On This Day: 15 April

15 April in Indian history

• 1957The Indiaman departed Victoria Coach Station, London, as part of the first UK–India bus service.India

15 April in world history

• 2013Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring over 500 others.
• 1989The Hillsborough disaster, a human crush that caused 97 deaths in the worst disaster in British sporting history, occurred during an FA Cup match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield.
• 1989The death of former Chinese General Secretary Hu Yaobang triggered a series of events that led to the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
• 1986The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.
• 1969The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.
• 1960At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
• 1958On Walter O'Malley's initiative, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants played the first Major League Baseball game on the U.S. West Coast.
• 1941World War II: In the Belfast Blitz, 200 bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing some 1,000 people.
• 1927Torrential rains caused the Mississippi River to break out of its levee system in at least 145 places, resulting in the worst flooding in the history of the United States.
• 1923Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
• 1920Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
• 1912More than 1,500 people on the Titanic died when the passenger liner sank after colliding with an iceberg southeast of Newfoundland.
• 1900Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
• 1738Serse, an opera by Baroque composer George Frideric Handel loosely based on Xerxes I of Persia, premiered in London.
• 1642Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
• 1632Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
• 1071Byzantine–Norman wars: After a siege of almost three years, Italo-Norman forces conquered the city of Bari, the capital of the Catepanate of Italy, ending more than five centuries of Byzantine presence in the region.

Born on 15 April

• 1963Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscasterIndia
• 1961Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
• 1938Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress (died 2025)
• 1915Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (died 2012)
• 1901Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (died 1986)India
• 1563Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (died 1606)India

Died on 15 April

• 2024Josip Manolić, Croatian politician, prime minister, and speaker of the Chamber of Counties (born 1920)
• 2022Bilquis Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (born 1947)
• 1998Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (born 1925)
• 1966Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan (born 1906)India

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 15 April in history?

2013: Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring over 500 others. 1989: The Hillsborough disaster, a human crush that caused 97 deaths in the worst disaster in British sporting history, occurred during an FA Cup match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield. 1989: The death of former Chinese General Secretary Hu Yaobang triggered a series of events that led to the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. 1986: The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.

What happened on 15 April in Indian history?

1957: The Indiaman departed Victoria Coach Station, London, as part of the first UK–India bus service.

Which famous people were born on 15 April?

Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster (1963); Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer (1961); Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress (died 2025) (1938); Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (died 2012) (1915).

Which day is observed on 15 April?

Day of the Sun (North Korea); Father Damien Day (Hawaii); Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England); Jackie Robinson Day (United States); National American Sign Language Day (United States).