Historical events on May 15
MAY 15, 392
Roman emperor Valentinian II (pictured) was found hanged in his residence in Vienne, in present-day France.
Valentinian II was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman Empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at
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MAY 15, 1864
American Civil War: A small Confederate force, which included cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, forced the Union army out of the Shenandoah Valley.
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in
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MAY 15, 1911
Mexican Revolution: A force of Maderistas captured Torreón and proceeded to massacre 303 of the city's Chinese residents.
The Mexican Revolution was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It
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MAY 15, 1602
Early English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold arrived on Cape Cod in present-day Massachusetts.
Bartholomew Gosnold was an English barrister, explorer and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company in London and Jamestown in
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MAY 15, 1972
The Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japan by the United States, and the U.S. occupation government was abolished.
The Ryukyu Islands , also known as the Nansei Islands or the Ryukyu Arc , are a chain of Japanese islands
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MAY 15, 1725
Bach led the first performance of his cantata Ich bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85, about Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across
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MAY 15, 1862
Fertilisation of Orchids, the first book by Charles Darwin which demonstrated the power of natural selection in detail, was published.
Fertilisation of Orchids is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin published on 15 May 1862 under the full explanatory title On
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MAY 15, 1904
Russo-Japanese War: The Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima sank after striking several mines off Port Arthur, China.
The Russo-Japanese War was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the
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MAY 15, 1836
English astronomer Francis Baily observed Baily's beads (example pictured), a phenomenon during a solar eclipse in which the rugged topography of the lunar limb allows sunlight to shine through.
Francis Baily was an English astronomer. He is most famous for his observations of "Baily's beads" during a total eclipse of the
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MAY 15, 1916
Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched in Waco, Texas.
Jesse Washington was a seventeen-year-old African American farmhand who was lynched in the county seat of Waco, Texas, on May 15, 1916,
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MAY 15, 1945
The British Army directed fleeing Croatian soldiers to surrender to the Yugoslav Partisans, beginning the Bleiburg repatriations.
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As of 1 January 2025,
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MAY 15, 1252
Pope Innocent IV issued the papal bull Ad extirpanda, authorizing the use of torture on heretics during the Medieval Inquisition.
Pope Innocent IV, born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
MAY 15, 2024
Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico (pictured) is hospitalised after an assassination attempt.
The prime minister of Slovakia, officially the chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic, commonly referred to in Slovakia as Predseda
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MAY 15, 1990
Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold at auction at Christie's in New York for US$82.5 million, making it the world's most expensive painting at the time.
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of
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MAY 15, 2010
Three days before her seventeenth birthday, Jessica Watson arrived in Sydney after sailing non-stop and unassisted around the world.
Jessica Watson is an Australian sailor who was awarded the Order of Australia Medal after attempting a solo circumnavigation at the age
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MAY 15, 1869
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, breaking away from the American Equal Rights Association which they had also previously founded.
Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement.
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MAY 15, 1855
Thieves stole 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold from a train travelling from London to Folkestone, England.
The Great Gold Robbery took place on the night of 15 May 1855, when a routine shipment of three boxes of gold
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MAY 15, 1953
Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, an event for Cub Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America where wooden cars built by the scouts are raced.
The Pinewood Derby is the wood car racing event of the Cub Scout Program of the Scouting America. Pinewood derbies are often
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MAY 15, 1957
The United Kingdom tested its first hydrogen bomb over Malden Island in Operation Grapple.
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater
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MAY 15, 1912
During a match, baseball star Ty Cobb enters the stands and assaults a fan who had heckled him, leading to his suspension.
Tyrus Raymond Cobb, nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played
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