1793 – Queen Marie-Antoinette of France was tried and convicted in the Palais de Justice, Paris, on the 15th October 1793, and condemned to death the following day.
1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company began operation on the 15th October 1878.
1928 – Graf Zeppelin, the airship completed its first trans-Atlantic flight on the 15th October 1928, and landed at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States.
1943 ~ Penny Marshall the American actress, producer, television and director was born Carole Penny Marshall in New York City on the the 15th October 1943. Penny Marshall is best known for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the Laverne & Shirley sitcom. YouTube video: Laverne & Shirley Season 1 Opening (1976)…
1951 – I Love Lucy, the American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, aired on CBS for the first time on the 15th October 1951.
1953 – Operation Totem, the British nuclear test took place at Emu Field, South Australia, on the 15th October 1953.
1956 – Fortran, the 1st modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time.
1997 – The 1st supersonic land speed record was set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC in the UK on the 15th October 1997, 50 years (& 1 day) after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth’s atmosphere.
2001 – NASA‘s Galileo spacecraft passed within 112 miles of Jupiter‘s moon Io on the 15th October 2001.
2003 – China launched Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission on the 15th October 2003.
2006 ~ The HAWAii EARTHQUAKE with a magnitude 6.7 occurred on on the 16th October 2006. The earthquake occurred offshore and measured 6.7 on the moment magnitude scale, at a depth of 29 km (18 miles). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center measured a 102 mm (4 inch) tsunami on the coast of the Big Island. The earthquake caused property damage of over $200 million, plus injuries, landslides, power outages, and airport delays and closures. The most severe damage caused by the earthquake was focused on the northern regions of the island of Hawaii.
2008 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 733.08 points (7.87%) on the 15th October 2008, the 2nd worst day in the Dow’s history.
2011 – Global protests broke out in 951 cities in 82 countries on the 15th October 2011.
Today in History for October 15th ~ video presented by the Associated Press…