On this day in history

March 15

25 births · 12 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Syrian Civil War

15 years ago

Born this day

1767

Andrew Jackson

Died aged 78

Oldest record

1806th

Cao Cao

death anniversary

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Famous births25

AD 270 · 1756 yrs

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 73

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1638 · 388 yrs

Shunzhi Emperor

The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661), personal name Fulin, was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper. Upon the death of his father Hong Taiji, a committee of Manchu princes chose the 5-year-old Fulin as successor.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 22

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1713 · 313 yrs

Nicolas Louis de Lacaille

Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (French:; 15 March 1713 – 21 March 1762), formerly sometimes spelled de la Caille, was a French astronomer and geodesist who named 14 out of the 88 constellations. From 1750 to 1754, he studied the sky at the Cape of Good Hope in present-day South Africa.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 49

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Photo: Melle Le Jeuneux · Public domain

1738 · 288 yrs

Cesare Beccaria

Cesare Beccaria Bonesana, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio (Italian:; 15 March 1738 – 28 November 1794) was an Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, economist, and politician.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 56

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Photo: Eliseo Sala · Public domain

1767 · 259 yrs

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He rose to fame as a U.S. Army general and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 78

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Photo: Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl · Public domain

1779 · 247 yrs

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 1779 – 24 November 1848), was a British Whig statesman who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, first in 1834 and again from 1835 to 1841.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 69

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Photo: John Partridge · Public domain

1830 · 196 yrs

Élisée Reclus

Jacques Élisée Reclus (French:; 15 March 1830 – 4 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer, anarchist, and a vegetarian. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes (Universal Geography), over a period of nearly 20 years (1875–1894).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 75

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Photo: Nadar · Public domain

1854 · 172 yrs

Emil von Behring

Emil von Behring (German:; Emil Adolf von Behring: born Emil Adolf Behring; 15 March 1854 – 31 March 1917), was a German physiologist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 63

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Photo: L. Lamarra, Neapel · Public domain

1856 · 170 yrs

Hara Takashi

Hara Takashi (原敬; 15 March 1856 – 4 November 1921), informally known as Hara Kei, was a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1918 until his assassination.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 65

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1857 · 169 yrs

Christian Michelsen

Peter Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Michelsen (15 March 1857– 29 June 1925), better known as Christian Michelsen, was a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman. He was the first prime minister of independent Norway from 1905 to 1907.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 68

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Photo: Frederik Hilfling-Rasmussen · Public domain

1878 · 148 yrs

Reza Shah

Reza Shah Pahlavi (previously Reza Khan; 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was Shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the Pahlavi dynasty.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 148

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1886 · 140 yrs

Sergei Kirov

Sergei Mironovich Kirov (born Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Russian and Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary. Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and a member of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 140

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Photo: Mikhail Mikhaylovich Kalashnikov · Public domain

Showing 12 of 25

Famous deaths12

AD 220 · 1806 yrs

Cao Cao

Cao Cao (; Chinese: 曹操; c. 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 64

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Photo: Wang Qi · Public domain

1897 · 129 yrs

James Joseph Sylvester

James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 82

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1921 · 105 yrs

Talaat Paşa

Mehmed Talât Pasha (1 September 1874 – 15 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha, was a Turkish activist, revolutionary, politician, and convicted war criminal who served as the de facto leader of the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1918.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 46

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Photo: Neue Photographische Gesellschaft Berlin and Bain News Service, publisher · Public domain

1937 · 89 yrs

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (US:; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of weird, horror, fantasy, and science fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos, but his legacy is also apparent in terms like "Lovecraftian horror" and an enduring fandom.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 136

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Photo: Lucius B. Truesdell · Public domain

1938 · 88 yrs

Nikolai Bukharin

Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (Russian: Николай Иванович Бухарин, IPA:; 9 October 1888 – 15 March 1938) was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and Marxist theorist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 138

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1938 · 88 yrs

Alexei Rykov

Alexei Ivanovich Rykov (25 February 1881 – 15 March 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician and statesman, most prominent as premier of Russia and the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1929 and 1924 to 1930 respectively.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 145

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Photo: Agence de presse Meurisse. Agence photographique (commanditaire) · Public domain

1962 · 64 yrs

Arthur Holly Compton

Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American physicist who shared the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics with C. T. R. Wilson for his discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiation.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 134

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Photo: Unknown (Mondadori Publishers) · Public domain

1975 · 51 yrs

Aristotle Onassis

Aristotle Socrates Onassis (US also; Greek: Αριστοτέλης Ωνάσης, romanized: Aristotélis Onásis, pronounced; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate and shipping tycoon.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

BusinessWould be 120

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Photo: Pieter Jongerhuis · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

1983 · 43 yrs

Rebecca West

Dame Cecily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 133

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Photo: Madame Yévonde · CC BY-SA 3.0

1997 · 29 yrs

Victor Vasarely

Victor Vasarely (French:; born Vásárhelyi Győző, Hungarian:; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled Zebra, created in 1937, is considered by some to be one of the earliest examples of Op art.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 120

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1998 · 28 yrs

Benjamin Spock

Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998), widely known as Dr. Spock, was an American pediatrician, Olympic medalist, and left-wing political activist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 123

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Photo: Bert Verhoeff for Anefo · CC0

2004 · 22 yrs

John Pople

Sir John Anthony Pople (31 October 1925 – 15 March 2004) was a British theoretical chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Walter Kohn in 1998 for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 100

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Photo: The White House · Public domain

Events5

1848 · 178 yrs

Hungarian Revolution of 1848

The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 (Hungarian: 1848–49-es forradalom és szabadságharc) was one of a number of European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2011 · 15 yrs

Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2019 · 7 yrs

Christchurch mosque shootings

On 15 March 2019, two consecutive terrorist mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand. They were committed during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton at 1:40 p.m., and shortly afterwards at 1:52 p.m.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

2019 · 7 yrs

2019–2020 Hong Kong protests

From 2019 until 2020, protests were held in Hong Kong in response to the Hong Kong government's introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in regard to extradition. It was the largest series of demonstrations in the history of Hong Kong.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2026 · 0 yrs

98th Academy Awards

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 2025.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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