140 things happened on 15 January, from AD 69 to 2025. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1559 · 467 years ago
Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in London. The day before, crowds had cheered her as she passed through the city in a grand procession with pageants. The date of the coronation was chosen by her astrologer, John Dee. Elizabeth re…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
King Henry VIII issued an official order adding 'Supreme Head of the Church of England' to his royal title. The Pope had refused to end Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, so Henry broke away from the Pope's authority. Laws called the Acts of Supremacy made the king, not the Pope, head of the Church in England. This was a big step in the English Reformation.
UK story
Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in London. The day before, crowds had cheered her as she passed through the city in a grand procession with pageants. The date of the coronation was chosen by her astrologer, John Dee. Elizabeth reigned until 1603 and was the last Tudor monarch, and her time on the throne is called the Elizabethan era.
UK story
The British Museum in London opened its doors to the public for the first time, in a grand mansion called Montagu House. It was the world's first public national museum. Its collection began with around 71,000 objects gathered by the doctor and scientist Sir Hans Sloane, including books, plants and ancient treasures. It now holds about eight million objects telling the story of human history and culture.
UK story
War of 1812: The American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, was captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
UK story
A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a "supplement" (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light.
UK story
In British Hong Kong, hundreds of Europeans were non-lethally poisoned by arsenic in bread from a locally owned bakery, leading to geopolitical tension.
UK story
British multinational construction and facilities management services company Carillion goes into liquidation – officially, "the largest ever trading liquidation in the UK".
UK story
Theresa May's UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230.
Wilson Bentley, a 19-year-old from a farm in Jericho, Vermont, in the USA, took the first known photograph of a snowflake. After much experimenting, he had attached a bellows camera to a microscope. He caught snowflakes on black velvet so he could photograph them before they melted. Nicknamed 'Snowflake Bentley', he helped spread the idea that no two snowflakes are exactly alike.
PE teacher James Naismith published the rules of basketball, a new game he had invented. Teaching at a college in Springfield, Massachusetts, he needed an indoor game his students could play in winter. In the first game, in December 1891, the goals were two peach baskets nailed up at each end of the gym. One of his 13 rules was that players could not run with the ball.
Archaeologists discovered the Derveni papyrus at Derveni, near Thessaloniki in northern Greece. It is a roll of papyrus, an early writing material, dating from around 340 BC. That makes it the oldest surviving manuscript in Europe. Its text, written in Ancient Greek, explains the hidden meaning of an old poem about the birth of the gods.
The first edit was made to the new online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It appeared on the site's home page and said: 'This is the new WikiPedia!' Wikipedia was founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, and it is written by volunteers from around the world. It has become the largest and most-read reference work in history.
SMART-1, a European Space Agency spacecraft orbiting the Moon, detected chemical elements on the Moon's surface, including calcium, aluminium, silicon and iron. SMART-1 had travelled to the Moon using an ion engine powered by sunlight, which pushed out a stream of xenon gas. At the end of its mission, in 2006, it was deliberately crashed into the Moon's surface.
Soon after taking off from New York, a passenger plane hit a flock of Canada geese, and both its engines failed. Because they were so low, pilots Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles decided to glide the plane down onto the Hudson River. All 155 people on board survived and were rescued by nearby boats. New York's governor called it the 'Miracle on the Hudson'.
Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
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".
Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence.
Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly.
American Civil War: The Union Army captured Fort Fisher, the last seaport of the Confederacy.
The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.
The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
Construction was completed on the Buffalo Bill Dam, then the tallest dam in the world, on the Shoshone River in the U.S. state of Wyoming.
Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded.
A teenage girl in Banneux, Belgium, reported the first of several Marian apparitions, now known as Our Lady of Banneux.
The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
Spanish Civil War: Nationalist and Republican forces both withdrew after suffering heavy losses at the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
The highest-capacity office building in the world, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense known as the Pentagon, was dedicated.
World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist government.
The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d'état.
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the American football championship game now known as Super Bowl I.
The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
The Republic of Biafra surrendered following a failed attempt at secession from Nigeria, ending the Nigerian Civil War.
Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
Portugal and the nationalist factions UNITA, the MPLA and the FNLA signed the Alvor Agreement, ending the Angolan War of Independence.
Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish trade union Solidarity at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
The Victoria Cross for Australia was instituted, making Australia the first Commonwealth realm with a separate Victoria Cross award in its honours system.
The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the Swiss franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirms the first case of COVID-19 in Japan.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Elizabeth I is crowned at Westminster Abbey”?
A: 1559. 1559 — that’s 467 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Henry VIII adds 'Supreme Head of the Church' to his title”?
C: 1535. 1535 — that’s 491 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: Henry VIII adds 'Supreme Head of the Church' to his title. 1559: Elizabeth I is crowned at Westminster Abbey · 1759: The British Museum opens to the public · 1535: Henry VIII adds 'Supreme Head of the Church' to his title Find it on the page
“The British Museum opens to the public” happened in 1759. How many years ago was that?
C: 267 years. 2026 − 1759 = 267. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 15 January.
Martin Luther King Jr was an American Baptist minister and a leader of the civil rights movement, which campaigned for equal rights for Black Americans. He believed in peaceful, non-violent protest. In 1963 he gave his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech at the March on Washington. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and Martin Luther King Jr Day is a holiday in the United States.
UK story
Chloe Kelly is an English footballer who plays for the England women's team, the Lionesses. In the final of Euro 2022 she came on as a substitute and scored the winning goal. At Euro 2025 she scored the deciding penalty in the final shoot-out, helping England win the tournament again. She has also won the UEFA Champions League with Arsenal.
Well-known people who died on 15 January.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 15 January somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “January 15” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.