Historical eventAugust 212015

Thalys

Passengers on a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris confronted and subdued an attacker who attempted a mass shooting.

In context

When
Friday, August 21 201511 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
21st century · 2010s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 2015.

What happened

Passengers on a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris confronted and subdued an attacker who attempted a mass shooting.

August 21 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1991Latvia
  2. 19911991 Soviet coup attempt
  3. 1993NASA
  4. 1994Royal Air Maroc Flight 630
  5. 1995Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529
  6. 2000Tiger Woods
  7. 2007BioShock
  8. 2013Ghouta chemical attack
  9. 2013Syrian civil war
  10. 2015Thalys
  11. 2017Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017

Also in 2015

  • September 9Elizabeth IIElizabeth II (pictured) became the longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria.
  • September 11Mecca crane collapseA crane collapses onto the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Saudi Arabia, killing 111 people and injuring 394 others.
  • September 12Petlawad explosionAn explosion involving illegally stored mining detonators in Petlawad, India, killed 104 people and injured more than 150 others.
  • September 14LIGOPhysicists of the LIGO and Virgo projects first observed gravitational waves, the existence of which was predicted by Henri Poincaré in 1…
  • September 14First observation of gravitational wavesThe first observation of gravitational waves is made, announced by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations on 11 February 2016.
  • September 162015 Illapel earthquakeA 8.3 Mw earthquake strikes the Chilean city of Illapel, killing 15 people, injuring at least 34, leaving at least six missing, and causi…
  • September 182015 Camp Badaber attackTwo security personnel, 17 worshippers in a mosque, and 13 militants are killed during a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attack on a Pakistan A…
  • October 222015 Trollhättan school attackA sword-wielding man attacked students and teachers at a high school in Trollhättan, killing three people in Sweden's deadliest school at…

Everything we record for 2015 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Thalys”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/thalys-2015-august-21, accessed October 27, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Thalys happen?

August 21 2015 — 11 years ago, on a Friday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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