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What happened in history on this day: August 15?
On August 15 in ...
- 1057 - Macbeth, King of Scotland, slain by son of King Duncan.
- 1118 - Death of Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus.
- 1415 - English King Henry V lands on the Seine estuary near Harfleur, France, intending to take the port, then march upriver on Paris.
- 1432 - Birth of Luigi Pulci Italy, poet (Morgante).
- 1519 - Governor Pedro Arias de Avila founds city of Panama.
- 1519 - Hernando Cortez and army begin march into Montezuma's capital city. The army consists of 400 Spaniards, 15 horses, 7 artillery, 2300 men army of Totonac.
- 1535 - Asunción, Paraguay founded.
- 1537 - Asunción city is founded.
- 1688 - Birth of Frederic Wilhelm in Berlin; King of Prussia (1713-1740).
- 1748 - United Lutheran Church of US organized.
- 1769 - Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica; (emperor of France 1804-13, 1814-15).
- 1771 - Birth of Walter Scott Scotland, novelist/poet (Lady of Lake).
- 1785 - Birth of Thomas De Quincey in England; writer (Confessions of English Opium Eater).
- 1795 - French Convention creates new decimal monetary unit, the "franc", divided in 10 parts.
- 1803 - Birth of James Douglas; father of British Columbia.
- 1832 - Gregory XVI publishes encyclical On liberalism and religious indifferentism.
- 1845 - Birth of Walter Crane in England; painter/illustrator (Beauty and Beast).
- 1856 - Birth of J Keir Hardie; first Labour representative in British Parliament.
- 1858 - Regular mail to the Pacific coast begins.
- 1864 - Off New England coast, CSS Tallahassee captures six yankee schooners.
- 1867 - Second Reform Bill extends suffrage in England.
- 1869 - A dike separating the two sections of the Suez Canal under construction is broken, allowing water of the Red Sea to begin flowing north to the Mediterranean.
- 1870 - Transcontinental Railway actually completed.
- 1875 - Birth of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in London, England; composer (Hiawatha's Wedding Feast).
- 1879 - Birth of Ethel Barrymore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (Constant Wife, Corn is Green).
- 1882 - Sir Garnet Wolseley lands British expedition at Alexandria, Egypt.
- 1887 - Birth of Ferber Edna in Michigan, USA; writer (Showboat, Cimarron, Giant).
- 1888 - Birth of T.E. Lawrence AKA Lawrence of Arabia in Tremadoc, Wales; soldier/writer.
- 1890 - Birth of Jacques Ibert in Paris, France; composer (Escales).
- 1892 - Birth of Louis-Victor due de Broglie in France; physicist (Nobel Prize 1929).
- 1893 - Birth of Harlow H Curtice; president of General Motors (1953-58).
- 1893 - As of this date, the US is no longer allowed exclusive rights in the Bering Sea.
- 1901 - Birth of Arias Arnulfo; three-time president of Panama (1940-41, 1949-51, 1968).
- 1904 - Birth of Richard S. Yeo ("R.S. Yeoman") in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Western Publishing company marketing executive, popularized coin boards, author of Handbook of United States Coins with Premium List, nicknamed the Blue Book, and A Guide Book of United States Coins, nicknamed the Red Book.
- 1904 - Birth of Bill Baird in Grand Island, Nebraska, USA: puppeteer (Kukla Fran and Ollie, The Muppet Show).
- 1906 - First freight delivery tunnel system begins, underneath Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- 1909 - Birth of Hugo Winterhalter in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA; arranger (Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, RaymondScott, Claude Thornhill, Dinah Shore, Billy Eckstein, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, Ames Brothers), musical director at MGM Records (1948-50), RCA Victor (1950-), orchestra leader ("Blue Tango", "Vanessa", "The Little Shoemaker", "Canadian Sunset").
- 1912 - Birth of Julia Child in Pasadena, California, USA; chef (French Chef).
- 1912 - Birth of Wendy Hiller; actress (Major Barbara, David Copperfield).
- 1914 - The Panama Canal officially opens, linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans between North and South America. The SS Arcon is first ship to officially transit the canal, taking 9 hours 40 minutes.
- 1915 - Birth of Signe Hasso; actress (Double Life).
- 1917 - Birth of Chuck Boyajian in Ohio, USA; Disneyland worker 1955-81 as Manager of Custodial Operations.
- 1918 - Jewell Productions releases The Sinking of the Lusitania animated film in the USA, first full-length feature cartoon. Winsor McCoy created the film in 22 months using 25,000 drawings.
- 1918 - US and Russia sever diplomatic ties.
- 1920 - Birth of Huntz Hall; actor (Cyclone, Gas Pump Girls, The Rating Game).
- 1922 - Birth of Lukas Foss (Fuchs) in Berlin, Germany; composer (Prairie).
- 1923 - Birth of Rose Marie in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Sally Rogers - Dick Van Dyke Show).
- 1924 - Birth of Phyllis Schlafly in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; right-winger/Eagle Forum president.
- 1924 - Birth of Robert Bolt; playwright (A Man for All Seasons, Dr Zhivago).
- 1925 - Birth of Mike Connors in Fresno, California, USA; actor (Joe Mannix - Mannix, Night Kill).
- 1926 - Birth of Georgiann Johnson in Decorah, Iowa, USA; actress (Marge - Mr Peepers).
- 1931 - Birth of Janice Rule in Norwood, Ohio, USA; actress (Alvarez Kelly, Doctor's Wife).
- 1931 - Ernest Lassy completes longest canoe journey without port (6,102 miles).
- 1933 - Birth of Lori Nelson in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA; actress (Greta - How to Marry a Millionaire).
- 1934 - US ends occupation of Haiti (been there since 1915).
- 1935 - Birth of Abby Dalton in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; actress (Joey Bishop Show).
- 1935 - Birth of Jim Dale; Broadway entertainer (Barnum, My One and Only).
- 1935 - Wiley Post and Will Rogers (age 55, humorist) are killed in a plane crash in Alaska.
- 1936 - Birth of Pat Priest; actress (The Munsters).
- 1941 - Birth of Don Rich in Olympia, Washington, USA; guitarist/country singer (Hee Haw).
- 1942 - Birth of Pete York; drummer (The Spencer Davis Group).
- 1942 - The United States 101st Airborne Division is officially activated, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana.
- 1943 - Birth of Barbara Bouchet in Reichenberg, Czecheslovakia; actress (Casino Royale).
- 1944 - Birth of Linda Ellerbee in Bryan, Texas, USA; author, newscaster (NBC News Overnight, Our World, Nick News).
- 1944 - The Allies launch Operation Anvil, as a second Allied invasion force under Lieutenant-General Jacob Devers lands on the Mediterranean coast of France between Cannes and Toulon.
- 1945 - Birth of Gene Upshaw; NFL guard (Oakland Raiders), NFLPA leader.
- 1945 - South Korea is liberated from Japanese rule.
- 1945 - US wartime rationing of gasoline and fuel oil ends.
- 1945 - (about 1130 hours) The New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Gambia fires last shots of the war, as it raises the cease fire signal. A Japanese suicide bomber flies in low, followed by an allied fighter plane attacking it; the Japanese plane falls to the sea about 200 yards from the ship.
- 1946 - Birth of Jimmy Webb in Elk City, Oklahoma, USA; songwriter ("MacArthur Park", "Up Up and Away").
- 1946 - Birth of Kathryn Jean Whitmire in Houston, Texas, USA; four-time Mayor of Houston.
- 1946 - RKO Radio Pictures releases Disney's animated feature film Make Mine Music to theaters. It comprises the following animated short films The Martins and the Coys, Casey at the Bat, Peter and the Wolf, Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet, and The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met.
- 1947 - The Dominion of India is proclaimed.
- 1947 - The Dominion of Pakistan is proclaimed.
- 1947 - Birth of Gerald Velez in the Congas; musician (Spyro Gyra - "Morning Dance").
- 1947 - Birth of Manley Lanier "Sonny" Carter Junior in Macon, Georgia, USA; US Navy/astronaut (STS 33).
- 1948 - Republic of Korea (South Korea) proclaimed.
- 1948 - Birth of Tom Johnston; singer-guitarist (The Doobie Brothers).
- 1949 - Birth of Ann Ryerson in Wisconsin, USA; actress (Private Carol Winter - Private Benjamin).
- 1950 - 8.6 earthquake kills over 1,000 in Assam, India.
- 1950 - Birth of Princess Anne in England (daughter of Queen Elizabeth II).
- 1950 - Birth of Tess Harper; actress (Amityville 3D, Tender Mercies, Breaking Bad, Early Edition, Christy).
- 1950 - The Republic of Indonesia is proclaimed.
- 1952 - 9 inches of rainfall creates a 20-foot wave in Lynmouth, England, killing 34.
- 1955 - Birth of Larry Mathews in Burbank, California, USA; actor (Ritchie - Dick Van Dyke Show).
- 1957 - Birth of Zeljko Ivanek in Yugoslavia; actor (Mass Appeal, Heroes, Damages, Homicide).
- 1957 - US Air Force Captain Joe B Jordan reaches 31,513 metres in F-104 jet fighter.
- 1958 - Birth of Rondell Sheridan; actor (That's So Raven, Cory in the House).
- 1960 - Birth of Maureen "Peanut" Louie Harper in San Francisco, California, USA; tennis player (Denver-1985).
- 1960 - Birth of Tommy Aldridge; heavy metal rocker (Ozzy - "Diary of a Mad Man").
- 1960 - Chicago Bears beat New York Giants 16-7 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (NFL expo).
- 1960 - Congo (Brazzaville) gains independence from France.
- 1960 - Milwaukee Braves' Lew Burdette no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0.
- 1961 - Birth of Matt Johnson; rocker (The The - "Infected Soul Mining").
- 1962 - Shady Grove Baptist Church burned in Leesburg, Georgia, USA.
- 1964 - Birth of MCA (Adam Yauch); rocker (The Beastie Boys - "You Gotta Fight").
- 1964 - Philadelphia Phillies triple-play New York Mets.
- 1964 - Race riot in Dixmoor (Chicago suburb), Illinois, USA.
- 1964 - Ralph Boston of the US sets long jump record at 27 feet 3.25 inches.
- 1964 - Birth of Debi Mazar; actress (Entourage, That's Life, L.A. Law, Civil Wars).
- 1966 - Radio Free Asia (South Korea) begins radio transmission.
- 1967 - Birth of F DeLorme Roche Junior in Roanoke, Virginia, USA; bartender extrodinaire (Guru of life, love and Libation).
- 1967 - England's Marine Offense Bill making pirate radio stations a crime goes into effect; pirate station Radio 355 closes down.
- 1967 - Birth of Peter Hermann; actor (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit).
- 1968 - Birth of Debra Messing; actress (Will and Grace).
- 1970 - Birth of Anthony Anderson; actor (Law and Order, The Shield).
- 1971 - US President Richard Nixon's administration refuses to settle foreign debts in gold at $35 per ounce, dropping the gold standard, and allowing the dollar to float in foreign exchanges. The president also declares a state of national emergency, imposes a ten percent duty increase on many imports, and a 90-day wage and price freeze.
- 1972 - Birth of Ben Affleck; actor (Against the Grain, Project Greenlight).
- 1973 - Black September group kills three, wounds 55 in Athens, Greece.
- 1974 - Longest team (six) trampoline bouncing marathon (1,248 hours (52 days)).
- 1974 - South Korean President Park Chung-Hee escapes assassination.
- 1974 - Birth of Natasha Henstridge in Newfoundland, Canada; actress (Eli Stone, Commander-in-Chief).
- 1975 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahiman of Bangladesh killed in a military coup.
- 1978 - US House of Representatives approves (233-169), 39-month extension for Equal Rights Amendment.
- 1979 - Andrew Young resigns as United Nations ambassador.
- 1980 - Universal releases the film Smokey and the Bandit II to theaters.
- 1981 - Robin Leamy of US swims record 7.98 kph for 50m.
- 1982 - Death of Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1903).
- 1985 - In Hungary, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake occurs.
- 1986 - US President Ronald Reagan decides to support a replacement for the space shuttle Challenger.
- 1986 - Nintendo releases the Metroid game for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the US.
- 1987 - US beats Cuba in the Pan-Am baseball.
- 1989 - Birth of Joe Jonas; American singer/songwriter (The Jonas Brothers).
- 1989 - In Sixiangkou, People's Republic of China, a building is hit by a falling meteorite.
- 1991 - Marietta Tree, United Nations Commissioner of Human Rights, dies at age 74.
- 1992 - Colombo 1992 closes in Genoa, Italy.
- 1996 - Bob Dole is nominated for President of the USA, and Jack Kemp for Vice President, at the Republican National Convention in San Diego, California.
- 1998 - The Real Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, killing 29 and injuring over 200.
- 1998 - Apple Computer begins shipping the iMac to retail outlets in the US. Price is US$1299. 278,000 units are shipped in the first six weeks.
- 1999 - The maiden voyage of the Disney Wonder cruise ship takes place.
- 2002 - A dedication ceremony is held for the Burma Railway Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, Birmingham, Staffordshire, England.
- 2004 - Death of Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1916).
- 2004 - Vijay Singh wins the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
- 2006 - Death of Te Atairangi Kaahu, Maori queen (born 1931).
- 2007 - NBA referee Tim Donaghy surrenders to police and pleads guilty to charges brought up by the FBI investigation that he placed bets on games that he refereed.
- 2007 - India marks the 60th anniversary of their independence from the British Empire.
- 2007 - An 8.0 Richter scale earthquake strikes off the southwest coast of Peru, near Pisco, killing 512 people, injuring more than 1,500, leaving 100,000 homeless, and causing tsunami warnings in the Pacific Ocean.
- 2007 - Shares in large American mortgage lender Countrywide Financial fall 13 percent, following a stock analyst's rating switch from buy to sell.
- 2008 - In Beijing, China, an Olympic Torch used in the relay to China sells for over US$42,000. A torch from the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games (first torch relay) sells for almost US$25,000.
- 2008 - Poland signs a deal with the US to host part of its new missile defence shield. The US will install ten interceptor missiles at a base on the Baltic coast, and help strengthen Polish air defences.
- 2008 - Nepal's parliament elects Maoist leader Prachanda as the country's new prime minister, with 80 percent of votes.
- 2008 - Fernando Lugo takes office as president of Paraguay.
- 2008 - At the Beijing Olympics, American Michael Phelps won his sixth gold and his sixth world record in the 200 metres individual medley. American Ryan Lochte wins gold in the Olympic men's 200-metre backstroke in a world-record 1:53.94.
- 2009 - Death of Virginia McGhee at age 90 in Corona, California; at age 4, as Virginia Davis, played the role of Alice in Walt Disney's Alice Comedies films in 1923.
- 2010 - Germany's Martin Kaymer wins his first major golf title in the 92nd U.S. PGA Championship, earning $1.35 million.
- 2019 - The European Central Bank shuts down PNB Banka after ruling it had become insolvent; this bank, previously called Norvik Banka, was Latvia's sixth-largest lender.
- 2020 - The Japanese bulk carrier Wakashio, which stranded on a reef in Mauritius last month, breaks in half. Approximately 1,000 tonnes of oil are spilled into the ocean, becoming the largest environmental disaster in the history of Mauritius.
- 2021 - The Taliban capture Kabul; the Afghan government surrenders to the Taliban.
- 2021 - Death of Abdelhamid Brahimi, 3rd Prime Minister of Algeria (born 1936).
- 2022 - In Kenya, William Ruto is declared winner of national vote for president of the country.
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