On This Day — 15 January

2023

Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes near Pokhara International Airport, killing all 72 people on board.

Yeti Airlines Flight 691

2022

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupts, cutting off communications with Tonga and causing a tsunami across the Pacific.

2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami

2021

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia's Sulawesi island killing at least 105 and injuring 3,369 people.

2021 West Sulawesi earthquake

2020

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirms the first case of COVID-19 in Japan.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

2019

Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19.

Somalia

2019

Theresa May's UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230.

Theresa May

2018

British multinational construction and facilities management services company Carillion goes into liquidation – officially, "the largest ever trading liquidation in the UK".

Construction

2016

The Kenyan Army suffers its worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 Kenyan soldiers are killed in the battle.

Kenya Defence Forces

2015

The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the Swiss franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.

Swiss National Bank

2013

A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others.

Badrashin railway accident

2009

US Airways Flight 1549 ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off. This becomes known as "The Miracle on the Hudson" as all 155 people on board were rescued.

US Airways Flight 1549

2005

ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon.

European Space Agency

2001

Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, is launched (Wikipedia Day).

Wikipedia

1991

The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.

United Nations

1991

Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system.

Elizabeth II

1981

Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish trade union Solidarity at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.

Pope John Paul II

1977

Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes in Kälvesta near Stockholm Bromma Airport in Stockholm, Sweden, killing 22 people.

Linjeflyg Flight 618

1976

Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.

Gerald Ford

1975

The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal.

Alvor Agreement

1973

Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

Vietnam War

1970

Nigerian Civil War: Biafran rebels surrender following an unsuccessful 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria.

Nigerian Civil War

1970

Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.

Muammar Gaddafi

1969

The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.

Soviet Union

1967

The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.

Super Bowl

1966

The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d'état.

First Nigerian Republic

1962

The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece.

Derveni papyrus

1962

Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy.

Dutch New Guinea

1949

Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist government.

Chinese Civil War

1947

The Black Dahlia murder: The dismembered corpse of Elizabeth Short is found in Los Angeles.

Black Dahlia

1943

World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.

World War II

1943

The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington County, Virginia.

The Pentagon

1937

Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republicans both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.

Spanish Civil War

1936

The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.

O-I Glass

1934

The 8.0 Mw  Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people.

1934 Nepal–India earthquake

1919

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent communists in Germany, are clubbed and then shot to death by members of the Freikorps at the end of the Spartacist uprising.

Rosa Luxemburg

1919

Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150.

Great Molasses Flood

1911

Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded.

Palestinian Arabic

1910

Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 99 m (325 ft).

Buffalo Bill Dam

1908

The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.

Alpha Kappa Alpha

1892

James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.

James Naismith

1889

The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.

The Coca-Cola Company

1876

The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl.

Afrikaans

1870

Thomas Nast publishes a political cartoon symbolizing the Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion") for Harper's Weekly.

Thomas Nast

1867

Forty people die when ice covering the boating lake at Regent's Park, London, collapses.

Regent's Park skating disaster

1865

American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.

American Civil War

1822

Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly.

Greek War of Independence

1818

A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a "supplement" (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light.

David Brewster

1782

Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.

Robert Morris (financier)

1777

American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence.

American Revolutionary War

1759

The British Museum opens to the public.

British Museum

1582

Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Truce of Yam-Zapolsky

1559

Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey, London.

Elizabeth I

1541

King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the "Holy Catholic faith".

Francis I of France

1535

King Henry VIII issues letters patent incorporating the title Supreme Head of the Church of England into his royal title.

Henry VIII

69

Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.

AD 69