September 15: International Day of Democracy, key events in history

Today, September 15, is observed around the world as International Day of Democracy. The day aims to make people understand the value of democracy and to strengthen it further. Democracy is a system of governance in which people get the right to elect their own leaders and decide their own future. It places transparency, equality and human rights above all else. The purpose of the day is to make citizens aware of their rights and responsibilities, and to encourage them to take part in governance. The day is a reminder that every citizen must contribute to preserving the values at the roots of democracy.

Now for the major events that took place in India and the world on September 15. In 1812, the French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte reached the Kremlin in Moscow. In 1821, the independence day of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador was celebrated. In 1835, Charles Darwin reached the Galapagos Islands by ship. In 1916, tanks were used for the first time during the First World War. In 1935, India's first public school, The Doon School, opened, and that same year Germany stripped Jews of their citizenship. In 1948, the Indian Army freed the city of Aurangabad from the Nizam's control, and that year an F-86 Sabrejet set a speed record of 1,080 km per hour. In 1953, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was elected the first woman president of the United Nations General Assembly. In 1959, India's first experimental television service began, and that year Nikita Khrushchev became the first Soviet leader to visit the United States. In 1968, the Soviet Union launched the spacecraft Zond 5. In 1971, the first Greenpeace ship set sail from Vancouver in protest against the Cannikin nuclear test in Alaska. In 1978, Muhammad Ali became the first boxer to win the heavyweight boxing title three times. In 1981, the Smithsonian Institution's John Bull became the world's oldest self-propelled steam locomotive outside Washington DC. In 1983, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin resigned. In 2000, the 27th Olympic Games began in Sydney, Australia. In 2008, the financial company Lehman Brothers became the largest bankruptcy in US history. In 2013, Nina Davuluri became the first Miss America of Indian origin.

Among those born on September 15 is the Italian traveller and navigator Marco Polo (1254). Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, honoured with the Bharat Ratna, was born in 1861 in Muddenahalli, Mysuru, and this day is observed in India as Engineers' Day in his honour. Bengali writer Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay was born in 1876. Italian automobile engineer Ettore Bugatti was born in 1881, and English mystery writer Agatha Christie in 1890. Playwright, critic and Hindi poet Rajkumar Varma was born in 1905. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai was born in 1909, the same year as freedom fighter and cooperative movement leader Ratnappa Kumbhar. Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Ashok Singhal was born in Agra in 1926. Noted Marathi writer Dagdu Maruti Pawar was born in 1935, and economist and academic Subramanian Swamy in 1939.

Among those who died on September 15: Goa liberation movement freedom fighter Vishwanath Lawande passed away in 1998. Writer, critic and economist Gangadhar Gadgil, born on August 25, 1923, died in 2008. K.S. Sudarshan, the fifth Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, born on June 18, 1931, died in 2012.