October 15

October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in Leap years). There are 77 days remaining.

• 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, skipping over 10 days. Other countries follow at various later dates.
• 1815 - Napoleon I of France begins his exile on St. Helena
• 1863 - CSS Hunley sinks.
• 1928 - Graf Zeppelin[?] lands in Lakehurst, New Jersey
• 1970 - 35 construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below.
• 1997 - The first supersonic land speed record is set by the ThrustSSC team from the United Kingdom.

Births:

• 70 BC - Virgil, Roman poet
• 1829 - Asaph Hall, astronomer
• 1844 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (+ 1900)
• 1858 - John L. Sullivan, boxing champion
• 1881 - P. G. Wodehouse, British comic novelist (+ 1975)
• 1900 - Mervyn LeRoy, film director (+ 1987)
• 1908 - John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist
• 1909 - Robert Trout[?], reporter (+ 2000)
• 1913 - Klaus Barbie, war criminal
• 1917 - Arthur Schlesinger Jr.[?], political commentator, author
• 1920 - Mario Puzo, American novelist (+ 1999)
• 1920 - Chris Economaki[?], Indianapolis 500 reporter
• 1924 - Lee Iacocca, industrialist
• 1926 - Evan Hunter[?] (Ed McBain[?]), author
• 1926 - Jean Peters[?], actress
• 1931 - Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, Indian president and scientist
• 1935 - Bobby Joe Morrow, American athlete
• 1937 - Barry McGuire[?], singer
• 1942 - Penny Marshall[?], actress, comedienne, film director
• 1945 - Jim Palmer[?], baseball star
• 1957 - Mira Nair, Indian director
• 1959 - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
• 1959 - Emeril Lagasse[?], chef
• 1959 - Todd Solondz[?], director
• 1970 - Eric Benet[?], singer
• 1975 - Ginuwine, singer

Deaths:

• 1880 - Victorio[?], Chiricahua Apache leader
• 1891 - Gilbert Arthur a Beckett, British writer
• 1917 - Mata Hari, Dutch exotic dancer and spy
• 1945 - Pierre Laval[?], former premier of Vichy French government
• 1946 - Joachim von Ribbentrop, German foreign minister
• 1946 - Hermann Göring, German air force commander
• 1964 - Cole Porter, American composer
• 2000 - Konrad Emil Bloch, German/American biochemist

Holidays and observances:

• United States - White Cane Safety Day

October 14 - October 16 - September 15 - November 15 - more historical anniversaries