What Happened on July 15

Historical Events

1808 – French marshal Joachim Murat becomes King of Naples
1823 – A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome
1973 – Ray Davies announces his retirement from The Kinks, then attempts suicide; neither effort successful
1988 – “Die Hard” directed by John McTiernan and starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman is released in the US
1990 – US Open Women’s Golf, Atlanta Athletic Club: Defending champion Betsy King wins consecutive titles, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Patty Sheehan, the leader after each of first 3 rounds
2014 – 20 people are killed and 100 are injured after a train derails in Moscow

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Famous Birthdays

1353 – Vladimir the Bold, Russian prince (d. 1410)
1906 – Rudolf “Rudi” Uhlenhaut, German automotive engineer and test driver (Mercedes Benz) (d. 1989)
1906 – Edmund Davies, British judge (as Lord Justice of appeal, tried the Great Train Robbers, Edmund-Davies police pay review), born in Mountain Ash, Wales (d. 1992)
1922 – Leon M. Lederman, American experimental physicist (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1988 – for research on quarks and leptons) and author (The God Particle), born in NYC, New York (d. 2018)
1957 – (Lyman) “Mac” McAnally, American session and touring country music singer-songwriter, and musician (Coral Reefer Band), born in Red Bay, Alabama
1968 – Eddie Griffin, American comedian (Black Dynamite), born in Kansas City, Missouri

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Famous Deaths

1750 – Vasily Tatishchev, Russian statesman, dies at 73
1958 – Nuri al-Said, Iraqi politician, 8-time Prime Minister of Iraq, assassinated while trying to escape during the revolution at 69
1986 – Benny Rubin, American actor and comedian (Benny Rubin Show), dies at 87
1989 – Laurie Cunningham, English soccer left winger (6 caps; Orient, West Bromwich Albion, Real Madrid, Marseille, Rayo Vallecano), dies in a car crash at 33
1994 – Jeanne Bieruma Oosting, Dutch painter/illustrator, dies
2013 – Earl Gros, American NFL running back (Green Bay), dies at 72

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