October 15 ::: Project ETERNITY

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October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in Leap years). There are 77 days remaining.

Events

533 - Byzantine general Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals.

1552 - Khanate of Kazan is conquered by troops of Ivan Grozny.

1582 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15, skipping over 10 days. Other countries follow at various later dates.

1764 - While visiting Rome, Edward Gibbon observes a group of barefoot friars singing vespers in the ruined Temple of Jupiter, a sight which inspires him to begin work on a history that will be published as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

1815 - Napoleon I of France begins his exile on St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.

1863 - American Civil War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.

1878 - The Edison Electric Company begins operation.

1880 - Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.

1883 - The Supreme Court of the United States declares part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to be unconstitutional since it allowed individuals and corporations to discriminate based on race.

1894 - Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying - Dreyfus affair begins.

1904 - The Russian Baltic Fleet leaves Reval, Estonia for Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War.

1917 - World War I: At Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany.

1932 - Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.

1939 - The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) is dedicated.

1940 - The Great Dictator, a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released.

1945 - World War II: Former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, is executed by firing squad for treason.

1946 - Nuremberg Trials: Founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, Hermann Göring, poisons himself hours before his scheduled execution.

1951 - Television sitcom I Love Lucy premieres starring comedian Lucille Ball and her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz.

1953 - British nuclear test Totem 1 detonated at Emu Field, South Australia.

1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis: A stand-off ensues between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, putting the entire world under threat of a nuclear war (crisis lasts 13 days from this point).

1965 - Vietnam War: The anti-war student-run National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam stages the first public burning of a draft card in the United States.

1966 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a bill creating the United States Department of Transportation.

1969 - Vietnam War: Hundreds of thousands of people take part in National Moratorium antiwar demonstrations across the United States.

1970 - 35 construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below.

1987 - The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England.

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.

1991 - Following a bitter confirmation hearing that involved allegations of sexual misconduct, the United States Senate votes 52 to 48 to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States.

1992 - In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 serial murders.

1995 - Saddam Hussein gains 99.96% of votes in Iraq's presidential elections.

1997 - The first supersonic land speed record is set by the ThrustSSC team from the United Kingdom.

1997 - The Cassini probe was launched from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.

2001 - NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.

2003 - China launches Shenzhou 5, their first manned space mission.

2003 - Ilham Aliyev becomes President of Azerbaijan succeeding his father Heydar Aliyev.