Today's GK Facts in History: 15 May

– 1862 The United States Department of Agriculture was created on this day by an Act of Congress.

– 1930 Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess on a Boeing Air Transport flight between Oakland and Chicago.

– 1940 Nylon stockings were first sold in the United States.

– 1972 Alabama Governor George Wallace was shot and maimed while campaigning for the presidency.

– 1988 The Soviet Union began withdrawing its estimated 115,000 soldiers from Afghanistan.