Sunday 15th of July 1381

Lollard priest John Ball known for the Peasants’ Revolt is executed by hanging, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II at the age of 43 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.

Ball's head was displayed stuck on a pike on London Bridge and the quarters of his body were displayed at four different towns.

Saturday 15th of July 1606

Painter and printmaker Rembrandt is born as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn in Weddesteeg, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.

Wednesday 15th of July 1626

Artist's model and first wife of Peter Paul Rubens Isabella Brant dies of bubonic plague at the age of 35 in Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Friday 15th of July 1881

17-year-old Willem De Hees is poisoned by serial poisoner Maria Swanenburg aka Goeie Mie in Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.

De Hees was Swanenburg's nephew.

Friday 15th of July 1892

Philosopher Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin is born in Berlin, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany.

Friday 15th of July 1904

Writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov dies of tuberculosis at the age of 44 in Badenweiler, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Chekhov's body was transported to Moscow in a refrigerated railway car meant for oysters.

Sunday 15th of July 1906

Murderer Alfred William Bayly is born in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand.

Wednesday 15th of July 1908

Victim of Joachim Kroll aka The Ruhr Hunter Maria Hettgen is born in Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Monday 15th of July 1912

Kidnapper and murderess Bonnie Emily Brown Heady is born in Burlington Junction, Missouri, United States.

Tuesday 15th of July 1919

Writer Iris Jean Murdoch is born in Blessington Street, Dublin, Phibsborough, Leinster, Ireland.

Monday 15th of July 1929

Poet and writer Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal dies of a stroke at the age of 55 in Wien, Wien, Austria.

Hofmannsthal died shortly after attending the funeral of his son Franz who committed suicide two days before.

Tuesday 15th of July 1930

Philosopher Jacques Jackie Élie Derrida aka The Father of Deconstructionism is born in El Biar, Wilāya Al Ǧazāʾir, Algeria.

Wednesday 15th of July 1936

Murderess Charlotte Bryant is executed by hanging by Thomas Pierrepoint at the age of 32 in Exeter Prison, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom.

Thursday 15th of July 1937

Mass murderer Robert Raymond Cook is born in Hanna, Alberta, Canada.

Monday 15th of July 1940

Mass murderer Ronald Gene Simmons is born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Sunday 15th of July 1945

Norene Lauer is bound, gagged, molested and robbed by serial killer Harvey Glatman aka The Pin-Up Killer in Sunshine Canyon, Boulder, Colorado, United States.

Glatman tied her up and they spent the night together in his car. He let her go the next day and was identified and arrested the day after.

Tuesday 15th of July 1952

Victim of Timothy Spencer aka The Southside Strangler Debbie Ann Dudley Davis is born in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States.

Tuesday 15th of July 1952

Musician Johnny Thunders known from The New York Dolls is born as John Anthony Genzale in New York, Queens, New York, United States.

Wednesday 15th of July 1953

Serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie aka The Strangler of 10 Rillington Place is executed by hanging at the age of 54 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, London, Islington, Greater London, United Kingdom.

After being pinioned for execution, Christie complained that his nose itched. Executioner Albert Pierrepoint assured him that "It won't bother you for long".

Sunday 15th of July 1956

Musician Marky Ramone is born as Marc Steven Bell in New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Sunday 15th of July 1956

Musician Ian Kevin Curtis known from the band Joy Division is born in Old Trafford Memorial Hospital, 226 Seymour Grove, Stretford, Lancashire, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 15th of July 1958

Spree killer Christian Dornier is born in Baume-les-Dames, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.

Tuesday 15th of July 1958

Mother of John Lennon Julia Lennon is knocked down and killed by learner-driver PC Eric Clague in a Standard Vanguard car at the age of 44 in Menlove Avenue, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.

Lennon's body landed about 30m from where she had been hit.

Wednesday 15th of July 1959

53-year-old Art vandal Walter Menzl is sentenced to three years imprisonment and a 800.000,- DM fine for the acid attack on Peter Paul Rubens’ 'Der Höllensturz der Verdammten' on 26 February 1959 in Alte Pinakothek, München, Bayern, Germany.

Thursday 15th of July 1965

Spree killer Barend Hendrik Strydom aka Wit Wolf known for the Strijdom Square Massacre is born in Wenen, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Thursday 15th of July 1971

Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion Petra Schelm is shot dead by the police after escaping from a road-block at the age of 21 in Reineckestraße, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

Schelm's companion Werner Hoppe was arrested minutes later. Schelm was the first member of the Rote Armee Fraktion to be killed by the German police.

Thursday 15th of July 1971

46-year-old Artist Jean Tinguely marries 41-year-old Niki de Saint Phalle in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Thursday 15th of July 1971

Murderer Ponchai Kamau Wilkerson is born in Houston, Texas, United States.

Monday 15th of July 1974

News reporter Christine Chubbuck commits suicide by a shot through the head at the age of 30 in WXLT-TV, Sarasota, Florida, United States.

Chubbuck was doing a live newscast during her Suncoast Digest show and said "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first: an attempted suicide" and shot herself behind the left ear. Chubbuck was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead fourteen hours later.

Sunday 15th of July 1979

Murderer Quintin Philippe Jones is born in Fort Worth, Texas, United States.

Sunday 15th of July 1990

32-year-old Murderess Laurie Lawrencia Bembenek aka Run, Bambi, Run escapes from prison with the help of her fiancé Nick Gugliatto in Taycheedah Correctional Institution, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, United States.

Bembenek's escape ignited the slogan 'Run, Bambi, Run'. They fled to Thunder Bay, Ontario and spent three months as fugitives before being apprehended.

Monday 15th of July 1991

24-year-old Oliver Lacy aka Birdie is drugged, strangled and dismembered by serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer aka The Milwaukee Cannibal in Oxford Apartments #213, 924 25th North Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

Earlier that day Dahmer was fired from his job at the Ambrosia Chocolate Co. for chronic absenteism.

Tuesday 15th of July 1997

51-year-old Gianni Giovanni Maria Versace is shot dead by serial killer Andrew Cunanan aka American Gigolo/American Psycho in Casa Casuarina, Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

Usually Versace would have an assistant walk from his home to the coffee shop to get his morning papers but on this occasion he decided to go in person.

Tuesday 15th of July 2003

Weird things to see around and in Muzium Negara, Jalan Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia.

Thursday 15th of July 2010

Mass murderer Seth Stephen Privacky is shot and killed during a failed prison escape attempt at the age of 30 in Kinross Correctional Facility, Kincheloe, Michigan, United States.

Privacky and two other inmates overpowered the driver of a facilities semi-truck and tried to drive it through the double fence. Guards from the prison quickly apprehended two of the inmates but Privacky tried to flee the truck once it stopped and was shot.