What happened on August 15? There are more than 296 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About August 15
August 15 is the 228th day of the year 2024. There are 138 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday. This day falls under the 33rd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Jackson, Montana 59736 sunrise occured at 06:34 AM and sunset occured at 08:41 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Leo. The modern birthstone for this month is Peridot while the mystical birthstone is Diamond.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 167 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For August 15
- 293 BCThe oldest known Roman temple to Venus is dedicated.
- 778The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
- 927The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
- 982Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
- 1018Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II’s conquest of Bulgaria.
- 1040King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
- 1057King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
- 1185The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
- 1248The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
- 1261Michael VIII Palaeologus is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
- 1281Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a “divine wind” for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
- 1309The 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.
- 1430Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
- 1461The 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.
- 1483Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
- 1511Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca.
- 1517Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
- 1519Panama City, Panama, is founded.
- 1534Saint Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
- 1537Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
- 1540Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
- 1549Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
- 1599Nine 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.
- 1695French forces end the Bombardment of Brussels, leaving a third of the buildings in the city in ruins.
- 1760Seven Years’ War: Battle of Liegnitz – Frederick the Great’s victory over the Austrians under Ernst von Laudon.
- 1843The 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.
- 1843Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- 1863The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
- 1869The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
- 1907Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, first African-American Orthodox priest, “Priest-Apostolic” to America and the West Indies.
- 1914A 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.
- 1914The First Russian Army, led by Pavel Rennenkampf, enters Eastern Prussia.
- 1914The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
- 1920Battle of Warsaw so called Miracle at the Vistula.
- 1935Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
- 193913 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. There are no survivors.
- 1940An 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.
- 1941Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 am, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.
- 1942World War II: Operation Pedestal – The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island’s defenses.
- 1944World War II: Operation Dragoon – Allied forces land in southern France.
- 1945World War II: Japan surrenders to end the war.
- 1947Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor General of Pakistan in Karachi.
- 1947India gains Independence from the British Indian Empire and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1948The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
- 1952A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.
- 1954Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
- 1960Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
- 1961Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
- 1962James Joseph Dresnok defects to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea after running across the Korean DMZ. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
- 1963Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.
- 1963President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
- 1965The 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.
- 1969The Woodstock Music and Art Festival opens.
- 1971Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1971President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
- 1973Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
- 1974Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
- 1975Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
- 1975Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
- 1977The 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.
- 1984The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military
- 1995In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
- 1998Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles
- 1999Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria; some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
- 2005Israel’s unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
- 2007An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
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Who Were Born On August 15?
- 1171King Alfonso IX of Leon (d. 1230)
- 1195Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint (d. 1231)
- 1432Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
- 1575Bartol Kašić, Croatian writer and linguist (d. 1650)
- 1613Gilles Ménage, French scholar (d. 1692)
- 1717Blind Jack, English roadbuilder (d. 1810)
- 1740Matthias Claudius, German poet (d. 1815)
- 1769Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican-born French military officer and Emperor of France (d. 1821)
- 1771Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist and poet (d. 1832)
- 1785Thomas De Quincey, English author (d. 1859)
- 1798Sangolli Rayanna, a prominent freedom fighter from Karnataka, India (d. 1831)
- 1813Jules Grévy, French statesman (d. 1891)
- 1844Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1908)
- 1856Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (d. 1916)
- 1857Albert Ballin, German shipping tycoon (d. 1918)
- 1858E. Nesbit, English author (d. 1924)
- 1859Charles Comiskey, American baseball owner (d. 1931)
- 1860Florence Harding, American First Lady (d. 1924)
- 1860Henrietta Vinton Davis, American elocutionist (d. 1941)
- 1863Alexei Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician (d. 1945)
- 1865Usui Mikao, Japanese spiritual figure (d. 1926)
- 1872Sri Aurobindo, Indian writer and philosopher (d. 1950)
- 1875Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English composer (d. 1912)
- 1876Stylianos Gonatas, Greek military officer and politician (d. 1966)
- 1877Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (d. 1941)
- 1878Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian counter-revolutionary (d. 1928)
- 1879Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
- 1881Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist (d. 1956)
- 1883Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (d. 1962)
- 1885Edna Ferber, American novelist (d. 1968)
- 1886Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (d. 1974)
- 1890Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian (d. 2006)
- 1890Jacques Ibert, French composer (d. 1962)
- 1892Louis, 7th duc de Broglie, French physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1987)
- 1893Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and mechanical computation designer (d. 1950)
- 1896Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist (d. 1985)
- 1896Gerty Cori, Austrian biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1957)
- 1896Leon Theremin, Russian inventor (d. 1993)
- 1896Paul Outerbridge, American photographer (d. 1958)
- 1898Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
- 1900Estelle Brody, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1901Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician (d. 1975)
- 1904George Klein, Canadian inventor (d. 1992)
- 1905Emile St. Godard, Canadian dog sled racer (d. 1948)
- 1909Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
- 1910Signe Hasso, Swedish actress (d. 2002)
- 1912Dame Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
- 1912Julia Child, American cook and TV personality (d. 2004)
- 1914Paul Rand, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
- 1916Aleks Çaçi, Albanian writer (d. 1989)
- 1917Óscar Romero, El Salvadorian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1980)
- 1917Jack Lynch, Irish politician (d. 1999)
- 1919Benedict Kiely, Irish author (d. 2007)
- 1919Dina Wadia, only child of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his wife Rattanbai Petit
- 1919Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1922Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek songwriter and musician (d. 2005)
- 1922Leonard Baskin, American sculptor and graphic artist (d. 2000)
- 1923Rose Marie, American actress
- 1924Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
- 1924Werner Abrolat, German actor (d. 1997)
- 1925Bill Pinkney, American baritone singer (d. 2007)
- 1925Mike Connors, American actor
- 1925Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist (d. 2007)
- 1926Costis Stephanopoulos, Greek politician
- 1926Sami Michael, Iraqi-born Israeli author
- 1927Eddie Leadbeater, England cricketer (d. 2011)
- 1928Nicolas Roeg, English film director
- 1929Georgios Roubanis, Greek athlete
- 1930Ageeda Paavel, Estonian freedom fighter
- 1933Bobby Helms, American pop singer (d. 1997)
- 1933Jim Lange, American game show host
- 1934Bobby Byrd, American soul/funk singer (d. 2007)
- 1934Nino Ferrer, French-Italian singer (d. 1998)
- 1934Reginald Scarlett, West Indian cricketer
- 1935Jim Dale, English actor
- 1935Lionel Taylor, American football player
- 1935Vernon Jordan Jr., American presidential advisor
- 1938Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish writer
- 1938Maxine Waters, American politician
- 1940Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist (d. 1977)
- 1940Rita Shane, American soprano
- 1941Manolis Mavrommatis, Greek politician
- 1942Larry Hartsell, American martial arts instructor (d. 2007)
- 1943María Rojo, Mexican actress and politician
- 1944Dimitris Sioufas, Greek lawyer and politician
- 1944Linda Ellerbee, American journalist
- 1944Sylvie Vartan, Bulgarian-French pop singer
- 1944Tom Murphy, American politician
- 1945Begum Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician
- 1945Duffy Dyer, American baseball player
- 1945Gene Upshaw, American football player (d. 2008)
- 1946Jimmy Webb, American musician and composer
- 1946Tony Robinson, English actor and television presenter
- 1947Jenny Hanley, British TV presenter
- 1947Raakhee Gulzar, Indian actress
- 1948George Ryton, British engineer
- 1948Patsy Gallant, Canadian pop singer
- 1948Uschi Digard, American pornographic actress and model
- 1949Beverly Lynn Burns, American pilot
- 1949Garry Disher, Australian author
- 1949Mark B. Rosenberg, American educator
- 1949Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor
- 1950Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
- 1950Tom Kelly, American baseball manager
- 1950Tommy Aldridge, American musician
- 1951Ann Biderman, American film and television writer
- 1951Bobby Caldwell, American singer and musician
- 1951Daba Diawara, Malian politician
- 1951John Childs, England cricketer
- 1951Ranjan Gunatilleke, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1954Mary Jo Salter, American poet
- 1954Stieg Larsson, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
- 1956Lorraine Desmarais, French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer
- 1957Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
- 1958Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player/coach
- 1958Laurie Bembenek, American convicted murderer and fugitive (d. 2010)
- 1958Rondell Sheridan, American actor and comedian
- 1958Simon Baron-Cohen, British psychiatrist and author
- 1958Victor Shenderovich, Russian satirist
- 1961Ed Gillespie, American White House counsel to George W. Bush
- 1961Gary Kubiak, American football coach
- 1962Tom Colicchio, American chef
- 1963Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican film director
- 1963Jack Russell, England cricketer
- 1963Valery Levaneuski, entrepreneur, politician, former political prisoner
- 1964Melinda French Gates, American wife of Bill Gates
- 1965Rob Thomas, American writer
- 1966Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player
- 1966Scott Brosius, American baseball player
- 1966Shirley Kwan, Hong Kong singer
- 1967Peter Hermann American actor
- 1968Debra Messing, American actress
- 1969Bernard Fanning, Australian singer/songwriter (Powderfinger)
- 1969Cris Judd, American actor/choreographer
- 1969Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1970Anthony Anderson, American comedian and actor
- 1970Ben Silverman, American TV executive
- 1970Maddie Corman, American actress
- 1972Ben Affleck, American actor
- 1972Chris Morrissey, American film director/actor
- 1972Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballet dancer (d. 2007)
- 1972Matthew Wood, American actor and sound editor
- 1973Adam Willard, American musician (The Offspring)
- 1973Adnan Sami, British-born Pakastani music composer and singer
- 1974Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress
- 1974Tomasz Suwary, Polish footballer
- 1975Bertrand Berry, American football player
- 1975Brendan Morrison, Canadian hockey player
- 1975Kara Wolters, American basketball player
- 1975Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer
- 1976Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football player
- 1977Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
- 1977Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
- 1977Nicole Paggi, American actress
- 1978Kerri Walsh, American beach volleyball player
- 1978Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
- 1978Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1978Tim Foreman, American bassist (Switchfoot)
- 1979Carl Edwards, American NASCAR driver
- 1980Brandon Harrod, American songwriter
- 1980Nathalie Press, English actress
- 1981Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
- 1981Oliver Perez, American baseball player
- 1981Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
- 1982Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
- 1988Tiffanie Anderson, American performer (Girlicious)
- 1989Belinda, Mexican singer
- 1989Joe Jonas, American actor and singer
- 1990Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
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Who Died On August 15?
- 423Flavius Honorius, Roman Emperor (b. 384)
- 778Roland, Frankish commander
- 1038King Stephen I of Hungary
- 1057Macbeth, King of Scotland
- 1118Alexius I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1048)
- 1196Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
- 1274Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and educator (b. 1201)
- 1369Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England
- 1528Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, French military leader (b. 1485)
- 1552Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
- 1621John Barclay, Scottish writer (b. 1582)
- 1666Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German Jesuit missionary (b. 1591)
- 1714Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1654)
- 1728Marin Marais, French composer and viol player (b. 1656)
- 1758Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (b. 1698)
- 1799Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)
- 1852Johan Gadolin, Finnish scientist (b. 1760)
- 1859Nathaniel Claiborne, American politician (b. 1777)
- 1880Adelaide Neilson, English actress (b. 1848)
- 1907Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (b. 1831)
- 1909Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian writer and sociologist (b. 1866)
- 1917Thomas J. Higgins, American Union Army soldier (b. 1831)
- 1925Konrad Mägi, Estonian artist (b. 1878)
- 1931Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani WWI nurse (b. ca. 1878)
- 1935Paul Signac, French painter (b. 1863)
- 1935Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
- 1935Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (b. 1879)
- 1936Grazia Deledda, Italian writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1871)
- 1942Mahadev Desai, personal secretary of Mahatma Gandhi (b.1892)
- 1945Korechika Anami, Japanese War Minister (b. 1887)
- 1951Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (b. 1882)
- 1953Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)
- 1962Lei Feng, Chinese revolutionary (b. 1940)
- 1967René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
- 1971Paul Lukas, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1887)
- 1975Clay Shaw, American lawyer and John F. Kennedy assassination investigator (b. 1913)
- 1975Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi statesman (b. 1920)
- 1982Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1903)
- 1989Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek Army officer (b. 1897)
- 1990Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician (b. 1962)
- 1995John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (b. 1906)
- 1999Sir Hugh Casson, British architect and artist (b. 1910)
- 2001Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (b. 1972)
- 2003Gösta Sundqvist, Finnish songwriter and singer (heart attack) (b. 1957)
- 2004Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician (b. 1941)
- 2004Semiha Berksoy, first Turkish opera singer (b. 1910)
- 2004Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1916)
- 2005Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist (b. 1927)
- 2006Coenraad Bron, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1937)
- 2006Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer (b. 1923)
- 2006Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (b. c. 1955)
- 2006Te Atairangikaahu, Māori queen (b. 1931)
- 2007Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand bush walker (b. 1908)
- 2007John Gofman, American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate (b. 1918)
- 2007Richard Bradshaw, British opera conductor, (b. 1944)
- 2007Sam Pollock, Canadian sports executive (b. 1925)
- 2008James Orthwein, American businessman (b. 1924)
- 2008Jerry Wexler, American music producer (b. 1917)
- 2008Leroy Sievers, American journalist (b. 1955)
- 2008Vic Toweel, South African boxer (b. 1929)
- 2011Michael Legat, English writer (b. 1923)
- 2011Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1984)
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