On May 15, 1988, after more than eight years in Afghanistan, Soviet troops began their withdrawal. The event marked the beginning of the end to a long, bloody, and fruitless Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
On May 15, 1972, Alabama Governor George Wallace, the Democratic presidential candidate with the most total votes, was shot at an outdoor rally in Laurel, Maryland, by 21-year-old Arthur Bremer. Three others were wounded, and Wallace was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. The next day, while fighting for his life in a hospital, he won major primary victories in Michigan and Maryland. However, Wallace remained in the hospital for several months, bringing his third presidential campaign to an end.
On May 15, 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in New York.
On May 15, 1972, the island of Okinawa, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverted to Japanese control.