Year 1718
The world’s first machine gun was patented by James Puckle.
MAY 15
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
15 May: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 15 May.
Year 1730
Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Year 1836
Francis Bailey, a scientist, first observed the Belize beads that appear before the eclipse of the solar eclipse.
Year 1850
The Bloody Island massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry.
Year 1873
The proposal to dissolve the East India Company was passed in England.
Year 1878
Sivnath Shastri and Ananda Mohan Bose, under the leadership of the younger group of Brahmo Sama, rebelled and started Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
Year 1889
The official inauguration of the Eiffel Tower was on this day, the opening day of the Exposition Universelle.
Year 1928
Walt Disney's character Mickey Mouse premiered in his first cartoon, “Plane Crazy”.
Year 1940
Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant.
Year 1949
Matsya Union formally merged with Greater Rajasthan.
Year 1958
Aruna Asaf Ali became the Mayor of Delhi.
Year 1958
Gift Tax Act was introduced.
Year 1993
United Nations decided to celebrate May 15 as International Family Day.
Year 1998
Pandit Ravi Shankar, Sitar maestro, receives the 1998 Polar music award.
Year 1999
The BJP and at least 13 of its allies rename themselves the National Democratic Alliance.
Year 2000
A landmine blast planted by militants at Mandipura in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district killed five people, including Jammu and Kashmir’s Minister of State for Energy Ghulam Hasan Butt.
Born 1817
Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, the Bengali social reformer and father of Rabindranath Tagore, was born.
Born 1864
Mahavirprasad Dvivedi, famous Hindi litterateur, poet, writer and editor, was born in Daulatpur village in UP.
Born 1859
Pierre Curie, a French physicist.
Born 1907
Sukhdev Thapar, an Indian revolutionary.
Born 1967
Madhuri Dixit Nene, an Indian actress, producer, television personality, and music artist.
Born 1987
Andy Murray, a British professional tennis player from Scotland.
Born 1988
Ram Pothineni, an Indian film actor.
Died 1729
Khanderao Dabhade, a great warrior in the Maratha kingdom, passed away.
Died 1993
K.M. Cariappa, field marshal and Major General, passed away at the age of 93. He was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
Died 1994
Omprakash Agrawal, an Indian professional snooker player.
Died 1994
P Sardar, an Indian painter, and calendar maker.