# On this day: November 15

November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years), with 46 days left until the end of the year.

## November 15 in one line

Headline entries for November 15, from Wikipedia: in 2012, Xi Jinping replaced Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, succeeding as the paramount leader of China; born 1862: Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1946); died 1630: Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and mathematician (born 1571). In 2026 it is a Sunday, in 2027 a Monday.

## Events on November 15

- 655 Penda of Mercia and Æthelhere of East Anglia were defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria at the Battle of the Winwaed in Yorkshire, England. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penda_of_Mercia)
- 1315 Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Morgarten. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Morgarten)
- 1533 Francisco Pizarro arrives in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Pizarro)
- 1688 Prince William III of Orange lands a Dutch army at Brixham, beginning the 1688 invasion of England to challenge the rule of King James II and setting in motion the events that would lead to the Glorious Revolution. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution)
- 1760 The chapel of the newly constructed Castellania in Valletta, Malta, was consecrated. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellania_(Valletta))
- 1859 Sponsored by Greek businessman Evangelos Zappas, the first modern revival of the Olympic Games took place in Athens. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zappas_Olympics)
- 1864 American Civil War: Union army general William Tecumseh Sherman began his March to the Sea, inflicting significant damage to property and infrastructure using scorched-earth tactics on his way from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman)
- 1884 The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 met on 15 November 1884, and after an adjournment concluded on 26 February 1885, with the signature of a General Act, regulating the European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Conference)
- 1889 Brazilian emperor Pedro II was overthrown in a coup led by Deodoro da Fonseca, while the country was proclaimed a republic. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_and_fall_of_Pedro_II_of_Brazil)
- 1908 As a result of numerous atrocities in the territory, the Congo Free State was annexed to Belgium to form the Belgian Congo. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State)
- 1920 The first assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva, Switzerland. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations)
- 1922 During a general strike in Guayaquil, Ecuador, police and military fired into a crowd, killing at least 300 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Guayaquil_general_strike)
- 1922 Fountain of Time, in Chicago's Washington Park, was dedicated as a tribute to 100 years of peace between the United States and Great Britain following the Treaty of Ghent. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_of_Time)
- 1938 Nazi Germany bans Jewish children from public schools in the aftermath of Kristallnacht. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht)
- 1942 World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal)
- 1943 The Holocaust: In the Romani Holocaust, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler ordered that the Romani were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps". [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_Holocaust)
- 1955 The first part of the Saint Petersburg Metro is opened. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Metro)
- 1959 Two men murdered a family in Holcomb, Kansas; the events became the subject of Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, a pioneering work of the true crime genre. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood)
- 1966 Project Gemini: Gemini 12 completes the program's final mission, when it splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_12)
- 1971 Intel releases the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_4004)
- 1985 A research assistant is injured when a package from the Unabomber addressed to a University of Michigan professor explodes. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan)
- 1988 The Soviet spacecraft Buran, a reusable vehicle built in response to NASA's Space Shuttle program, was launched, uncrewed, on its only flight. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft))
- 1990 Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-38, a classified mission for the Department of Defense. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-38)
- 2000 Edoardo Agnelli, son of the industrialist patriarch Gianni Agnelli, was found dead under a bridge on the outskirts of Turin, Italy. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edoardo_Agnelli)
- 2001 Microsoft launches the Xbox game console in North America. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America)
- 2012 Xi Jinping replaced Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, succeeding as the paramount leader of China. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping)

## Born on November 15

- 1316 John I, king of France and Navarre (died 1316) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I_of_France)
- 1397 Nicholas V, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1455) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_V)
- 1607 Madeleine de Scudéry, French author (died 1701) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_de_Scud%C3%A9ry)
- 1708 William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (died 1778) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt%2C_1st_Earl_of_Chatham)
- 1738 William Herschel, German-English astronomer and composer (died 1822) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel)
- 1862 Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1946) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhart_Hauptmann)
- 1874 August Krogh, Danish zoologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1949) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Krogh)
- 1886 René Guénon, French-Egyptian philosopher and author (died 1951) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Gu%C3%A9non)
- 1887 Georgia O'Keeffe, American painter and educator (died 1986) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_O'Keeffe)
- 1891 Erwin Rommel, German field marshal (died 1944) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Rommel)
- 1907 Claus von Stauffenberg, German colonel (died 1944) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_von_Stauffenberg)
- 1929 Ed Asner, American actor, singer, and producer (died 2021) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Asner)
- 1930 J. G. Ballard, English novelist, short story writer, and essayist (died 2009) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._G._Ballard)
- 1931 Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan economist and politician, 3rd President of Kenya (died 2022) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mwai_Kibaki)
- 1935 Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian politician [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abbas)
- 1945 Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Norwegian-Swedish singer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anni-Frid_Lyngstad)
- 1954 Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Polish journalist and politician, 3rd President of Poland [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksander_Kwa%C5%9Bniewski)
- 1967 François Ozon, French director, producer, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Ozon)
- 1983 John Heitinga, Dutch footballer and coach [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heitinga)
- 1986 Sania Mirza, Indian tennis player [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sania_Mirza)
- 1991 Shailene Woodley, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shailene_Woodley)
- 1993 Paulo Dybala, Argentine footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Dybala)

## Died on November 15

- 1280 Albertus Magnus, German bishop, theologian, and philosopher (born 1193) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus)
- 1630 Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and mathematician (born 1571) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler)
- 1670 John Amos Comenius, Czech bishop, philosopher, and educator (born 1592) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Amos_Comenius)
- 1787 Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (born 1714) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Willibald_Gluck)
- 1832 Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and businessman (born 1767) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Say)
- 1908 Cixi, China empress dowager and regent (born 1835) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Dowager_Cixi)
- 1916 Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1846) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_Sienkiewicz)
- 1917 Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (born 1858) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Durkheim)
- 1919 Alfred Werner, French-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1866) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Werner)
- 1949 Nathuram Godse, Indian assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (born 1910) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathuram_Godse)
- 1954 Lionel Barrymore, American actor, singer, director, and screenwriter (born 1878) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Barrymore)
- 1959 Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._T._R._Wilson)
- 1976 Jean Gabin, French actor, singer, and producer (born 1904) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Gabin)
- 1978 Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and author (born 1901) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead)

## Holidays and observances

- America Recycles Day (United States) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Recycles_Day)
- Christian feast day: Abibus of Edessa [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abibus_of_Edessa)
- Christian feast day: Albert the Great [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Caius of Korea [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caius_of_Korea)
- Christian feast day: Didier of Cahors [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_of_Cahors)
- Christian feast day: Francis Asbury and George Whitefield (Episcopal Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Hugh Faringdon [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Faringdon)
- Christian feast day: Leopold III, a public holiday in Lower Austria and Vienna. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_III%2C_Margrave_of_Austria)
- Christian feast day: Malo [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malo_(saint))
- Christian feast day: Mechell [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechell)
- Christian feast day: November 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_15_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Day of the German-speaking Community of Belgium (German-speaking Community of Belgium) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_German-speaking_Community)
- Day of the Imprisoned Writer (International observance) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Imprisoned_Writer)
- Independence Day, unilaterally declared in 1988. (Palestine) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Declaration_of_Independence)
- King's Feast (Belgium) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Feast)
- National Tree Planting Day (Sri Lanka) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbor_Day)
- Peace Day (Ivory Coast) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Ivory_Coast)
- Republic Proclamation Day (Brazil) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Brazil)
- Shichi-Go-San (Japan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shichi-Go-San)
- Republic Day (Northern Cyprus) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day_(Northern_Cyprus))
- The beginning of Nativity Fast (Eastern Orthodox) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_Fast)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “November 15”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_15) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/November 15”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/November_15) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“November 15”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_15) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_15?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for November 15 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## November 15 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Sunday | 2026-W46 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2027 | Monday | 2027-W46 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2028 | Wednesday | 2028-W46 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2029 | Thursday | 2029-W46 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2030 | Friday | 2030-W46 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on November 15

- [🇧🇷 Brazil](https://whathappen.today/holidays/brazil/): Republic Proclamation Day (2026 and 2027)
- [🇲🇽 Mexico](https://whathappen.today/holidays/mexico/): Revolution Day (2027)
- [🇨🇴 Colombia](https://whathappen.today/holidays/colombia/): Independence of Cartagena (2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← November 14](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/november-14/) · [November 16 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/november-16/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/november-15/