What Happened On This Day – March 15
1990 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes President of the Soviet Union
His economic and political reforms, as well as his advocacy of free speech, strengthened pro-democracy movements in other Eastern European countries and ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.
1985 The world's first internet domain name is registered
symbolics.com was registered by the Symbolics Computer Corporation of Massachusetts. There are over 1 billion domains today.
1972 Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather is premiered
The gangster movie based on Mario Puzo's novel is one of the most popular films of all time.
1917 The last emperor of Russia abdicates
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated following the February Revolution. He was later executed together with his family and some of his servants.
1895 Enrico Caruso makes his stage debut
The Italian tenor is arguably the most famous opera singer of all time.
Births On This Day – March 15
1979 Kevin Youkilis
American baseball player
1975 Eva Longoria
American actress, producer
1947 Ry Cooder
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer
1907 Zarah Leander
Swedish actress, singer
1638 Shunzhi Emperor
of China
Deaths On This Day – March 15
2008 Mikey Dread
Jamaican singer-songwriter, producer
2001 Ann Sothern
American actress
1983 Rebecca West
English journalist, author
1938 Nikolai Bukharin
Russian politician
1937 H. P. Lovecraft
American writer