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15th May

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1941: First Allied jet flies


On 15 May 1941, the first test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion is made in Britain. The W-1 turbojet engine, which produced a powerful thrust of hot air, was devised by Frank Whittle, a Royal Air Force engineer who also flew the initial tests. The German Heinkel He 178, designed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain, made the first jet flight in history in 1939. The Allied jet aircraft went into war service in 1944, when the British Gloster Meteor flew into the skies over Europe. The German Me 262 followed soon after.

2001

A court ruling in Britain ends the restrictive and high pricing policy on over-the-counter medicine.

1991

Edith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister.

1990

Vincent Van Gogh's 'Portrait of Doctor Gachet' is sold for $82.5 million at Christies' Auction House in New York, setting a new world record for a single painting.

1988

The first of an estimated 120,000 Soviet troops begin leaving Afghanistan after eight years of occupation.

1972

In America, the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, is shot and crippled for life in an assassination attempt during his Presidential Campaign in Maryland.

1957

Britain's first H-bomb is exploded on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

1955

The U.S.A., the USSR; Britain and France sign the Treaty of Vienna to restore Austrian independence.

1948

The day after the State of Israel formally comes into existence Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia all declare war on the new country.

1943

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.

1940

The Second World War: The Netherlands surrenders to Germany.

1932

Japanese Prime Minister, Inukai Tsuyoshi, is assassinated in an attempted coup by members of the Japanese Navy. The coup ultimately failed, and has come to be known as the 15th May Incident.  

1918

The Civil War in Finland ends.

1858

In England, The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is re-opened for the third time in a new building with a performance of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots.

1756

England declares war on France, beginning the Seven Years War.

1718

The first machine gun is patented by London lawyer James Puckle.

1909

British actor James Mason. Films include Odd Man Out; The Desert Fox The Blue Max and Lolita.

1905

American stage and screen actor Joseph Cotton. Films includes Citizen Kane; The Third Man and Portrait of Jennie.

1859

French chemist and physicist Pierre Curie. Together with his wife Marie, works on magnetism and radioactivity.

1856

American children's author Frank Lyman Baum. His book The Wizard of Oz becomes a cinema classic.

1987

American film actress Rita Hayworth.

1978

Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies. His long political career included two spells as Liberal Prime Minister (1939-1941 & 1949-1966).

1886

American Poet Emily Dickinson. A prolific writer, she completed at least 800 poems most of which weren't published until after her death.

1847

Irish Catholic leader Daniel O'Connell, known as the Liberator dies in Italy. His election win in 1828 in County Clare, forced the British government to accept Roman Catholics in Parliament.