History Events on October 15

Saddam Hussein is reelected president of Iraq through a referendum.
#Saddam_Hussein

American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks, killing its inventor.
#H._L._Hunley_(submarine)

The Segura river in southeastern Spain floods, killing 1077 people.
#Segura

Edward Gibbon is inspired to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
#The_History_of_the_Decline_and_Fall_of_the_Roman_Empire

Vietnam War: Nguy?n V?n Tr?i is executed for attempting to assassinate the United States Secretary of Defense.
#Vietnam_War

Napoleon begins his exile on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
#Napoleon
China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.
#Shenzhou_5

Hurricane Hazel devastates the eastern seaboard of North America, killing 95 and causing massive floods as far north as Toronto.
#Hurricane_Hazel

The Salvadoran Civil War begins.
#Salvadoran_Civil_War

In Germany, the inauguration of the Cologne Cathedral is celebrated.
#Cologne_Cathedral

Alexei Kosygin becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
#Alexei_Kosygin

The airship, Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing in the United States.
#LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst percentage drop in the Dow's history.
#Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average

Thirty-five construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses.
#West_Gate_Bridge

World War I: Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by France for espionage.
#Mata_Hari

The former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, is executed for treason.
#Pierre_Laval

American Civil War: The Union garrison of Glasgow, Missouri surrenders to Confederate forces.
#Battle_of_Glasgow,_Missouri

Seventeen activists in New Zealand are arrested in the country's first post-9/11 anti-terrorism raids.
#2007_New_Zealand_police_raids

Russo-Japanese War: The Russian Baltic Fleet begins a seven-month voyage to the Far East.
#Russo-Japanese_War

President Lluís Companys of Catalonia is executed by the Francoist government.
#Lluís_Companys

Adoption of the Gregorian calendar begins, eventually leading to near-universal adoption.
#Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar

World War II: Germany replaces the Hungarian government after it announces an armistice with the Soviet Union.
#Operation_Panzerfaust

Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.
#Mikhail_Gorbachev

The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.
#Montgolfier_brothers

Airship America is launched from New Jersey in the first attempt to cross the Atlantic by a powered aircraft.
#America_(airship)

One hundred ninety-seven nations amend the Montreal Protocol to include a phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons.
#Montreal_Protocol

The Viceroy the Río de la Plata, Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, opens the port of Buenos Aires to trade with nations other than Spain.
#Baltasar_Hidalgo_de_Cisneros

Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying.
#Dreyfus_affair

Eight of those convicted in the Rivonia Trial are released from prison.
#Rivonia_Trial

In the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, over two million demonstrate nationally; about 250,000 in Washington D.C.
#Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam

The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
#Cassini-Huygens

The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic.
#German_Rentenmark

In Burkina Faso, a military coup was orchestrated by Blaise Compaoré against incumbent President Thomas Sankara.
#Burkina_Faso

A planned neo-Nazi protest against African-American street gangs sets off a riot in Toledo, Ohio. Twenty-nine people are arrested.
#2005_Toledo_riot

Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted, and condemned to death the following day.
#Marie_Antoinette

The 2011 Global Protests occur.
#15_October_2011_global_protests

Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes completes the synthesis of norethisterone, the basis of an early oral contraceptive.
#Luis_E._Miramontes

Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.
#Wayne_Gretzky
The Motherland Calls, a memorial statue "For the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad", is unveiled.
#The_Motherland_Calls

The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris.
#Battle_of_the_Rhyndacus_(1211)

The CIA notifies the State Department that Soviet ballistic missiles are in Cuba, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
#Cuban_Missile_Crisis

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

The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) is dedicated.
#LaGuardia_Airport