Sollie McElroy singer, dies at 61
1996 Les Baxter singer/orchestra leader/composer (Born Again), dies at 73
1996 Moshushu II King of Lesotho (1966-90), dies at 51
1996 Richard Charles Cobb historian, dies at 78
1997 Jose Ignacio Domecq wine maker, dies at 82
1997 Kenneth Thimann botanist, dies at 92
1998 Amos "Junior" Wells blues harpist, dies at 63
1998 Gulzarilal Nanda temporary PM of India (1964, 66), dies


Golden Link 1/ On this day 15th January

Golden Link 2/ On this day 15th January

Golden Link 3/ On this day 15th January