Birthday Paper › What happened on …? › May 15

Events on May 15

• 1525 Thomas Müntzer, an evangelical theologian and one of the leading figures in the German Peasants' War, is captured after the Battle of Frankenhausen, which ends in a complete defeat of the peasant bands mustered by Müntzer, and is beheaded in Mühlhausen on May 27.
• 1618 Johannes Kepler discovers the third of the laws of planetary motion named after him. Thereafter, the ratio of the cube of the major semiaxis of a planet's orbital ellipse, d, to the square of its orbital period is always constant: it is the same for all planets.
• 1871 The Imperial Criminal Code of the German Empire is re-promulgated after several editorial amendments. It enters into force on January 1, 1872. The German Criminal Code is still based today on the principles of this code.
• 1935 The first section of the Moscow Metro is opened between the stations Sokolniki and Park Kultury. Around 500 industrial enterprises were involved in constructing the subway.
• 1955 By signing the Austrian State Treaty at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, Austria regains its sovereignty and undertakes to permanent neutrality.
• 1974 In the Federal Presidential election, Walter Scheel of the FDP is elected Federal President of Germany with 530 votes. His opposing candidate Richard von Weizsäcker of the CDU receives 498 votes.
• 1980 The German National Olympic Committee (NOK) resolves, on the recommendation of the Federal Government, to boycott the Olympic Games in Moscow, by a vote of 59:40.
• 1988 The Red Army of the Soviet Union begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan in accordance with the Geneva Afghanistan Agreement, following the end of the Soviet-Afghan War.
• 1991 In France, President François Mitterrand appoints Édith Cresson as the first female Prime Minister. She will remain in office for less than 11 months.
• 1997 The German Bundestag resolves to give marital and extramarital rape equal legal status, making rape within marriage punishable under § 177 of the StGB.
• 2002 Bayer 04 Leverkusen loses the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid 1:2 at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
• 2004 The FIFA awards the 2010 FIFA World Cup to South Africa.

Born on May 15

• 1862 Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian storyteller and dramatist
• 1874 Richard Schirrmann, German educator, founder of the German Youth Hostel Association
• 1880 Otto Dibelius, German clergyman, General Superintendent of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Bishop of Brandenburg or Berlin-Brandenburg
• 1891 Michail Afanassjewitsch Bulgakow, Russian writer
• 1930 Jasper Johns, American artist
• 1970 Frank de Boer, Dutch footballer
• 1970 Judith Hermann, German writer
• 1981 Ben, German singer and presenter
• 1981 Patrice Evra, French footballer
• 1981 Zara Phillips, British multi-discipline rider, daughter of Princess Anne

Is your birthday on May 15?

Then there is a newspaper that tells only the story of your day: what was going on in the world on May 15 of your birth year, which song was at the top, what the weather was like at your birthplace, plus birthday twins and a personal greeting.

• For every birth year from 1946
• 4 to 10 pages, always €14.90, as a PDF to print
• With a greeting page for voice and video messages

Create the paper for May 15 · €14.90

Day and month are already filled in, you only choose the birth year.

Source of events and birthdays: German Wikipedia article „15. Mai“, licence CC BY-SA 4.0, selected, shortened and translated by Birthday Paper.

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