15 September 1965

A Wednesday in history

Weekday

Wednesday

Season

Autumn (N. Hemisphere)

Century

20th century

Records

414

  1. 2017

    A homemade bomb partially exploded on an eastbound District line train at Parsons Green tube station in West London, injuring 30 passengers.

    Source
  2. 2013

    The Belarusian serial killer Ivan Kulesh murdered two saleswomen in Lida.

    Source
  3. 2008

    Financial crisis of 2007–2008: The global financial services firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy while holding over $600 billion in assets, the largest such filing in U.S. history.

    Source
  4. 1972

    Three armed members of the Croatian National Resistance hijacked Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 in an attempt to force the release of those arrested for the assassination of the Yugoslav ambassador the previous year.

    Source
  5. 1963

    The Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four girls and injuring at least 14 other people (memorial march pictured).

    Source
  6. 1954

    The scene in The Seven Year Itch of Marilyn Monroe standing in a white dress over a subway grate was filmed by Billy Wilder.

    Source
  7. 1944

    World War II: The Greek People's Liberation Army won the Battle of Meligalas and began the execution of many prisoners of war and civilians.

    Source
  8. 1944

    World War II: American and Australian forces landed on the Japanese-occupied island of Morotai.

    Source
  9. 1935

    Nazi Germany enacted the Nuremberg Laws (pictured), which deprived Jews of their citizenship.

    Source
  10. 1916

    Tanks (example pictured), the "secret weapons" of the British Army during the First World War, were first used in combat at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette in France.

    Source
  11. 1862

    American Civil War: Confederate forces captured the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, taking more than 12,000 prisoners.

    Source
  12. 1830

    The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&M) (depicted), the first locomotive-hauled railway to connect two major cities, opened with the Duke of Wellington in attendance.

    Source
  13. 1821

    The Province of Guatemala proclaimed the independence of Central America from the Spanish Empire.

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  14. 1816

    HMS Whiting ran aground on the Doom Bar on the coast of Cornwall, England.

    Source
  15. 1795

    French Revolutionary Wars: Great Britain seized the Dutch Cape Colony to use its facilities against the French Navy.

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  16. 1791

    French playwright Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, hoping to expose the failures of the French Revolution in the recognition of gender equality.

    Source
  17. 1776

    American Revolutionary War: British forces made an unopposed amphibious landing at Kips Bay on Manhattan, the American defenders having fled due to artillery fire.

    Source
  18. 1462

    The Ottoman conquest of Lesbos ended upon the surrender of commander Niccolò Gattilusio; the conquering Mehmed II executed 300 Italian soldiers by chopping them in half, claiming he was fulfilling a promise to "spare their heads".

    Source

Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.