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On this day in history - January 15

What Happened On This Day – January 15

  • 2001 Wikipedia goes online

    The online encyclopedia has since become the largest reference work on the internet.

  • 1992 Croatia and Slovenia are internationally recognized as independent nations

    The Yugoslav federation effectively collapsed as a result.

  • 1973 Nixon orders ceasefire in Vietnam

    The fighting continued anyway until the capture of Saigon by the Vietnam People's Army on April 30, 1975.

  • 1892 The rules of Basketball are published

    Canadian James Naismith invented the sport for his gym class at YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts.

  • 1759 The British Museum opens

    Its collection comprises 8 million items and it is one of the most comprehensive collections in the world.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
January 15

  • 1965 James Nesbitt

    Irish actor

  • 1941 Captain Beefheart

    American singer-songwriter

  • 1929 Martin Luther King, Jr.

    American minster, activist, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1918 Gamal Abdel Nasser

    Egyptian army officer, politician, 2nd President of Egypt

  • 1622 Molière

    French playwright, actor

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
January 15

  • 1994 Harry Nilsson

    American singer-songwriter, musician

  • 1988 Seán MacBride

    Irish politician, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1950 Henry H. Arnold

    American general

  • 1947 Elizabeth Short

    American waitress, murder victim

  • 1919 Rosa Luxemburg

    Russian economist, philosopher