Today in History, 5/15

1252: Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorises, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
1567: Mary, Queen of Scots weds James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. He is her third husband - the seconds was the dimwitted Lord Danley who wound up mysteriously strangled.
1701: The War of Spanish Succession kicks off. Let me see if I remember this one: The King of Spain and the King of France were knocking boots (politically) and they set up their will so that, when they died, the two thrones would be combined into one, under one of their sons. Or maybe one of their daughters were going to marry one of their sons. Anyway, this would have the effect of combining the two most powerful countries in Europe into one big superstate. England, Germany, The Netherlands and a few others went nuts and declared war. England and friends won, prevented the unification of the crowns and exposed Spain as a lot weaker that it had appeared.
1718: James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the first machine gun.1856: L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, is born.1959: Pierre Curie is born.
1862: President Lincoln signs the bill creating the US Department of Agriculture.
1869: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Sufferage Movement.1905: Las Vegas, NV is founded.
1905: Joseph Cotten is born. He was great in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

1911: The US Supreme Court rules that Standard Oil is an unreasonable monopoly and orders that it be broken up.
1918: Joseph Wiseman is born. He played Dr. No is the first James Bond movie.1926: Peter Shaffer is born. He wrote Amadeus and Equus.

1940: McDonald's opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, CA.
1941: Joe DiMaggio starts his record-breaking 56 game hitting streak.1948: Hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel is attacked by Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
1952: Chazz Palminterti is born. He played Dave Kujan, US Customs Agent in The Usual Suspects.

1963: L. Gordon Cooper becomes the first astronaut to spend more than a day in space.1966: Janet Jackson is born.

1972: The island of Okinawa, under US military governance since WWII, reverts to Japanese control.
1972: Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Governor George Wallace who was running for President.
1980: Josh Beckett, pitcher for the World Champion Boston Red Sox is born.1981: Jamie Lynn Sigler is born. She played Meadow on The Sopranos.1988: The Red Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.