This Day in History,January 15th

Marie-Fortunée Lafarge

Noteworthy Birthdays:

Marie-Fortunée Lafarge
(January 15, 1816-November 7, 1852), French murderess (1,2)

Marie Duplessis
(January 15, 1824-February 3, 1847), French courtesan (1,2)

Mary Helen MacKillop
(January 15, 1842-August 8, 1909), Catholic religious leader, teacher, social activist (1, 2)

Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya
(January 15, 1850-February 10, 1891), Russian mathematician (1,2)

Emma, Lady Hamilton

Noteworthy Deaths:

Emma, Lady Hamilton
(April 26, 1765-January 15, 1815), mistress of Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, artistic muse of British painter George Romney (1,2)

Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble 
(November 27, 1809-January 15, 1893), British actress, author (1,2)

Rosa Luxemburg
(March 5, 1871-January 15, 1919), German revolutionary (1,2)

Noteworthy Events:

1559: Queen Elizabeth I of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey. The last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth reigned from November 17, 1558 to March 24, 1603 (1,2)

Queen Elizabeth I's coronation portrait

1908: Alpha Kappa Alpha becomes the first Greek-letter sorority founded and incorporated by African-American women. The original chapter, launched at Washington, D.C.’s Howard University, was pioneered by a group of 20 students headed by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle (1,2)

1947: The dismembered and mutilated body of Elizabeth Short, subsequently dubbed “The Black Dahlia,” is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. The “Black Dahlia” murder is one of the oldest unsolved homicides in Los Angeles history (1,2)

The Jeannette Rankin Brigade

1968: The 5000 strong Jeannette Rankin Brigade marched on Washington, D.C. to protest America’s military campaign in Vietnam. Jeannette Rankin, the first U.S. congresswoman, was a life-long pacifist. In 1917, she voted against U.S. intervention during the First World War. Later, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she became the only member of Congress to vote against entering the Second World War (1,2)

1976: Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life imprisonment for her attempted assassination of U.S. President Gerald Ford. Moore’s failed conspiracy awarded her the notorious distinction of being one of just two women that have sought to assassinate a U.S. President (1,2) 

1997: While visiting Angola, Diana, Princess of Wales, spoke out in encouragement of an international ban on anti-personnel landmines. Diana’s remarks concerning the issue angered some government ministers and prompted Junior Defense Minister, Earl Howe, to dub her a "loose cannon”  (1,2)