October 15

October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 77 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

Events

• 1066 – Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England, but is never crowned. He reigns until 10 December 1066.
• 1211 – Battle of the Rhyndacus: The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris.
• 1529 – The Siege of Vienna ends as the Austrians rout the invading Turks, turning the tide against almost a century of unchecked conquest throughout eastern and central Europe by the Ottoman Empire.
• 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.
• 1764 – Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
• 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon (tethered) makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.
• 1793 – Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day.
• 1815 – Napoleon I of France begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Glasgow is fought, resulting in the surrender of Glasgow, Missouri and its Union garrison, to the Confederacy.
• 1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.
• 1888 – The "From Hell" letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators.
• 1894 – The Dreyfus affair: Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying.
• 1904 – The Russian Baltic Fleet leaves Reval, Estonia for Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War.
• 1910 – Airship America is launched from New Jersey in the first attempt to cross the Atlantic by a powered aircraft.
• 1917 – World War I: At Vincennes outside Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for the German Empire.
• 1923 – The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic.
• 1928 – The airship, Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States.
• 1932 – Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.
• 1934 – The Soviet Republic of China collapses when Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army successfully encircles Ruijin, forcing the fleeing Communists to begin the Long March.
• 1939 – The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) is dedicated.
• 1940 – The President of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, is executed by the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco, making him the only European president to have been executed.
• 1944 – The Arrow Cross Party (very similar to Hitler's NSDAP (Nazi party)) takes power in Hungary.
• 1945 – World War II: The former premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval is shot by a firing squad for treason.
• 1946 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 9 relating to ICJ is adopted.
• 1951 – Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes conducts the very last step of the first synthesis of norethisterone, the progestin that would later be used in one of the first three oral contraceptives.
• 1951 – The first episode of I Love Lucy, an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, airs on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).
• 1953 – British nuclear test Totem 1 is detonated at Emu Field, South Australia.
• 1954 – Hurricane Hazel devastates the eastern seaboard of North America, killing 95 and causing massive floods as far north as Toronto. As a Category 4 upon landfall, it is the strongest storm on record to strike as far south as North Carolina.
• 1956 – Fortran, the first modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time.
• 1965 – Vietnam War: The Catholic Worker Movement stages an anti-war rally in Manhattan including a public burning of a draft card; the first such act to result in arrest under a new amendment to the Selective Service Act.
• 1966 – The Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
• 1969 – Vietnam War; The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam is held in Washington D.C. and across the US. Over two million demonstrate nationally; about 250,000 in Washington D.C..
• 1970 – Thirty-five construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses.
• 1970 – The domestic Soviet Aeroflot Flight 244 is hijacked and diverted to Turkey.
• 1971 – The start of the 2500-year celebration of Iran, celebrating the birth of Persia.
• 1979 – Black Monday in Malta. The building of the Times of Malta, the residence of the opposition leader Eddie Fenech Adami and several Nationalist Party clubs are ransacked and destroyed by supporters of the Malta Labour Party.
• 1987 – The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England.
• 1989 – Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.
• 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.
• 1995 – Marco Campos is killed in an accident in a International Formula 3000 race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, making him the only driver ever killed in the International Formula 3000 series.
• 1997 – The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC (United Kingdom), 50 years and one day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth's atmosphere.
• 1997 – The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
• 1999 – The film Fight Club, an adaptation of the novel of the same name, is released in the United States, sparking controversy over its violent and anarchist themes.
• 2001 – NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.
• 2003 – China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.
• 2003 – The Staten Island Ferry MV Andrew J. Barberi runs into a pier at the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island, killing 11 people and injuring 43.
• 2005 – A riot in Toledo, Ohio breaks out during a National Socialist/Neo-Nazi protest; over 100 are arrested.
• 2006 – Hawaii earthquake: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the closure of Honolulu International Airport.
• 2007 – Seventeen activists in New Zealand are arrested in the country's first post 9/11 anti-terrorism raids.
• 2008 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst day in the Dow's history based on a percentage drop.
• 2011 – Global protests break out in 120 cities in 48 countries.
• 2013 – A 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippines, resulting in more than 215 deaths.

Births

• 70 BC – Virgil, Roman poet (d. 19 BC)
• 1265 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (d. 1307)
• 1471 – Konrad Mutian, German epigrammatist and academic (d. 1526)
• 1542 – Akbar, Mughal emperor (d. 1605)
• 1608 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist and mathematician (d. 1647)
• 1686 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet and playwright (d. 1758)
• 1701 – Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian nun and saint, founded Grey Nuns (d. 1771)
• 1711 – Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine (d. 1741)
• 1762 – Samuel Adams Holyoke, American composer and educator (d. 1820)
• 1784 – Thomas Robert Bugeaud, French general and politician, Governor-General of Algeria (d. 1849)
• 1785 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean general and politician (d. 1821)
• 1814 – Mikhail Lermontov, Russian author, poet, and painter (d. 1841)
• 1818 – Alexander Dreyschock, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1869)
• 1825 – Marie of Prussia (d. 1889)
• 1829 – Asaph Hall, American astronomer and academic (d. 1907)
• 1836 – James Tissot, French painter and illustrator (d. 1902)
• 1840 – Honoré Mercier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 9th Premier of Quebec (d. 1894)
• 1844 – Friedrich Nietzsche, German composer, poet, and philosopher (d. 1900)
• 1858 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer, actor, and journalist (d. 1918)
• 1865 – Charles W. Clark, American singer and educator (d. 1925)
• 1865 – Albert Heijn, Dutch businessman (d. 1945)
• 1872 – Wilhelm Miklas, Austrian educator and politician, 3rd President of Austria (d. 1956)
• 1872 – August Nilsson, Swedish pole vaulter, shot putter, and tug of war competitor (d. 1921)
• 1874 – Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1899)
• 1878 – Paul Reynaud, French lawyer and politician, 118th Prime Minister of France (d. 1966)
• 1879 – Jane Darwell, American actress (d. 1967)
• 1881 – P. G. Wodehouse, English-American author and playwright (d. 1975)
• 1882 – Charley O'Leary, American baseball player and coach (d. 1941)
• 1884 – Archibald Hoxsey, American pilot (d. 1910)
• 1887 – Frederick Fleet, English sailor (d. 1965)
• 1888 – S. S. Van Dine, American author and critic (d. 1939)
• 1890 – Álvaro de Campos, Portuguese poet and engineer (d. 1935)
• 1893 – Carol II of Romania (d. 1953)
• 1894 – Moshe Sharett, Ukrainian-Israeli lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1965)
• 1897 – Johannes Sikkar, Estonian soldier and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 1960)
• 1897 – Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer Indian singer and musicologist (d. 1975)
• 1898 – Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian runner (d. 1951)
• 1899 – Adolf Brudes, Polish-German race car driver (d. 1986)
• 1900 – Mervyn LeRoy, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Enrique Jardiel Poncela, Spanish playwright and novelist (d. 1952)
• 1905 – C. P. Snow, English chemist and author (d. 1980)
• 1906 – Hiram Fong, American soldier and politician (d. 2004)
• 1906 – Alicia Patterson, American journalist and publisher, co-founded Newsday (d. 1963)
• 1906 – Victoria Spivey, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1976)
• 1907 – Varian Fry, American journalist and author (d. 1967)
• 1908 – Herman Chittison, American pianist (d. 1967)
• 1908 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-American economist and diplomat, 7th United States Ambassador to India (d. 2006)
• 1909 – Jesse L. Greenstein, American astronomer and academic (d. 2002)
• 1909 – Robert Trout, American journalist (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Edwin O. Reischauer, Japanese-American scholar and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (d. 1990)
• 1912 – Nellie Lutcher, American singer and pianist (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Wolfgang Lüth, German commander (d. 1945)
• 1914 – Mohammed Zahir Shah, Afghan king (d. 2007)
• 1916 – Al Killian, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2007)
• 1916 – George Turner, Australian author and critic (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Jan Miner, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., American historian and critic (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Paul Tanner, American trombonist and educator (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Malcolm Ross, American captain, balloonist, and physicist (d. 1985)
• 1919 – Chuck Stevenson, American race car driver (d. 1995)
• 1920 – Chris Economaki, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Patricia Jessel, Hong Kong-English actress (d. 1968)
• 1920 – Mario Puzo, American author and screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1920 – Henri Verneuil, Turkish-French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Angelica Rozeanu, Romanian-Israeli table tennis player (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Agustina Bessa-Luís, Portuguese author
• 1922 – Preben Munthe, Norwegian economist and politician, State Conciliator of Norway (d. 2013)
• 1922 – William Y. Thompson, American historian and author (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Italo Calvino, Italian journalist and author (d. 1985)
• 1923 – Antonio Fontán, Spanish journalist and politician (d. 2010)
• 1923 – Eugene Patterson, American journalist and activist (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Marguerite Andersen, German-Canadian author and educator
• 1924 – Lee Iacocca, American businessman and author
• 1924 – Mark Lenard, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1924 – Frank X. McDermott, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
• 1924 – Warren Miller, American director and screenwriter
• 1925 – Mickey Baker, American-French guitarist (Mickey & Sylvia) (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Aurora Bautista, Spanish actress (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Tony Hart, English painter and television host (d. 2009)
• 1926 – James E. Akins, American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Agustín García Calvo, Spanish philosopher and poet (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Michel Foucault, French historian and philosopher (d. 1984)
• 1926 – Ed McBain, American author and screenwriter (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Jean Peters, American actress (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Karl Richter, German organist and conductor (d. 1981)
• 1927 – Jeannette Charles, English actress
• 1927 – Bill Henry, American baseball player (d. 2014)
• 1927 – B. S. Abdur Rahman, Indian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2015)
• 1930 – FM-2030, Belgian-Iranian basketball player, philosopher and diplomat (d. 2000)
• 1931 – Freddy Cole, American singer and pianist
• 1931 – Gail Harris, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
• 1931 – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Indian engineer, academic, and politician, 11th President of India (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Pauline Perry, Baroness Perry of Southwark, English academic and politician
• 1932 – Jaan Rääts, Estonian guitarist and composer
• 1933 – Nicky Barnes, American drug lord
• 1934 – Alan Elsdon, English trumpet player
• 1934 – N. Ramani, Indian flute player (d. 2015)
• 1935 – Dick McTaggart, Scottish boxer
• 1935 – Bobby Morrow, American sprinter
• 1935 – Willie O'Ree, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1936 – Michel Aumont, French actor
• 1936 – Robert Baden-Powell, 3rd Baron Baden-Powell, South African-English businessman
• 1937 – Brad Corbett, American businessman (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Linda Lavin, American actress, singer, director, and producer
• 1937 – Barry McGuire, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The New Christy Minstrels)
• 1937 – Biff Rose, American singer-songwriter and comedian
• 1938 – Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1993)
• 1938 – Fela Kuti, Nigerian singer-songwriter and saxophonist (d. 1997)
• 1938 – Brice Marden, American painter
• 1938 – Robert Ward, American guitarist and songwriter (Ohio Players) (d. 2008)
• 1940 – Tommy Bishop, English rugby player and coach
• 1940 – Peter C. Doherty, Australian surgeon and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1942 – Hilo Chen, Taiwanese-American painter
• 1942 – Harold W. Gehman, Jr., American admiral
• 1943 – Penny Marshall, American actress, director, and producer
• 1944 – Sali Berisha, Albanian cardiologist and politician, 2nd President of Albania
• 1944 – A. Chandranehru, Sri Lankan Tamil merchant seaman and politician (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Haim Saban, Egyptian-American businessman, co-founded Saban Entertainment
• 1944 – David Trimble, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd First Minister of Northern Ireland, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1945 – Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Spanish cardinal
• 1945 – Neophyte of Bulgaria, Bulgarian patriarch
• 1945 – Jim Palmer, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1946 – Victor Banerjee, Indian actor and director
• 1946 – Richard Carpenter, American singer-songwriter and pianist (The Carpenters)
• 1946 – Palle Danielsson, Swedish bassist and composer
• 1946 – Stewart Stevenson, Scottish engineer and politician, Minister for Environment and Climate Change
• 1947 – Hümeyra, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
• 1947 – Jaroslav Erno Šedivý, Czech drummer (The Primitives Group, Life After Life, and Energit)
• 1948 – Renato Corona, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 2016)
• 1948 – Chris de Burgh, Argentinian-born British-Irish singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1949 – Laurie McBain, American author
• 1949 – Prannoy Roy, Indian journalist, economist, and broadcaster, founded NDTV
• 1950 – Candida Royalle, American porn actress, director, and producer (d. 2015)
• 1951 – Atoy Co, Filipino basketball player, coach, and actor
• 1951 – Peter Richardson, English actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1951 – Rafael Vaganian, Armenian chess player
• 1951 – A. F. Th. van der Heijden, Dutch author
• 1953 – Betsy Clifford, Canadian skier
• 1953 – Tito Jackson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Jackson 5)
• 1953 – Larry Miller, American actor and screenwriter
• 1953 – Peter Phillips, English conductor and musicologist, founded The Tallis Scholars
• 1953 – Walter Jon Williams, American author
• 1954 – Peter Bakowski, Australian poet and educator
• 1954 – Jere Burns, American actor
• 1954 – Princess Friederike of Hanover
• 1954 – Julia Yeomans, English physicist and academic
• 1955 – Kulbir Bhaura, Indian field hockey player
• 1955 – Emma Chichester Clark, English author and illustrator
• 1955 – Al Green, American wrestler (d. 2013)
• 1955 – Tanya Roberts, American actress and producer
• 1957 – Michael Caton-Jones, Scottish actor, director, and producer
• 1957 – Mira Nair, Indian-American actress, director, and producer
• 1957 – Stacy Peralta, American skateboarder, director, producer, and businessman, co-founded Powell Peralta
• 1958 – Stephen Clarke, English-French journalist and author
• 1958 – Masako Katsuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1959 – Sarah, Duchess of York
• 1959 – Emeril Lagasse, American chef and author
• 1959 – Alex Paterson, English keyboard player (The Orb and Transit Kings)
• 1959 – Todd Solondz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1961 – Vyacheslav Butusov, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nautilus Pompilius)
• 1963 – Stanley Menzo, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1964 – Roberto Vittori, Italian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1965 – Nasser El Sonbaty, German bodybuilder and trainer (d. 2013)
• 1966 – Jorge Campos, Mexican footballer and manager
• 1966 – Bill Charlap, American pianist and composer (The Blue Note 7)
• 1966 – Ilse Huizinga, Dutch singer
• 1966 – Dave Stead, English drummer (The Beautiful South)
• 1967 – Götz Otto, German actor and screenwriter
• 1967 – Dan Forest, American politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
• 1968 – Jyrki 69, Finnish singer-songwriter (The 69 Eyes)
• 1968 – Didier Deschamps, French footballer and manager
• 1968 – Vanessa Marcil, American actress
• 1968 – Rod Wishart, Australian rugby player
• 1969 – Vítor Baía, Portuguese footballer
• 1969 – Paige Davis, American actress
• 1969 – Dominic West, English actor and director
• 1970 – Ginuwine, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
• 1970 – Eric Benét, American musician
• 1970 – Dalia El Behery, Egyptian model and actress, Miss Egypt 1990
• 1971 – Joey Abs, American wrestler
• 1971 – Andy Cole, English footballer and coach
• 1971 – Lauri Pilter, Estonian author and translator
• 1972 – Fred Hoiberg, American basketball player and coach
• 1972 – Matt Keeslar, American actor
• 1972 – Michél Mazingu-Dinzey, German-Congolese footballer and manager
• 1973 – Dax Riggs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Acid Bath, Daisyhead & The Mooncrickets, Agents of Oblivion, and Deadboy & the Elephantmen)
• 1974 – Ömer Çatkıç, Turkish footballer
• 1974 – Bianca Rinaldi, Brazilian actress
• 1975 – Alessandro Doga, Italian footballer
• 1975 – Glen Little, English footballer and manager
• 1976 – Christian Allen, American video game designer
• 1976 – Manuel Dallan, Italian rugby player
• 1977 – Polow da Don, American rapper and producer
• 1977 – Masato Kawabata, Japanese race car driver
• 1977 – David Trezeguet, French footballer
• 1977 – Patricio Urrutia, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1978 – Devon Gummersall, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1978 – Takeshi Morishima, Japanese wrestler
• 1979 – Bohemia, Pakistani-American rapper and producer
• 1979 – Blue Adams, American football player and coach
• 1979 – Jekaterina Golovatenko, Estonian figure skater
• 1979 – Paul Robinson, English footballer
• 1979 – Jaci Velasquez, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1979 – Māris Verpakovskis, Latvian footballer
• 1980 – Tom Boonen, Belgian cyclist
• 1980 – Siiri Nordin, Finnish singer-songwriter (Killer)
• 1981 – Keyshia Cole, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1981 – Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
• 1981 – Abram Elam, American football player
• 1981 – Guo Jingjing, Chinese diver
• 1981 – Radoslav Židek, Slovak snowboarder
• 1982 – Paulini, Fijian-Australian singer-songwriter and actress (Young Divas)
• 1982 – Charline Labonté, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Yōko Maki, Japanese actress
• 1982 – Sachiko Yamada, Japanese swimmer
• 1983 – Bruno Senna, Brazilian race car driver
• 1983 – Stephy Tang, Hong Kong singer and actress (Cookies)
• 1984 – Elize Ryd, Swedish Musician, Singer, Composer, Songwriter and lead vocalist of the band Amaranthe
• 1984 – Miri Hanai, Japanese model
• 1984 – Izale McLeod, English footballer
• 1984 – Johan Voskamp, Dutch footballer
• 1984 – Jessie Ware, English singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Arron Afflalo, American basketball player
• 1985 – Walter Alberto López, Uruguayan footballer
• 1985 – Marcos Martínez, Spanish race car driver
• 1986 – Lee Donghae, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor (Super Junior, Donghae & Eunhyuk, and Super Junior-M)
• 1986 – Carlo Janka, Swiss skier
• 1987 – Jesse Levine, Canadian-American tennis player
• 1987 – Chantal Strand, Canadian voice actress and singer
• 1987 – Ott Tänak, Estonian race car driver
• 1988 – Mesut Özil, German footballer
• 1989 – Blaine Gabbert, American football player
• 1989 – Anthony Joshua, English boxer
• 1989 – Leandro Antonio Martínez, Argentinian-Italian footballer
• 1989 – Alen Pamić, Croatian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1990 – Jeon Ji-yoon, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer (4Minute and 2Yoon)
• 1990 – Kiko Mizuhara, American-Japanese model, actress, and singer
• 1994 – Stephen Arthurworrey, English footballer
• 1995 – Jakob Pöltl, Austrian basketball player
• 1996 – Zelo, South Korean rapper and dancer (B.A.P)

Deaths

• 898 – Lambert of Italy (b. 880)
• 912 – Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi, Spanish emir (b. 844)
• 1080 – Rudolf of Rheinfelden (b. 1025)
• 1174 – Petronilla of Aragon (b. 1135)
• 1326 – Walter de Stapledon, English bishop and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1261)
• 1389 – Pope Urban VI (b. 1318)
• 1564 – Andreas Vesalius, Belgian-Greek anatomist, physician, and author (b. 1514)
• 1690 – Juan de Valdés Leal, Spanish painter and illustrator (b. 1622)
• 1715 – Humphry Ditton, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1675)
• 1788 – Samuel Greig, Scottish-Russian admiral (b. 1735)
• 1810 – Alfred Moore, American captain and judge (b. 1755)
• 1811 – Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter and politician (b. 1735)
• 1817 – Tadeusz Kościuszko, Polish-Lithuanian general and engineer (b. 1746)
• 1819 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and politician, War Governor of Saint Petersburg (b. 1744)
• 1820 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (b. 1771)
• 1837 – Ivan Dmitriev, Russian poet and politician, Russian Minister of Justice (b. 1760)
• 1891 – Gilbert Arthur à Beckett, English author and songwriter (b. 1837)
• 1900 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech pianist and composer (b. 1850)
• 1910 – Stanley Ketchel, American boxer (b. 1886)
• 1915 – August Warberg, Swedish actor (b. 1842)
• 1917 – Mata Hari, Dutch dancer (b. 1876)
• 1918 – Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian guru and saint (b. 1838)
• 1930 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (b. 1866)
• 1934 – Raymond Poincaré, French lawyer and politician, 10th President of France (b. 1860)
• 1940 – Lluís Companys, Catalan lawyer and politician, President of Catalonia (b. 1882)
• 1945 – Pierre Laval, French lawyer and politician, 101st Prime Minister of France (b. 1883)
• 1946 – Hermann Göring, German general and politician (b. 1893)
• 1948 – Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)
• 1955 – Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese composer (b. 1914)
• 1958 – Asaf Halet Çelebi, Turkish poet and author (b. 1907)
• 1959 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian soldier and politician (b. 1909)
• 1959 – Lipót Fejér, Hungarian mathematician and academic (b. 1880)
• 1960 – Clara Kimball Young, American actress and producer (b. 1890)
• 1961 – Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Indian poet and author (b. 1896)
• 1963 – Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (b. 1908)
• 1964 – Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (b. 1891)
• 1965 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
• 1966 – Frederick Montague, 1st Baron Amwell, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1876)
• 1968 – Virginia Lee Burton, American author and illustrator (b. 1909)
• 1976 – Carlo Gambino, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1902)
• 1980 – Mikhail Lavrentyev, Russian physicist and mathematician (b. 1900)
• 1980 – Apostolos Nikolaidis, Greek footballer and volleyball player (b. 1896)
• 1981 – Philip Fotheringham-Parker, English race car driver (b. 1907)
• 1983 – Pat O'Brien, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1899)
• 1987 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabe captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (b. 1949)
• 1987 – Donald Wandrei, American author and poet (b. 1908)
• 1988 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English pianist, composer, and critic (b. 1892)
• 1990 – Delphine Seyrig, Lebanese-French actress and director (b. 1932)
• 1993 – Aydın Sayılı, Turkish historian and academic (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Sarah Kofman, French philosopher and academic (b. 1934)
• 1995 – Bengt Åkerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1967)
• 1995 – Marco Campos, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1976)
• 1998 – Colette Darfeuil, French actress (b. 1906)
• 1999 – Josef Locke, Irish tenor and actor (b. 1917)
• 2000 – Konrad Emil Bloch, Polish-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 2000 – Vincent Canby, American journalist and critic (b. 1924)
• 2003 – Ben Metcalfe, Canadian journalist and activist (b. 1919)
• 2005 – Jason Collier, American basketball player (b. 1977)
• 2005 – Matti Wuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (b. 1945)
• 2007 – Piet Boukema, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (b. 1927)
• 2008 – Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Turkish soldier and poet (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Nathan Davis, American actor (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Jack Narz, American game show host and announcer (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Heinz Versteeg, Dutch-German footballer (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Richard C. Miller, American photographer (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Mildred Fay Jefferson, American physician and activist (b. 1926)
• 2010 – Johnny Sheffield, American actor (b. 1931)
• 2011 – Betty Driver, English actress, singer, and author (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Claude Cheysson, French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Erol Günaydın, Turkish actor and screenwriter (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Maria Petrou, Greek-English computer scientist and academic (b. 1953)
• 2012 – Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Pat Ward, American lawyer and politician (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Donald Bailey, American drummer (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Nevill Drury, English-Australian journalist and publisher (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Sean Edwards, English race car driver (b. 1986)
• 2013 – Cancio Garcia, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Gloria Lynne, American singer (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Rudy Minarcin, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Hans Riegel, German businessman (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Giovanni Reale, Italian philosopher and historian (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Jiří Reynek, Czech poet and graphic designer (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Robert Tiernan, American lawyer and politician (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Nobby Wirkowski, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Sergei Filippenkov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1971)
• 2015 – Nate Huffman, American basketball player (b. 1975)
• 2015 – Neill Sheridan, American baseball player (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Kenneth D. Taylor, Canadian businessman and diplomat (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Tyrone Young, American football player (b. 1960)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Teresa of Ávila
  • Thecla of Kitzingen
  • October 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which Heroes' Day can fall, while October 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in October. (Jamaica)
• Earliest day on which Mother's Day can fall, while October 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in October. (Argentina)
• Earliest day on which Sweetest Day can fall, while October 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Saturday in October. (Great Lakes Region)
• Breast Health Day (Europe)
• Evacuation Day (Tunisia)
• Global Handwashing Day
• King Father's Commemoration Day (Cambodia)
• National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
• Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (Canada and the United States)
• Spirit Day (International observance)
• Teachers' Day (Brazil)
• White Cane Safety Day (United States)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada