• August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining.

Events

700-1899

• 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, in which Roland is killed
• 927 - The Saracens conquered and destroyed Taranto
• 1309 - The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquartes on the island, and rename themselves as the Knights of Rhodes.
• 1517 - Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernao Pires de Andrade met Chinese officials at Pearl River estuary.
• 1519 - Panama City, Panama founded
• 1535 - Asuncion, Paraguay founded
• 1540 - Arequipa, Peru founded
• 1620 - The Mayflower pulled out of Southampton, England
• 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.
• 1877 - Thomas Edison made the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

1900-1999

• 1914 - Panama Canal opens to traffic
• 1920 - Poles defeated the Red Army at the Battle of Warsaw (Polish-Soviet War)
• 1944 - Allied forces land in southern France (Operation Anvil)
• 1945 - South Korea Indepence Day; Victory over Japan Day
• 1947 - India gains independence from Britain. Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister of India
• 1948 - Republic of Korea established south of 38th Parallel
• 1960 - Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) declares its independence from France
• 1961 - Construction begins on the Berlin Wall, Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany.
• 1965 - John Coltrane plays in Chicago for the Downbeat Jazz Festival with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Billy [...]
• 1969 - First day of Woodstock Music and Art Festival
• 1971 - President Richard Nixon ends convertibility of U.S. dollar into gold
• 1973 - Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends
• 1974 - Yook Young-soo , First Lady of the South Korea is killed amid apparent assassination attempt upon President of the South Korea, Park Chung-hee by North Korean spy, during the anniversarial ceremony of the Liberation day.
• 1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh
• 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 for notation made by a volunteer on the project.
• 1978 - foundation of Mirapuri - The City of Peace and Future Man
• 1998 - Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, becoming the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles
• 1999 - Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria; some 29 people killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.

Births

1000-1899

• 1001 - Duncan I of Scotland
• 1171 - Alfonso IX of Leon,
• 1769 - Napoleon Bonaparte, general and politician (d. 1821)
• 1785 - Thomas De Quincey, author (d. 1859)
• 1858 - E. Nesbit (Edith Nesbit), author (d. 1924)
• 1872 - Shri Aurobindo, writer, nationalist, philosopher and guru (d. 1950)
• 1879 - Ethel Barrymore, actress (d. 1959)
• 1887 - Edna Ferber, novelist (d. 1968)
• 1883 - Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (d. 1962)
• 1893 - Leslie Comrie, astronomer and computing pioneer (d. 1950)
• 1896 - Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin

1900-1999

• 1900 - Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
• 1912:
  • Julia Child, cook, writer (d. 2004)
  • Dame Wendy Hiller, actress
• 1919 - Huntz Hall, actor (d. 1999)
• 1923 - Rose Marie, actress
• 1924 - Robert Bolt, screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1925:
  • Mike Connors, actor
  • Willie Jones, Major League Baseball player (d. 1983)
  • Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist
• 1928 - Nicolas Roeg, director
• 1933 - Jim Lange, game show host
• 1935:
  • Vernon Jordan Jr., Presidential advisor
  • Lionel Taylor, American football player
• 1938 - Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish science-fiction writer
• 1944 - Linda Ellerbee, journalist
• 1945 - Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, Hindu guru
• 1946 - Jimmy Webb, musician, composer
• 1947 - Raakhee Gulzar , Indian actress
• 1949 - Richard Deacon, sculptor
• 1950 - Princess Anne of the United Kingdom
• 1968 - Debra Messing, actress
• 1972 - Ben Affleck, actor
• 1974 - Natasha Henstridge, actress
• 1977 - Igor Cassina, gymnast

Deaths

700-1899

• 778 - Roland, Frankish commander
• 1057 - King Macbeth I of Scotland
• 1118 - Alexius I Comnenus, Byzantine emperor (b. 1048)
• 1274 - Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and founder of the Sorbonne (b. 1201)
• 1369 - Philippa of Hainault, queen of Edward III of England
• 1728 - Marin Marais, French composer and viol player.
• 1799 - Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet

1900-1999

• 1907 - Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (b. 1831)
• 1935 - Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
• 1935 - Will Rogers, American humorist, actor (b. 1879)
• 1951 - Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (b. 1882)
• 1959 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer
• 1962 - Lei Feng, eminent PLA Soldier
• 1967 - René Magritte, Belgian surrealist painter (b. 1898)
• 1971 - Paul Lukas, Academy Award winning actor
• 1974 - Yook Young-soo , First Lady of South Korea
• 1975 - Clay Shaw, John F. Kennedy assassination investigator
• 1975 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, president of Bangladesh
• 1995 - John Cameron Swayze , journalist
• 1999 - Sir Hugh Casson, architect, artist

2000-2099

• 2001 - Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete, (brain tumour)
• 2004 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, politician

Holidays and observances

• Catholicism - Holy Day of Obligation Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Public Holiday in: Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, India, Italy, Côte d'Ivoire, Malta, Mauritius, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovenia and Spain
• Italy - "Ferragosto"
• Korea - Liberation Day
• India - Independence Day
• Liechtenstein - Liechtenstein Day
• Ancient Latvia - Maras

External links

• BBC: On This Day

August 14 - August 16 - July 15 - September 15 -- listing of all days