September 15

2024 Calendar

September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 107 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

668 – Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is murdered in his bath.
1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest-known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by the Bishop of Nantes.
1616 – The first non-aristocratic free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.
1762 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Signal Hill.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay, during the New York Campaign.
1789 – The United States Department of State is founded, as the Department of Foreign Affairs.
1812 – The French army under Napoleon Bonaparte enters Moscow.
1812 – War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack of the Narrows.
1820 – Constitutionalist Revolution in Lisbon
1821 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain.
1830 – The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens. On the same day, William Huskisson becomes the first railway fatality after being hit by a locomotive.
1835 – The HMS Beagle arrives in the Galapagos Islands with a young Charles Darwin on board.
1851 – Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1862 – American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harper's Ferry, then in Virginia, now in West Virginia.
1873 – Franco-Prussian War: The last German troops leave France.
1875 – Indianola, Texas, is destroyed by a Hurricane, killing between 150 and 300 people.
1894 – First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats China in the Battle of Pyongyang.

1901 – 2000

1916 – World War I: Tanks are used in battle for the first time, in the Somme, northern France.
1935 – With the Nuremberg Laws, the Nazis strip Jews of German citizenship.
1935 – The Nazis adopt the Swastika flag as the flag of Germany.
1940 – World War II: Climax of the Battle of Britain.
1942 – World War II: United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is torpedoed at Guadalcanal, present-day Solomon Islands.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Peleliu (in Palau), between US and Japanese forces, begins.
1944 – World War II: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon conference to discuss strategy.
1945 – A hurricane in South Florida and the Bahamas destroys 366 planes and 25 blimps at NAS Richmond
1947 – Typhoon Kathleen kills 1,077 people in the Kanto region of Japan.
1948 – The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record, at 671 miles per hour (1,080 kilometres per hour).
1949 – Konrad Adenauer becomes the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
1950 – Korean War: US forces land at Inchon.
1952 – The UN gives Eritrea to Ethiopia.
1958 – A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 58 people.
1959 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the US.
1961 – Hurricane Carla hits Texas.
1962 – Soviet ship Poltava heads towards Cuba, one of the events that lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
1963 – "Birmingham Sunday" when a bomb killed 4 black girls in a church in Birmingham, Alabama.
1966 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to United States Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.
1968 – The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
1969 – US ice breaker tanker SS Manhattan passes through the Northwest Passage, after four weeks.
1972 – Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm, Sweden, is hijacked and flown to Malmo Bulltofta Airport.
1973 – Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden becomes King.
1975 – The French department of Corse, on the island of Corsica, is divided in two, into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.
1981 – Vanuatu joins the UN.
1981 – The Senate Judiciary Committee approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become a Justice on the United States Supreme Court, being the first female in such a role.
1983 – Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin resigns.
1990 – France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf.
1991 – Bangladesh becomes a parliamentary democracy.
1993 – Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein disbands his country's parliament.
1994 – For the first time, a planet outside the Solar System is discovered.
1997 – New York City's Museum of Jewish Heritage opens.
2000 – The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney begin.

From 2001

2007 – Former world Rally champion Colin McRae dies in a helicopter crash in Lanarkshire, Scotland, along with his son and two family friends.
2008 – Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
2011 – A parliamentary election is held in Denmark, resulting in Helle Thorning-Schmidt becoming Prime Minister on October 3.
2015 – Malcolm Turnbull replaces Tony Abbott as Prime Minister of Australia.
2015 – Aksel V. Johannesen becomes Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands.
2017 – 2017 Parsons Green bombing: An explosive device is detonated on a tube train near London's Parsons Green station, injuring 30 people.
2017 – The Cassini space probe's mission is ended, as it is plunged into Saturn's atmosphere.

Births

1951 – 1975

1951 – Johan Neeskens, Dutch footballer
1952 – Richard Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
1954 – Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor (d. 2007)
1954 – Nava Semel, Israeli author and playwright (d. 2017)
1955 – Bruce Reitherman, American movie maker
1955 – Abdul Qadir, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2019)
1955 – Renzo Rosso, Italian fashion designer
1955 – Brendan O'Carroll, Irish actor
1956 – Maggie Reilly, Scottish singer
1958 – Dr. Know, American guitarist
1959 – Mark Kirk, American politician
1960 – Katsuyoshi Shinto, Japanese footballer
1961 – Dan Marino, American football player
1961 – Colin McFarlane, English voice actor
1962 – Rebecca Miller, American actress, director and writer
1964 – Robert Fico, former Prime Minister of Slovakia
1966 – Sherman Douglas, American basketball player
1967 – Huw Bunford, Welsh guitarist and songwriter (Super Furry Animals)
1969 – Revaz Arveladze, Georgian footballer
1970 – Svetlana Zakharova, Russian long-distance runner
1971 – Josh Charles, American actor
1972 – Jimmy Carr, British comedian
1972 – Queen Letizia of Spain
1973 – Daniel Westling, Swedish royal
1973 – Julie Cox, British actress
1973 – Alyn Smith, Scottish politician
1974 – Murat Yakin, Swiss footballer

From 1976

1976 – Paul Thomson, Scottish musician
1977 – Angela Aki, Japanese singer-songwriter
1977 – Sophie Dahl, British model
1977 – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian writer
1977 – Tom Hardy, English actor, screenwriter and producer
1977 – René Haselbacher, Austrian cyclist
1977 – Jason Terry, American basketball player
1978 – Eidur Gudjohnsen, Icelandic footballer
1978 – Kew Jaliens, Dutch footballer
1979 – Patrick Marleau, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Carlos Ruiz, Guatemalan footballer
1979 – Amy Davidson, American actress
1980 – Mike Dunleavy, Jr., American basketball player
1980 – Jolin Tsai, Taiwanese singer
1981 – Miyavi, Japanese composer, singer and guitarist
1983 – Ashleigh McIvor, Canadian freestyle skier
1983 – Tomas Sivok, Czech footballer
1983 – Santeri Palin, Finnish writer
1984 – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, British royal
1986 – Heidi Montag, American television personality and singer
1986 – Anan Anwar, Thai singer and actor
1986 – Peter Wilson, English sport shooter and Olympic gold medalist
1986 – Poppy Delevingne, English model
1987 – Clare Maguire, English singer-songwriter
1988 – Chelsea Kane, American actress and singer
1988 – Kate Mansi, American actress
1990 – Gwyneth Keyworth, Welsh actress
1996 – Jake Cherry, American actor
1996 – Nao Furuhata, Japanese idol and singer
1999 – Nana Owada, Japanese idol singer and actress

Deaths

Up to 1900

668 – Constans II, Emperor (b. 630)
921 – Saint Ludmila of Bohemia, Bohemian martyr (b. 860)
1134 – Alfonso the Battler, King of Aragon and Navarra (b. 1073)
1231 – Louis I, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1173)
1326 – Dmitry of Tver (b. 1299)
1352 – Ewostatewos, Ethiopian monk and religious leader (b. 1273)
1750 – Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1690)
1794 – Abraham Clark, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1725)
1803 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (b. 1719)
1805 – Christopher Gadsden, American soldier and statesman (b. 1724)
1830 – William Huskisson, English politician, first rail fatality (b. 1770)
1835 – Sarah Knox Taylor, wife of Jefferson Davis (b. 1814)
1841 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1757)
1842 – Pierre Baillot, French violinist and composer (b. 1771)
1842 – Francisco Morazan, President of Central America (b. 1792)
1859 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (b. 1806)
1864 – John Hanning Speke, British explorer (b. 1827)
1875 – Duchenne de Boulogne, French psychologist (b. 1806)
1883 – Joseph Plateau, Belgian physicist (b. 1801)
1885 – Jumbo, African elephant (b. 1861)
1891 – John Steell, Scottish sculptor (b. 1804)
1893 – Thomas Hawksley, English engineer (b. 1807)

1901 – 2000

1926 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer (b. 1846)
1930 – Milton Sills, American actor (b. 1882)
1938 – Thomas Wolfe, American writer (b. 1900)
1940 – William B. Bankhead, American politician (b. 1874)
1945 – André Tardieu, French statesman (b. 1876)
1945 – Anton Webern, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1883)
1972 – Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1887)
1972 – Asgeir Asgeirsson, second President of Iceland (b. 1894)
1973 – King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden, King of Sweden (b. 1882)
1973 – Victor Jara, Chilean musician (b. 1932)
1975 – Pavel Sukhoi, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1895)
1978 – Willy Messerschmidt, German aircraft designer (b. 1898)
1979 – Tommy Leonetti, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1929)
1981 – Harold Bennett, English actor (b. 1899)
1985 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter (b. 1910)
1989 – Robert Penn Warren, American writer (b. 1905)
1995 – Gunnar Nordahl, Swedish footballer (b. 1921)
1998 – Luke Rasminsky, Canadian economist (b. 1908)

From 2001

2001 – June Salter, Australian actress (b. 1932)
2004 – Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (The Ramones) (b. 1948)
2005 – Sidney Luft, American director (b. 1915)
2006 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and writer (b. 1929)
2007 – Colin McRae, Scottish rally driver (b. 1968)
2008 – Richard Wright, English musician (Pink Floyd) (b. 1943)
2009 – Timothy Bateson, English actor (b. 1926)
2014 – Post Bahadur Bogati, Nepalese politician (b. 1953)
2014 – Yitzhak Hofi, Israeli general (b. 1927)
2014 – Eugene I. Gordon, American physicist (b. 1930)
2014 – John Anderson, Jr., American politician, Governor of Kansas (b. 1917)
2014 – Jackie Cain, American jazz singer (b. 1928)
2014 – Jeremy Ball, Australian actor and politician (b. 1969)
2015 – Meir Pa'il, Israeli politician and military historian (b. 1926)
2015 – Bernard Van De Kerckhove, Belgian racing driver (b. 1941)
2015 – Mihai Volontir, Moldovan actor (b. 1934)
2015 – Harry J. Lipkin, Israeli nuclear physicist (b. 1921)
2017 – María Cristina Arango Vega, First Lady of Colombia (b. 1928)
2017 – Violet Brown, Jamaican supercentenarian (b. 1900)
2017 – Dwijen Sharma, Bangladeshi naturalist and science writer (b. 1929)
2017 – Harry Dean Stanton, American actor (b. 1926)
2017 – Albert Speer Jr., German architect (b. 1934)
2018 – Kirin Kiki, Japanese actress (b. 1943)
2018 – Dudley Sutton, English actor (b. 1933)
2018 – José Manuel de la Sota, Argentine politician (b. 1949)
2018 – Victor Veselago, Soviet-Russian physicist (b. 1929)
2018 – Fritz Wintersteller, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1927)
2018 – Zhu Xu, Chinese actor (b. 1930)
2019 – Chadlia Caid Essebsi, First Lady of Tunisia (b. 1936)
2019 – Lol Mahamat Choua, 4th President of Chad (b. 1939)
2019 – Roberto Leal, Portuguese-Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
2019 – Phyllis Newman, American actress and singer (b. 1933)
2019 – Ric Ocasek, American singer, songwriter and record producer (b. 1944)
2019 – Mike Stefanik, American racing driver (b. 1958)
2024 – Tito Jackson, American singer and member of the Jackson 5 (b. 1953)

Observances

Battle of Britain Day (United Kingdom)
Grito de Dolores (Mexico)
Independence Day (Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua)
International Day of Democracy
Engineers' Day (India)

September 15

Events

Up to 1900

1901 – 2000

From 2001

Births

Up to 1800

1801 – 1900

1901 – 1925

1926 – 1950

1951 – 1975

From 1976

Deaths

Up to 1900

1901 – 2000

From 2001

Observances