May 15th Major News Events

15 May, 1949 U.S.A. Tornado Amarillo

1949 : A major Tornado strikes Amarillo Texas causing 6 deaths and many injuries and over 50 homes completely destroyed.

1954 U.S.A. Marilyn Monroe

1954 : After several weeks Marilyn Monroe is back at work on dance rehearsals for the new film "There's No Business Like Show Business."

1957 Britain H Bomb Testing

1957 : Britain tests first hydrogen bomb on the Christmas Island area in the Pacific Ocean, the arms race between countries continues to escalate as each country tests bigger and more destructive nuclear devices.

1970 U.S.A. Jackson State University

1970 : During a student protest at Jackson State University in Mississippi police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve others.

1972 U.S.A. George Wallace

1972 : Alabama Governor George Wallace is shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for President of the United States.

1974 Israel School Hostages Killed

1974 : A school hostage situation close to the Lebanese border ends with 16 of the children murdered together with the three Palestinian gunmen who had been holding them hostage. As Israeli troops storm the school the teenagers were attacked with hand grenades by the Palestinians as a last act of defiance.

1981 Mexico 20 Million Volkswagen Beetle

1981 : The 20,000,000th Volkswagen Beetle came off the production line at the Volkswagen plant in Puebla, Mexico.

1982 Falkland Islands Ground Attack

1982 : During the first ground attack on Argentine forces in the Falkland Islands British commandos destroyed 11 aircraft and a big ammunition dump.

1993 France Nursery Children Rescued

1993 : Masked French police commandos free six girls and their nursery teacher (Ms. Dreyfus) and shot dead Eric Schmitt who called himself the Human Bomb , ending a two-day hostage crisis at a nursery school in Paris.

2001 England Drug Price Fixing Ended

2001 : Following a two year investigation into claims that the drug industry has been indulging in a price fixing policy, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has challenged the so-called resale price maintenance (RPM), which kept the price of branded over-the-counter products artificially high. The major British supermarkets will now discount many of the over the counter common household medicines including pain killers Calpol and Nurofen by as much as 40%.

2006 Iraq Saddam Hussein

2006 : A judge formally charges Saddam Hussein with crimes against humanity, Saddam Hussein refuses to enter a plea insisting he was still Iraq's president and the judge had no jurisdiction to charge him. In November he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging, he was hanged on December 30th.

2006 US to Re-establish Ties with Libya

2006 : The United States State Department announced it would be restoring diplomatic relations with the North African country of Libya. The State Department also decided to take the country off of their list of countries that sponsor terrorism after being on the list for nearly thirty years.

2007 United States Famous Evangelist Dies

2007 : Famously conservative evangelist Jerry Falwell died at the age of seventy-three. The founder of the "Moral Majority" movement had been found unconscious in his office and medical professionals were unable to revive him. The television preacher had been deeply involved in conservative politics and had ties to Presidents Reagan and Bush, as well as other political leaders.

2008 California Same Sex Marriages

2008 : California's Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Same Sex marriages and has said the "right to form a family relationship" applied to all Californians regardless of sexuality.

2009 Burma Approves Constitution

2009 : A new constitution created by the military junta in Burma was approved by 92.4% of voters in a referendum, with a voter turnout of 99%. The opposition party, the National League for Democracy, decried the results and labeled the results as fraud. The proposed constitution would give the military junta more permanent power and prohibit the opposition's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from being able to hold office.

2011 Mississippi River Floodgates Opened

2011 : The United States Army Corps of Engineers opened floodgates in the state of Louisiana along the Mississippi river in an effort to save larger cities located along the Mississippi, like Baton Rouge and New Orleans, from flooding. The flooding was expected to cover up to three thousand square miles and could effect up to 25,000 people. This was the first time in forty years that the river levels have forced the opening of the floodgates.

2012 Switzerland Royal Diamond Sold For $9.7 Million

2012 : The Beau Sancy, one of the world's most famous and oldest diamonds, was sold at auction for $9.7 million. The diamond had been passed through the royal families in Europe and had been owned by Mary Stuart and the first king of Prussia.

2013 United States Living Artist Painting Record Broken

2013 : A painting by artist Gerhard Richter was auctioned in New York for $37.1 million, breaking the record for the highest auction price of a work from a living artist. Richter, eighty-one years old, had also held the previous record.