Special Days in History - July 15th Anniversaries

Find Out What Happened Today - 15th July - Over the Centuries

© Christine Fadhley

Jul 14, 2009

Is this a birthday or anniversary? Congratulations on sharing this day with a whole host of famous personalities from the past and present.

Famous Personalities Born on 15th July

• 1573, Inigo Jones, English architect (d. 1652)
• 1606, Rembrandt, Dutch artist (d. 1669)
• 1796, Thomas Bulfinch, American mythologist (d. 1867)
• 1911, Edward Shackleton, English explorer (d. 1994)
• 1919, Iris Murdoch, Irish writer (d. 1999)
• 1933, Julian Bream, English guitarist and lutenist
• 1935, Ken Kercheval, American actor - "Cliff Barnes" in the long running "Dallas" television series
• 1938 – Barry Goldwater Jr., American politician and Congressman representing northern Los Angeles County for six consecutive terms.
• 1952, Judy McGrath, American television executive. Channels she oversees include MTV, MTV2, Comedy Central and Nikelodeon
• 1956, Marky Ramone, American musician and member of the Ramones, credited as being America's first punk rock band.

Famous 15th July Deaths in History

• 1904, Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (b. 1860) author of Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters and The Seagull. His use of the "stream of consciousness" technique was later copied by more recent authors.
• 1948, John J. Pershing, U.S. 5 Star general (b. 1860). He rose to prominence during the First World War and spoke in favor of giving aid to the United Kingdom during the Second World War.
• 1959, Ernest Bloch, Swiss composer (b. 1880) - he wrote the music for Smokey & the Bandit
• 1997, Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (b. 1946)
• 2006, Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters restaurant chain and philanthropist (b. 1937)

Famous 15th July Events in History

• 1099, First Crusade to Jerusalem, Christians take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after a siege
• 1685, James Scott, First Duke of Monmouth executed by hanging drawing and quartering after losing the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685, He was illegitimate son of Charles II on whose death he made an unsuccessful - and somewhat fatal - attempt to take the throne.
• 1799, The Rosetta Stone was discovered by Pierre Francoise Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. Ironic that the word Pierre means Peter which is derived from the Latin petros meaning stone!
• 1823, fire destroys the basilica of St. Peter Outside the Walls in Jerusalem - the place where St. Paul was buried.
• 1954, First flight of the Boeing 367-80, prototype for both the Boeing 707 and C-135 series.
• 2003, AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape Communications and Mozilla Foundation is established .

National Days and Observances

• Palermo, Sicily – Festival of Santa Rosalia, saintly hermit who died in 1166
• Japan, Third day of Obon feast period. This feast is to honor the spirits of the departed.

Saints Days

Saint Swithun, bishop of Winchester, confessor now best known for the popular proverb that if it rains on Saint Swithun's day, it will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. Fingers crossed for dry weather for the harvest!

Barry Goldwater Jr

General J. Pershing

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