On This Day — 15 September

2020

Signing of the Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement occurs in Washington, D.C., normalizing relations between Israel and two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement

2017

The Parsons Green bombing takes place in London.

Parsons Green train bombing

2011

Four miners are killed in the Gleision Colliery mining accident in the Swansea Valley, Wales.

Gleision Colliery mining accident

2008

Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

Lehman Brothers

2004

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players' union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.

National Hockey League

2001

During a CART race at the Lausitzring in Germany, former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi suffers a heavy accident resulting in him losing both his legs.

Championship Auto Racing Teams

1995

Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 crashes at Tawau Airport in Malaysia, killing 34.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133

1983

Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.

Israel

1981

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

1981

The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.

John Bull (locomotive)

1978

At the Superdome in New Orleans, Muhammad Ali outpoints Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times.

Caesars Superdome

1975

The French department of "Corse" (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica).

Departments of France

1974

Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.

Air Vietnam Flight 706

1972

A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö Bulltofta Airport.

Scandinavian Airlines

1971

The first Greenpeace ship departs from Vancouver to protest against the upcoming Cannikin nuclear weapon test in Alaska.

Greenpeace

1968

The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.

Soviet Union

1966

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.

Lyndon B. Johnson

1963

Baptist Church bombing: Four children are killed in the bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.

16th Street Baptist Church bombing

1962

The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Soviet Union

1959

Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.

Nikita Khrushchev

1958

A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.

Central Railroad of New Jersey

1954

Marilyn Monroe's iconic skirt scene is shot during filming for The Seven Year Itch.

Marilyn Monroe

1952

The United Nations cedes Eritrea to Ethiopia.

United Nations

1948

The Indian Army captures the towns of Jalna, Latur, Mominabad, Surriapet and Narkatpalli as part of Operation Polo.

Indian Army

1948

The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h).

North American F-86 Sabre

1947

Typhoon Kathleen hits the Kantō region, in Japan killing around 1,000-2,000 people.

Typhoon Kathleen

1945

A hurricane strikes southern Florida and the Bahamas, destroying 366 airplanes and 25 blimps at Naval Air Station Richmond.

1945 Homestead hurricane

1944

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1944

World War II: The Battle of Peleliu begins as the United States Marine Corps' 1st Marine Division and the United States Army's 81st Infantry Division hit White and Orange beaches under heavy fire from Japanese infantry and artillery.

Battle of Peleliu

1942

World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is sunk by Japanese torpedoes at Guadalcanal.

United States Navy

1940

World War II: The climax of the Battle of Britain, when the Luftwaffe launches its largest and most concentrated attack of the entire campaign.

World War II

1935

Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag bearing the swastika.

Nazi Germany

1935

Nazi Germany announces two new laws related to race and the rights of Jews. These became known as the Nuremberg Race Laws.

Nuremberg Laws

1918

World War I: Allied troops break through the Bulgarian defenses on the Macedonian front.

Battle of Dobro Pole

1916

World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.

World War I

1915

New Culture Movement: Chen Duxiu establishes the New Youth magazine in Shanghai.

New Culture Movement

1894

First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats the Qing dynasty in the Battle of Pyongyang, causing the Qing army to withdraw to the Chinese border with Korea.

First Sino-Japanese War

1873

Franco-Prussian War: The last Imperial German Army troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.

Franco-Prussian War

1862

American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

American Civil War

1835

HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.

HMS Beagle

1830

The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens; British MP William Huskisson becomes the first widely reported railway passenger fatality when he is struck and killed by the locomotive Rocket.

Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway

1821

The Captaincy General of Guatemala declares independence from Spain.

Captaincy General of Guatemala

1820

Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.

History of Portugal

1816

HMS Whiting runs aground on the Doom Bar.

HMS Whiting (1812)

1813

Followers of the Eight Trigram Sect loyal to Lin Qing attack the Forbidden City in a failed attempt to oust the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty.

Baguadao

1812

The Grande Armée under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow during the failed French invasion of Russia.

Grande Armée

1795

Britain seizes the Dutch Cape Colony in southern Africa to prevent its use by the Batavian Republic.

Invasion of the Cape Colony

1794

French Revolutionary Wars: Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) sees his first combat at the Battle of Boxtel during the Flanders Campaign.

French Revolutionary Wars

1789

The United States "Department of Foreign Affairs", established by law in July, is renamed the Department of State and given a variety of domestic duties.

United States Department of State

1776

American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.

American Revolutionary War

1762

Seven Years' War: Battle of Signal Hill.

Seven Years' War

1556

Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.

Vlissingen

1530

Appearance of the miraculous portrait of Saint Dominic in Soriano in Soriano Calabro, Calabria, Italy; commemorated as a feast day by the Roman Catholic Church 1644–1912.

Saint Dominic in Soriano

1440

Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by Jean de Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes.

Gilles de Rais

994

Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.

Fatimid Caliphate