October 15

Today in History
• 1520 - King Henry VIII of England orders bowling lanes at Whitehall
• 1582 - Gregorian calendar introduced in Spain, Portugal and pontifical states
• 1660 - Asser Levy granted butcher's license (kosher meat) in New Amsterdam
• 1674 - Torsaker witch trials begin, largest witch trials in Sweden, 71 beheaded and burned
• 1783 - Jean Pilstre de Rozier makes 1st tethered balloon ascent
• 1786 - Earliest 32°F (0°C) recorded temperature in NYC
• 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte arrives on island of St Helena to begin his exile
• 1860 - 11-year-old Grace Bedell writes to Abraham Lincoln telling him to grow a beard


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Commemoration Day of King's Father
• International: Dussehra
• Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti
• Mother's Day in Malawi
• Mysore Dasara
• Shine a Light Night
• Tunisia: Evacuation Day
• White Cane Safety Day

Birthdays
• 1268 - Temür Khan, Second Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (1294-1307)
• 1542 - Akbar, 3rd Mughal Emperor of India (1556-1605
• 1608 - Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist (inventor of barometer)
• 1701 - Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, first native Canadian canonized
• 1711 - Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen consort of Sardinia (1737-41)
• 1785 - José Miguel Carrera, 1st President of Chile (1811-14)
• 1795 - Frederick William IV, King of Prussia (1840-61)
• 1825 - Marie of Prussia, Queen consort of Bavaria (1848-64)