By: History.com Editors

1990

Mikhail Gorbachev wins Nobel Peace Prize

History.com Editors

Published: November 13, 2009

Last Updated: March 02, 2025

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending Cold War tensions. Since coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev had undertaken to concentrate more effort and funds on his domestic reform plans by going to extraordinary lengths to reach foreign policy understandings with the noncommunist world.

Some of his accomplishments include four summits with President Ronald Reagan, including a 1987 meeting at which an agreement was reached to dismantle the U.S. and USSR intermediate-range missiles in Europe. He also began to remove Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1988 and exerted diplomatic pressure on Cuba and Vietnam to remove their forces from Angola and Kampuchea (Cambodia), respectively. In a 1989 meeting with President George Bush, Gorbachev declared that the Cold War was over.

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Gorbachev also earned the respect of many in the West through his policy of non-intervention in the political upheavals that shook the Eastern European “satellite” nations during the late-1980s and early-1990s. When Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, and other Iron Curtain countries began to move toward more democratic political systems and free market economies, Gorbachev kept Soviet intervention in check. (This policy did not extend to the Soviet republics; similar efforts by Lithuania and other republics were met with stern warnings and force to keep the Soviet Socialist Republics together.)

Gorbachev died in 2022, at the age of 91.

Was the Soviet Union’s Collapse Inevitable?

Some blame Mikhail Gorbachev for the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the economy and political structure were already in deep decay.

The symbols of the USSR and communism: the hammer and sickle. (Credit: Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images)

By: Adam Janos

Timeline

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Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 15th

1796

Editorial subtly accuses Thomas Jefferson of affair with enslaved woman

On October 15, 1796, an essay appears in the Gazette of the United States in which a writer, mysteriously named “Phocion,” attacks presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson. Phocion turned out to be former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. The essay typified the nasty, personal nature of political attacks in late 18th-century America.

1863

H.L. Hunley sinks during demonstration

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1880

Chiricahua Apache leader Victorio is killed south of El Paso, Texas

The warrior Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists of all time, dies on October 15, 1880, in the Tres Castillos Mountains south of El Paso, Texas.

1917

Dancer and spy Mata Hari is executed

Dancer, courtesan and alleged spy Mata Hari is executed for espionage by a French firing squad at Vincennes outside of Paris.

Mata Hari Posed in Youthful Glory

1945

Vichy leader executed for treason

Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of Nazi-occupied Vichy France, is executed by firing squad for treason against France.

1946

High-ranking Nazi leader Hermann Göring dies

On October 15, 1946, Hermann Göring, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia, chief forester of the Reich, chief liquidator of sequestered estates, supreme head of the National Weather Bureau, and Hitler’s designated successor dies by his own hand.

1948

Gerald Ford marries Elizabeth Bloomer

On October 15, 1948, future President Gerald Ford marries Elizabeth Anne (“Betty”) Bloomer.

1948

A murderous husband is executed

Arthur Eggers, who was convicted of killing his wife, Dorothy, because of her alleged promiscuity, is executed at San Quentin Prison. He probably would have gotten away with the crime had the investigators not received a few lucky breaks.

1965

Antiwar demonstrations staged in 40 U.S. cities

On October 15, 1965, antiwar activists stage demonstrations across the country, drawing 100,000 people in some 40 cities. In one event staged by the student-run National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the public burning of a draft card leads to the first legal consequences for the act.

1973

Dolly Parton releases hit single “Jolene”

On October 15, 1973—four months before the release of her 13th studio album, “Jolene”—country star Dolly Parton releases the record’s titular song with the memorable refrain “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Joleeeeene.”

1989

Wayne Gretzky breaks NHL points record

On October 15, 1989, Los Angeles King Wayne Gretzky breaks Gordie Howe’s points record (1,850) in the final period of a game against the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky’s record-setting goal tied the game; in overtime he scored another, and the Kings won 5-4.

1991

Clarence Thomas confirmed to the Supreme Court

After a bitter confirmation hearing, the U.S. Senate votes 52 to 48 to confirm Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.

2004

“Funeral coaches” exempted from car-seat law

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Citation Information

Article title
Mikhail Gorbachev wins Nobel Peace Prize
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 21, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
March 02, 2025
Original Published Date
November 13, 2009

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