October 15^th in history

Encyclopædia Britannica presents people and events from this day in history:

John L. Sullivan: Biography of the Day

John L. Sullivan

"I can lick any man in the house!"

John L. Sullivan

American prizefighter John L. Sullivan, born this day in 1858, was one of the most popular heavyweight champions and a symbol of the bareknuckle era of boxing that effectively ended with his knockout of Jake Kilrain in 1889.

 

Final conference on Antarctic Treaty: 15 October 1959 - This Day in History

On this day in 1959 a final conference on the Antarctic Treaty convened in Washington D.C., and, after six weeks of negotiations, the treaty was signed by 12 countries, preserving the continent for free scientific study.

More Events on this day:

1987: A military coup in Burkina Faso overthrew head of state Thomas Sankara, killing him and eight others.

1969: President Cabdirashiid Cali Sherma'arke (Abdirashid Ali Shermarke) of Somalia was assassinated.

1934: Chinese communists began the Long March, the 6,000-mile (10,000-km) trek that resulted in the relocation of the communist revolutionary base from southeast China to northwest China and the emergence of Mao Zedong as the undisputed leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

1844: Classical scholar and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Prussia.

1839: Encouraged by her uncle Leopold, Queen Victoria of England proposed to her cousin, Prince Albert.

879: Boso convoked the bishops of Provence and had them proclaim him their king.

70 : Virgil, the Roman poet best known for his national epic, the Aeneid, was born near Mantua.