History for May 15

History for May 15 - On-This-Day.com

Madeleine Albright 1937 - First woman to become a U.S. Secretary of State

• 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovered his harmonics law.
• 1856 - Lyman Frank Baum, author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," was born.
• 1862 - The U.S. Congress created the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• 1911 - The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
• 1940 - Nylon stockings went on sale for the first time in the U.S.
• 1942 - Gasoline rationing began in the U.S. The limit was 3 gallons a week for nonessential vehicles.
• 1948 - Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon only hours after declaring its independence.
• 1972 - Alabama Democrat Gov. George C. Wallace was shot by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, MD while campaigning for the U.S. presidency. Wallace was paralyzed by the shot.
• 1988 - The Soviet Union began their withdrawal of its 115,000 troops from Afghanistan. Soviet forces had been there for more than eight years.