August 15
Events
778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
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.
1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
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.
1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
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.
1909 – A group of mid-level Greek Army officers launches the Goudi coup, seeking wide-ranging reforms.
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.
1914 – The First Russian Army, led by Pavel Rennenkampf, enters Eastern Prussia.
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.
1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbour during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
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.
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.
1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
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) becomes independent 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.
1968 – 40,000 people protest in Mexico City against the repression in the country.
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 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
1975 – Military coup in Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman is killed along with all the members 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 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.
2003 – Nicanor Duarte Furos is elected President of Paraguay, succeeding to Luis Ángel González Macchi.
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)
1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek military officer and Prime Minister of Greece (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)
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 (d. 1989)
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 (d. 2007)
1922 – Lukas Foss, German-born composer (d. 2009)
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)
1973 – Adnan Sami, music composer, singer
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
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 – Joseph 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)
1931 – Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani WWI nurse (b. ca. 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)
1989 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek Army officer who served in World War I, the Minor Asia Campaign and World War II (b. 1897)
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 – Coenraad Bron, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1937)
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
Christianity. Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Holy Day of Obligation. Public Holiday in: Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, East Timor, France, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu.
VJ Day / VP Day
India – Independence Day (from the United Kingdom, 1947).
Egypt – Flooding of the Nile Day, a commemoration of the belief that the star Sirius would appear when the Nile River flooded
Italy, Ferragosto, Assumption Day and remembrance of an ancient Roman holiday in honor of Augustus.
Korea – Gwangbokjeol (Liberation Day).
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.
National Acadian Day
RC Saints
Arnulph, bishop of Soissons
Saint Tarcisius
Stanislaus Kostka
