July 15th Major News Events

1965 Mars Mariner 4

1965 : The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passes over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sends back to Earth the first close-up images of the red planet.

1971 UK Colour Prejudice

1971 : Euston Station staffing 'colour bar' ends after complaints by a West Indian who was refused a job at Euston Station. It is thought a number of British Rail Stations still conduct an unofficial colour bar on staff. A new Race Relations Act was implemented in 1968 and a further strengthening of measures to combat racial prejudice in the workplace was implemented in the 1976 Race Relations Act.

1971 UK Seal Pups Cull Off Lincolnshire Coast

1971 : The Home Office has granted rights for five fishermen to kill 350 seal pups using high powered rifles off the Lincolnshire coast by the end of next week in a bid to stop overcrowding. Seal Pup pelts sell for up to £12 per pelt.

1971 Nixon To Visit China

1971 : President Richard Nixon announces on a live television and radio broadcast that he will visit communist China the following year. The trip became a starting point for improvements in U.S. Chinese relations.

1976 School Bus Kidnapped Chowchilla, California

1976 : An entire school bus of twenty six children and the driver are kidnapped in Chowchilla, California by three gunmen. They are then forced into a moving van which had been buried underground in a quarry in Livermore, California. The bus driver Ed Ray and some of the older children spent the next 16 hours digging their way out and emerge in the middle of the night and walked to a nearby guard shack at the entrance to the quarry. The quarry owner's son, Frederick Woods, and two friends, Richard and James Schoenfeld, are charged and found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

1979 President Jimmy Carter Blames OPEC

1979 : President Jimmy Carter In a live speech to the American people blamed the long period of recession in the US, on the effects of OPEC’s a href="https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1973.html">1973 cuts in oil production and the increases in fuel prices which in turn fueled inflationary pressures. He also said other countries had adapted quicker to the increased fuel prices like Japanese and European auto makers who had much more fuel efficient cars which the American public were now buying.

1984 India Sikh Unrest in Punjab

1984 : Following Sikh unrest in Punjab and North Eastern India the government has given itself sweeping powers through the use of designating area's as Terrorist Affected which will allow them to set up special courts to try those believed to involved in terrorism.

1996 U.S.A. MSNBC Launched

1996 : MSNBC a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC, a 24-hour all-news network, is launched on cable TV and the Internet.

1997 U.S.A. Gianni Versace Murdered

1997 : The Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot twice in the head on the steps outside his Miami mansion by Andrew Cunanan.

Clothes and Fashions History

2002 Hormone Replacement Therapy HRT

2002 : Research by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) has suggested that women who take HRT (Prempro --- equine hormones, oestrogen and progestin) for menopausal symptoms were 26% more likely to develop breast cancer and may be at increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Following the report the use of Hormone Replacement Therapy decreased by 50%, but many women still believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

2006 UN Sanctions Passed on North Korea

2006 : The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on North Korea after the country tested a long-range missile and several shorter-ranged missiles earlier in the month. The vote was unanimous.

2007 Peru General Strikes and Protests

2007 : Massive protests in the country of Peru continued in all major towns and cities. The protests, started as a national strike held by the Peruvian Education Worker’s Union as a sign of disapproval of the government at the time, after the first year of Alan Garcia’s presidency.

2008 Worldwide Oil Increases and Inflation Rates

2008 : As the increased cost of oil and energy filters through to the market inflation around the world increases causing concerns for governments and consumers.

Inflation Rates: Russia 15.0%, Turkey 12.0%, India 11.0%, South Africa 11.7%, China 7.7%, Brazil 5.8%, Spain 5.0%, U.S.A. 4.9%, UK 4.6%, Germany 3.8%, Canada 2.4%

Gas Prices Per Gallon: Germany $9.30, Spain $9.10, England $8.96, Brazil $6.38, Canada $5.50, India $4.81, South Africa $4.41, U.S.A. $4.11, Russia $3.90, China $3.40

These are not exact and vary according to exchange rate and city where the petrol is purchased, all calculations have been done using litres to gallons as most countries now sell by the litre and current US dollar exchange rate on July 15th 2008.

2009 Iran Plane Crash

2009 : A plane flying from Iran to Armenia crashed on this day killing all 168 passengers on board. The plane crashed unexpectedly only sixteen minutes after it took off. The majority of the passengers were Iranian.

2011 US Recognizes Libyan Rebels as Legitimate

2011 : The United States State department officially recognized the TNC, the Libyan opposition, as Libya's "legitimate governing authority". The decision came after the TNC (Transitional National Council) agreed to pursue democratic reform and the Libya Contact Group worked to create a plan to end fighting between rebels and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Hilary Clinton announced that the US no longer recognized the Gaddafi regime as having any legitimate authority in the country.

2012 Russian Rocket Launches for International Space Station

2012 : A Russian Soyuz rocket successfully launched in Kazakhstan while carrying a three-man crew of astronauts from Russia, NASA, and Japan to the International Space Station.

2013 Indonesia Several Die in Stampede

2013 : Seventeen people died in a stampede after a boxing match in the Papua province of Indonesia. The stampede began after fans of the loser in the match started rioting.