Summary of the Day ✨ 15 November (15/11)
The world population reached eight billion while Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh Formula One drivers’ title, matching Michael Schumacher’s record. In political news, Xi Jinping solidified his leadership in China while Hong Kong’s judiciary barred two elected officials from Parliament, as a deadly flood near Athens claimed 25 lives.
Historical Events 📜
- 2022: The world population reached eight billion.
- 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins the Turkish Grand Prix and secures his seventh drivers’ title, equalling the all-time record held by Michael Schumacher.
- 2017: A flood a few miles outside of Athens results in the death of 25 people.
- 2016: Hong Kong’s High Court bans elected politicians Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung from the city’s Parliament.
- 2012: Xi Jinping becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated.
- 2010: A fire in a high-rise apartment building in Shanghai, China kills 58 people.
- 2007: Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.
- 2006: Al Jazeera English launches worldwide.
- 2003: The first day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings, in which two car bombs, targeting two synagogues, explode, kill 25 people and wound 300 more.
- 2002: Hu Jintao becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new nine-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated.
- 2001: Microsoft launches the Xbox game console in North America.
- 2000: A chartered Antonov An-24 crashes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, killing more than 40 people.
- 2000: Jharkhand officially becomes the 28th state of India, formed from eighteen districts of southern Bihar.
- 1994: A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits the central Philippine island of Mindoro, killing 78 people, injuring 430 and triggering a tsunami up to 8.5 m (28 ft) high.
- 1990: The Communist People’s Republic of Bulgaria is disestablished and a new republican government is instituted.
Famous Births 👶
- 2001: TyTy Washington Jr., American basketball player
- 1997: Paula Badosa, Spanish tennis player
- 1996: Kim Min-jae, South Korean footballer
- 1995: Blake Pieroni, American swimmer
- 1995: Karl-Anthony Towns, Dominican-American basketball player
- 1994: Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russian tennis player
- 1994: Emma Dumont, American actress and model
- 1994: Bryce Cartwright, Australian rugby league player
- 1993: Arik Armstead, American football player
- 1993: Paulo Dybala, Argentine footballer
- 1993: Saaya Irie, Japanese actress and singer
- 1993: Melitina Staniouta, Belarusian rhythmic gymnast
- 1992: Dylan Bundy, American baseball player
- 1992: Sofia Goggia, Italian skier
- 1992: Minami Minegishi, Japanese singer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Celeste Caeiro, Portuguese pacifist (born 1933)
- 2024: Béla Károlyi, Romanian-American gymnastics coach (born 1942)
- 2024: Jon Kenny, Irish comedian and actor (born 1957)
- 2024: Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, Japanese princess (born 1923)
- 2023: Žarko Laušević, Serbian actor (born 1960)
- 2017: Lil Peep, American singer and rapper (born 1996)
- 2016: Mose Allison, American pianist and songwriter (born 1927)
- 2015: Gisèle Prassinos, French author (born 1920)
- 2015: Herbert Scarf, American economist and academic (born 1930)
- 2015: Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (born 1929)
- 2014: Jack Bridger Chalker, English painter and academic (born 1918)
- 2014: Lucien Clergue, French photographer and educator (born 1934)
- 2014: Valéry Mézague, Cameroonian footballer (born 1983)
- 2014: Reg Withers, Australian soldier and politician, Australian Minister for the Capital Territory (born 1924)
- 2013: Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (born 1929)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- America Recycles Day (United States)
- Christian feast day:
Abibus of Edessa - Christian feast day:
Albert the Great - Christian feast day:
Blessed Caius of Korea - Christian feast day:
Didier of Cahors - Christian feast day:
Francis Asbury and George Whitefield (Episcopal Church) - Christian feast day:
Blessed Hugh Faringdon - Christian feast day:
Leopold III, a public holiday in Lower Austria and Vienna. - Christian feast day:
Malo - Christian feast day:
Mechell - Christian feast day:
November 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Day of the German-speaking Community of Belgium (German-speaking Community of Belgium)
- Day of the Imprisoned Writer (International observance)
- Independence Day, unilaterally declared in 1988. (Palestine)
- King’s Feast (Belgium)