WikiPortallus: August 15.html

This article is about the day of the year. For the 2001 French film of a similar name, see 15 August (2001 film). For the 2008 Sundance Film Festival Short Film of a similar name, see August 15th (2008 film).

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.

Events

778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.

927 - The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 , Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation with the Indian Declaration of Independence and takes office as the first Prime Minister of India.

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.

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) declares its independence 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.

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 - Seoul Subway Line 1 is opened, connecting Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station.

1974 - Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.

1974 - The Turkish invasion of Cyprus continues, and 37% of the island's area comes under Turkish control.

1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman is killed along with all the memebrs 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 The 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.

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 the French (d. 1821)

1771 - Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist and poet (d. 1832)

1785 - Thomas De Quincey, English author (d. 1859)