August 15
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
August 15 is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 138 days remaining until the end of the year.
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Events [change]
- 29 BC – Octavian is celebrated as conqueror of Egypt and takes over the ruling of the Roman Empire, later changing his name to Augustus.
- 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
- 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral is laid.
- 1271 – Philip III of France is crowned King.
- 1281 – Attempted Mongol invasions of Japan: A Mongolian fleet led by Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "Divine Wind" for the second time in the Battle of Koan.
- 1430 – Francesco Sforza, Lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
- 1519 – Panama City is founded.
- 1537 – The city of Asuncion in present-day Paraguay is founded, named after the religious feast day of the Assumption of Mary.
- 1540 – The city of Arequipa in present-day Peru is founded.
- 1549 – Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima, Japan.
- 1769 – Napoleon, French general and emperor, is born on the island of Corsica.
- 1824 – Freed African-American slaves found Liberia.
- 1843 – The Tivoli Gardens theme park in Copenhagen, Denmark, opens.
- 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. It is now the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the city.
- 1869 – The Meiji Government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
- 1914 – The Panama Canal opens.
- 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during take-off from Barrow, Alaska.
- 1939 – The Wizard of Oz movie premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
- 1945 – Japan surrenders, ending World War II.
- 1945 – World War II: Liberation of Korea.
- 1947 – India becomes independent (separate) from the United Kingdom from the formal Transfer of Power as the Empire is partitioned and adopts the name Bharat, while the new mainly Islamic state of Pakistan is created.
- 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes Governor-General of Pakistan.
- 1948 – The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is founded south of the 38th parallel.
- 1952 – The village of Lynmouth in Devon, England, is hit by a flash flood.
- 1954 – In Paraguay, the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner begins.
- 1960 – The Republic of the Congo becomes independent, with Fulbert Youlou as President. Exactly three years later, he is removed from office in a military coup.
- 1961 – Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the building of the Berlin Wall.
- 1963 – Henry John Burnett is executed, becoming the last man to be hanged in Scotland.
- 1969 – The Woodstock music festival takes place.
- 1971 – Bahrain becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1973 – US bombing of Cambodia ends.
- 1974 – The Seoul metro is opened, becoming the first metro in South Korea.
- 1974 – Toronto Zoo is opened.
- 1975 – Along with members of his family, Bangladeshi political leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is killed in a coup.
- 1989 – F. W. de Klerk becomes President of South Africa.
- 1993 – Juan Carlos Wasmosy becomes President of Paraguay.
- 1998 – The Omagh bombing is carried out by the IRA in Northern Ireland, killing 29 people.
- 1999 – The Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria kills 29 people at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border.
- 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements begins.
- 2007 – A magnitude 8 earthquake centred off Peru's Pacific coast, devastates Ica province, killing 514 people, and injuring over 1000.
Births [change]
- 1171 – King Alfonso IX of León (d. 1230)
- 1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint (d. 1231)
- 1255 – Matteo I Visconti, ruler of Milan (d. 1322)
- 1402 – Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English politician (d. 1460)
- 1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
- 1455 – George, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1503)
- 1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet and journalist (d. 1815)
- 1769 – Napoleon, Emperor of France (d. 1821)
- 1771 – Sir Walter Scott, Scottish writer (d. 1832)
- 1794 – Elias Magnus Fries, Swedish botanist (d. 1878)
- 1817 – James Wilson Henderson, 4th Governor of Texas (d. 1880)
- 1856 – Keir Hardie, Scottish socialist and labor leader (d. 1915)
- 1856 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (d. 1916)
- 1858 – Edith Nesbit, English writer (d. 1924)
- 1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball owner (d. 1931)
- 1860 – Florence Harding, First Lady of the United States (d. 1924)
- 1863 – Alexei Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician (d. 1945)
- 1865 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual figure (d. 1926)
- 1872 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian author and guru (d. 1950)
- 1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek military officer and politician (d. 1966)
- 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)
- 1890 – Elizabeth Bolden, American supercentenarian (d. 2006)
- 1892 – Louis, 7th duc de Broglie, French physicist (d. 1987)
- 1893 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and mechanical computation designer (d. 1950)
- 1896 – Gerty Cori, Austrian-born biochemist (d. 1957)
- 1896 – Leon Theremin, Russian inventor (d. 1993)
- 1901 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician (d. 1975)
- 1901 – Arnulfo Arias, three-time President of Panama (d. 1988)
- 1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
- 1912 – Julia Child, American cook (d. 2004)
- 1912 – Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Oscar Romero, Salvadoran priest (d. 1980)
- 1919 – Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Lukas Foss, German-born composer (d. 2009)
- 1925 – Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist (d. 2007)
- 1928 – Carl Joachim Classen, German classical philologist
- 1928 – Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, Prime Minister of Somalia (d. 2002)
- 1929 – Anna Walentynowicz, Polish activist (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Darrell K. Sweet, American illustrator (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Maxine Waters, American politician
- 1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, member of the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
- 1942 – Pete York, English musician
- 1943 – Eni Faleomavaega, American Samoan politician
- 1945 – Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh
- 1945 – Alain Juppe, former Prime Minister of France
- 1946 – Tony Robinson, English actor and television presenter
- 1950 – Anne, Princess Royal, member of the British royal family
- 1952 – Rudi Kargus, German footballer
- 1952 – Bernard Lacombe, French footballer
- 1953 – Vigdis Grimsdottir, Icelandic writer
- 1953 – Wolfgang Hohlbein, German writer
- 1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
- 1958 – Simon Baron-Cohen, British psychiatrist and author
- 1961 – Ed Gillespie, former White House counsel
- 1964 – Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates
- 1966 – Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player
- 1968 – Debra Messing, American actress
- 1969 – Juli Minoves Triquell, Andorran diplomat and author
- 1972 – Ben Affleck, American actor
- 1975 – Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Japanese footballer
- 1975 – Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer
- 1975 – Brendan Morrison, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch footballer
- 1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
- 1981 – Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
- 1983 – Luke McCormick, English footballer
- 1989 – Carlos Pena, Jr., American actor, dancer and singer
- 1989 – Joe Jonas, American actor and singer (Jonas Brothers)
- 1990 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
- 1993 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, English footballer
Deaths [change]
- 423 – Flavius Honorius, Roman Emperor (b. 384)
- 465 – Libius Severus, Roman Emperor
- 1038 – King Stephen I of Hungary
- 1040 – King Duncan of Scotland
- 1057 – King Macbeth of Scotland
- 1118 – Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1048)
- 1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
- 1369 – Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England
- 1464 – Pope Pius II (b. 1105)
- 1728 – Marin Marais, French composer (b. 1656)
- 1799 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)
- 1925 – Konrad Magi, Estonian artist (b. 1878)
- 1931 – Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani World War I nurse (b. 1878)
- 1935 – Paul Signac, French painter (b. 1863)
- 1935 – Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
- 1935 – Will Rogers,American humorist and actor (b. 1879)
- 1936 – Grazia Deledda, Italian writer (b. 1871)
- 1945 – Korechika Anami, Japanese Minister of War (b. 1887)
- 1951 – Artur Schnabel, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1882)
- 1953 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)
- 1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (b. 1940)
- 1967 – Rene Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
- 1971 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1887)
- 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea (b. 1925)
- 1975 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1920)
- 1982 – Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist (b. 1903)
- 1989 – Minoru Genda, Japanese military aviator and politician (b. 1904)
- 2004 – Sune Bergstrom, Swedish biochemist (b. 1916)
- 2006 – Te Atairangi Kaahu, Maori Queen (b. 1931)
- 2006 – Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer (b. 1923)
- 2007 – John Gofman, American scientist (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1984)
- 2012 – Harry Harrison, American science fiction writer (b. 1925)
Observances [change]
- Independence Day in India, Bahrain and the Republic of the Congo
- Liberation Day in South Korea
- VJ Day, marking the end of World War II in East Asia
- Assumption of Mary – Roman Catholic Church and other churches in Western Christianity
- National Day of Liechtenstein
