August 15

Historic Events

2025

US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. ›

2021

Kabul falls into the hands of the Taliban as Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan along with local residents and foreign nationals, effectively reestablishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. ›

2020

Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. ›

2015

North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC. ›

2013

At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video. ›

2013

The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. ›

2007

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru, killing 514 and injuring 1,090. ›

2005

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins. ›

2005

The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia is signed, ending almost three decades of fighting. ›

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. ›

1998

Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured. ›

1998

Apple introduces the iMac computer. ›

1995

In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). ›

1995

Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister of Japan, releases the Murayama Statement, which formally expresses remorse for Japanese war crimes committed during World War II. ›

1989

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, killing 34 of the 40 people on board. ›

1985

Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement. ›

1984

The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish Armed Forces with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh. ›

1977

The 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. ›

1976

SAETA Flight 011 crashes into the Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador, killing all 59 people on board; the wreckage is not discovered until 2002. ›

1975

Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. ›

1975

Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. ›

1974

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

1973

Vietnam War: The US Air Force bombing of Cambodia ends. ›

1971

President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. ›

1971

Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom. ›

1970

Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game. ›

1969

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. ›

1965

The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock. ›

1963

Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland. ›

1963

President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. ›

1962

James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016. ›

1961

Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. ›

1960

Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France. ›

1959

American Airlines Flight 514, a Boeing 707, crashes near the Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, killing all five people on board. ›

1954

Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay. ›

1952

A flash flood devastates the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people. ›

1950

Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800. ›

1948

The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula. ›

1947

India gains independence from British rule after nearly 190 years of British company and crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. ›

1947

Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi. ›

1945

Emperor Hirohito broadcasts his declaration of surrender following the effective surrender of Japan in World War II; Korea gains independence from the Empire of Japan. ›

1944

World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France. ›

1943

World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds. ›

1942

World War II: Operation Pedestal: The oil tanker SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses. ›

1941

Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad for espionage at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower. ›

1940

An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. ›

1939

Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn. ›

1939

The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. ›

1935

Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska. ›

1920

Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula. ›

1915

A story in the New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production. ›

1914

A servant of American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, and murders seven people there. ›

1914

The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon. ›

1914

World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia. ›

1914

World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I. ›

1907

Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies. ›

1899

Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened. ›

1893

Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan, with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton. ›

1882

Start of the second part of the Montceau-les-Mines troubles by the Black Band, groups of anarchist miners. ›

1863

The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). ›

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. ›

1824

The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states. ›

1814

War of 1812: British forces launch a costly and unsuccessful night attack against American defenders during the siege of Fort Erie. ›

1760

Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon. ›

1695

French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. ›

1684

Emperor Leopold I and French king Louis XIV agree to an armistice in the truce of Ratisbon. ›

1645

A Royalist army under the Marquess of Montrose defeats a Covenanter army in the battle of Kilsyth. ›

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. ›

1592

Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Ŏkki, and Wŏn Kyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu. ›

1549

Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). ›

1540

Arequipa, Peru is founded. ›

1537

Asunción, Paraguay is founded. ›

1534

Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. ›

1519

Panama City, Panama is founded. ›

1517

Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. ›

1511

Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. ›

1483

Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. ›

1461

The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David of Trebizond is exiled and later murdered. ›

1430

Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. ›

1310

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. ›

1281

Mongol invasions of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. ›

1261

Michael VIII Palaiologos leads a triumphal procession into Constantinople following its recapture and is crowned Byzantine emperor. ›

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.) ›

1237

Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Crown of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory. ›

1224

The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a Catholic military order, occupy Tarbatu (today Tartu) as part of the Livonian Crusade. ›

1209

Albigensian Crusade: The Cathar stronghold of Carcassonne falls to the crusaders. ›

1185

The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. ›

1136

Seljuk Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud enters Baghdad after he besieged it for fifty days and the flight of Abbasid caliph al-Rashid Billah the day before. ›

1096

Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II. ›

1070

The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. ›

1057

King Macbeth of Scotland is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. ›

1038

King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. ›

1018

Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. ›

982

Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria. ›

927

The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. ›

838

The Arabs under Caliph al-Mu'tasim storm and sack the city of Amorium, killing half the population and enslaving the other. ›

805

Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising. ›

778

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army. ›

747

Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother, Pepin the Short, becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. ›

718

Arab–Byzantine wars: The Arabs abandon the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople due to failure to secure enough supplies, defeat of their relief army by the Byzantines and an outbreak of plague in the camp. ›

717

Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. ›

636

Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate begins. ›