Monday 15th of October 1398

202nd Pope Urbanus VI dies of injuries suffered in a fall from his mule during a march at the age of 80 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Thursday 15th of October 1564

Anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius dies of unknown causes at the age of 50 in Zakynthos, Ionian Islands, .

Tuesday 15th of October 1816

28-year-old Poet George Gordon Byron aka Lord Byron visits the library to read the love letters of Lucrezia Borgia and steals a lock of her hair in Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Piazza Pio XI 2, Milano, Lombardia, Italy.

Tuesday 15th of October 1844

Philosopher and philologist Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche is born in Pfarrhaus, Röcken, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.

Monday 15th of October 1917

Exotic dancer, courtesan and spy Margaretha Geertruida 'Margreet' MacLeod Zelle aka Mata Hari is executed by the firing squad at the age of 41 in Château de Vincennes, Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, France.

Friday 15th of October 1920

Writer Mario Gianluigi Puzo known for his novel ‘The Godfather’ is born in Hell's Kitchen, New York, Manhattan, New York, United States.

Friday 15th of October 1926

Philosopher Michel Paul Foucault is born in Poitiers, Poitou-Charentes, France.

Tuesday 15th of October 1935

Murderer Gerald T. 'Jerry' Thompson is executed by Old Smokey at the age of 26 in Joliet Prison, Joliet, Illinois, United States.

Tuesday 15th of October 1935

Murderer John Favorito is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 25 in Trenton State Prison, Trenton, New Jersey, United States.

The executioner is almost knocked out when he touches Favorito's body which was loaded with electric current after the execution.

Sunday 15th of October 1939

4-year-old Serial killer Joseph Kallinger aka The Shoemaker is adopted by Stephen and Anna Kallinger in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Kallinger was abused by both his adoptive parents so severely that at age six he suffered a hernia inflicted by his adoptive father. The punishments Kallinger endured included kneeling on jagged rocks, being locked inside closets, consuming excrement, committing self-injury, being burned with irons, being whipped with belts and being starved.

Tuesday 15th of October 1940

Student Benno Ohnesorg is born in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Monday 15th of October 1945

French politician and collaborator Pierre Jean Marie Laval is executed by the firing squad at the age of 62 in Prison de Fresnes, Fresnes, Val-de-Marne, France.

On the morning of his execution Laval attempted to cheat the firing squad by taking poison from a vial stitched inside the lining of his jacket. The poison was so old that it was ineffective and repeated stomach-pumpings revived Laval.

Tuesday 15th of October 1946

Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion Bernard Rößner is born in München, Bayern, Germany.

Tuesday 15th of October 1946

Reichsmarschall and Nazi leader Hermann Wilhelm Göring commits suicide by cyanide poisoning at the age of 53 in Justizpalast, Fürther Straße 110, Nürnberg, Bayern, Germany.

In 2005 former U.S. Army Private Herbert Lee Stivers, who served in the 1st Infantry Division's 26th Infantry Regiment - the honour guard for the Nuremberg Trials - claimed he gave Göring "medicine" hidden inside a fountain pen that a German woman had asked him to smuggle into the prison.

Tuesday 15th of October 1946

Musician Richard Lynn Carpenter is born in Grace-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, United States.

Monday 15th of October 1956

Mass murderer George Jo Hennard is born as Georges Pierre Hennard in Sayre, Pennsylvania, United States.

Thursday 15th of October 1959

20-year-old Foot fetishist and serial killer Jerry Jerome Henry Brudos aka The Lust Killer is discharged from the US Army because of his bizarre obsessions in Fort Gordon, Georgia, United States.

Monday 15th of October 1962

Serial killer Guy Georges aka Le Tueur de la Bastille is born as Guy Rampillon in Vitry-le-François, Seine-et-Marne, France.

Thursday 15th of October 1964

Composer and songwriter Cole Albert Porter dies of kidney failure at the age of 73 in Santa Monica, California, United States.

Saturday 15th of October 1966

Revolutionary black nationalist and socialist organization the Black Panther Party is founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California, United States.

Sunday 15th of October 1967

Unitarian peace activist Florence Beaumont commits suicide by self-immolation at the age of 58 in Federal Building, 300 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, California, United States.

Beaumont was protesting the US involvement in the war in Vietnam. "She was a perfectly normal, dedicated person, and felt she had to do this just like the monks and nuns who burned themselves in Vietnam. This was no suicide. There were no indications of escapism or frustration. This was an immolation, a supreme sacrifice to humanity, to peace and freedom for all mankind."

Wednesday 15th of October 1969

44-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Aktion nr. 57 / Der Tod der Sharon Tate' with Charlotte Moorman in Kunsthalle, Cäcilienstraße, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Friday 15th of October 1971

18-year-old Marie-Thérèse Rosseel is stabbed to death, raped and mutilated by serial killer Gustaaf Van Eyken aka De Vampier van Muizen in Muizenhoek 1, Muizen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Sunday 15th of October 1972

19-year-old Leslie Laura Brock is abducted and bludgeoned to death by serial killer Harvey Carignan aka The Want-Ad Killer aka Harv the Hammer in Bellingham, Washington, United States.

Saturday 15th of October 1977

17-year-old Christine Eadie and 17-year-old Helen Scott are beaten, gagged, tied up, raped and strangled by 32-year-old Serial killer Angus Robertson Sinclair aka The World's End Murderer in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.

On 25 November 2004 Sinclair's DNA matched. On 31 March 2005 Sinclair was arrested. At a trial in 2007 Sinclair was acquitted by lack of evidence. At a second trial in 14 November 2014 Sinclair was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 37 years.

Friday 15th of October 1982

24-year-old Ralf Erb is sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder committed by 22-year-old Serial killer Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs aka Die Bestie vom Niederrhein in Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Friday 15th of October 1982

36-year-old Serial killer Richard Francis Cottingham aka The Torso Killer is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in Hackensack, New Jersey, United States.

Monday 15th of October 1984

Fourth bomb attack by Terrorist organisation Les Cellules Communistes Combattantes aka CCC in Centre Paul Hymans, 39 Rue de Naples, Brussel, Ixelles, Brabant, Belgium.

It was the fourth action in their Première Campagne Anti-Impérialiste d’Octobre.

Wednesday 15th of October 1986

Muse and second wife of Pablo Picasso Jacqueline Roque commits suicide by a shot through the heart at the age of 59 in Villa Notre Dame de la Vie, Avenue Orangeraie, Mougins, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Thursday 15th of October 1992

56-year-old Serial killer Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo aka The Rostov Ripper is sentenced to death plus 86 years for 52 murders and five counts of sexual assault by Judge Akubzhanov in Courtroom Number 5, ul. Socialist, 164/35, Rostov, Rostov Oblast, Russia.

Chikatilo kicked his bench across his cage when he heard the verdict and began shouting abuse. However, when given an opportunity to make a speech in response to the verdict he again remained silent.

Tuesday 15th of October 2002

A stressful audience for the first round of a campaign about the new artist social statute in Zuiderpershuis, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.