History Events on September 15

Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag bearing the swastika.

#Nazi_Germany

HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.

#HMS_Beagle

World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.

#World_War_I

The Captaincy General of Guatemala declares independence from Spain.

#Act_of_Independence_of_Central_America

War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.

#War_of_1812

Muhammad Ali outpointed Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times at the Superdome in New Orleans.

#Muhammad_Ali

The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.

#John_Bull_(locomotive)

Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.

#History_of_Portugal

American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.

#American_Revolutionary_War

World War II: The climax of the Battle of Britain, when the Royal Air Force shoots down large numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft.

#World_War_II

The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship.

#Nuremberg_Laws

Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.

#Nikita_Khrushchev

The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.

#Napoleon

First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats Qing dynasty China in the Battle of Pyongyang.

#First_Sino-Japanese_War

The Indian Army captures the towns of Jalna, Latur, Mominabad, Surriapet and Narkatpalli as part of Operation Polo.

#Indian_Army

A hurricane strikes southern Florida and the Bahamas, destroying 366 airplanes and 25 blimps at Naval Air Station Richmond.

#1945_Homestead_hurricane

The United Nations cedes Eritrea to Ethiopia.

#United_Nations

The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens; British MP William Huskisson becomes the first widely reported railway passenger fatality when he is struck and killed by the locomotive Rocket.

#Opening_of_the_Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway

Battle of Peleliu begins as the United States Marine Corps' 1st Marine Division and the United States Army's 81st Infantry Division hit White and Orange beaches under heavy fire from Japanese infantry and artillery.

#Battle_of_Peleliu

Seven Years' War: Battle of Signal Hill.

#Seven_Years'_War

The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.

#Soviet_Union

Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.

#Vlissingen

Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by Jean de Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes.

#Gilles_de_Rais

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.

#Franklin_D._Roosevelt

Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse, Italy.

#Byzantine_Empire

American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia (present-day Harpers Ferry, West Virginia).

#American_Civil_War

Korean War: United States forces land at Inchon.

#Korean_War

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

#United_States_Senate_Committee_on_the_Judiciary

The first non-aristocratic, free public school in modern Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy, by Joseph Calasanz.

#Frascati

Franco-Prussian War: The last German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.

#Franco-Prussian_War

A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.

#Central_Railroad_of_New_Jersey

The United States "Department of Foreign Affairs", established by law in July, is renamed the Department of State and given a variety of domestic duties.

#United_States_Department_of_State

Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.

#Israel

The first Greenpeace ship sets sail to protest against nuclear testing on Amchitka Island.

#Greenpeace

World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is sunk by Japanese torpedoes at Guadalcanal.

#Aircraft_carrier

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.

#Lyndon_B._Johnson

The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.

#Soviet_Union

World War I: Allied troops break through the Bulgarian defenses on the Macedonian Front.

#Battle_of_Dobro_Pole

French Revolutionary Wars: Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) sees his first combat at the Battle of Boxtel during the Flanders Campaign.

#French_Revolutionary_Wars

The Parsons Green bombing takes place in London.

Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players' union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.

The Summer Olympics, officially known as the games of the XXVII Olympiad, are opened in Sydney, Australia.

The French department of "Corse" (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica).

Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.

A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö Bulltofta Airport.

Baptist Church bombing: Four children killed in the bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.

The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h).

Typhoon Kathleen hit the Kanto Region in Japan killing 1,077.

The Empire Picture Theatre (now The New Empire Cinema), the oldest running cinema in mainland Australia, opens in Bowral, New South Wales.

Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia.

HMS Whiting runs aground on the Doom Bar.

Britain seizes the Dutch Cape Colony in southern Africa to prevent its use by the Batavian Republic.

Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.