On This Day: 15 May

Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne		392
Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, authorising the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition – but with limits		1252
A Yorkist victory in the Battle of Hexham marks the end of significant Lancastrian resistance in the north of England		1464
Anne Boleyn goes on trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially–selected jury		1536
Battle of Frankenhausen: the defeat of insurgent peasants led by Anabaptist pastor Thomas Müntzer ends the German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire		1525
Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell – her third husband		1567
Captain Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to set foot in New England		1602
Johannes Kepler confirms discovery of the third law of planetary motion (having discovered it on 8 March but rejected the idea after some initial calculations)		1618
The Peace of Munster – the first Treaty of Westphalia – is signed		1648
Elias Ashmole founds the Ashmolean Museum		1679
James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the first machine gun		1718
The Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain – paving the way for the US Declaration of Independence.		1776
In the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self–denying Ordinance – barring any member of the Constituent Assembly from sitting in its successor, the Legislative Assembly (convened in 1791)		1789
War of the First Coalition: France declares war on Kingdom of Sardinia		1792
Spanish inventor Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 meters", at a height of 5–6 metres – one of the first attempted manned flights		1793
War of the First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph		1796
King George III survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield, who is later acquitted by reason of insanity		1800
US Congress designates slave trading as piracy		1829
Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse		1836
Ruskin's Modern Painters, including lavish praise for J. M. W. Turner, published		1843
Opening of the present Royal Opera House, Covent Garden		1858
Battle of Catalafimi: Garibaldi defeats the Neapolitan army		1860
Thomas Cook's first package holiday sets off for Paris		1861
US Department of Agriculture inaugurated		1862
Union Grounds, Brooklyn – the first sports ground dedicated exclusively to baseball – opens		1862
Queen Victoria lays the foundation stone of a new building for the Victoria & Albert Museum (formerly the South Kensington Museum) designed by Aston Webb		1899
Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres in what later would become downtown are sold at auction		1905
The United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly, and orders the company to be broken up		1911
General Henri Petain becomes Commander–in–Chief of French forces		1917
The world's first regular long distance airmail service (Philadelphia – NY) begins		1918
Germany cedes Upper Silesia to Poland		1922
Mickey Mouse appears for the first time, in Plane Crazy		1928
Australia's Flying Doctor Service inaugurated by Dr. Vincent Welsh		1928
Ellen Church, of Iowa, becomes the World's first air hostess – on a Boeing 80A from Oakland to Cheyenne, Wyoming		1930
Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated in an attempted coup d'état		1932
All German military aviation organisations are merged to form the Luftwaffe		1933
The world's first television quiz is broadcast in Canada		1935
Amy Johnson lands in England after a record–breaking return flight to Cape Town		1936
Nylon stockings go on sale in the USA		1940
McDonald's opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California		1940
The Gloster–Whittle E28/39 turbojet – Britain's first jet aircraft – flies for the first time from RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire		1941
Burma is evacuated by British and Indian troops		1942
Josef Stalin dissolved the Comintern (or Third International)		1943
The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish of World War II in Europe, is fought near Prevalje (now in Slovenia)		1945
Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel, following the expiration of the British Mandate for Palestine, thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War		1948
Vienna Treaty (UK, US, USSR, France) restores independence to Austria		1955
Britain's first hydrogen bomb is exploded near Christmas Island		1957
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3		1958
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4		1960
The final Mercury mission, Mercury–Atlas 9, is launched, with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board; he becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space		1963
An avalanche on the Zugspitze (Bavaria) hits a hotel – 130 buried, 40 killed		1965
California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by the University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti–war protestors, sparking a riot		1969
US Democratic presidential candidate, Governor George Wallace, is shot and seriously wounded by busboy/janitor Arthur Bremer at Laurel, Maryland		1972
General Spinola is inaugurated as President of Portugal		1984
The USSR begins evacuating its troops from Afghanistan, after more than eight years of fighting		1988
Mikhail Gorbachev meets Chinese Paramount Leader Deng Xiao–ping in Beijing		1989
Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet is sold at auction for a record price of $82.5 million		1990
Lindi St. Clair – 'Miss Whiplash' – is ordered by a court to pay tax arrears claimed by Inland Revenue		1990
President Francois Mitterand appoints Edith Cresson as France's first female Prime Minister		1991
Arsenal complete a Premier League season undefeated – the first team to do so in the English top flight since Preston North End in the Football League's inaugural season (1888–9)		2004
Australia's Jessica Watson, aged 16, becomes the youngest person to sail non–stop and unassisted around the world solo		2010

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On This Day: 15 May