1501 Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral arrives back in Lisbon from his voyage to India, having lost six ships, during which he accidently discovered Brazil.
Beheaded this day 1685 (It is said that it took eight blows of the axe to sever his head); James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, regarded by many as the true heir of Charles II, King of England and Wales's connection to The House of Stuart. A popular legend claims that a portrait was painted of Monmouth after his execution: the story being that it was realised after the execution that there was no official portrait of the Duke — so his body was exhumed, the head stitched back on the body, and the corpse was seated for its portrait to be painted.
1799 The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign.
1815 Napoleon surrenders to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS Bellerophon at Rochefort after his earlier defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
15th July marks the anniversary of two of Wales' worst mining disasters; On 15th July 1856 — 114 men were killed in a mining accident at New Cymmer Pit, Porth,Rhondda.
The explosion in Insole's pit was the first on the coalfield to take more than a hundred lives, as a consequence of which the inquest sent the manager and overmen to be tried for manslaughter. The bitterness which was felt when they were acquitted was remembered in the community for more than a generation.
On 15th July 1880 — 120 miners were killed when a gas explosion ripped through the Risca New Mine, Waunfawr. The force of the blast was so great that it buckled the ventilation fan, delaying the rescue effort.
On 15th July 1874, the foundation stone was laid for the clock tower at Machynlleth, built to mark the coming of age of Viscount Castlereagh, the eldest son of the 5th Marquess of Londonderry of Plas Machynlleth.
2018 Eight-year-old girl finds pre-Viking-era sword in Vidöstern Lake, Sweden; internet proclaims her Queen of Sweden.
15 Jul 1978 The Rolling Stones started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Some Girls the group's seventh US No.1 album. The cover designed by Peter Corriston, featured The Rolling Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately ran into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli (representing her mother Judy Garland), Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe who all threatened legal action.
15 Jul 1978 Bob Dylan with special guest Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading and Graham Parker all appeared at Blackbushe Aerodrome, Surrey, England. Reputedly this was the biggest ever UK audience for Bob Dylan, with over 200,000 fans attending.
15 Jul 1973 The Edgar Winter Group, Sly & The Family Stone, Canned Heat, Lindisfarne and The Kinks all appeared at The Great Western Express festival at White City, west London. With his wife having recently walked out of their marriage, taking their young children with her, Ray Davies of The Kinks announces from the stage that he is sick of the whole thing and is retiring. He then walks into a local hospital and collapses from an overdose of tranquillizers.
There's now a Morrisons store on the site of the New Cymmer Pit in Porth. There is an old coal cart in the car park as a monument, otherwise you would never know it was ever there.
