Historical timeline for November 15

The world population reached eight billion.

Lewis Hamilton wins the Turkish Grand Prix and secures his seventh drivers' title, equalling the all-time record held by Michael Schumacher.

A flood a few miles outside of Athens results in the death of 25 people.

Hong Kong's High Court bans elected politicians Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung from the city's Parliament.

Xi Jinping becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated.

A fire in a high-rise apartment building in Shanghai, China kills 58 people.

Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.

Al Jazeera English launches worldwide.

The first day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings, in which two car bombs, targeting two synagogues, explode, kill 25 people and wound 300 more.

Hu Jintao becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new nine-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated.

Microsoft launches the Xbox game console in North America.

A chartered Antonov An-24 crashes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, killing more than 40 people.

Jharkhand officially becomes the 28th state of India, formed from eighteen districts of southern Bihar.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits the central Philippine island of Mindoro, killing 78 people, injuring 430 and triggering a tsunami up to 8.5 m (28 ft) high.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-38, a classified mission for the Department of Defense.

The Communist People's Republic of Bulgaria is disestablished and a new republican government is instituted.

In the Soviet Union, the uncrewed Shuttle Buran makes its only space flight.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council.

The first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched in the Netherlands.

Continental Airlines Flight 1713 crashes during takeoff from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado, killing 25.