On this day in history

September 15

30 births · 16 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

2000 Summer Olympics

26 years ago

Born this day

1254

Marco Polo

Died aged 69

Photo (modified): Salviati · Public domain

Oldest record

1358th

Constans II

death anniversary

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Famous births30

1254 · 772 yrs

Marco Polo

Marco Polo (c. 1254 – 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer, and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo (also known as Book of the Marvels of the World and Il Milione, c.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ExplorationDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Salviati · Public domain

1613 · 413 yrs

François de La Rochefoucauld

François de La Rochefoucauld, 2nd Duke of La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac (French:; 15 September 1613 – 17 March 1680) was an accomplished French moralist of the era of French Classical literature and author of Maximes and Memoirs, the only two works of his dense literary œuvre published.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 66

View profile Photo (modified): Théodore Chassériau · Public domain

1789 · 237 yrs

James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought him fame and fortune.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 61

View profile Photo (modified): John Wesley Jarvis · Public domain

1830 · 196 yrs

Porfirio Díaz

José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (Spanish:; baptized 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), commonly known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican army general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until his overthrow in 1911.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 84

View profile Photo (modified): El Ágora · CC BY-SA 3.0

1857 · 169 yrs

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 72

View profile Photo (modified): Pach Brothers, restored by Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1890 · 136 yrs

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan, Lady Mallowan (née Miller, 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), usually known by her first married name, Agatha Christie, was an English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short-story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 136

View profile Photo (modified): Joop van Bilsen for Anefo · CC0

1894 · 132 yrs

Jean Renoir

Jean Renoir (French:; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French filmmaker, actor, producer and author. His La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 132

View profile Photo (modified): Studio Harcourt · Public domain

1919 · 107 yrs

Fausto Coppi

Angelo Fausto Coppi (Italian pronunciation:; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo ("Champion of Champions").

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 107

View profile Photo (modified): J.D. Noske (Anefo) · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

1929 · 97 yrs

Murray Gell-Mann

Murray Gell-Mann (September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American theoretical physicist who played a preeminent role in the development of the theory of elementary particles.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 97

View profile Photo (modified): World Economic Forum · CC BY-SA 2.0

1937 · 89 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

1941 · 85 yrs

Flórián Albert

Flórián György Albert (15 September 1941 – 31 October 2011) was a Hungarian professional football player, manager and sports official, who was named European Footballer of the Year in 1967. Nicknamed "The Emperor", he played as a forward, and has been described as one of the most elegant footballers of all time.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 85

View profile Photo (modified): Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Rijksfotoarchief: Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Fotopersbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989 - neg · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

1941 · 85 yrs

Viktor Zubkov

Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov (Russian: Виктор Алексеевич Зубков, IPA:; born 15 September 1941) is a Russian civil servant, politician and businessman who served as the 36th Prime Minister of Russia from September 2007 to May 2008.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsAge 85

View profile Photo (modified): kremlin.ru · CC BY 4.0

Showing 12 of 30

Famous deaths16

AD 668 · 1358 yrs

Constans II

Constans II (Latin: Constans, Greek: Κώνστας, romanized: Kōnstās; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), regnal name Constantine (Latin: Constantinus, Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος, romanized: Kōnstantīnos, lit.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 37

View profile Photo (modified): unknown; Image: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. . CNG allows the use of any of their images as long as they are attribu · CC BY-SA 3.0

1700 · 326 yrs

André Le Nôtre

André Le Nôtre (French pronunciation:; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 87

View profile Photo (modified): Carlo Maratta · Public domain

1859 · 167 yrs

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel (9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil and marine engineer considered "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution", "perhaps the most eminent Victorian engineer", and one whose work "altered the lives of almost every person in Britain, and millions abroad".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyDied aged 53

View profile Photo (modified): Robert Howlett · Public domain

1891 · 135 yrs

Ivan Goncharov

Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov ( GON-chə-rof, US also -⁠rawf; Russian: Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, IPA:; 18 June 1812 – 27 September 1891) was a Russian novelist best known for his novels The Same Old Story (1847, also translated as A Common Story), Oblomov (1859), and The Precipice (1869, also translated as…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 79

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

1938 · 88 yrs

Thomas Wolfe

Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last years of his life.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 126

View profile Photo (modified): Carl Van Vechten · Public domain

1945 · 81 yrs

Anton Webern

Anton Webern (German:; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist whose modernist music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonal and twelve-tone techniques.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 142

View profile Photo (modified): Georg Fayer · Public domain

1973 · 53 yrs

Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden

Gustaf VI Adolf (Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf; 11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from 29 October 1950 until his death in 1973. He was the eldest son of Gustaf V and his wife, Victoria of Baden.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyWould be 143

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown photographer for Anefo · CC0

1980 · 46 yrs

Bill Evans

William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 97

View profile Photo (modified): Steve Schapiro · Public domain

1995 · 31 yrs

Gunnar Nordahl

Nils Gunnar Nordahl (Swedish pronunciation:; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 105

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

1997 · 29 yrs

Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( LIK-tən-STYN; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American artist. A leading figure of the Pop Art movement, he is best known for his large-scale paintings inspired by comic books, advertisements, and mass-produced imagery.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 102

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

2006 · 20 yrs

Oriana Fallaci

Oriana Fallaci (Italian:; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. As a teenager she joined the Italian resistance movement during World War II, and later had a long and successful journalistic career.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MediaWould be 97

View profile Photo (modified): Oriana Fallaci · Public domain

2008 · 18 yrs

Richard Wright

Richard William Wright (28 July 1943 – 15 September 2008) was an English keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd. He appeared on almost every Pink Floyd album and performed on all of their tours.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 83

View profile Photo (modified): Capitol Records · Public domain

Showing 12 of 16

Events5

1944 · 82 yrs

Lapland War

During World War II, the Lapland War (Finnish: Lapin sota; Swedish: Lapplandskriget; German: Lapplandkrieg) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1944 · 82 yrs

Battle of Peleliu

The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from 15 September to 27 November 1944, on the island of Peleliu.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1944 · 82 yrs

Belgrade offensive

The Belgrade offensive or the Belgrade strategic offensive operation (Serbo-Croatian: Beogradska operacija / Београдска операција; Russian: Белградская стратегическая наступательная операция, Belgradskaya strategicheskaya nastupatel'naya operatsiya) (15 September – 24 November 1944) was a military operation during…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1950 · 76 yrs

Battle of Inchon

The Battle of Inchon (Korean: 인천 상륙 작전; Hanja: 仁川上陸作戰; MR: Inch'ŏn sangnyuk chakchŏn), also called the Inchon landings, was an amphibious invasion and battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2000 · 26 yrs

2000 Summer Olympics

The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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