Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (136th in leap years). There are 230 days remaining. Table of contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and Observances Events 1602 - Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to discover Cape Cod. 1618 - Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made). 1718 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun. 1756 - Seven Years' War: The war begins when England declares war on France. 1795 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France enters Milan in triumph. 1811 - Paraguay gains independence from Spain. 1836 - Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular solar eclipse. 1851 - Rama IV is crowed King of Thailand. 1858 - third Royal Opera House officially opened in London. 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed USDA). 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends. 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia - Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley. 1869 - Woman's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association. 1902 - In a field outside Grass Valley, California, Lyman Gilmore reportedly becomes the first person to fly a powered airplane (a steam-powered glider). 1905 - Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres (in what later would become downtown) are auctioned off. 1911 - The United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be dissolved. 1918 - Civil War in Finland ends. 1918 - The Post Office Department (later renamed the USPS) begins the first regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC). 1930 - Aboard a Boeing tri-motor, Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess (the flight was from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois). 1934 - The United States Department of Justice offers a $25,000 reward for John Dillinger. 1940 - Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the United States. 1940 - World War II: German troops occupy Amsterdam and invade Northern France. 1941 - Joe DiMaggio starts his record-breaking 56-game home run hitting streak. 1942 - World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law. 1948 - Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel. 1958 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3. 1960 - Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit. 1963 - Mercury program: NASA launches the last mission of the program, Mercury 9 (on June 12 NASA Administrator James Webb told Congress the program was complete). 1970 - The Beatles' last LP, Let It Be, is released in the United States 1972 - In Laurel, Maryland a disturbed, out-of-work janitor named Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while Wallace is campaigning to be president. 1988 - Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Red Army begins its withdraw from Afghanistan. 1990 - Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million. 1991 - Edith Cresson becomes France's first female premier 1992 - The Genoa Expo '92 World's Fair opens in Genoa, Italy Births 1048 - Omar Khayyam, poet († 1123) 1567 - Claudio Monteverdi, composer († 1643) 1773 - Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, statesman († 1859) 1856 - L. Frank Baum, author († 1919) 1859 - Pierre Curie, physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics 1903 († 1906) 1862 - Arthur Schnitzler, dramatist and narrator († 1931) 1889 - Bessie Hillman, founder, Almalgamated Clothing Workers of America 1890 - Katherine Anne Porter, author († 1980) 1891 - Mikhail Bulgakov, writer († 1940) 1898 - Arletty, model, actress († 1992) 1902 - Richard J. Daley, mayor of Chicago, Illinois († 1976) 1905 - Joseph Cotten, actor († 1994) 1909 - James Mason, actor († 1984) 1911 - Max Frisch, author 1915 - Paul Samuelson, economist, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Prize in economics 1918 - Eddy Arnold, singer 1926 - Peter Shaffer, playwright 1930 - Jasper Johns, painter 1931 - Ken Venturi, golfer 1934 - Alvin F. Poussaint, physicist, psychiatrist, educator 1936 - Paul Zindel, novelist, playwright 1936 - Anna Maria Alberghetti, actress 1937 - Trini López, musician 1941 - K.T. Oslin, country musician 1945 – Duarte, Duke of Braganza and presumptive heir of the Portuguese crown 1948 - Brian Eno, musician, record producer 1951 - Jonathan Richman, musician 1953 - Mike Oldfield, composer 1959 - Khaosai Galaxy, boxer 1959 - Kaokor Galaxy, boxer 1965 - Lizi Rodriguez, psychologist and media psychotherapist 1967 - John Smoltz, baseball player 1969 - Emmitt Smith, American football player Deaths 1634 - Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter 1782 - Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese prime minister 1886 - Emily Dickinson, poet 1937 - Phillip Snowden, British politician (b. 1864) 1948 - Father Edward Flanagan, priest, founder of Boys Town 1971 - Sir Tyrone Guthrie, director, producer, writer 1983 - Meyer Lansky, gangster 1986 - Theodore H. White, writer 1994 - Gilbert Roland, actor 1995 - Eric Porter, actor 1998 - Earl Manigault, basketball player 2003 - June Carter Cash, musician, singer, wife of Johnny Cash Holidays and Observances Paraguay - Independence Day Roman Empire - Mercuralia in honor of Mercury held. See Also: May 14 - May 16 - April 15 - June 15 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.