What Happened on September 15th in History
30 historical events on this date
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving US president and the only one to have...
World War II: The 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.
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from 15...
A hurricane strikes southern Florida and the Bahamas, destroying 366 airplanes and 25 blimps at Naval Air Station Richmond.
The 1945 Homestead hurricane, known informally as Kappler's hurricane, was the most intense tropical cyclone to strike the U.S. state of Florida since 1935. The ninth tropical storm, third...
Typhoon Kathleen hits the KantĆ region, in Japan killing around 1,000-2,000 people.
Typhoon Kathleen was a typhoon that approached Japan in September 1947. Kathleen brought record heavy rain at the time, causing major destruction in the Kanto region.
The Indian Army captures the towns of Jalna, Latur, Mominabad, Surriapet and Narkatpalli as part of Operation Polo.
The Indian Army (IA) is the land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the...
The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080Â km/h).
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet powered fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first...
Korean War: The U.S. X Corps lands at Inchon.
The Korean War was an armed conflict fought on the Korean Peninsula between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea...
The United Nations cedes Eritrea to Ethiopia.
The United Nations (UN) is a global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations on 26 June 1945 with the articulated mission of maintaining...
Marilyn Monroe's iconic skirt scene is shot during filming for The Seven Year Itch.
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an...
A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central, Jersey Central Lines or New Jersey Central, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in...
Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. As leader of the...
The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's...
Baptist Church bombing: Four children are killed in the bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963. The bombing was committed by the white supremacist...
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 Baines Johnson, also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. Johnson was vice president under John F. Kennedy from 1961 until Kennedy's assassination in...
The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's...
The first Greenpeace ship departs from Vancouver to protest against the upcoming Cannikin nuclear weapon test in Alaska.
Greenpeace is a global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all...
A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö Bulltofta Airport.
The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the joint flag carrier airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in...
Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.
Air Vietnam Flight 706 was a Boeing 727 that crashed on September 15, 1974, after three hijackers detonated hand grenades as it was approaching Phan Rang Air Base in South Vietnam for an emergency...
The French department of "Corse" (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica).
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government under the national level, between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of...
At the Superdome in New Orleans, Muhammad Ali outpoints Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times.
Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the Southern United States. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints of the...
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of...
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 is a historic British-built railroad steam locomotive that operated in the United States. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831, and became the oldest operable steam...
Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the...
Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 crashes at Tawau Airport in Malaysia, killing 34.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 (MH2133/MAS2133) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau, operated by Malaysia's flag carrier Malaysia Airlines. On 15 September 1995, the...
During a CART race at the Lausitzring in Germany, former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi suffers a heavy accident resulting in him losing both his legs.
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season. CART was founded in 1979 by team...
National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players' union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.
The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams, 25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues...
Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United...
Four miners are killed in the Gleision Colliery mining accident in the Swansea Valley, Wales.
The Gleision Colliery mining accident was a mining accident which occurred on 15 September 2011 at the Gleision Colliery, a drift mine at Cilybebyll in Neath Port Talbot, in Wales. The accident...
The Parsons Green bombing takes place in London.
On 15 September 2017, at around 08:20 BST, an explosion occurred on a District line train at Parsons Green Underground station, in London, England. Thirty people were treated in hospital or an...
Signing of the BahrainâIsrael normalization agreement occurs in Washington, D.C., normalizing relations between Israel and two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The BahrainâIsrael normalization agreement, officially Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations, is an agreement to normalize diplomatic...