What happened This day in History on January 15th

For Those With Birthdays 15th January looking for specific year these years are Included on this date 1909, 1920, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1951, 1953, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1984, 1997, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, Born This Day,
Angola 1997 Angola Land Mines 15th January, 1997 : Princess Diana angers defense ministers around the world after calling for an immediate international ban on land mines during a visit to Angola. ( The international Ottawa convention on banning landmines came into force on 1st March 1999 but key countries refused to sign, including the United States, Russia and China, making the convention worthless )

U.S. 1975 USA America's Economic Woes 15th January, 1975 : President Gerald Ford on his very first state of the union address painted a grim portrait of America's economic woes. Millions of Americans are out of work. Recession and inflation are eroding the money of millions more. Prices are too high and sales are too low.

U.S. 1909 U.S.A. Automobile Hearse 15th January, 1909 : For the first time ever an automobile hearse was used in a funeral procession. Before this time, horse-drawn carriages had always been used to carry the honored body of a person who has passed away.

Canada 1920 Canada Small Pox Breakout 15th January, 1920 : A new report was given on this day in a local Canadian newspaper. It was regarding the 325 new cases of small pox that had occurred in the previous week ending January 10th.
These cases of small pox sickness were reported to be in the province of Ontario. In addition, 116 new cases occurred in the city of Toronto, and this disease had resulted in four deaths. In all, there were 400 recent cases of this sickness within a week.
At this time vaccination and immunization measures were not as advanced. Therefore, people who contracted this type of sickness were more susceptible to serious attack of illness or death than would be in the present day.

U.S. 1936 U.S.A. Ford Foundation 15th January, 1936 : Henry Ford, the owner of the Ford Motor Company had established the Ford Foundation, a non-profit group. Part of the intention of setting up the Ford Foundation was to ensure that his family was able to take over the family fortune after he passed away.
However, this foundation created by Ford also had reached out in many ways to the community. For instance, the Ford Foundation played a part in promoting population control and famine prevention. This company also supported the arts, educational media, and world peace.

U.S. 1943 U.S.A. Pentagon 15th January, 1943 : The Pentagon headquarters of the Department of Defense was completed after just 16 months construction

U.S. 1944 U.S.A. Duke Ellington 15th January, 1944 : Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra take the song “Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me” to the top of the charts. It’s there for eight weeks before being knocked out off the top


Germany 1951 Germany Witch of Buchenwald 15th January, 1951 : Ilse Koch ( Witch of Buchenwald ) was tried for crimes against humanity at Nuremberg and sentenced to life in prison . She committed suicide in 1967 by hanging herself with a bedsheet.

Germany 1953 East Germany Purge of Opposition 15th January, 1953 : East German communist authorities begin a purge of senior officials including the Christian Democratic Foreign Minister, Georg Dertinger, and a number of Jewish politicians, accused of plotting against the state and spying for "imperialistic" powers.

Canada 1965 Canada Home Grown Spuds Expensive 15th January, 1965 : Perhaps a fact that could strike some people as odd is the hike of prices of local potatoes in Canada at this time, yet lowered prices on imported ones. Perhaps it is because of importation that local prices were increased-which sometimes happens in the present day as well.

U.S. 1967 USA Super Bowl 15th January, 1967 : In the first Super Bowl The Green Bay packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in Los Angeles

Nigeria 1970 Nigeria Biafra Surrenders 15th January, 1970: After three long years of fighting, the Biafra government surrenders to Nigeria. Originally, Biafra had gained independence of Nigeria. This had happened about ten years before this time.
Nigeria tried to use diplomatic measures to unite Biafra with itself-to no avail. Then, in 1967, war broke out between these two regions. Due to economic hardship, Biafra had gave in to the wishes of Nigeria.


Libya 1970 Libya Qaddafi 15th January, 1970 : On this day, Muammar al-Qaddafi became Premier of Libya. He was the man who had deposed (removed from office) King Idris in 1969. Qaddafi’s political philosophies were a mixture of Orthodox Islam beliefs, revolutionary socialism, and Arab nationalism.

U.S. 1973 U.S.A. Bonanza 15th January, 1973 : Bonanza, a television program that aired for 14 seasons finally aired for the last time on this day. Bonanza first aired in 1959, and was the first western to be seen in color. Lorne Green, Michael Landon, Pernell Roberts, and Dan Blocker were some of the main stars of this show.


U.S. 1973 U.S.A. Vietnam Bombing Ends 15th January, 1973 : Following progress in Paris peace negotiations between National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam, President Richard Nixon halts the most concentrated bombing of the war against North Vietnam.

U.S. 1974 U.S.A. Nations Energy Policy 15th January, 1974 : Frank Church, Senator of Idaho, had requested the de-classification of sensitive documents written in the 1950s. The basis for this request was his belief that the government had made secret decisions which would affect the nation’s energy policy for 20 years.
Frank Church requested highly secured documentation for a specific reason. He said in his own way that it would help understand the most important post-war decisions that were made.

U.S. 1981 U.S.A. Hill Street Blues 15th January, 1981 : The television cop drama Hill Street Blues had aired on this day. This show was set in an unnamed city, although the outsides of the set were filmed in Chicago.
This television series has been described as the first real attempt to portray police officers as fallible human beings. Unlike other cop dramas, the crimes were rarely solved in one Hill Street Blues episode .



UK 1984 UK Tony Benn 15th January, 1984 : The leftwing Labour rebel Tony Benn is making a comeback in British Politics after loosing his seat in the last general election ( Bristol South ) by being elected by the local labour party at Chesterfield to fight in the coming by-election. ( he went on to win and represent Chsterfield until he retired in 2001 )

U.S. 2008 U.S.A. Cloned Animal Meat OK 15th January, 2008 : After six years of study, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that meat and milk from cloned pigs, cattle and goats and their offspring is safe and does not need to be labelled as derived from cloned animals.

U.S.A. 2009 U.S.A. Flight 1549 Crashes In Hudson 15th January, 2009 : US Airways Flight 1549 ( Airbus 320 ) runs into a large flock of Canada Geese during takeoff from from New York City's LaGuardia Airport resulting in immediate and complete loss of thrust from both engines due to ingesting birds. The Pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger glides over the Hudson river finally ditching the airliner near the USS Intrepid museum about three minutes after losing power. The ditching and evacuation proved a complete success with all passengers and crew evacuated safely.

Haiti 2010 Haiti Earthquake 15th January, 2010 : Three days after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, strikes Haiti leaving an estimated 45,000-50,000 people dead aid is still slow in coming. Aid groups say they need food, water, medical supplies and lifting equipment. Search and rescue teams have arrived and are going through the rubble trying to locate survivors, but the biggest problem is the lack of food, shelter and medical aid and supplies.
This Day In History For Tomorrow January 16th Day After January 17th Or You Can Use Our Calendar at the top of the page to find the day or month you are looking for

China 2010 China The Chinese police have banned China’s Gay Pageant 15th January, 2010 : The Chinese police have prevented the country's first gay pageant from taking place. It was stopped a few minutes before it was due to start. "This event has been canceled," said one of its judges, before explaining that "I believe it had something to do with the issue of homosexuality." The competition was due to take place in a Beijing restaurant and night club. The winner of the underwear segment was to vie for the right to represent China at the Worldwide Mr. Gay pageant. Police have said that the event didn't have the correct licence. This was the first gay pageant to be held in the country, and was hoped to signal a new openness toward its gay community. The police informed its organizers that it had not applied "according to the procedures". Homosexuality was illegal in China until 1997, and officials have described it as a mental illness.

Tunisia   2011 Tunisia Tunisian Leader Flees After Increasingly Violent Protests 15th January, 2011 :  The Tunisian president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, fled the country after being in power for twenty-three years. He and his family went to Saudi Arabia after being forced out of the country by protestors who had been demonstrating against the government for weeks.   
 

United Kingdom
2013 United Kingdom Horse Meat Found in Burgers

15th January, 2013 : Horse DNA was found in beef burgers being sold in supermarkets in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Health officials stated there was no risk to public health and that the contaminated batches were being recalled from retailers.