August 15 encyclopedia topics

Events

778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, in which Roland is killed.
927 - The Saracens are conquered and destroyed 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 Mac Bethad is killed in 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 the Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, was laid. Construction 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 as the Knights of Rhodes.
1461 - The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmet II. This is 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 took initial vows that would lead to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September of 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, were 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 form 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 - Meiji government establishes six ministries below Pardication (民部省) in the bottom of Cabinet, officer-of-Shinto-Worship, and jurisdiction of Cabinet.
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 set fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murdered seven people, and burned the living quarters to the ground. It is unknown if the servant was arrested or not.
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 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 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 to be the first driveway in Japan.
1962 - James Joseph Dresnok defected to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 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, 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 opened, between Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station
1974 - Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea is killed amid an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee, during the anniversarial ceremony of the Liberation day.
1974 - Turkish invasion of Cyprus continues, and the 37% of the island is now under Turkish control.
1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman killed along with all family members, except Haseena Wajid.
1975 - Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by a sitting 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" for notation made by a volunteer on the project.
1984 - PKK, Kurdish people in Turkey gain arms and start a Guerrilla warfare campaign against the Turkish military
1995 - In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel, but drops out in less than a week.
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.
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)
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, founder of Reiki (d. 1926)
1872 - Sri Aurobindo, Indian writer and philosopher (d. 1950)
1875 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English composer (d. 1912)
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)
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)
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
1917 - Jack Lynch, fourth Taoiseach (d. 1999)
1917 - Oscar Romero, El Salvador Roman catholic priest (d. 1980)
1919 - Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
1919 - Benedict Kiely, Irish author
1922 - Lukas Foss, German-born composer
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, baritone singer (d. 2007)
1926 - Costis Stephanopoulos, Greek politician
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)
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 - Begum Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician
1945 - Gene Upshaw, American NFL executive
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 - Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor
1950 - Tommy Aldridge, American musician
1950 - The Princess Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
1950 - Tom Kelly, American baseball manager
1951 - Daba Diawara, Malian politician
1951 - Bobby Caldwell, American singer and musician
1951 - Ann Biderman, American film and television writer
1954 - Mary Jo Salter, American poet
1956 - Lorraine Desmarais, French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer
1957 - Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
1958 - Victor Shenderovich, Russian satirist
1958 - Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player/coach
1958 - Rondell Sheridan, American actor and comedian
1961 - Ed Gillespie, American White House counsel to George W. Bush
1962 - Tom Colicchio, American chef
1963 - Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican film director
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
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
1974 - Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress
1975 - Kara Wolters, American basketball player
1975 - Bertrand Berry, American football player
1975 - Brendan Morrison, Canadian hockey player
1976 - Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football player
1977 - Nicole Paggi, American actress
1977 - Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
1977 - Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
1978 - Tim Foreman, American bassist (Switchfoot)
1978 - Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
1978 - Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
1979 - Carl Edwards, American NASCAR driver
1980 - Nathalie Press, English actress
1981 - Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
1981 - Oliver Perez, American baseball player
1981 - Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
1982 - Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
1989 - Belinda, Mexican singer
1989 - Tiffanie Anderson, American singer, dancer
1989 - Joe Jonas, American singer