On This Day - What Happened On September 15 | Britannica

🤑 Explore Britannica's Newest Newsletter: Money Matters Learn More Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos A Britannica Newsletter Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP ADD TO YOUR INBOX Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! By clicking "Add To Your Inbox"tapping "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Home On This Day TODAY IN HISTORY September 15 What Happened On Your Bday? Go to Today's Date

Featured Event

1821 Central Americans granted independence On this day in 1821, Central American notables accepted a plan drafted by the Mexican caudillo Agustín de Iturbide that brought independence from Spain to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Test your knowledge of Latin American history Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Featured Biography

Agatha Christie British author bornSeptember 15, 1890Torquay, EnglanddiedJanuary 12, 1976 (aged 85)Wallingford, EnglandUPI/Bettmann Archive 1984 Prince Harry, duke of Sussex British prince 1961 Dan Marino American athlete 1946 Oliver Stone American director, producer, and screenwriter 1890 Agatha Christie British author 1857 William Howard Taft president and chief justice of United States See All Biographies On This Day

More Events On This Day

2025 A former British army paratrooper was put on trial for murder and attempted murder of demonstrators during the Bloody Sunday protests in Londonderry (Derry) in 1972.© William L. Rukeyser—Hulton Archive/Getty images 2004 Guitarist Johnny Ramone—who cofounded the Ramones, an American band that influenced the rise of punk rock on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean—died at age 55. Take our quiz about musical groupsMichael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 1984 Prince Harry—the younger son of Charles, prince of Wales, and Diana, princess of Wales—was born in London. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about English royalty© B. Lenoir/Shutterstock.com 1978 Muhammad Ali won the world heavyweight boxing championship for the third time with his victory over Leon Spinks. How much do you know about boxing?AP Images 1963 Members of the Ku Klux Klan bombed the predominantly African American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four girls and injuring 14 people. Read a timeline of the American civil rights movementThomas J. O'Halloran—U.S. News and World Report Magazine Photograph Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file number. ppmsca-04298 -6A) 1950 United Nations troops landed at Inchon (now Incheon) in South Korea, crippling a North Korean invasion during the Korean War. Explore a timeline of the Korean WarNARA 1949 The Lone Ranger, originally a radio series, debuted on television, with Clayton Moore as the renegade lawman and Jay Silverheels as Tonto.American Broadcasting Company 1935 The Nürnberg Laws, among the first pieces of racist Nazi legislation that would culminate in the Holocaust, were passed in Germany; designed by Adolf Hitler, they deprived Jews of German citizenship and forbade marriage or sexual relations between Jews and “citizens of German or kindred blood.”United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org 1916 The tank was used for the first time in combat, by the British in the First Battle of the Somme during World War I. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about World War IEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1862 During the American Civil War, Confederates under General Stonewall Jackson captured Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now in West Virginia), and took more than 12,500 prisoners, the largest Union surrender in the war. How much do you know about the American Civil War?Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 1590 Giambattista Castagna was elected pope as Urban VII; he died of malaria 12 days later, the shortest papal reign in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Take our pope quizAlinari/Art Resource, New York SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.