On This Day — 15 April

2000s

2026

Ten people and the perpetrator are killed and twelve others injured in a mass shooting at a school in Onikişubat, Turkey.

2026 Onikişubat school shooting

2021

A mass shooting occurs at a FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven.

Indianapolis FedEx shooting

2019

The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.

Notre-Dame de Paris

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2014

In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, more than 400 civilians are gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.

Bentiu massacre

2013

Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring over 500 others.

Boston Marathon bombing

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2013

A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.

15 April 2013 Iraq attacks

2002

Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.

Air China Flight 129

1900s

1994

Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.

Marrakesh Agreement

1989

Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.

Hillsborough disaster

1989

Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.

Hu Yaobang

1986

The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.

1986 United States bombing of Libya

1970

During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.

Cambodian Civil War

1969

The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

1969 EC-121 shootdown incident

1960

At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Shaw University

1955

McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

McDonald's

1952

First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

1947

Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.

Jackie Robinson

1945

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp

1942

World War II: The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI.

Award of the George Cross to Malta

1941

World War II: In the Belfast Blitz, 200 bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing some 1,000 people.

World War II

1936

First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.

1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine

1923

Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.

Insulin

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1923

Racially motivated Nihon Shōgakkō fire lit by a serial arsonist kills 10 children in Sacramento, California.

Japanese mission school fire

1922

U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.

John B. Kendrick

1920

Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.

Braintree, Massachusetts

1912

The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,224 passengers and crew on board survive.

Titanic

1900

Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.

Philippine–American War

1800s

1896

Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.

1896 Summer Olympics

1892

The General Electric Company is formed.

General Electric

1865

President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Three hours later, Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as president.

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

1861

President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln

1817

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons), the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

Before 1800

1755

Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.

Samuel Johnson

1738

Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, receives its premiere performance in London, England.

Serse

1736

Foundation of the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica.

Kingdom of Corsica (1736)

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1715

The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.

Yamasee War

1642

Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.

Irish Confederate Wars

1632

Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

Battle of Rain

1450

Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.

Battle of Formigny