Yeti Airlines Flight 691
Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes near Pokhara International Airport, killing all 72 people on board.
What happened on January 15
38 events · 20 births · 20 deaths · 8 observances. From 1867 to 2025.
Standout on January 15
2023
Yeti Airlines Flight 691
Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes near Pokhara International Airport, killing all 72 people on board.
About January 15
January 15 is the 15th day of the year. These facts are computed from the calendar, not copied from anywhere.
- Day of the year
- Day 15 of 365 (15 in leap years)350 days left in the year (351 in leap years)
- Falls on
- Thursday in 2026, Friday in 2027, Saturday in 2028, Monday in 2029, Tuesday in 2030
- Week
- ISO week 3 of 2026 · Q1
- Zodiac sign
- ♑ Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
- Season
- Winter in the north · Summer in the south
- January birthstone
- Garnetprotection, friendship and trust
- January birth flower
- Carnation / Snowdroplove, devotion and hope
- Next occurrence
- In 80 days
- Roman numerals
- XV.Iday.month — see the Roman numeral date tool
Anniversaries in 2026
- 75thIlse Koch1951
- 50thGerald Ford1976
- 30thDeebo Samuel1996
- 30thDove Cameron1996
- 25thFirst Wikipedia edit2001
- 25thWikipedia2001
- 10thFrancisco X. Alarcón2016
- 10thKen Judge2016
January 15 through the years
- 10 years ago2016
- Kenya Defence Forces · Francisco X. Alarcón · Manuel Velázquez
- 25 years ago2001
- Wikipedia · First Wikipedia edit
- 50 years ago1976
- Gerald Ford
- 100 years ago1926
- Nothing recorded
- 200 years ago1826
- Nothing recorded
Born on January 15 — ages this year
- 2004Grace VanderWaalturns 22
- 2002Tim Stützleturns 24
- 2000Triston Casasturns 26
- 1998Alexandra Eadeturns 28
- 1998Chloe Kellyturns 28
- 1998Ben Godfreyturns 28
Historical events 38
A dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupts, cutting off communications with Tonga and causing a tsunami across the Pacific.
2021 West Sulawesi earthquake
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia's Sulawesi island killing at least 105 and injuring 3,369 people.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirms the first case of COVID-19 in Japan.
Theresa May
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.
Somalia
Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19.
Construction
British multinational construction and facilities management services company Carillion goes into liquidation – officially, "the largest ever trading liquidation in the UK".
Kenya Defence Forces
The Kenyan Army suffers its worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 Kenyan soldiers are killed in the battle.
Swiss National Bank
The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the Swiss franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.
Badrashin railway accident
A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others.
US Airways Flight 1549
US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of Canada geese during its climb out from New York City and made an emergency landing in the Hudson River (featured).
European Space Agency
ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, is launched (Wikipedia Day).
First Wikipedia edit
The first edit to the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia was made.
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system.
Victoria Cross for Australia
The Victoria Cross for Australia was instituted, making Australia the first Commonwealth realm with a separate Victoria Cross award in its honours system.
United Nations
The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
Police procedural
The American serial police-procedural television show Hill Street Blues aired its pilot episode, "Hill Street Station".
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish trade union Solidarity at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
Linjeflyg Flight 618
Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes in Kälvesta near Stockholm Bromma Airport in Stockholm, Sweden, killing 22 people.
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
Alvor Agreement
The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal.
UNITA
Portugal and the nationalist factions UNITA, the MPLA and the FNLA signed the Alvor Agreement, ending the Angolan War of Independence.
Dennis Rader
American serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as the "BTK killer", murdered his first four victims.
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
Biafra
The Republic of Biafra surrendered following a failed attempt at secession from Nigeria, ending the Nigerian Civil War.
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the American football championship game now known as Super Bowl I.
Derveni papyrus
The Derveni papyrus (fragment pictured), the oldest surviving manuscript in Europe, was discovered in Macedonia in northern Greece.
Ilse Koch
Ilse Koch, wife of Karl-Otto Koch, the Nazi commander of the Buchenwald and Majdanek concentration camps, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a West German court.
Black Dahlia
The mutilated corpse of the Black Dahlia, a 22-year-old woman whose murder is one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the United States, was found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
United States Department of Defense
The highest-capacity office building in the world, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense known as the Pentagon, was dedicated.
Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War: Nationalist and Republican forces both withdrew after suffering heavy losses at the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
1934 Nepal–India earthquake
At least 10,700 people died when a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck Nepal and the Indian state of Bihar.
Banneux
A teenage girl in Banneux, Belgium, reported the first of several Marian apparitions, now known as Our Lady of Banneux.
Molasses
A large molasses tank in Boston, Massachusetts, burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets , killing 21 people and injuring 150 others.
Buffalo Bill Dam
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.
Wilson Bentley
Wilson Bentley (pictured) took the first known photograph of a snowflake by attaching a bellows camera to a microscope.
Regent's Park
In Regent's Park, London, the ice on the lake broke, plunging skaters into the water and causing 40 deaths from drowning or hypothermia.
Births 20
A notable person born on this day. Each links to a person page with their dates and story.
Deaths 20
A notable person who died on this day.
David Lynch
David Lynch, American television and film director, visual artist and musician, complications from emphysema (born 1946)
Melba Montgomery
Melba Montgomery, American country music singer-songwriter (born 1938)
Alexa McDonough
Alexa McDonough, first female politician to lead a major provincial political party in Canada, former leader of the federal New Democratic Party. (born 1944)
John Dobson (amateur astronomer)
John Dobson, Chinese-American astronomer and author (born 1915)
Holidays & observances 8
A holiday, feast day, awareness day or national day observed every year on this date.
Arnold Janssen
Christian feast day: Arnold Janssen
Francis Ferdinand de Capillas
Christian feast day: Francis Ferdinand de Capillas (one of Martyr Saints of China)
Arbor Day
Arbor Day (Egypt)
Íte of Killeedy
Christian feast day: Ita
Our Lady of Banneux
Christian feast day: Our Lady of the Poor
Armed Forces Remembrance Day
Armed Forces Remembrance Day (Nigeria)
Army Day (India)
Army Day (India)
Abeluzius
Christian feast day: Abeluzius (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church)
Spread across the centuries
- 19th century2
- 20th century40
- 21st century36
Earliest: Regent's Park (1867). Most recent: David Lynch (2025).
What the categories mean, and how the standout is chosen
- Historical events
- A dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
- Births
- A notable person born on this day. Each links to a person page with their dates and story.
- Deaths
- A notable person who died on this day.
- Milestones
- A first, a founding or a turning point our editors flagged as a landmark moment.
- Holidays & observances
- A holiday, feast day, awareness day or national day observed every year on this date.
- Standout / notable
- Editor-written entries come first, then entries covered by the most Wikipedia language editions. For the standout tile we prefer an entry that has a picture.
Nearby and related
Questions about January 15
What day of the year is January 15?
January 15 is the 15th day of the year, with 350 days left after it.
What star sign is January 15?
January 15 falls under Capricorn (December 22 – January 19), a earth sign ruled by Saturn. The birthstone for the month is Garnet.
How many things happened on January 15?
We record 86 entries for January 15: 38 events · 20 births · 20 deaths · 8 observances. From 1867 to 2025.
Who was born on January 15?
Grace VanderWaal (2004) is among the notable births on January 15. The births section lists the rest.
How often is the January 15 page updated?
The day is filled the first time anyone opens it and then re-checked for new entries about every 90 days. Computed facts such as the weekday and the anniversaries update every year.
Get a daily entry like January 15
One short email a day from this calendar. Kept for this site only.
Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.