On this day: May 15

Events on May 15

• 589 King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence among the Lombard nobility. Wikipedia
• 756 Abd al-Rahman I, the founder of the Arab dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries, becomes emir of Cordova, Spain. Wikipedia
• 1525 Insurgent peasants led by Anabaptist pastor Thomas Müntzer are defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen, ending the German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1571 Venice, Spain, Naples, the Papal States, and other Italian states establish the Holy League to fight the Ottomans, resulting in the victory at Lepanto later that year. Wikipedia
• 1602 Early English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold arrived on Cape Cod in present-day Massachusetts. Wikipedia
• 1725 Bach led the first performance of his cantata Ich bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85, about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Wikipedia
• 1725 Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Ich bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85, about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Wikipedia
• 1791 French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance. Wikipedia
• 1850 The Arana–Southern Treaty is ratified, ending "the existing differences" between Great Britain and Argentina. Wikipedia
• 1862 Fertilisation of Orchids, the first book by Charles Darwin which demonstrated the power of natural selection in detail, was published. Wikipedia
• 1864 American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia: Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley. Wikipedia
• 1864 American Civil War: A small Confederate force, which included cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, forced the Union army out of the Shenandoah Valley. Wikipedia
• 1928 Mickey and Minnie Mouse made their film debuts in the animated cartoon Plane Crazy. Wikipedia
• 1934 A self coup by prime minister Kārlis Ulmanis succeeds in Latvia, suspending its constitution and dissolving its Saeima. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: The Battle of the Netherlands: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation. Wikipedia
• 1943 Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International). Wikipedia
• 1948 Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel, thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Wikipedia
• 1963 Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone. Wikipedia
• 1970 President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington as the first female United States Army generals. Wikipedia
• 1974 Ma'alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren. Wikipedia
• 1988 Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan. Wikipedia
• 1990 Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold at auction at Christie's in New York for US$82.5 million, making it the world's most expensive painting at the time. Wikipedia
• 2004 Arsenal became the first football team in England's top flight to finish a season undefeated since Preston North End did so in 1888–1889. Wikipedia
• 2008 California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state's own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional. Wikipedia
• 2010 Three days before her seventeenth birthday, Jessica Watson arrived in Sydney after sailing non-stop and unassisted around the world. Wikipedia
• 2013 An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days. Wikipedia

Born on May 15

• 1397 Sejong the Great, Korean king of Joseon (died 1450) Wikipedia
• 1567 Claudio Monteverdi, Italian priest and composer (died 1643) Wikipedia
• 1773 Klemens von Metternich, German-Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire (died 1859) Wikipedia
• 1845 Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (died 1916) Wikipedia
• 1848 Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter and illustrator (died 1926) Wikipedia
• 1856 L. Frank Baum, American novelist (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1859 Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1906) Wikipedia
• 1862 Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and playwright (died 1931) Wikipedia
• 1891 Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (died 1940) Wikipedia
• 1911 Max Frisch, Swiss playwright and novelist (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1915 Paul Samuelson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1937 Madeleine Albright, Czech-American politician and diplomat, 64th United States Secretary of State (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1938 Diane Nash, American civil rights movement activist Wikipedia
• 1948 Brian Eno, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer Wikipedia
• 1951 Frank Wilczek, American mathematician and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1964 Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Denmark Wikipedia
• 1967 Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress Wikipedia
• 1975 Janne Seurujärvi, Finnish Sami politician, first Sami ever to be elected to the Finnish Parliament Wikipedia
• 1981 Patrice Evra, French footballer Wikipedia
• 1982 Layal Abboud, Lebanese singer Wikipedia
• 1987 Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player Wikipedia
• 1997 Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on May 15

• 392 Valentinian II, Roman emperor (born 371) Wikipedia
• 884 Marinus I, pope of the Catholic Church (born 830) Wikipedia
• 1157 Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev (born 1099) Wikipedia
• 1174 Nur ad-Din, Seljuk emir of Syria (born 1118) Wikipedia
• 1470 Charles VIII, king of Sweden (born 1409) Wikipedia
• 1886 Emily Dickinson, American poet and author (born 1830) Wikipedia
• 1924 Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852) Wikipedia
• 1935 Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian-Russian painter and theoretician (born 1878) Wikipedia
• 1967 Edward Hopper, American painter (born 1882) Wikipedia
• 1978 Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 2003 June Carter Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2012 Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2014 Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (born 1940) Wikipedia
• 2020 Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, and writer (born 1933) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto) Wikipedia
• Army Day (Slovenia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Achillius of Larissa Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Athanasius of Alexandria (Coptic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hallvard Vebjørnsson (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hilary of Galeata Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Isidore the Laborer, celebrated with festivals in various countries, the beginning of bullfighting season in Madrid. Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Kaleb of Axum Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Peter, Andrew, Paul, and Denise (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Reticius (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sophia of Rome (Roman Catholic church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar) Wikipedia
• Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Paraguay), celebrates the independence of Paraguay from Spain in 1811. Celebrations for the anniversary of the independence begin on Flag Day, May 14. Wikipedia
• International Conscientious Objectors Day Wikipedia
• International Day of Families (International) Wikipedia
• La Corsa dei Ceri begins on the eve of the feast day of Saint Ubaldo. (Gubbio) Wikipedia
• Mother's Day (Paraguay) Wikipedia
• Nakba Day (Palestinian communities) Wikipedia
• Peace Officers Memorial Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Lithuania) Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day (Colombia, Mexico, and South Korea) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 15” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.