January 15

What happened that day?

• 2016: The Kenyan Army suffers it worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 soldiers die.
• 2013: A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others.
• 2009: Captain Sully (Chesley Sullenberger) emergency landed a US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River saving all 155 passengers after the plane collided with birds few minutes after take-off.
• 2007: Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.
• 2005: ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon.
• 2001: [Wiki](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki)pedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
• 1991: Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system.
• 1991: The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
• 1981: Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from Solidarity (Polish trade union)) at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
• 1976: Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
• 1975: The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal.
• 1973: Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• 1970: Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
• 1970: [Nigeria](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria)n Civil War: Biafran rebels surrender following an unsuccessful 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria.
• 1969: The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
• 1967: The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.
• 1966: The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d'état.
• 1962: Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy.
• 1962: The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece.
• 1949: Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.
• 1947: The Black Dahlia murder: the dismembered corpse of Elizabeth Short was found in Los Angeles.
• 1943: The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
• 1943: World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
• 1937: Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republican both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
• 1936: The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
• 1934: The 8.0 Mw Nepal-Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000-10,700 people.
• 1919: Great [Molasses](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses) Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150.
• 1919: Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps at the end of the Spartacist uprising.
• 1910: Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 325 ft (99 m).
• 1908: The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
• 1892: James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
• 1889: The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.
• 1876: The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl.
• 1870: A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
• 1865: American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
• 1844: University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana.
• 1822: Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly.
• 1815: War of 1812: American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
• 1782: Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
• 1777: American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence.
• 1759: The British Museum opens.
• 1582: Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1559: Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London, England.
• 1541: King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the "Holy Catholic faith".
• AD 69: Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but rules for only three months before committing suicide.