Portal:United States/Anniversaries/May/May 15
- 1776 – The Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
- 1817 – Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA.)
- 1869 – In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (both pictured) form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
- 1928 – Mickey Mouse premiers in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy.
- 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals.
On this day for the United States
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Events
- 1602 – Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to see Cape Cod.
- 1776 – American Revolution: Virginia convention instructs its delegates to propose a declaration of independence from Great Britain.
- 1817 – Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed USDA).
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia – Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
- 1869 – Woman's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
- 1905 – Las Vegas, Nevada, is founded when 110 acres (0.4 km²), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
- 1911 – The United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be dissolved.
- 1929 – A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123.
- 1941 – Baseball player Joe DiMaggio starts his record–breaking 56–game hitting streak.
- 1942 – World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
- 1963 – Project Mercury: launch of Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut L. Gordon Cooper onboard. He became the first American to spend more than a day in space. Final Mercury mission.
- 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals.
- 1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
- 1972 – The island of Okinawa, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.
- 1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while Wallace is campaigning to be President.
- 1997 – United States government acknowledges existence of "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.