August 15

2024 Calendar

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

Up to 1900

29 BC – Octavian is celebrated as conqueror of Egypt and takes over the ruling of the Roman Empire, later changing his name to Augustus.
927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
982 – Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Cape Colonna, in Calabria.
1040 – King Duncan I of Scotland is killed in a battle he fought against his first cousin, and rival, Macbeth.
1057 – King Macbeth is killed in battle.
1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is founded in Georgia, by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place during the Spanish Reconquista. The Kingdom of Aragon defeats the Tarifa of Valencia.
1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral is laid.
1271 – Philip III of France is crowned King.
1281 – Attempted Mongol invasions of Japan: A Mongolian fleet led by Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "Divine Wind" for the second time in the Battle of Koan.
1430 – Francesco Sforza, Lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
1511 – The city of Baracoa, Cuba, is founded by Diego Velazquez de Cuellar.
1519 – Panama City is founded.
1537 – The city of Asuncion in present–day Paraguay is founded, named after the religious feast day of the Assumption of Mary.
1540 – The city of Arequipa in present–day Peru is founded.
1549 – Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima, Japan.
1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels, leaving a third of the city's buildings in ruins.
1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz – Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
1769 – Napoleon, French general and emperor, is born on the island of Corsica.
1824 – Freed African–American slaves found Liberia.
1843 – The Tivoli Gardens theme park in Copenhagen, Denmark, opens.
1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. It is now the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the city.
1869 – The Meiji Government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.

1901 – 2000

1912 – Eduardo Schaerer becomes President of Paraguay.
1914 – The Panama Canal opens.
1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during take–off from Barrow, Alaska.
1939 – The Wizard of Oz movie premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad in the Tower of London, being the last person executed there for treason.
1945 – Japan surrenders, ending World War II.
1945 – World War II: Liberation of Korea.
1947 – India becomes independent (separate) from the United Kingdom from the formal Transfer of Power as the Empire is partitioned and adopts the name Bharat, while the new mainly Islamic state of Pakistan is created.
1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes Governor–General of Pakistan.
1948 – The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is founded south of the 38th parallel.
1950 – Assam is struck by a major earthquake.
1952 – The village of Lynmouth in Devon, England, is hit by a flash flood.
1954 – In Paraguay, the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner begins.
1960 – The Republic of the Congo becomes independent, with Fulbert Youlou as president. Exactly three years later, he is removed from office in a military coup.
1961 – Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the building of the Berlin Wall.
1963 – Henry John Burnett is executed, becoming 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 Brazzaville.
1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 in New York City, an event later considered to be the birth of stadium rock.
1968 – An earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
1969 – The Woodstock music festival takes place in the State of New York.
1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play a professional game of American football.
1971 – Bahrain becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1973 – US bombing of Cambodia ends.
1974 – The Seoul metro is opened, becoming the first metro in South Korea.
1974 – Toronto Zoo is opened.
1975 – Along with members of his family, Bangladeshi political leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is killed in a coup.
1989 – F. W. de Klerk becomes President of South Africa.
1993 – Juan Carlos Wasmosy becomes President of Paraguay.
1998 – The Omagh bombing is carried out by the IRA in Northern Ireland, killing 29 people.
1999 – The Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria kills 29 people at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border.

From 2001

2004 – Hans–Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, gives his official royal duties over to his son, Alois, but remains as Head of State.
2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements begins.
2007 – A magnitude 8 earthquake centred off Peru's Pacific coast, devastates Ica province, killing 514 people, and injuring over 1000.
2008 – Fernando Lugo becomes President of Paraguay.
2013 – Horacio Cartes becomes President of Paraguay.
2013 – The discovery of a species of mammal in northwestern South America is announced. It is named Olinguito.
2018 – A bomb attack on an education centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills 34 people; on the same day, an attack in the country's Baghlan Province kills 9 police officers and 35 soldiers.
2018 – Mario Abdo Benítez becomes President of Paraguay.

Births

Up to 1800

774 – Emperor Heizei of Japan (d. 824)
1171 – King Alfonso IX of León (d. 1230)
1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint (d. 1231)
1250 – Matteo I Visconti, ruler of Milan (d. 1322)
1402 – Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English politician (d. 1460)
1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
1455 – George, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1503)
1575 – Bartol Kasic, Croatian writer and linguist (d. 1650)
1613 – Gilles Menage, French scholar (d. 1692)
1736 – Johann Christoph Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1803)
1717 – Blind Jack, English engineer (d. 1810)
1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet and journalist (d. 1815)
1743 – Thomas Henderson, Governor of New Jersey (d. 1824)
1769 – Napoleon, Emperor of France (d. 1821)
1771 – Sir Walter Scott, Scottish writer (d. 1832)
1785 – Thomas De Quincey, British writer (d. 1859)
1794 – Elias Magnus Fries, Swedish botanist (d. 1878)
1795 – Aaron V. Brown, 13th Governor of Tennessee (d. 1859)
1798 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1831)

1801 – 1900

1813 – Jules Grévy, 3rd President of France (d. 1891)
1817 – James Wilson Henderson, 4th Governor of Texas (d. 1880)
1824 – John Chisum, American cattle baron (d. 1884)
1828 – Jean–Baptiste Billot, French general and statesman (d. 1907)
1836 – Pyotr Boborykin, Russian writer, playwright and journalist (d. 1921)
1845 – Walter Crane, English painter (d. 1915)
1846 – Charles Woodruff, American archer (d. 1927)
1856 – Keir Hardie, Scottish socialist and labor leader (d. 1915)
1856 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (d. 1916)
1858 – Edith Nesbit, English writer (d. 1924)
1858 – Michael Hainisch, President of Austria (d. 1940)
1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball owner (d. 1931)
1860 – Florence Harding, First Lady of the United States (d. 1924)
1860 – Henrietta Vinton Davis, American actress and playwright (d. 1941)
1863 – Alexei Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician (d. 1945)
1865 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual figure (d. 1926)
1872 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian writer and guru (d. 1950)
1875 – Samuel Coleridge–Taylor, English composer and musician (d. 1912)
1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek military officer and politician (d. 1966)
1877 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1941)
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)
1890 – Elizabeth Bolden, American supercentenarian (d. 2006)
1890 – Jacques Ibert, French composer (d. 1962)
1892 – Louis, 7th duc de Broglie, French physicist (d. 1987)
1892 – Walther Nehring, German general (d. 1983)
1893 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and mechanical computation designer (d. 1950)
1896 – Gerty Cori, Austrian–born biochemist (d. 1957)
1896 – Léon Theremin, Russian inventor (d. 1993)
1897 – Benedetta Cappa, Italian painter (d. 1977)
1900 – Estelle Brody, American actress (d. 1995)

1901 – 1950

1901 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician (d. 1975)
1901 – Arnulfo Arias, three–time President of Panama (d. 1988)
1904 – George Klein, Canadian inventor (d. 1992)
1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
1912 – Naoto Tajima, Japanese athlete (d. 1990)
1912 – Julia Child, American cook (d. 2004)
1912 – Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
1912 – Guido Morselli, Italian novelist and essayist (d. 1973)
1917 – Jack Lynch, 5th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1999)
1917 – Oscar Romero, Salvadoran priest (d. 1980)
1917 – Yukio Tsuda, Japanese footballer (d. 1979)
1919 – Dina Wadia, daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (d. 2017)
1920 – Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
1921 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor, director and Holocaust survivor (d. 2012)
1922 – Mary Fairfax, Polish–born Australian philanthropist (d. 2017)
1922 – Lukas Foss, German–born composer (d. 2009)
1923 – Rose Marie, American actress (d. 2017)
1924 – Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
1924 – Jo Benkow, Norwegian politician (d. 2013)
1924 – Hedy Epstein, German–American political activist (d. 2016)
1924 – Phyllis Schlafly, American conservative political activist and author (d. 2016)
1925 – Aldo Ciccolini, Italian–French pianist (d. 2015)
1925 – Leonie Ossowski, German writer (d. 2019)
1925 – Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist (d. 2007)
1926 – Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, former President of Greece (d. 2016)
1928 – Carl Joachim Classen, German classical philologist (d. 2013)
1928 – Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, Prime Minister of Somalia (d. 2002)
1928 – Malcolm Glazer, American businessman and sports team owner (d. 2014)
1928 – Paul Adderley, acting Governor–General of the Bahamas (d. 2012)
1928 – Nicolas Roeg, English film director and cinematographer (d. 2018)
1929 – Anna Walentynowicz, Polish activist (d. 2010)
1931 – Richard F. Heck, American chemist (d. 2015)
1932 – Jim Lange, American game show and DJ (d. 2014)
1934 – Ebrahim Abadi, Iranian actor (d. 2019)
1934 – Nino Ferrer, French–Italian singer and actor (d. 1998)
1934 – Bobby Byrd, American singer–songwriter and producer (d. 2007)
1934 – Darrell K. Sweet, American illustrator (d. 2011)
1935 – Régine Deforges, French author, editor and playwright (d. 2014)
1938 – Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist (d. 2014)
1938 – Bounnhang Vorachith, President of Laos
1938 – Maxine Waters, American politician
1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, member of the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
1942 – Pete York, English musician
1943 – Jean–Luc Mandaba, Central African politician, former Prime Minister of the Central African Republic
1943 – Eileen Bell, Northern Irish politician
1943 – Eni Faleomavaega, American Samoan politician (d. 2017)
1944 – Sylvie Vartan, Bulgarian–French singer and actress
1944 – Thomas J. Murphy, Jr., American politician, 56th Mayor of Pittsburgh
1945 – Khaleda Zia, 9th Prime Minister of Bangladesh
1945 – Alain Juppé, former Prime Minister of France
1946 – William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill, English politician
1946 – Jimmy Webb, American songwriter and composer
1946 – Tony Robinson, English actor and television presenter
1949 – Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor
1950 – Anne, Princess Royal, member of the British royal family
1950 – Tommy Aldridge, American drummer

1951 – 1975

1952 – Rudi Kargus, German footballer
1952 – Bernard Lacombe, French footballer
1953 – Vigdís Grímsdóttir, Icelandic writer
1953 – Wolfgang Hohlbein, German writer
1953 – Mark Thatcher, British businessman and son of Margaret Thatcher
1953 – Carol Thatcher, daughter of Margaret Thatcher
1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
1955 – Roger Willemsen, German author, essayist and television presenter (d. 2016)
1958 – Simon Baron–Cohen, British psychiatrist and writer
1958 – Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Scott Altman, American astronaut
1961 – Arjun, Indian movie actor and director
1961 – Ed Gillespie, former White House counsel
1962 – Moreno Mannini, Italian footballer
1963 – Valery Levaneuski, Russian activist
1963 – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican film director and producer
1964 – Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates
1966 – Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player
1967 – Alan Henning, British humanitarian and aid worker (d. 2014)
1968 – Debra Messing, American actress
1969 – Bernard Fanning, Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist (Powderfinger)
1969 – Juli Minoves Triquell, Andorran diplomat and writer
1970 – Anthony Anderson, American comedian and actor
1970 – Masahiro Endo, Japanese footballer
1970 – Ben Silverman, American television producer
1970 – Maya Soetoro–Ng, sister of Barack Obama
1972 – Ben Affleck, American actor
1973 – Amitabh Bhattacharjee, Indian actor
1975 – Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Japanese footballer
1975 – Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer
1975 – Brendan Morrison, Canadian ice hockey player

From 1976

1976 – Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopian politician, Prime minister of Ethiopia
1976 – Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch footballer
1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
1981 – Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
1982 – Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Japanese actor
1983 – Luke McCormick, English footballer
1985 – Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (d. 2019)
1985 – Emily Kinney, American actress, singer, model and composer
1986 – Natalia Kills, British singer–songwriter, musician and actress
1986 – Besik Kudukhov, Russian wrestler (d. 2013)
1988 – Oussama Assaidi, Moroccan footballer
1989 – Kristina Karjalainen, Estonian–Finnish model
1989 – Carlos Pena, Jr., American actor, dancer and singer
1989 – Joe Jonas, American actor and singer (Jonas Brothers)
1990 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
1990 – Danny Verbeek, Dutch footballer
1991 – Petja Piiroinen, Finnish snowboarder
1992 – Baskaran Adhiban, Indian chess player
1993 – Alex Oxlade–Chamberlain, English footballer
1998 – Gulliver McGrath, Australian actor

Deaths

Up to 1900

423 – Flavius Honorius, Roman Emperor (b. 384)
465 – Libius Severus, Roman Emperor
778 – Roland, Frankish commander
1038 – King Stephen I of Hungary
1040 – King Duncan I of Scotland
1057 – King Macbeth of Scotland
1118 – Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1048)
1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
1274 – Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and educator (b. 1201)
1369 – Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England
1464 – Pope Pius II (b. 1405)
1528 – Odet de Foix, French general (b. 1485)
1552 – Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (b. 1477)
1621 – John Barclay, Scottish poet (b. 1582)
1714 – Constantin Brancoveanu, Romanian prince (b. 1654)
1728 – Marin Marais, French composer (b. 1656)
1758 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (b. 1698)
1799 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)
1860 – Princess Juliane of Saxe–Coburg–Saalfeld, Grand Duchess of Russia (b. 1781)

1901 – 2000

1904 – John Henry Kinkead, Governor of Nevada (b. 1826)
1909 – Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian author, publicist and engineer (b. 1866)
1925 – Konrad Magi, Estonian artist (b. 1878)
1931 – Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani World War I nurse (b. 1878)
1933 – Christie Fuller, Australia Singer
1935 – Paul Signac, French painter (b. 1863)
1935 – Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
1935 – Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (b. 1879)
1936 – Grazia Deledda, Italian writer (b. 1871)
1941 – Josef Jakobs, German spy (b. 1898)
1942 – Mahadev Desai, Indian activist and writer (b. 1892)
1945 – Korechika Anami, Japanese Minister of War (b. 1887)
1951 – Artur Schnabel, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1882)
1953 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)
1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (b. 1940)
1963 – Henry John Burnett, last person to be hanged in Scotland (b. 1942)
1964 – Dr. Atl, Mexican painter and writer (b. 1875)
1967 – René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
1967 – Manuel Prado Ugarteche, President of Peru (b. 1889)
1971 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian–born actor (b. 1887)
1974 – Yuk Young–soo, First Lady of South Korea (b. 1925)
1975 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1920)
1982 – Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist (b. 1903)
1989 – Minoru Genda, Japanese military aviator and politician (b. 1904)
1989 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek army officer (b. 1897)
1990 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian singer (b. 1962)

From 2001

2001 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan runner (b. 1972)
2004 – Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist (b. 1916)
2004 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (b. 1941)
2006 – Te Atairangi Kaahu, Maori Queen (b. 1931)
2006 – Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer (b. 1923)
2007 – John Gofman, American scientist (b. 1918)
2011 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1984)
2012 – Harry Harrison, American science fiction writer (b. 1925)
2012 – Biff Elliot, American actor (b. 1923)
2013 – Marich Man Singh Shrestha, former Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1942)
2013 – Slawomir Mrozek, Polish author and playwright (b. 1930)
2013 – Jacques Vergès, French lawyer (b. 1925)
2014 – Licia Albanese, Italian–American soprano (b. 1913)
2014 – Jan Ekier, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1913)
2014 – James Freeman Gilbert, American geophysicist (b. 1931)
2014 – James Cama, American martial artist and teacher (b. 1957)
2015 – Rafael Chirbes, Spanish writer (b. 1949)
2015 – Julian Bond, American social activist (b. 1940)
2016 – Dalian Atkinson, English footballer (b. 1968)
2016 – Stefan Henze, German slalom canoeist (b. 1981)
2017 – Gunnar Birkerts, Latvian–born American architect (b. 1925)
2017 – Vern Ehlers, American politician (b. 1932)
2017 – Abdirahman Jama Barre, Somali politician (b. 1937)
2018 – Rita Borsellino, Italian anti–Mafia activist and politician (b. 1945)
2018 – François Garnier, French Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1944)
2018 – Albert Millaire, Canadian actor (b. 1935)
2019 – Eddie Marlin, American wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
2019 – Qin Hanzhang, Chinese engineer and food scientist (b. 1908)
2019 – Antonio Rastrelli, Italian politician (b. 1927)
2019 – Vidya Sinha, Indian actress (b. 1947)
2019 – Glenn Tasker, Australian sports columnist (b. 1951)
2019 – Wrestling Pro, American professional wrestler (b. 1938)

Observances

Independence Day in India, Bahrain and the Republic of the Congo
Liberation Day in South Korea
VJ Day, marking the end of World War II in East Asia
Assumption of Mary – Roman Catholic Church and other churches in Western Christianity
Ferragosto (Italy)
National Day of Liechtenstein
Mother's Day (Costa Rica)