Calendar date · October

What happened on October 15

On October 15, 1066: Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.

Events

42

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Libra

People

Born on October 15

Christian 2005– Heir apparent to the Danish throne (born 2005)
Melki Sedek Huang 2000– Indonesian activist and politician (born 2000)
Bailee Madison 1999– American actress (born 1999)
Ben Woodburn 1999– Wales international footballer (born 1999)
Teuku Wariza Aris Munandar 1998– 2023 protest by students in Indonesia
Charly Musonda 1996– Belgian footballer
Grace Van Dien 1996– American actress (born 1996)
Zelo 1996– South Korean rapper (born 1996)
Jack Flaherty 1995– American baseball player (born 1995)
Show 9 more — notable births on October 15
Jakob Pöltl 1995– Austrian basketball player (born 1995)
Lil' Kleine 1994– Musical artist
Babar Azam 1994– Pakistani cricketer (born 1994)
Richaun Holmes 1993– American basketball player (born 1993)
Roh Tae-hyun 1993– South Korean singer (born 1993)
Ncuti Gatwa 1992– Rwandan and Scottish actor (born 1992)
Teoscar Hernández 1992– Dominican baseball player (born 1992)
Vincent Martella 1992– American actor (born 1992)
Brock Nelson 1991– American ice hockey player (born 1991)

People

Died on October 15

Jim Bolger Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1990 to 1997
Mike Jackson British Army general (1944–2024)
David Amess British politician (1952–2021)
Paul Allen American businessman (1953–2018)
Chinggoy Alonzo Filipino actor (born 1950)
Giovanni Reale Italian historian of philosophy (1931–2014)
Donald Bailey American drummer
Claude Cheysson French politician (1920–2012)
Erol Günaydın Turkish actor (1933-2012)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on October 15
Maria Petrou Greek-born British AI researcher
Norodom Sihanouk King of Cambodia (1941–1955; 1993–2004)
Betty Driver British actress and singer (1920–2011)
Richard C. Miller American photographer (born 1912)
Mildred Fay Jefferson American physician (1927–2010)
Johnny Sheffield American child actor (1931–2010)
Heinz Versteeg German-born Dutch footballer
Edie Adams American actress (1927–2008)
Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca Turkish poet (1914-2008)

Timeline

Every October 15 on record

  1. 1066 Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.

    Battle between English and Normans in 1066

    The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place approximately 7 mi (11 km) northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

  2. 1211 Battle of the Rhyndacus: The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris.

    Part of the Nicaean–Latin Wars

    The Battle of the Rhyndacus was fought on 15 October 1211 between the forces of the Latin Empire and the Byzantine Greek Empire of Nicaea, established following the fragmentation of the Byzantine state after the Fourth Crusade.

  3. 1529 The Siege of Vienna ends when Austria routs the invading Ottoman forces, ending its European expansion.

    Failed Siege of Vienna by the Ottoman empire in 1529

    The siege of Vienna, in 1529, was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire to capture the city of Vienna in the Archduchy of Austria, part of the Holy Roman Empire. Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottomans, attacked the city with over 100,000 men, while the defenders, led by Niklas Graf Salm, numbered no more than 21,000. Nevertheless, Vienna was able to survive the siege, which ultimately lasted just over two weeks, from 27 September to 15 October 1529.

  4. 1582 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar begins, eventually leading to near-universal adoption.

    The adoption of the Gregorian Calendar has taken place in the history of most cultures and societies around the world, marking a change from one of various traditional dating systems to the contemporary system – the Gregorian Calendar – which is widely used around the world today. Some polities adopted the new calendar in 1582, others not before the early twentieth century, and others at various dates between. A few have yet to do so, but except for these, the Gregorian Calendar is now the universal civil calendar, yet old style calendars remain in use in religious or traditional contexts.

  5. 1651 Qing forces capture the island of Zhoushan. Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, resident of the island and regent of the Southern Ming, flees to Kinmen.

    Manchu-led dynasty of China (1644–1912)

    The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, also known as the Qing Empire or Qing China, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia which existed from 1636/1644 to 1912. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. At its height of power, the empire stretched from the Sea of Japan in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west, and from the Mongolian Plateau in the north to the South China Sea in the south.

  6. 1781 The Battle of Raft Swamp marks the last battle fought in North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War with a Patriot victory. It occurred four days before the British surrender at Yorktown.
  7. 1783 The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.
  8. 1793 Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted of treason.
  9. 1815 Napoleon begins his exile on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
  10. 1864 American Civil War: The Union garrison of Glasgow, Missouri surrenders to Confederate forces.
  11. 1888 The "From Hell" letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators.
  12. 1910 Airship America is launched from New Jersey in the first attempt to cross the Atlantic by a powered aircraft.
  13. 1923 The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic.
  14. 1928 The airship Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States.
  15. 1932 Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.
Show 15 earlier entries from October 15
  1. 1939 The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) is dedicated.
  2. 1940 President Lluís Companys of Catalonia is executed by the Francoist government.
  3. 1944 World War II: Germany replaces the Hungarian government after Hungary announces an armistice with the Soviet Union.
  4. 1951 Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes completes the synthesis of norethisterone, the basis of an early oral contraceptive.
  5. 1954 Hurricane Hazel devastates the eastern seaboard of North America, killing 95 and causing massive floods as far north as Toronto.
  6. 1956 FORTRAN, the first modern computer language, is first shared with the coding community.
  7. 1965 Vietnam War: A draft card is burned during an anti-war rally by the Catholic Worker Movement, resulting in the first arrest under a new law.
  8. 1966 The Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
  9. 1970 During the construction of Australia's West Gate Bridge, a span of the bridge falls and kills 35 workers. The incident is the country's worst industrial accident to this day.
  10. 1979 Supporters of the Malta Labour Party ransack and destroy the Times of Malta building and other locations associated with the Nationalist Party.
  11. 1979 A coup d'état in El Salvador overthrows President Carlos Humberto Romero and begins the 12 year-long Salvadoran Civil War.
  12. 1987 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460 crashes near Conca di Crezzo, Italy, killing all 37 people on board.
  13. 1987 A coup d'état in Burkina Faso overthrows and kills then President Thomas Sankara.
  14. 1989 Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.
  15. 1990 Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.

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