Today in History: British Museum Opened

January 15 is the 15nd day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. There are 350 days left until the end of the year (351 in leap years).

Events

• 588 BC - Babylonian ruler II. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. The siege lasted until July 18, 586 BC.
• 1559 - Queen Elizabeth I of England is crowned.
• 1582 - Russia ceded Estonia and Livonia to Poland.
• 1759 - British Museum opened.
• 1870 - The first political cartoon is published, depicting the Democratic Party of the United States with the donkey symbol.
• 1884 – Istanbul Boys' High School was opened. The first name of the school was "Şems-ül Maarif". It was included in the official schools in 1896.
• 1889 – Previously named Pemberton Pharmaceutical Company The Coca-Cola company was officially founded in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1892 - The rules of basketball were first published by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts (United States), the birthplace of the game.
• 1915 – The Sarıkamış Operation is over.
• 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Pasha with Colonel İsmet (İnönü) Bey in his house in Şişli crossing to Anatolia discussed the issues.
• 1919 - Germany's prominent socialists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are murdered.
• 1919 – The British occupied Antep based on Article 7 of the Armistice of Mudros.
• 1924 – War games were held in Izmir.
• 1932 – The Honor Monument was opened in Samsun where Mustafa Kemal Pasha set foot in Anatolia.
• 1932 – Üsküdar was afforested, 1000 pine trees were planted on the ridge between Harem and Salacak.
• 1935 – The Swan Lake Ballet was inaugurated.
• 1940 – Ankara Radio added English to its news broadcast in French, Greek, Persian and Bulgarian.
• 1943 – II. World War II: Guadalcanal is cleared of the Japanese.
• 1945 – Allied ships are allowed to pass through the Straits.
• 1949 – Imam Hatip High Schools were opened.
• 1952 – The United States approves Turkey's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
• 1957 - The Egyptian Government announced that all British and French banks in the country would be nationalized.
• 1958 – According to the Ministry of Interior's statement, there are 40000 slums in Istanbul, 45000 in Ankara and 4500 in İzmir.
• 1964 – III. The London Conference convened. The Governments of the United Kingdom, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, as well as the leaders of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot community attended.
• 1966 – The letters written by US President Lyndon Johnson and former Prime Minister İsmet İnönü in 1964 were made public.
• 1969 - The Soviet Union launched the Soyuz 5 spacecraft.
• 1970 – After 32 months of fighting to gain independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
• 1972 – Historical Yeniköy Courthouse burned down.
• 1973 - United States President Richard Nixon announces that his troops in North Vietnam have stopped their offensive and are making progress in peace talks.
• 1981 – President General Kenan Evren spoke in Konya: “Believe that we will not let communism or fascism into this country, this country! We will not allow what the separatists and those who abuse our religion want to do! We will put Atatürk's principles back in place!”
• 1985 - Almeida Neves was elected President of Brazil. Neves became the first civilian President in 21 years.
• 1986 – After the military coup of 12 September, the first student association congress convened in Izmir.
• 1987 – Due to the headscarf ban, Erzurum Faculty of Theology students occupied the Dean's Office; 122 students boycotted the exams in Konya; Students in Bursa sent a telegram of protest.
• 1989 – Bülent Ecevit was elected as the Chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP).
• 1991 – Socialist Unity Party (SBP) founded; Sadun Aren was appointed as the Chairman.
• 1991 – The United Nations deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait expired.
• 1992 – Yugoslavia dissolved after the European Union officially recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia.
• 1993 – An operation was carried out on the PKK camps on Serik Hill, approximately 150 PKK militants were killed.
• 1994 – Behçet Cantürk, a drug and arms smuggler, was found dead by the roadside in Sapanca.
• 1996 – Güçlükonak Massacre: 11 villagers were shot and burned to death in a minibus in Güçlükonak district of Şırnak.
• 1996 – Zeynep Uludağ, the defendant of the “Kumkapı Case”, was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison.
• 1996 – Son Havadis newspaper, which had been suspended for a long time, started to appear again.
• 1997 – The law banning promotion in the press was passed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
• 2001 – Wikipedia begins its publication life.
• 2005 – After the death of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat on November 11, 2004, Mahmud Abbas, who was elected President on January 9, was sworn in. Abbas, who appointed Ahmed Qurei as Prime Minister, called for a mutual ceasefire and a final peace agreement with Israel.
• 2005 – A Texas military court sentenced military officer Charles Graner Jr. to 10 years in prison for physically and sexually abusing Iraqi prisoners.
• 2006 – socialist Michelle Bachelet becomes Chile's first female President. Bachelet also became the sixth woman to hold the post of Head of State in Latin America.
• 2007- Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, half-brother of the executed ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and Avad Hamid al-Bender, the former President of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court, were hanged and buried next to Saddam Hussein in the Avca village of Tikrit.
• 2009 – A plane carrying 146 passengers and 5 crew members crashed into the Hudson River in New York, no casualties.
• 2011 – Türk Telekom Arena was opened with a friendly match played between Galatasaray and Ajax.
• 2018 – British construction giant Carillion went bankrupt.^[1]
• 2020 – Wikipedia is re-opened in Turkey.

Births

• 1481 – Ashikaga Yoshizumi, 11th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate (d. 1511)
• 1491 – Niccolò da Ponte, 87th Duke of the Republic of Venice (d. 1585)
• 1622 – Molière, French comedy writer and actor (d. 1673)
• 1725 – Petro Rumyantsev, Russian general (d. 1796)
• 1754 - Jacques Pierre Brissot in the French Assembly of the Girondists sözcü(d. 1793)
• 1791 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian tragedian (d. 1872)
• 1795 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright, composer, poet, and diplomat (d. 1829)
• 1803 – Heinrich Ruhmkorff, German scientist, inventor (d. 1877)
• 1807 – Hermann Burmeister, German-Argentine zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, and botanist (d. 1892)
• 1809 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French socialist and journalist (one of the theorists of Anarchism) (d. 1865)
• 1842 – Paul Lafargue, French philosopher and activist (d. 1911)
• 1842 – Alfred Jean Baptiste Lemaire, French army musician and composer (d. 1907)
• 1850 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet, novelist, and journalist (d. 1889)
• 1850 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1891)
• 1863 Wilhelm Marx, German lawyer, statesman (d. 1946)
• 1864 – Isa Bolatin, Kosovo Albanian guerilla and politician (d. 1916)
• 1866 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish cleric and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1931)
• 1868 Otto von Lossow, German army officer (d. 1938)
• 1871 – Ahatanhel Krymsky, Ukrainian scientist and academic (d. 1942)
• 1872 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Ossetian publisher (d. 1944)
• 1873 – Max Adler, Austrian Marxist jurist, sociologist, and socialist theorist (d. 1937)
• 1875 – Ibn Saud, founder and first king of Saudi Arabia (d. 1953)
• 1875 – Thomas Burke, American athlete (d. 1929)
• 1882 – Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden and Duchess of Scania (d. 1920)
• 1882 – Florian Znaniecki, Polish philosopher and sociologist (d. 1958)
• 1891 – Franz Babinger, German writer (d. 1967)
• 1891 – Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg, Soviet writer, journalist, and novelist (d. 1967)
• 1891 – Gladys Gale, American singer and actress (d. 1948)
• 1894 – Edith Gostick, Canadian politician (d. 1984)
• 1895 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Luis Monti, Argentine football player (d. 1983)
• 1902 – Nâzım Hikmet Ran, Turkish poet (d. 1963)
• 1908 – Edward Teller, Hungarian-American theoretical physicist (d. 2003)
• 1912 – Michel Debré, French statesman (d. 1996)
• 1913 Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1917 – Vasily Petrov, one of the commanders of the Red Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union (d. 2014)
• 1918 – Gamal Abdelnasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
• 1918 – João Figueiredo, 30th President of Brazil (d. 1999)
• 1925 – Nermi Uygur, Turkish philosopher (d. 2005)
• 1926 Maria Schell, Austrian actress (d. 2005)
• 1928 – René Vautier, French film director (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Martin Luther King, American priest and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1968)
• 1941 – Özcan Tekgül, Turkish belly dance artist, film and theater actor (d. 2011)
• 1956 – Sandy Tolan, American author, teacher, and radio documentary producer
• 1957 – Semiha Yankı, Turkish singer
• 1958 – Boris Tadic, Serbian politician
• 1959 – Mustafa Özenç, Turkish left-wing militant (d. 1981)
• 1965 – Sedat Balkanlı, Turkish football player (d. 2009)
• 1968 – Volkan Unal, Turkish cinema and television actor
• 1969 – Meret Becker, German actress and singer
• 1970 – Hamza Hamzaoğlu, Turkish football player and coach
• 1970 – Shane McMahon, American businessman, professional wrestler
• 1971 – Regina King, American actress and television director
• 1971 – Metin Özbey, Turkish national glider pilot
• 1973 – Isam al-Hazari, Egyptian national football player
• 1975 – Mary Pierce, French tennis player
• 1976 - Florentin Petre, Romanian football player
• 1976 – Zara, Turkish singer
• 1977 – Ebru Şallı, Turkish model, presenter and pilates instructor
• 1978 – Eddie Cahill, American actor
• 1978 - Pablo Amo, Spanish football player
• 1978 - Franco Pellizotti, Italian retired professional road cyclist
• 1979 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian former football player
• 1981 – Pamela Tola, Finnish actress
• 1981 – Pitbull, American musician
• 1981 – Serhan Arslan, Turkish actor and presenter
• 1983 – Hugo Viana, Portuguese football player
• 1984 - Keiran Lee, British pornographic actor
• 1984 – Ben Shapiro, American conservative political commentator, speaker, author, and lawyer
• 1985 – René Adler, German former football player
• 1987 – Caner Büke, Turkish national taekwondo player
• 1987 – Kelly Kelly, American professional wrestler and model
• 1988 - Daniel Caligiuri is a German football player.
• 1988 – Sonny John Moore (Skrillex), American electronic music producer
• 1990 – Kostas Slukas, Greek basketball player
• 1991 - Darya Klishina, Russian long jumper
• 1991 – Marc Bartra, Spanish football player
• 1991 – Nicolai Jørgensen, Danish football player
• 1992 – Joel Veltman, Dutch football player
• 1994 – Sinan Gümüş, Turkish-German football player
• 1996 – Dove Cameron, American actress and singer
• 2000 – Thale Rushfeldt Deila, Norwegian handball player
• 2004 – Grace VanderWaal, American singer-songwriter

Deaths

• 69 – Galba, Roman Emperor from 8 June 68 to 15 January 69, first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors (b. 3)
• 1569 - Catherine Carey, VIII. Henry's mistress (b. 1524)
• 1597 – Juan de Herrera, Spanish architect, mathematician, researcher, and soldier (b. 1530)
• 1762 – Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov, Russian state militant, general-field marshal, conference deputy and court nobleman (b. 1710)
• 1781 – Henry Cheere, English sculptor (b. 1703)
• 1866 – Massimo d'Azeglio, Italian statesman, writer, and painter (b. 1798)
• 1896 – Mathew Brady, American photographer (b. 1822)
• 1919 – Karl Liebknecht, German socialist politician (b. 1871)
• 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg, German socialist politician (b. 1871)
• 1924 – Peter Newell, American artist and writer (b. 1862)
• 1926 – ‎Enrico Toselli‎‎, Italian pianist and composer‎ (b. 1883)
• 1945 – Sami Yetik, Turkish painter (b. 1878)
• 1950 – Alma Karlin, Slovenian writer (b. 1889)
• 1950 – Petre Dumitrescu, Romanian Major-General (b. 1882)
• 1954 – Şükrü Kanatlı, Turkish soldier and Land Forces Commander (b. 1893)
• 1955 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (b. 1900)
• 1955 – Isak Samokovlija, Bosnian Jewish writer (b. 1889)
• 1956 – Enis Akaygen, Turkish politician and diplomat (b. 1880)
• 1970 – Louis Fischer, American journalist (b. 1896)
• 1971 – Etem Tem, Atatürk's photographer (b. 1901)
• 1973 – Andrey Dulson, Soviet scientist (b. 1900)
• 1984 – Fazıl Küçük, Cypriot politician (b. 1906)
• 1987 – Mustafa Demir, Turkish soldier (adopted son of Makbule Atadan) (b. 1918)
• 1988 – Seán MacBride, Irish politician (b. 1904)
• 1996 – II. Moshoeshoe, King of Lesotho (b. 1938)
• 2000 – Nezihe Zengin, Turkish theater and film actress (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Doris Fisher was an American singer-songwriter (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Victoria de los Ángeles, Spanish opera singer and soprano (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Avad Hamid al-Bender, Iraqi judge who served under Saddam Hussein (b. 1945)
• 2007 – Lale Oraloğlu, Turkish theater actress (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, head of the General Intelligence Service and half-brother of Saddam Hussein (b. 1951)
• 2008 – Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
• 2011 – Nat Lofthouse, English former international football player (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Susannah York, English actress (b. 1939)
• 2012 – Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish politician (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director (b. 1932)
• 2014 – Cassandra Lynn, American model (b. 1979)
• 2014 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (b. 1944)
• 2015 – Kim Fowley, American producer, singer, and musician (b. 1939)
• 2015 – Ethel Lang, British woman living over 110 (b. 1900)
• 2015 – Rimma Markova, Russian film actress (b. 1925)
• 2016 – Francisco X. Alarcón, American poet (b. 1954)
• 2016 – Dan Haggerty, American actor (b. 1942)
• 2016 – Manuel Velázquez, Spanish former football player (b. 1943)
• 2017 – Ciel Bergman, American painter (b. 1938)
• 2017 – Babette Cole, English children's book author and translator (b. 1950)
• 2017 – Jimmy Snuka, retired Fijian professional wrestler (b. 1943)
• 2017 – Kozo Kinomoto, Japanese football player (b. 1949)
• 2017 – Vicki Lansky, American writer and publisher of children's stories (b. 1942)
• 2018 – Romana Acosta Bañuelos, Republican Party member, American senior public official (b. 1925)
• 2018 – Viktor Anpilov, Soviet Russian socialist politician (b. 1945)
• 2018 – Mathilde Krim, Italian-American medical researcher and scientist (b. 1926)
• 2018 – Karl-Heinz Kunde, German former male racing cyclist (b. 1938)
• 2018 – Dolores O'Riordan, Irish singer-songwriter (b. 1971)
• 2018 – Turan Özdemir, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor (b. 1952)
• 2018 – Peter Wyngarde, English actor and singer (b. 1927)
• 2019 – Carol Channing, American stand-up comedian, actress, singer, dancer, and voice actor (b. 1921)
• 2019 – Edyr de Castro, Brazilian actor and singer (b. 1946)
• 2019 – Miodrag Radovanović, Serbian actor (b. 1929)
• 2019 – Thelma Tixou, Lithuanian-Argentine-Mexican actress, dancer, and cabaret performer (b. 1944)
• 2021 – Sjarifuddin Baharsjah, Indonesian politician and academic (b. 1931)
• 2021 – Geoff Barnett, English professional football player (b. 1946)
• 2021 – Wilbur Brotherton, American politician (b. 1922)
• 2021 – Michael Bryce, Australian architect, industrial graphic designer (b. 1938)
• 2021 – Vicente Cantatore, Argentine-Chilean professional football player and manager (b. 1935)
• 2021 – Gildardo García, Colombian chess player (b. 1954)
• 2021 – Lệ Thu, Vietnamese singer (b. 1943)
• 2021 – Tiit Lilleorg, Estonian film and television actor (b. 1941)
• 2022 – Hekimoğlu İsmail, retired Turkish non-commissioned officer, writer, journalist and columnist (b. 1932)
• 2022 – Aurora del Mar, Argentine voice actor and actress (b. 1934)

Holidays and special occasions

• War Week with Polluted Air