◆ On this day

October 15

4 sourced moments from October 15 in history: The Gregorian calendar took 341 years to reach Greece (1582); A human first rose into the sky in a hot-air balloon (1783); Napoleon reached Saint Helena on 15 October 1815, plus 1 more.

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4 things happened on October 15

newest first ↓

1997 Technology · Transportation

A car broke the sound barrier on land for the first time

Thrust SSC roared across a Nevada desert at Mach 1.02, becoming the first wheeled vehicle to outrun its own sonic boom.

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1815 History · Modern

Napoleon reached Saint Helena on 15 October 1815

On the 67-day voyage to his last exile, Napoleon and his British jailer fought over a single question: was he still an emperor?

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1783 Technology · Transportation

A human first rose into the sky in a hot-air balloon

Tethered by ropes above Paris, Pilatre de Rozier became the first person to leave the ground in a Montgolfier balloon.

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1582 Science · Mathematics

The Gregorian calendar took 341 years to reach Greece

The new calendar took effect on 15 October 1582 in Catholic Europe. Others held out for centuries — and Flanders lost Christmas along the way.

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