August 15Birthdays & History

On this day: August 15 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 636Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate begins.Middle EastEurope
2. 717Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.Middle EastEurope
3. 718Arab–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.Middle EastEurope
4. 747Carloman, 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.Europe
5. 778The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army.Europe
6. 805Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising.Europe
7. 838The Arabs under Caliph al-Mu'tasim storm and sack the city of Amorium, killing half the population and enslaving the other.Middle East
8. 927The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.Europe
9. 982Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria.Europe
10. 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.Europe
11. 1038King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him.Europe
12. 1057King Macbeth of Scotland is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.Europe
13. 1070The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.Europe
14. 1096Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II.Europe
15. 1136Seljuk 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.Middle East
16. 1185The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.Europe
17. 1209Albigensian Crusade: The Cathar stronghold of Carcassonne falls to the crusaders.Europe
18. 1224The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a Catholic military order, occupy Tarbatu (today Tartu) as part of the Livonian Crusade.Europe
19. 1237Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Crown of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory.Europe
20. 1248The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)Europe
21. 1261Michael VIII Palaiologos leads a triumphal procession into Constantinople following its recapture and is crowned Byzantine emperor.Middle EastEurope
22. 1281Mongol invasions of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.AsiaAsia
23. 1310The 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.Europe
24. 1430Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.Europe
25. 1461The 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.Europe
26. 1483Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.Europe
27. 1511Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.Europe
28. 1517Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.EuropeAsia
29. 1519Panama City, Panama is founded.Latin America
30. 1534Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.Europe
31. 1537Asunción, Paraguay is founded.Latin America
32. 1540Arequipa, Peru is founded.Latin America
33. 1549Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549).Asia
34. 1592Imjin 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.AsiaAsia
35. 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.Europe
36. 1645A Royalist army under the Marquess of Montrose defeats a Covenanter army in the battle of Kilsyth.Europe
37. 1684Emperor Leopold I and French king Louis XIV agree to an armistice in the truce of Ratisbon.Europe
38. 1695French forces end the bombardment of Brussels.Europe
39. 1760Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.Europe
40. 1814War of 1812: British forces launch a costly and unsuccessful night attack against American defenders during the siege of Fort Erie.EuropeNorth America
41. 1824The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.EuropeNorth America
42. 1843Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.Europe
43. 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.North AmericaEurope
44. 1863The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).AsiaEurope
45. 1882Start of the second part of the Montceau-les-Mines troubles by the Black Band, groups of anarchist miners.Europe
46. 1893Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty was signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan, with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.EuropeAfrica
47. 1899Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened.Europe
48. 1907Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.Middle EastAfricaNorth America
49. 1914The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.Latin America
50. 1914A servant of American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, and murders seven people there.North America
51. 1914World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.Europe
52. 1914World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.Europe
53. 1915A 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.North AmericaEurope
54. 1920Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.Europe
55. 1935Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.North America
56. 1939Twenty-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.Europe
57. 1939The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.AsiaNorth America
58. 1940An 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.Europe
59. 1941Corporal 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.Europe
60. 1942World 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.North AmericaEurope
61. 1943World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds.Europe
62. 1944World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France.Europe
63. 1945Emperor Hirohito broadcasts his declaration of surrender following the effective surrender of Japan in World War II; Korea gains independence from the Empire of Japan.AsiaAsia
64. 1947India gains independence from British rule after nearly 190 years of British company and crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.AsiaEurope
65. 1947Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.Asia
66. 1948The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula.Asia
67. 1950Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800.Asia
68. 1952A flash flood devastates the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.Europe
69. 1954Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.Latin America
70. 1959American Airlines Flight 514, a Boeing 707, crashes near the Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, killing all five people on board.North America
71. 1960Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.AfricaEurope
72. 1961Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.Europe
73. 1962James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.Asia
74. 1963Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.Europe
75. 1963President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.Africa
76. 1965The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.North America
77. 1969The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.North America
78. 1970Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.North America
79. 1971President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.North America
80. 1971Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.Middle EastEurope
81. 1973Vietnam War: The US Air Force bombing of Cambodia ends.AsiaNorth America
82. 1974Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung Hee.Asia
83. 1975Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.Asia
84. 1975Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.Asia
85. 1976SAETA Flight 011 crashes into the Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador, killing all 59 people on board; the wreckage is not discovered until 2002.Latin America
86. 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.North America
87. 1984The 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.Middle East
88. 1985Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement.Asia
89. 1989China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, killing 34 of the 40 people on board.Asia
90. 1995In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).North America
91. 1995Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister of Japan, releases the Murayama Statement, which formally expresses remorse for Japanese war crimes committed during World War II.Asia
92. 1998Apple introduces the iMac computer.North America
93. 1998Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured.Europe
94. 1999Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.Africa
95. 2005The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia is signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.Asia
96. 2005Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.Middle East
97. 2007An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru, killing 514 and injuring 1,090.Latin America
98. 2013At 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.Middle East
99. 2013The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.Latin America
100. 2015North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.Asia
101. 2020Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.Europe
102. 2021Kabul 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.Asia
103. 2025US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.North AmericaEurope

Source: Wikipedia "August 15" / CC BY-SA 4.0