August 15

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Events

• 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
• 927 - The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
• 1040 - King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
• 1057 - King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
• 1185 - The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
• 1248 - The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
• 1261 - Michael VIII Palaeologus is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
• 1309 - The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
• 1461 - The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmet II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
• 1517 - Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
• 1519 - Panama City, Panama, is founded.
• 1534 - Saint Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
• 1537 - Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
• 1540 - Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
• 1549 - Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
• 1599 - Nine Years War: Battle of Curlew Pass - Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
• 1760 - Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz - Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst von Laudon.
• 1824 - Freed American slaves found Liberia.
• 1843 - The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
• 1843 - Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 1863 - The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
• 1869 - The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
• 1891 - San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
• 1914 - A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
• 1914 - The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship Ancon.
• 1920 - Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw - Poles defeat the Red Army.
• 1935 - Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
• 1939 - 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. No survivors.
• 1942 - World War II: Operation Pedestal - The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
• 1944 - World War II: Operation Dragoon - Allied forces land in southern France.
• 1945 - World War II: Victory over Japan Day - Japan surrenders.
• 1945 - World War II: Korean Liberation Day.
• 1947 - India gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes an independent nation within the Commonwealth , Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation with the Indian Declaration of Independence and takes office as the first Prime Minister of India.
• 1947 - Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor General of Pakistan at Karachi.
• 1948 - The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
• 1950 - Srikakulam district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• 1952 - Devon, United Kingdom A flashflood drenches the town of Lynmouth, killing 34 people.
• 1960 - Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) declares its independence from France.
• 1961 - Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
• 1961 - Keiyo Road is specified as the first driveway in Japan.
• 1962 - James Joseph Dresnok defects to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after running across the Korean DMZ. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
• 1965 - The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, in an event later seen as marking the birth of stadium rock.
• 1969 - The Woodstock Music and Art Festival opens.
• 1971 - President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
• 1973 - Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
• 1974 - Seoul Subway Line 1 is opened, connecting Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station.
• 1974 - Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
• 1974 - The Turkish invasion of Cyprus continues, and 37% of the island's area comes under Turkish control.
• 1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman is killed along with all the memebrs of his family except Haseena Wajid.
• 1975 - Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
• 1977 - The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by The Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
• 1984 - The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military
• 1995 - In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
• 1998 - Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles
• 1999 - Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria; some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
• 2007 - An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.

Births

• 1171 - King Alfonso IX of Leon (d. 1230)
• 1195 - Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint (d. 1231)
• 1432 - Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
• 1575 - Bartol Kašić, Croatian writer and linguist (d. 1650)
• 1613 - Gilles Ménage, French scholar (d. 1692)
• 1717 - Blind Jack, English roadbuilder (d. 1810)
• 1740 - Matthias Claudius, German poet (d. 1815)
• 1769 - Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France (d. 1821)
• 1771 - Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist and poet (d. 1832)
• 1785 - Thomas De Quincey, English author (d. 1859)
• 1813 - Jules Grévy, 2nd President of the French Third Republic (d. 1891)
• 1844 - Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1908)
• 1856 - Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (d. 1916)
• 1857 - Albert Ballin, German shipping tycoon (d. 1918)
• 1858 - E. Nesbit, English author (d. 1924)
• 1859 - Charles Comiskey, American baseball owner (d. 1931)
• 1860 - Henrietta Vinton Davis, American elocutionist (d. 1941)
• 1860 - Florence Harding, American First Lady (d. 1924)
• 1863 - Alexei Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician (d. 1945)
• 1865 - Usui Mikao, Japanese founder of Reiki (d. 1926)
• 1872 - Sri Aurobindo, Indian writer and philosopher (d. 1950)
• 1875 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English composer (d. 1912)
• 1878 - Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian counter-revolutionary (d. 1928)
• 1879 - Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
• 1881 - Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist (d. 1956)
• 1883 - Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (d. 1962)
• 1885 - Edna Ferber, American novelist (d. 1968)
• 1886 - Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (d. 1974)
• 1890 - Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian (d. 2006)
• 1890 - Jacques Ibert, French composer (d. 1962)
• 1892 - Louis, 7th duc de Broglie, French physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1987)
• 1893 - Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and computing pioneer (d. 1950)
• 1896 - Gerty Cori, Austrian-born biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1957)
• 1896 - Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist (d. 1985)
• 1896 - Paul Outerbridge, American photographer (d. 1958)
• 1896 - Leon Theremin, Russian inventor (d. 1993)
• 1898 - Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
• 1901 - Pyotr Sergeyevich Novikov, Russian mathematician (d. 1975)
• 1904 - George Klein, Canadian inventor (d. 1992)
• 1909 - Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
• 1910 - Signe Hasso, Swedish actress (d. 2002)
• 1912 - Julia Child, American cook (d. 2004)
• 1912 - Dame Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
• 1914 - Paul Rand, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
• 1916 - Aleks Çaçi, Albanian writer
• 1917 - Jack Lynch, Irish politician (d. 1999)
• 1917 - Oscar Romero, El Salvador Roman catholic priest (d. 1980)
• 1919 - Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1919 - Benedict Kiely, Irish author
• 1922 - Lukas Foss, German-born composer
• 1923 - Rose Marie, American actress
• 1924 - Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1925 - Mike Connors, American actor
• 1925 - Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist (d. 2007)
• 1925 - Bill Pinkney, American baritone singer (d. 2007)
• 1926 - Costis Stephanopoulos, Greek politician
• 1927 - Eddie Leadbeater, England cricketer
• 1928 - Nicolas Roeg, English film director
• 1930 - Ageeda Paavel, Estonian freedom fighter
• 1933 - Bobby Helms, American pop singer (d. 1997)
• 1933 - Jim Lange, American game show host
• 1934 - Bobby Byrd, American soul/funk singer (d. 2007)
• 1934 - Nino Ferrer, French-Italian singer (d. 1998)
• 1934 - Reginald Scarlett, West Indian cricketer
• 1935 - Jim Dale, English actor
• 1935 - Vernon Jordan Jr., American presidential advisor
• 1935 - Lionel Taylor, American football player
• 1938 - Maxine Waters, American politician
• 1938 - Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish writer
• 1940 - Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist
• 1940 - Rita Shane, American soprano
• 1942 - Larry Hartsell, American martial arts instructor (d. 2007)
• 1943 - María Rojo, Mexican actress and politician
• 1944 - Linda Ellerbee, American journalist
• 1944 - Tom Murphy, American politician
• 1944 - Dimitris Sioufas, Greek lawyer and politician
• 1944 - Sylvie Vartan, Bulgarian pop singer
• 1945 - Gene Upshaw, American football player and union leader (d. 2008)
• 1945 - Begum Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician
• 1946 - Tony Robinson, English actor and television presenter
• 1946 - Jimmy Webb, American musician and composer
• 1947 - Raakhee Gulzar, Indian actress
• 1947 - Jenny Hanley, British TV presenter
• 1948 - Uschi Digard, American pornographic actress and model
• 1948 - Patsy Gallant, Canadian pop singer
• 1948 - George Ryton, British engineer
• 1949 - Beverly Lynn Burns, American pilot
• 1949 - Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor
• 1949 - Garry Disher, Australian author
• 1950 - Tommy Aldridge, American musician
• 1950 - The Princess Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
• 1950 - Tom Kelly, American baseball manager
• 1951 - Ann Biderman, American film and television writer
• 1951 - Bobby Caldwell, American singer and musician
• 1951 - John Childs, England cricketer
• 1951 - Daba Diawara, Malian politician
• 1951 - Ranjan Gunatilleke, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1954 - Mary Jo Salter, American poet
• 1956 - Lorraine Desmarais, French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer
• 1957 - Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
• 1958 - Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player/coach
• 1958 - Victor Shenderovich, Russian satirist
• 1958 - Rondell Sheridan, American actor and comedian
• 1961 - Ed Gillespie, American White House counsel to George W. Bush
• 1961 - Gary Kubiak, American football coach
• 1962 - Tom Colicchio, American chef
• 1963 - Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican film director
• 1963 - Jack Russell, England cricketer
• 1964 - Melinda French Gates, American wife of Bill Gates
• 1964 - Debi Mazar, American actress
• 1965 - Rob Thomas, American writer
• 1966 - Scott Brosius, American baseball player
• 1966 - Shirley Kwan, Hong Kong singer
• 1967 - Peter Hermann American actor
• 1968 - Debra Messing, American actress
• 1969 - Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1969 - Cris Judd, American actor/choreographer
• 1970 - Anthony Anderson, American comedian and actor
• 1970 - Maddie Corman, American actress
• 1970 - Ben Silverman, American TV executive
• 1972 - Ben Affleck, American actor
• 1972 - Chris Morrissey, American film director/actor
• 1972 - Matthew Wood, American actor and sound editor
• 1972 - Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballet dancer (d. 2007)
• 1974 - Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress
• 1975 - Bertrand Berry, American football player
• 1975 - Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer
• 1975 - Brendan Morrison, Canadian hockey player
• 1975 - Kara Wolters, American basketball player
• 1976 - Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football player
• 1977 - Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
• 1977 - Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
• 1977 - Nicole Paggi, American actress
• 1977 - Ray Toro, American musician (My Chemical Romance)
• 1978 - Tim Foreman, American bassist (Switchfoot)
• 1978 - Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
• 1978 - Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1978 - Kerri Walsh, American beach volleyball player
• 1979 - Carl Edwards, American NASCAR driver
• 1980 - Nathalie Press, English actress
• 1981 - Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
• 1981 - Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
• 1981 - Oliver Perez, American baseball player
• 1982 - Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
• 1989 - Belinda, Mexican singer
• 1989 - Tiffanie Anderson, American performer (Girlicious)
• 1989 - Joe Jonas, American singer (Jonas Brothers)

Deaths

• 423 - Flavius Honorius, Western Roman Emperor (b. 384)
• 778 - Roland, Frankish commander
• 1038 - King Stephen I of Hungary
• 1040 - King Duncan I of Scotland
• 1057 - King Macbeth of Scotland
• 1118 - Alexius I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1048)
• 1196 - Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
• 1274 - Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and founder of the Sorbonne (b. 1201)
• 1369 - Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England
• 1528 - Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, French military leader (b. 1485)
• 1552 - Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
• 1621 - John Barclay, Scottish writer (b. 1582)
• 1666 - Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German Jesuit missionary (b. 1591)
• 1714 - Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1654)
• 1728 - Marin Marais, French composer and viol player (b. 1656)
• 1758 - Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (b. 1698)
• 1799 - Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)
• 1852 - Johan Gadolin, Finnish scientist (b. 1760)
• 1859 - Nathaniel Claiborne, U.S. politician (b. 1777)
• 1880 - Adelaide Neilson, English Actress (b. 1848)
• 1907 - Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (b. 1831)
• 1909 - Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian writer and sociologist (b. 1866)
• 1917 - Thomas J. Higgins, decorated Union Army soldier (b. 1831)
• 1925 - Konrad Mägi, Estonian artist (b. 1878)
• 1935 - Wiley Post, American pilot (airplane crash) (b. 1898)
• 1935 - Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (airplane crash) (b. 1879)
• 1936 - Grazia Deledda, Italian writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1871)
• 1945 - Korechika Anami, Japanese War Minister (b. 1887)
• 1951 - Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (b. 1882)
• 1953 - Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)
• 1959 - Blind Willie McTell, American singer (b. 1901)
• 1962 - Lei Feng, Chinese revolutionary (b. 1940)
• 1967 - René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
• 1971 - Paul Lukas, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1887)
• 1975 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, President of Bangladesh (b. 1920)
• 1975 - Clay Shaw, alleged John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracist & businessman (b. 1913)
• 1982 - Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1903)
• 1990 - Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician (b. 1962)
• 1995 - John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (b. 1906)
• 1999 - Sir Hugh Casson, British architect and artist (b. 1910)
• 2001 - Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (b. 1972)
• 2003 - Gösta Sundqvist, Finnish songwriter and singer (heart attack) (b. 1957)
• 2004 - Semiha Berksoy, first Turkish opera singer (b. 1910)
• 2004 - Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1916)
• 2004 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician (b. 1941)
• 2005 - Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist (b. 1927)
• 2006 - Te Atairangi Kaahu, Māori queen (b. 1931)
• 2006 - Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (b. c. 1955)
• 2006 - Doug White, American news anchor
• 2006 - Faas Wilkes, Dutch international footballer (b. 1923)
• 2007 - Richard Bradshaw, British opera conductor, (b. 1944)
• 2007 - John Gofman, American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate (b. 1918)
• 2007 - Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand bush walker (b. 1908)
• 2007 - Sam Pollock, Canadian sports executive (b. 1925)
• 2008 - Jerry Wexler, music producer and coiner of the term "Rhythm & Blues" (b. 1917)
• 2008 - James Orthwein, American businessman (b. 1924)
• 2008 - Leroy Sievers, American journalist (b. 1955)
• 2008 - Vic Toweel, South African boxer, bantamweight world champion (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• VJ Day / VP Day
• India – Independence Day (from the United Kingdom, 1947).
• Egypt – Flooding of the Nile Day.
• Italy, Ferragosto, remembrance of an ancient Roman holiday in honor of Augustus.
• Korea – Gwangbokjeol (Liberation Day).
• Tuva – Naadym.
• Costa Rica– Mother's Day.
• Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism – Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, the commemoration of the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
• Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Holy Day of Obligation. Public Holiday in: Austria, Belgium, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, East Timor, France, Greece, Guatemala, India(As India's Independence Day), Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.
• National Acadian Day
• RC Saints

External links

• »BBC: On This Day
• »On This Day in Canada