Today In History - March 15

493 Theodorik the Great beats Odoaker of Italy
933 Battle at Riade: German King Henry I beats Magyaren
1360 France invasion army lands on English south coast and conquers Winchel
1382 Conservative "Popolo Grasso" regain power in Florence Italy
1391 Jew hating Monk in Seville Spain stirs up people to attack Jews
1493 Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after first new world voyage
1560 Failed assault on royal palace in Amboise France
1562 General Francois de Guise enters Paris
1580 Spanish King Philip II puts 25,000 gold coins on the head of Prince Willem of Orange
1672 King Charles II enacts Declaration of Indulgence
1729 Sister St. Stanislas Hachard, first U.S. nun, takes her vows in New Orleans
1744 French King Louis XV declares war on England
1778 Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island is discovered by Captain Cook
1781 Battle of Guilford Court House, South Carolina
1812 The first Russian settlement in California, Russian River
1820 Maine is admitted as the 23rd state
1827 Freedom's Journal, first Black newspaper, publishes
1827 University of Toronto is chartered
1855 Louisiana establishes first health board to regulate quarantine
1862 General John Hunt Morgan begins 4 days of raids near Gallatin, Tennessee
1864 Red River Campaign-Union forces reach Alexandria, Louisiana
1867 Michigan becomes first state to tax property to support a university
1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings beat Antioch 41-7
1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings become the first pro baseball team
1875 The first U.S. cardinal (John McCloskey) is invested
1887 The first salaried fish and game warden (William Alden Smith in Michigan)
1889 6 U.S. and German warships perish in harbor of Apia Samoa, 200 die
1892 The first escalator patented by inventor Jesse W. Reno in New York City
1892 New York State unveils automatic ballot booth
1897 The first indoor fly casting tournament opens, at Madison Square Garden
1901 Horse racing is banned in San Francisco, last race on March 16th
1903 Frederick Lugard occupies Sokoto West Africa
1906 Rolls, Royce, and Johnson form Rolls Royce, Ltd.
1907 Finland is first European country to give women the right to vote
1912 Pitcher Cy Young retires from baseball with 511 wins
1913 Cleveland establishes the first small claims court
1913 The first Presidential press conference (Woodrow Wilson)
1915 Netherlands merchant ship Tubantia is torpedoed and sinks in North Sea
1916 General Pershing, 15,000 troops chasing Pancho Villa into Mexico: for 10-months
1916 University of Gent goes under Dutch control
1917 Nicholas II, last Russian tsar, says he will abdicate
1919 American Legion forms (Paris)
1922 The first southern radio station begins (WSB, Atlanta Georgia)
1923 Lenin is hit with his 3rd stroke
1926 Belgium's "black Monday" (the franc falls)
1928 Mussolini modifies Italy electoral system (abolishes right to choose)
1930 The first seaplane glider is flown in Port Washington, New York
1930 The first streamlined submarine of U.S. navy, the USS Nautilus, is launched
1933 NAACP begins coordinated attack on segregation and discrimination
1934 U.S. Information Service opens
1937 The first blood bank forms (Chicago, Illinois)
1937 The first state contraceptive clinic opens in Raleigh, North Carolina
1939 Hitler occupies Bohemia and Moravia
1940 Goering says 100-200 church bells enough for Germany, smelt the rest
1941 Blizzard in North Dakota kills 151
1943 Allied reconnaissance flight over Java
1943 Red Army evacuates Kharkov
1944 Italian town of Cassino is destroyed by Allied bombing
1945 17th Academy Awards - "Going my Way," Bing Cosby and Ingrid Bergman win
1945 Bert Shepard (the 1-legged WW II vet) tries out as a pitcher for the Senators
1945 Billboard publishes its first album chart (King Cole Trio is #1)
1945 Catholic University of Nijmegen reopens
1945 Dodgers open spring training at Bear Mountain, New York
1946 British premier Attlee agrees with India's right to independence
1947 John Lee appointed first black commissioned officer in U.S. Navy
1948 Sir Laurence Olivier is on the cover of LIFE magazine
1948 WCAU TV channel 10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (CBS) begins broadcasting
1949 WICU TV channel 12 in Erie, Pennsylvania (NBC) begins broadcasting
1949 WLWD (now WDTN) TV channel 2 in Dayton, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
1950 New York City hires Dr. Wallace E Howell as its official "rainmaker"
1951 Persia nationalizes the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
1952 "2 in the Aisle" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City after 276 performances
1952 Greatest 24-hr rainfall begins: 187 cm at La Reunion, Indian Ocean
1953 Patty Berg wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1953 West Germany loses in soccer to Netherlands, 2-1
1954 "CBS Morning Show" premieres with Walter Cronkite and Jack Paar
1954 WSJV TV channel 28 in Elkhart-South Bend, IN (ABC) begins broadcasting
1955 U.S. Air Force unveils self-guided missile
1955 WLEX TV channel 18 in Lexington, Kentucky (NBC) begins broadcasting
1956 "My Fair Lady" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City for 2,715 performances
1956 Whipper Billy Watson beats Lou Thesz in Toronto, to become NWA champ
1957 Britain becomes the 3rd nation to explode a nuclear bomb
1958 Oscar Robertson scores an NCAA Midwest region record 56 pts
1958 U.S.S.R. performs atmospheric nuclear test
1959 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1959 Richard Rogers' "No Strings" opens on Broadway
1959 Robert Foster sets record by staying underwater 13 m 42.5 s
1959 WILX TV channel 10 in Lansing, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting
1960 Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve established, first underwater park
1960 National Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona is dedicated
1961 South Africa withdraws from British Commonwealth
1962 "No Strings" opens at 84th St. Theater New York City for 580 performances
1962 5 research groups announce simultaneously discovery of anti-matter
1962 Donald Jackson of Canada, is first to land a Triple Lutz ice skate jump
1962 KATU TV channel 2 in Portland, OR (ABC) begins broadcasting
1962 Wilt Chamberlain is first to score 4,000 pts in an NBA season
1963 WFAN TV channel 14 in Washington, D.C. (IND) begins broadcasting
1964 Liz Taylor's 5th marriage (Richard Burton)
1964 Lyndon Baines Johnson asks for a War on Poverty
1964 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
1965 Lyndon Baines Johnson asks congress to ensure everybody's right to vote
1965 T.G.I. Friday's first restaurant opens in New York City
1965 WMFE TV channel 24 in Orlando, Florida (PBS) begins broadcasting
1966 8th Grammy Awards: Taste of Honey, Tom Jones, Sintra and Striesand
1966 Racial riots erupt in the Watts section of Los Angeles
1967 AFCENT-headquarter moves to Brunssum
1967 Marshal Arturo da Costa e Silva sworn in as President of Brazil
1967 WSJK TV channel 2 in Sneedville/Knoxville, Tennessee (PBS) first broadcast
1968 Bob Beamon sets indoor long jump record (27'2-3/4")
1968 British minister of Foreign affairs George Brown resigns
1968 Diocese of Rome announces that it "deplored the concept," but wouldn't prohibit rock and roll masses at Church of San Lessio Falconieri
1968 LIFE mag calls Jimi Hendrix "most spectacular guitarist in the world"
1968 U.S. Mint stops buying and selling gold
1968 Uprising in South Yemen
1969 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigns
1969 Violent Chinese-Russian border dispute
1970 "Purlie" opens at Broadway Theater New York City for 689 performances
1970 Expo '70 opens in Osaka, Japan
1970 Gary Geld and Peter Udell's "Purlie," premieres in New York City
1971 CBS TV announces it is dropping the "Ed Sullivan Show"
1971 Chatrooms make their debut on the Internet
1972 Danish airliner hit mountain in Sheikdom of Oman killing 112 people
1972 NASA selects 3 part configuration for the Space Shuttle
1974 Brazilian president Garastazu Medici resigns
1975 Jevgeni Kulikov skates world record 500m (37.99 sec)
1976 Failed coup in Niger
1977 "Eight is Enough" premiers on ABC-TV
1977 U.S. House of Representatives begins 90 day test of televising its sessions
1978 A's trade Vida Blue to Giants for 7 players and $390,000
1978 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1978 Operation Litani: Israeli offensive in South Lebanon
1981 Patty Hayes wins LPGA Sun City Golf Classic
1982 Actress Theresa Saladana, stabbed repeatedly by obsessed fan
1982 KGB-AM in San Diego, California changes call letters to KCNN (now KPOP)
1982 Nicaragua suspends their citizens' rights for 30 days
1983 Karnataka beat Bombay on first innings to win cricket Ranji Trophy
1984 10th People's Choice Awards: Brooke Shields
1984 Tanzania adopts a constitution
1985 Larry Holmes TKOs David Bey in 10 for heavyweight boxing title
1985 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 Funeral services held for Swedish PM Olaf Palme
1987 "Starlight Express" opens at Gershwin Theater New York City for 761 performances
1987 "Sweet Charity" closes at Minskoff Theater New York City after 368 performances
1987 13th People's Choice Awards: Bill Cosby
1987 U.S. Davis Cup team loses to Paraguay
1988 Eugene Marino of Atlanta, appointed the first African American Archbishop
1988 NASA reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer by CFK
1988 NFL's St. Louis Cardinals officially move to Phoenix
1989 "Les Miserables," opens at Royal Alexandra Theatre Toronto
1989 Department of Veterans Affairs officially established as a Cabinet position
1989 New York Rangers retire goalie Eddie Giacomin's #1 uniform
1990 Fernando Collor de Mello sworn in as President of Brazil
1991 Four LA police are charged with beating Rodney King
1991 Sergei Bubka pole vaults record 20'
1991 Territories of Amapa and Roraima become states in Brazil
1992 Brandie Burton wins LPGA Ping/Welch's Golf Championship
1992 U.N. officially embarks on its largest peacekeeping operation
1993 Vinod Kambli scores 227 vs. Zimbabwe, his 2nd consecutive Test 200
1994 8th Soul Train Music Awards: Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston win
1994 Experts from AL certify Indian's Jacobs Field is properly lit
1997 Pitts Penguins' Joe Mullen, is first American to score 500 NHL goals
1998 Welch's/Circle K Golf Championship
1999 Pluto again becomes outermost planet

Today In History - March 15

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