May 15 May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). There are 230 days remaining. Events 1600-1899 1602 - Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to discover Cape Cod. 1618 - Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made). 1718 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun. 1756 - Seven Years' War: The war begins when England declares war on France. 1795 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France enters Milan in triumph. 1836 - Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse. 1851 - Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand. 1858 - The third Royal Opera House officially opens in London. 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln of America signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed USDA). 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends. 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia - Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley. 1869 - Woman's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association. 1900-1999 1902 - In a field outside Grass Valley, California, Lyman Gilmore reportedly becomes the first person to fly a powered airplane (a steam-powered glider). 1905 - Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres (0.4 km²), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off. 1911 - The United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be dissolved. 1918 - Civil War in Finland ends. 1918 - The American Post Office Department (later renamed the USPS) begins the first regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC). 1928 - Release of the animated short Plane Crazy, featuring the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. 1930 - Aboard a Boeing tri-motor, Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess (the flight was from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois). 1932 - The May 15 incident. In an attempted coup the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed. 1934 - The United States Department of Justice offers a $25,000 reward for John Dillinger. 1934 - Karlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia. 1940 - Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the United States. 1940 - World War II: German troops occupy Amsterdam and invade Northern France. 1941 - Baseball player Joe DiMaggio starts his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak. 1942 - World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law. 1943 - Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International). 1948 - Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel. 1955 - First ascent of Makalu, the World's fifth highest mountain. 1957 - Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple. 1958 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3. 1960 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4. 1963 - Mercury program: America launches the last mission of the program, Mercury 9 (on June 12 NASA Administrator James E. Webb told Congress the program was complete). 1970 - The Beatles' last LP, Let It Be, is released in the United States. 1970 - Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests. 1972 - In Laurel, Maryland a disturbed, out-of-work janitor named Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while Wallace is campaigning to be American President. 1978 - Lagumot Harris, having only been elected President less than a month before, is replaced as the leader of the republic of Nauru. He is succeeded by Hammer DeRoburt. 1988 - Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Red Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan. 1990 - Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million. 1991 - Edith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister. 1992 - The Genoa Expo '92 World's Fair opens in Genoa, Italy. 1993 - In Millstreet, Ireland, Niamh Kavanagh wins the thirty-ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "In Your Eyes". 2000-2099 2004 - The largest prime number to be discovered, 224036583 − 1, is found by Josh Findley and the GIMPS collaborative effort. 2004 - In Istanbul, Turkey, Ruslana wins the forty-ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Ukraine singing "Wild Dances". Births 1500-1899 1567 - Claudio Monteverdi, composer (d. 1643) 1773 - Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, statesman (d. 1859) 1817 - Debendranath Tagore, religious reformer (d. 1905) 1856 - L. Frank Baum, author (d. 1919) 1857 - Williamina Fleming, astronomer (d. 1911) 1859 - Pierre Curie, physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics 1903 (d. 1906) 1862 - Arthur Schnitzler, dramatist and narrator (d. 1931) 1889 - Bessie Hillman, founder, Almalgamated Clothing Workers of America 1890 - Katherine Anne Porter, author (d. 1980) 1891 - Mikhail Bulgakov, writer (d. 1940) 1898 - Arletty, model, actress (d. 1992) 1900-1999 1902 - Richard J. Daley, mayor of Chicago, Illinois (d. 1976) 1905 - Joseph Cotten, actor (d. 1994) 1909 - James Mason, actor (d. 1984) 1911 - Max Frisch, author (d. 1991) 1914 - Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa and mountaineer (d. 1986) 1915 - Paul Samuelson, economist, recipient of the 1970 Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1918 - Eddy Arnold, singer 1923 - Richard Avedon, photographer (d. 2004) 1926 - Peter Shaffer, playwright 1930 - Jasper Johns, painter 1931 - Ken Venturi, golfer 1934 - Alvin F. Poussaint, physicist, psychiatrist, educator 1936 - Anna Maria Alberghetti, actress 1936 - Paul Zindel, novelist, playwright 1937 - Madeline Albright, diplomat, United States Secretary of State (1997-2000) 1937 - Trini López, musician 1941 - K.T. Oslin, country musician 1945 - Duarte, Duke of Braganza and presumptive heir of the Portuguese crown 1945 - Lars Berhagen, Swedish singer/songwriter 1948 - Brian Eno, musician, record producer 1951 - Jonathan Richman, musician 1951 - Chazz Palminteri, actor 1953 - George Brett, baseball star 1953 - Mike Oldfield, composer 1955 - Melinda Culea, actress, The A-Team 1956 - Dan Patrick, sportscaster 1959 - Kaokor Galaxy, boxer 1959 - Andrew Eldritch, singer and songwriter of The Sisters of Mercy 1959 - Khaosai Galaxy, boxer 1965 - Lizi Rodriguez, psychologist and media psychotherapist 1967 - John Smoltz, baseball player 1969 - Emmitt Smith, American football player 1972 - David Charvet, actor 1974 - Ahmet Zappa, musician 1978 - Amy Chow, Olympic gymnast 1981 - Jamie-Lynn DiScala (née Sigler), actress Deaths 1500-1899 1585 - Niwa Nagahide, Japanese retainer, samurai, and daimyo (b. 1535) 1634 - Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585) 1740 - Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopaedist (b. 1680) 1782 - Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese prime minister (b. 1699) 1886 - Emily Dickinson, poet (b. 1830) 1900-1999 1937 - Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864) 1948 - Father Edward Flanagan, priest, founder of Boys Town 1956 - Austin Osman Spare, magician (b. 1886) 1967 - Edward Hopper, painter (b. 1882) 1971 - Sir Tyrone Guthrie, director, producer, writer (b. 1900) 1986 - Theodore H. White, writer (b. 1915) 1994 - Gilbert Roland, Mexican actor (b. 1904) 1995 - Eric Porter, British actor (b. 1928) 1998 - Earl Manigault, basketball player 2000-2099 2003 - June Carter Cash, musician, singer, wife of Johnny Cash (b. 1929) 2003 - George Francis, British suspected mobster 2003 - Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist Holidays and observances Paraguay - Independence Day celebrations. Independence Day anniversary occurs on 14 May. Roman Empire - Mercuralia in honor of Mercury held. International day of families. International day of climate changes. International conscientious objectors' day May 14 - May 16 - April 15 - June 15 -- listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_15