On this day in history

May 15

30 births · 9 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Arab–Israeli conflict

78 years ago

Born this day

1048

Omar Khayyám

Died aged 83

Photo (modified): The original uploader was Atilin at French Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0

Oldest record

978th

Omar Khayyám

birth anniversary

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Famous births30

1048 · 978 yrs

Omar Khayyám

Omar Khayyam (1048–1131) was a Persian poet and polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and Persian literature. He was born in Nishapur, Iran and lived during the Seljuk era, around the time of the First Crusade.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): The original uploader was Atilin at French Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0

1567 · 459 yrs

Claudio Monteverdi

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 76

View profile Photo (modified): Bernardo Strozzi · Public domain

1689 · 337 yrs

Mary Wortley Montagu

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 1689 – 21 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, medical pioneer, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): Charles Jervas · Public domain

1773 · 253 yrs

Klemens von Metternich

Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich ( MET-ər-nikh, German:) or Prince Metternich, was a German statesman and diplomat in the service of the Austrian Empire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 86

View profile Photo (modified): Thomas Lawrence · Public domain

1856 · 170 yrs

L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 62

View profile Photo (modified): George Steckel · Public domain

1859 · 167 yrs

Pierre Curie

Pierre Curie (15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist and chemist, and a pioneer in crystallography and magnetism. He shared one half of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Maria Skłodowska-Curie, for their work on radioactivity.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 46

View profile Photo (modified): Dujardin · Public domain

1862 · 164 yrs

Arthur Schnitzler

Arthur Schnitzler (German:; 15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Ferdinand Schmutzer · Public domain

1891 · 135 yrs

Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( buul-GAH-kof; Russian: Михаи́л Афана́сьевич Булга́ков, IPA: 15 May 1891 – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 135

View profile Photo (modified): Moisej Nappelbaum · Public domain

1905 · 121 yrs

Joseph Cotten

Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 121

View profile Photo (modified): Photoplay Publishing Company; no photographer credited · Public domain

1909 · 117 yrs

James Mason

James Neville Mason (15 May 1909 – 27 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 117

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1911 · 115 yrs

Max Frisch

Max Rudolf Frisch (German:; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 115

View profile Photo (modified): Comet Photo AG (Zürich) · CC BY-SA 4.0

1915 · 111 yrs

Paul Samuelson

Paul Anthony Samuelson (May 15, 1915 – December 13, 2009) was an American economist who was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 111

View profile Photo (modified): Innovation & Business Architectures, Inc. · CC BY 1.0

Showing 12 of 30

Famous deaths9

1886 · 140 yrs

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Largely unpublished and unknown during her lifetime, her work is now widely regarded as canonical.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 55

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1924 · 102 yrs

Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant

Paul Henri Benjamin Balluet d'Estournelles de Constant, Baron de Constant de Rebecque (22 November 1852 – 15 May 1924), was a French diplomat and politician, advocate of international arbitration and winner of the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 72

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1935 · 91 yrs

Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (23 February 1879 – 15 May 1935) was a Russian avant-garde artist and art theorist, whose work and writings pioneered the development of abstract painting in the 20th century. He is best known as the founder of Suprematism, a radically non-objective form of painting he introduced in 1915.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 148

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1967 · 59 yrs

Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists, known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 144

View profile Photo (modified): Harris & Ewing, photographer · Public domain

1972 · 54 yrs

Romas Kalanta

Romas Kalanta (22 February 1953 – 14 May 1972) was a 19-year-old Lithuanian high school student who killed himself by self-immolation in an act of protest against the Soviet regime in Lithuania. His death provoked the largest post-war riots in Lithuania and inspired similar self-immolations.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleWould be 73

View profile Photo (modified): E. Špetas (Post of Lithuania) · Public domain

2007 · 19 yrs

Yolanda King

Yolanda Denise King (November 17, 1955 – May 15, 2007) was an American activist and campaigner for African-American rights and first-born child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, who pursued artistic and entertainment endeavors and public speaking.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ActivismWould be 70

View profile Photo (modified): John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

2008 · 18 yrs

Willis Lamb

Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. (July 12, 1913 – May 15, 2008) was an American physicist who was able to precisely determine a surprising shift in electron energies in a hydrogen atom, known as the Lamb shift.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 113

View profile Photo (modified): Nobel foundation · Public domain

2012 · 14 yrs

Carlos Fuentes

Carlos Fuentes Macías (Spanish:; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist, essayist and ambassador to France. Among his works are The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962), Aura (1962), Terra Nostra (1975), The Old Gringo (1985) and Christopher Unborn (1987).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 97

View profile Photo (modified): Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer · Public domain

2023 · 3 yrs

Robert Lucas

Robert Emerson Lucas Jr. (September 15, 1937 – May 15, 2023) was an American economist at the University of Chicago.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 89

View profile Photo (modified): Centro de Estudios Públicos · CC BY 3.0

Events5

1919 · 107 yrs

Greco-Turkish War

The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 was fought between Greece and the Turkish National Movement during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, between 15 May 1919 and 14 October 1922. This conflict was a part of the Turkish War of Independence.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1948 · 78 yrs

Arab–Israeli conflict

Since the declaration of Israel's establishment in 1948, conflict has existed between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries, rooted in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1948 · 78 yrs

1948 Arab–Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War (15 May 1948 – 10 March 1949), also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the civil war in Mandatory Palestine (29 November 1947 – 14 May 1948) as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1955 · 71 yrs

Austrian State Treaty

The Austrian State Treaty (German: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty established Austria as a sovereign state.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2026 · 0 yrs

2026 Ituri Province Ebola epidemic

The 2026 Ebola epidemic is an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) mainly in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighbouring countries, including Uganda. Initial cases were reported on 14 May 2026 in the Ituri Province.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

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