October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years). There are 78 days remaining until year’s end. (Illustration: First manned balloon flight, by Claude-Louis Desrais, 1783.)

Today in History

• In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, yesterday was October 4 because of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar (1582)
• Étienne Montgolfier becomes the first human to lift off the earth, making the first manned ascent in the Montgolfier brothers’ globe aérostatique, or hot air balloon (1783 — traditional date)
• Marie-Antoinette is sentenced to death (1793)
• Napoleon begins his exile on Saint Helena (1815)
• The Edison Electric Light Company (later GE) begins operation (1878)
• Jack the Ripper’s “From Hell” letter is postmarked (1888)
• Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying (1894)
• The Graf Zeppelin arrives in the United States after its first successful trans-Atlantic flight (1928)
• The Soviet Republic of China collapses under attack from 蒋中正 (Chiang Kai-shek), and the fleeing Communists begin the Long March (1934)
• I Love Lucy premiers on CBS (1951)
• Fortran is released (1956)
• The Black Panther Party is founded (1966)
• The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam attracts over two million demonstrators nationwide (1969)
• Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the National Hockey League (1989)
• Andy Green’s ThrustSSC sets the first supersonic land speed record (1997)
• NASA launches the Cassini probe toward Saturn (1997)
• China launches 神舟五号(Shenzhou 5), its first manned space mission (2003)

Birthdays

• Virgil, poet (70 BCE)
• Evangelista Torricelli, inventor of the barometer (1608 CE)
• Asaph Hall, astronomer who discovered the moons of Mars (1829 CE)
• Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844 CE)
• John L. Sullivan, boxer (1858 CE)
• P. G. Wodehouse, author (1881 CE)
• Mervyn LeRoy, director (1900 CE)
• C. P. Snow, chemist and novelist (1905 CE)
• John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908 CE)
• יִצְחָק שָׁמִיר (Yitzhak Shamir), Israeli prime minister (1915 CE)
• Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., social critic and historian (1917 CE)
• Mario Puzo, author (1920 CE)
• Italo Calvino, journalist (1923 CE)
• Lee Iacocca, car executive (1924 CE)
• Ed McBain (Evan Hunter), mystery writer (1926 CE)
• Jean Peters, actress (1926 CE)
• Linda Lavin, sitcom star (1937 CE)
• Penny Marshall, sitcom star (1942 CE)
• Jim Palmer, baseball player (1945 CE)
• Richard Carpenter, singer-songwriter (1946 CE)
• Tito Jackson, musician (1953 CE)
• Walter Jon Williams, science fiction writer (1953 CE)
• Jere Burns, actor (1954 CE)
• Tanya Roberts, actress (1955 CE)
• Sarah, Duchess of York, royal (1959 CE)
• Emeril Lagasse, chef (1959 CE)
• Keyshia Cole, singer (1981 CE)

Deaths

• Mata Hari, dancer and spy (1917)
• Herbert Henry Dow, chemist (1930)
• Hermann Göring, Nazi leader (1946)
• Cole Porter, composer (1964)
• Carlo Gambino, mobster (1976)
• Vincent Canby, critic (2000)
• Edie Adams, singer (2008)
• Betty Driver, actress (2011)
• Norodom Sihanouk, monarch and politician (2012)

Holidays

• Bearded Presidents Day (US)
• Chicken Cacciatore Day (US)
• Global Handwashing Day (International)
• Grouch Day (informal, US)
• National Mushroom Day (US)
• National Tree Planting Day (Sri Lanka)
• Parade of Giants and Dwarves Holiday (Spain)
• Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (Canada and US)
• Rectification Day (Burkina Faso)
• Teacher’s Day (Brazil)
• Equirra (ancient Rome)
• White Cane Safety Day (US)