Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Jul 15, 1979: Jimmy Carter speaks about a national "crisis in confidence"
On this day in 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nation's energy crisis and accompanying recession.
Carter prefaced his talk about energy policy with an explanation of why he believed the American economy remained in crisis. He recounted a meeting he had hosted at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, with leaders in the fields of business, labor, education, politics and religion. Although the energy crisis and recession were the main topics of conversation, Carter heard from the attendees that Americans were also suffering from a deeper moral and spiritual crisis. This lack of "moral and spiritual confidence," he concluded, was at the core of America's inability to hoist itself out of its economic troubles. He also admitted that part of the problem was his failure to provide strong leadership on many issues, particularly energy and oil consumption.
In 1979, America could still feel the effects of OPEC's (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) 1973 cuts in oil production. Carter quoted one of the Camp David meeting participants as saying that America's "neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife." In addition, inflation had reached an all-time high during Carter's term. Americans saw the federal government as a bloated bureaucracy that had become stagnant and was failing to serve the people. Politics, Carter said, was full of corruption, inefficiency and evasiveness; he claimed these problems grew out of a deeper, "fundamental threat to American democracy." He was not referring to challenges to civil liberties or the country's political structure or military prowess, however, but to what he called a "crisis of confidence" that led to domestic turmoil and "the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation."
At a time when Europeans and the Japanese began out-producing the U.S. in energy-efficient automobiles and some other advanced technologies, Carter said that Americans had lost faith in being the world's leader in "progress." He claimed that Americans obsession with self-indulgence and material goods had trumped spiritualism and community values. Carter, who after the presidency would teach Sunday School, tried to rally the public to have faith in the future of America. After restoring faith in itself, the nation would be able to march on to the "the battlefield of energy [where] we can win for our nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny."
Carter then launched into his energy policy plans, which included the implementation of mandatory conservation efforts for individuals and businesses and deep cuts in the nation's dependence on foreign oil through import quotas. He also pledged a "massive commitment of funds and resources" to develop alternative fuel sources including coal, plant products and solar power. He outlined the creation of a "solar bank" that he said would eventually supply 20 percent of the nation's energy. To jumpstart this program, Carter asked Congress to form an "energy mobilization board" modeled after the War Production Board of World War II, and asked the legislature to enact a "windfall profits tax" immediately to fight inflation and unemployment.
Carter ended by asking for input from average citizens to help him devise an energy agenda for the 1980s. Carter, a liberal president, was heading into a presidential campaign just as a tide of conservatism was rising, led by presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan, who went on to win the 1980 campaign.
Jul 15, 1789: Lafayette selected colonel-general of the National Guard of Paris
On this day in 1789, only one day after the fall of the Bastille marked the beginning of a new revolutionary regime in France, the French aristocrat and hero of the American War for Independence, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, becomes the colonel-general of the National Guard of Paris by acclamation. Lafayette served as a human link between America and France in what is sometimes known as The Age of Revolutions.
At the age of 19, the young Frenchman's willingness to volunteer his services without pay won the American Congess' respect and Lafayette a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army on July 31, 1777. Lafayette served in the battle at Brandywine in 1777, as well as at Barren Hill, Monmouth and Rhode Island in 1778. Following the formal treaty of alliance with Lafayette's native France in February 1778 and Britain's subsequent declaration of war against France, Lafayette asked to return to Paris and consult the king as to his future service. Washington was willing to spare Lafayette, who departed in January 1779. By March, Benjamin Franklin reported from Paris that Lafayette had become an excellent advocate for the American cause at the French court. Following his six-month respite in France, Lafayette returned to aid the American war effort in Virginia, where he participated in the successful siege of Yorktown in 1781, before returning to France and the further service of his own country. That service involved bringing many of the ideals of the American Revolution to France.
On July 11, 1789, Lafayette proposed a declaration of rights to the French National Assembly that he had modeled on the American Declaration of Independence. Lafayette's refusal to support the escalation of violence known as the Reign of Terror—that followed the French royal family's attempt to flee the country in 1791 resulted in his imprisonment as a traitor from 1792 to 1797. Lafayette returned to military service during the French Revolution of 1830. He died in Paris four years later, where he was buried among many of his noble friends executed during the Reign of Terror at the Cimetière de Picpus.
July 15, 1971: Nixon announces visit to communist China
During a live television and radio broadcast, President Richard Nixon stuns the nation by announcing that he will visit communist China the following year. The statement marked a dramatic turning point in U.S.-China relations, as well as a major shift in American foreign policy.
Nixon was not always so eager to reach out to China. Since the Communists came to power in China in 1949, Nixon had been one of the most vociferous critics of American efforts to establish diplomatic relations with the Chinese. His political reputation was built on being strongly anti-communist, and he was a major figure in the post-World War II Red Scare, during which the U.S. government launched massive investigations into possible communist subversion in America.
By 1971, a number of factors pushed Nixon to reverse his stance on China. First and foremost was the Vietnam War. Two years after promising the American people "peace with honor," Nixon was as entrenched in Vietnam as ever. His national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, saw a way out: Since China's break with the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s, the Chinese were desperate for new allies and trade partners. Kissinger aimed to use the promise of closer relations and increased trade possibilities with China as a way to put increased pressure on North Vietnam--a Chinese ally--to reach an acceptable peace settlement. Also, more importantly in the long run, Kissinger thought the Chinese might become a powerful ally against the Soviet Union, America’s Cold War enemy. Kissinger called such foreign policy 'realpolitik,' or politics that favored dealing with other powerful nations in a practical manner rather than on the basis of political doctrine or ethics.
Nixon undertook his historic "journey for peace" in 1972, beginning a long and gradual process of normalizing relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States. Though this move helped revive Nixon’s sagging popularity, and contributed to his win in the 1972 election, it did not produce the short-term results for which Kissinger had hoped. The Chinese seemed to have little influence on North Vietnam's negotiating stance, and the Vietnam War continued to drag on until U.S. withdrawal in 1973. Further, the budding U.S.-China alliance had no measurable impact on U.S.-Soviet relations. But, Nixon's visit did prove to be a watershed moment in American foreign policy--it paved the way for future U.S. presidents to apply the principle of realpolitik to their own international dealings.
Jul 15, 1888: Volcano buries victims in fiery mud
The Bandai volcano erupts on the Japanese island of Honshu on this day in 1888, killing hundreds and burying many nearby villages in ash.
Honshu, the main island of the Japanese archipelago, is in an area of intense geological activity, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are relatively common. The Bandai volcano is a mountain in northern Honshu with a very steep slope. It had erupted four times in the 1,000 years prior to the 1888 eruption, but none of these had been particularly deadly.
At just after 7 a.m. on July 15, rumblings were heard from Bandai. Only 30 minutes after that, an explosion on the north side of the mountain caused powerful tremors. Fifteen minutes later, there was another explosion and, in the next two hours, dozens followed. The explosive eruptions sent debris thousands of feet into the air. The resulting cloud of ash and steam was estimated at 21,000 feet wide.
The giant cloud sent a dangerous rain of burning mud down over the area. Several villages in the Bandai area were buried by a combination of the fiery mud and landslides caused by the tremors. At the Kawakami spa, 100-foot-deep debris covered the ground. Although 100 bodies were recovered there, many were never found.
The best estimate is that 461 people were killed and hundreds more were seriously injured, suffering broken bones and skulls from the rain or flying debris, as a result of the eruption. More than one hundred people were critically burned. The eruption left an 8,000-foot crater in the earth. In the aftermath, the ash from Bandai dimmed the sun slightly worldwide for months.
Jul 15, 1806: Pike expedition sets out
Zebulon Pike, the U.S. Army officer who in 1805 led an exploring party in search of the source of the Mississippi River, sets off with a new expedition to explore the American Southwest. Pike was instructed to seek out headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers and to investigate Spanish settlements in New Mexico.
Pike and his men left Missouri and traveled through the present-day states of Kansas and Nebraska before reaching Colorado, where he spotted the famous mountain later named in his honor. From there, they traveled down to New Mexico, where they were stopped by Spanish officials and charged with illegal entry into Spanish-held territory. His party was escorted to Santa Fe, then down to Chihuahua, back up through Texas, and finally to the border of the Louisiana Territory, where they were released. Soon after returning to the east, Pike was implicated in a plot with former Vice President Aaron Burr to seize territory in the Southwest for mysterious ends. However, after an investigation, Secretary of State James Madison fully exonerated him.
The information he provided about the U.S. territory in Kansas and Colorado was a great impetus for future U.S. settlement, and his reports about the weakness of Spanish authority in the Southwest stirred talk of future U.S. annexation. Pike later served as a brigadier general during the War of 1812, and in April 1813 he was killed by a British gunpowder bomb after leading a successful attack on York, Canada.
Jul 15, 1606: Rembrandt born
The great Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn is born in Leiden on July 15, 1606, the son of a miller. His humble origins may help account for the uncommon depth of compassion given to the human subjects of his art. His more than 600 paintings, many of them portraits or self-portraits, are characterized by rich brushwork and color, and a dramatic interplay of shadow and light.
After deciding to pursue painting, the young Rembrandt was taught by various teachers, among them Amsterdam painter Pieter Lastman, who interested him in biblical, mythological, and historical themes. Rembrandt was also deeply influenced by the Italian painter Caravaggio, whose chiaroscuro technique--the strong use of light and shadow--would become central to Rembrandt's work. He soon developed his own distinct style and by the age of 22 was accomplished enough to take on his own students in Leiden. During this period, he painted the first of nearly 100 self-portraits produced during his lifetime.
Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1631 and began to achieve fame and commercial success as a portrait painter. Notable works from this period include the group portrait Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632), the biblical-themed Sacrifice of Isaac (1635), and the mythological masterpiece Danae (1636). In the 1630s, Rembrandt also began to produce ambitious etchings of biblical subjects. These masterful prints, such as Annunciation to the Shepherds (1634), had a lasting effect on printmakers for centuries. During his prosperous decade, Rembrandt's studio was filled with numerous assistants and students, many of whom became accomplished artists in their own right.
As a fashionable portraitist, he began to go out of style after the 1630s. Popular taste preferred Baroque refinement and detail over his increasingly expressive brush strokes and use of shadow. His human figures, inspired by the real people around him, were criticized as being coarse and indecorous. Despite the decline in prominent commissions, Rembrandt maintained an extravagant lifestyle, particularly as a collector, and this ultimately would lead to his bankruptcy in 1656. Financial difficulties were also coupled with personal miseries, particularly the death of his wife in 1642, the death of his mistress in 1663, and the death of his only son in 1668. These troubles scarcely affected his artistic output, however, and the 1640s saw such masterworks as the 1642 painting The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (also known as The Night Watch) and the monumental etching Christ Healing the Sick (1643-1649). He also developed an enduring interest in landscape during this time.
Financial ruin came in the 1650s, but he continued to work with undiminished energy and power. Many of the Rembrandt paintings most celebrated today came from this later period, which saw a profound penetration of character in pictures like Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer (1653) and Bathsheba (1654). Some of his biblical-themed works from this period so closely resemble portraits that their religious subjects are obscure, such as the Jewish Bride (1664). Many soulful self-portraits were also produced in the last years of his life. Rembrandt died in 1669.
The First Crusaders captured and plundered Jerusalem. Poles and Lithuanians defeated Prussian knights in Tannenburg. During the French Revolution, the Electors set up a "Commune" to try and live without government, effectively. Napoleon met with his opponents to discuss peace terms and, two years later, he would be forced to surrender. Natal in present-day South Africa became an independent colony. Georgia became the last ex-Confederate state to be re-admitted into the Union. Buchenwald Concentration Camp opened. It was on this date that the first deployment to Auschwitz began. Algeria joined the Arab League. The New Jersey Americans became the New York Nets. Nixon wanted to normalize relations with China. Nets news again: Derrick Coleman was accused of rape in Detroit. American Taliban Johnny Walker pled guilty to supplying aid to the enemy, as well as to carrying explosives.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
1099 - First Crusaders capture, plunder Jerusalem.
1205 - Pope Innocent III states Jews are doomed to perpetual servitudea and subjugation due to crucifixion of Jesus
1207 - John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton.
1240 - A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
1307 - Duke Henrik van Karinthi chosen king of Bohemia
1381 - John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England.
1410 - Battle of Tannenburg (in Prussia) -Teutonic Knights vs King Ladislas II of Poland. The Poles and Lithuanians defeated the Teutonic knights
1500 - Duke Albrecht of Saxon beats Friese rebellion
1500 - Baglione family massacre at the "Blood Wedding" of Astorre Baglione & Lavinia Colonna in Perugia
1501 - Explorer Pedro Cabral back in Lisbon
1524 - Emperor Karel I bans German national synode
1538 - Peace talks between Karel & King Francois I
1662 - King Charles II charters Royal Society in London
1741 - Alexei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.
1755 - French ambassador recalled from London
1779 - US troops under Gen A Wayne conquer Ft Stony Point, NY
1783 - First steamboat, Pyroscaphe, 1st run in France
1787 - Parliament of Paris banished to Troyes
1789 - The electors of Paris set up a "Commune" to live without the authority of the government. Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, is named by acclamation colonel-general of the new National Guard of Paris. Key Figure of Medieval Rus Alexander NevskyKey Figure of Medieval Rus Alexander Nevsky
1795 - "Marseillaise" becomes French national anthem
1799 - The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign.
1806 - Lieutenant Zebulon Pike began his Southwestern expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine, near St. Louis, MO.
1808 - French marshal Joachim Murat becomes king of Naples
1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte's representatives met with the Allies in Prague to discuss peace terms.
1815 - Napoleon surrendered and is later exiled on St Helena
1815 - 1st flat horse race held on Nottingham Hill at Cheltenham, England (day and month TBC)
1823 - A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.
1830 - 3 Indian tribes, Sioux, Sauk & Fox, signs a treaty giving the US most of Minnesota, Iowa andMissouri
1834 - Lord Napier of England arrived in Macao, China as the first chief superintendent of trade.
1840 - England, Russia, Austria & Prussia signs Quadruple Alliance
1850 - John Wisden bowls all 10 South batsmen, North v South at Lord's
1856 - Natal formeds as a British colony separate from Cape Colony
1862 - CSS Arkansas vs USS Cardondelet & Queen of the West engage at Yazoo R
1863 - Pres Davis orders service duty for confederate army
1864 - Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collided with a coal train killing 65 & injuring 109 of 955 aboard
1867 - San Francisco Merchant's Exchange opens
1869 - Margarine was patented by Hippolye Méga-Mouriès for use by French Navy
1870 - Manitoba becomes 5th Canadian province & NW Territories created
1870 - Hudson's Bay & Northwest Territories transferred to Canada
1870 - Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.
1876 - George Washington Bradley of St. Louis pitched the first no-hitter in baseball in a 2-0 win over Hartford.
1885 - In New York, the Niagara Reservation State Park opened.
1888 - "Printers’ Ink" was first sold.
1888 - Bandai volcano (Japan) erupts for first time in 1,000 years
1893 - Commodore Perry arrives in Japan
1895 - Ex-prime minister of Bulgaria, Stephen Stambulov, was murdered by Macedonian rebels.
1900 - President Steyn/General De Law escape Brandwater Basin
1901 - Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike.
1901 - NY Giant Christy Mathewson no-hits St Louis, 5-0
1902 - Ranjitsinhji scores 180 before lunch, for Sussex v Surrey
1904 - The first Buddhist temple in the U.S. was established in Los Angeles, CA.
1906 - Republic museum opens Rembrandt hall in Amsterdam
1909 - Ty Cobb hits 2 inside-the-park HRs
1911 - 46" of rain (begining 7/14) falls in Baguio, Philippines
1912 - British National Health Insurance Act goes into effect
1914 - Mexican president Huerta flees with 2 million pesos to Europe
1916 - 22.22" (56.4 cm) of rain falls in Altapass NC (state record)
1916 - In Seattle, WA, Pacific Aero Products was incorporated by William Boeing. The company was later renamed Boeing Co.
1918 - The Second Battle of the Marne began during World War I.
1920 - Ruth ties his record of 29 HRs in a season
1922 - The first duck-billed platypus arrived in America, direct from Australia. It was publicly exhibited at the Bronx Zoo in New York City.
1923 - Italian parliament accepts new constitution
1926 - VPRO (Free thinking Protestant Radio Broadcast) forms
1927 - Massacre of July 15, 1927: 89 protesters are killed by the Austrian police in Vienna. 1929 - 1st airport hotel opens-Oakland Ca
1932 - President Hoover cuts own salary 15%
1933 - Wiley Post began first solo flight around world
1934 - Continental Airlines commences operations.
1936 - Dutch Second Chamber agree to temporarily increase defense budget
1937 - Buchenwald Concentration Camp opens
1937 - Japanese attack Marco Polo Bridge, invade China
1938 - Arthur Fagg completes 244 & 202 in the same cricket game for Kent
1939 - Clara Adams (NYC) is 1st woman to complete round world flight
1940 - First betatron placed in operation, Urbana, Il
1940 - Nazi occupiers seize library of IISG Amsterdam Pathologist and Nobel Laureate Howard FloreyPathologist and Nobel Laureate Howard Florey
1940 - The world's tallest man (8 feet, 11.1 inches), Robert Wadlow, died.
1941 - Florey and Heatley present freeze dried mold cultures (Penicillin)
1942 - First deportation camp at Westerbork, Jews sent to Auschwitz
1942 - Dutch Jews invoked for "Labor camps"
1942 - The first supply flight from India to China over the 'Hump' was carried to help China's war effort.
1944 - Greenwich Observatory damaged by WW II flying bomb
1946 - British North Borneo Co transfers rights to British crown
1948 - Alcoholic Anonymous founded in Britain
1948 - Pres Harry Truman nominated for another term (Phila)
1948 - John J. Pershing, whose leadership in World War I earned him the title General of the Armies of the United States, died in Washington, DC.
1949 - "Miss Liberty" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 308 performances
1949 - Czech tennis stars Jaroslav Drobny & Vladimir Cernik, defect to US
1949 - WBTV TV channel 3 in Charlotte, NC (CBS) begins broadcasting
1952 - First transatlantic helicopter flight begins
1954 - 110°F (43°C) at Balcony Falls, Virginia (state record)
1954 - First coml jet transport plane built in US tested (Boeing 707)
1954 - KOCO TV channel 5 in Oklahoma City, OK (ABC) begins broadcasting
1954 - WBOC TV channel 16 in Salisbury, MD (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1955 - WNDU TV channel 16 in South Bend, IN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1955 - Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others.
1956 - Iharos runs world record 10k (28:42.8)
1957 - Dutch Super Constellation crashes near New Guinea, 56 die
1957 - US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1958 - Pres Eisenhower sends US troops to Lebanon; they stay 3 months
1958 - Five thousand U.S. Marines landed in Beirut, Lebanon, to protect the pro-Western government. The troops withdrew October 25, 1958.
1959 - The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
1960 - Balt Orioles' Brooks Robinson goes 5 for 5 including the cycle
1961 - "Donnybrook!" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 68 performances
1961 - Spain accept equal rights for men & women
1962 - Algeria becomes member of Arab League
1962 - Netherland Indonesia accord over New-Guinea
1963 - KAIT TV channel 8 in Jonesboro, AR (ABC) begins broadcasting
1963 - Paul McCartney is fined £17 for speeding
1964 - Barry M Goldwater (Sen-R-Az) nominated for president by Republicans
1965 - Athanassiades Novas succeeds Papandreo as premier of Greece
1965 - The spacecraft Mariner IV sent back the first close-up pictures of the planet Mars.
1967 - "Sweet Charity" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 608 performances
1967 - LA Wolves beat Wash Whips 6-5 in OT to be United Soccer Ass champs
1967 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1968 - Commercial air travel begins between US & USSR
1968 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island
1968 - NJ Americans moved to Comack and become NY Nets (ABA)
1968 - Soap opera "One Life To Live" premieres
1968 - ABC-TV premiered "One Life to Live".
1968 - Commercial air travel began between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., when the first plane, a Soviet Aeroflot jet, landed at Kennedy International Airport in New York.
1969 - Cincinnati Red Lee May hits 4 HRs in a doubleheader
1969 - Rod Carew ties record with his 7th steal of home in a season
1970 - Denmark beats Italy 2-0 in 1st world female soccer championship
1971 - U.S. President Nixon announced he would visit the People's Republic of China to seek a "normalization of relations."
1973 - Nolan Ryan (California Angels) became the first pitcher in two decades to win two no-hitters in a season, as the Angels defeated the Tigers, 6-0.
1973 - Paul Getty III kidnapped \
1973 - Ray Davies, announces retirement from Kinks then attempts suicide
1973 - Willie McCovey becomes 15th to hit 400 HRs
1974 - Military coup on Cyprus: archbishop/president Makarios flees
1975 - 46th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 6-3 at County Stadium, Milwaukee
1975 - All star MVP: Bill Madlock (Pittsburgh Pirates) & John Matlock (NY Mets)
1975 - Apollo 18 launched (will rendezvous with Soyuz)
1975 - The Russian Soyuz and the U.S. Apollo launched. The Apollo-Soyuz mission was the first international manned spaceflight.
1976 - 36-hr kidnap of 26 school children & their bus driver in Calif
1978 - 107th British Golf Open: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 281 at St Andrews
1979 - 34th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Jerilyn Britz
1979 - Morarji Desai resigns as premier of India
1980 - Johnny Bench hits his 314th HR as a catcher breaks Yogi Berra's record
1981 - Steven Ford, son of former President Gerald R. Ford, appeared in a seduction scene of "The Young and the Restless" on CBS-TV. Ford played the part of Andy.
1982 - Body of Wendy Caulfield, first Green River victim, found near Seattle
1982 - Columbia flies to Kennedy Space Center via Dyess AFB, Texas
1982 - Senate confirms George Shultz as 60th sec of state by vote of 97-0
1983 - 8 killed, 54 wounded, by Armenian extremists bomb at Orly, France
1983 - Linda Ronstadt debuts as Mabel in "Pirates of Penzance"
1984 - 39th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Hollis Stacy
1984 - John Lennon releases "I'm Stepping Out"
1985 - Baseball players voted to strike on August 6th if no contract was reached with baseball owners. The strike turned out to be just a one-day interruption.
1986 - 57th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 3-2 at Astrodome, Houston
1986 - All star MVP: Roger Clemens (Boston Red Sox)
1987 - Boy George barred from British TV show, he may be a bad influence
1987 - John Poindexter testifies at Iran-Contra hearings
1987 - Taiwan ended thirty-seven years of martial law.
1991 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island
1991 - US troops leave northern Iraq
1991 - Sandhi Ortiz-DelValle is 1st woman to officiate a men's pro basketball (USBL) game, game between New Haven Skyhawks & Phila Spirit 264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II
1992 - Pope John Paul II hospitalized for 3 weeks to have tumor removed
1994 - Gyula Horn sworn in as premier of Hungary
1994 - Israel and Jordan agree to talks in Wash DC on July 25th
1994 - NJ Nets Derrek Coleman accused of rape in Detroit
1994 - Sonia O'Sullivan runs 3K (8:21.64)
1995 - Birmingham Barracudas 1st CFL home game (vs Hamilton)
1995 - Jews take Jerusalem
1995 - Northern Virginia begins using new area code 540
1996 - After 2,216 consecutive games at shortstop, Cal Ripkin goes to 3rd 1996 - MSNBC begins Microsoft internet-NBC TV
1996 - Prince Charles and Princess Di sign divorce papers
1996 - Southern Mexico hit with 6.5 earthquake
1996 - A Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport.
1999 - The inaugural game at the Seattle Mariners' Safeco Field was held in Seattle, Washington.
2002 - "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and to possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.
2002 - Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
2003 - AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape Communications Corporation. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day.
2009 - A 7.9 Magnitude earthquake registers 160km west of Invercargill, New Zealand, creating a small tsunami.
2009 - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released in theaters in the U.S. It was the sixth movie in the series.
2010 - After 86 days of gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico and several previous attempts to contain the flow, BP caps its leaking oil well.
2012 - 39 pilgrims are killed in a bus crash in Parasi, Nepal
2012 - A Russian Soyuz rocket with an international team launches for a mission to the International Space Station
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jul15.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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