On This Day

August 1915 in History

Events in History

  • Aug 5 The Latin-American Conference Convenes in Washington, with representatives from leading South American nations joining the US to discuss conditions in Mexico
  • Aug 5 Warsaw, evacuated by the Russians, is occupied by Germans
  • Aug 6 The British land more troops at Suvla Bay on the northern shore of Gallipoli in an effort to break the stalemate on the peninsula during WWI
  • Aug 7 WWI: Assault against Russell's Top at Gallipolis, Turkey - 232 Australians are killed
  • Aug 9 British attack at Chanak Bair at Gallipoli during WWI

Event of Interest

Aug 9 British naval officer David Beatty is confirmed in the rank of vice-admiral

David Beatty
British Admiral of the Fleet David Beatty
  • Aug 12 "Of Human Bondage" by William Somerset Maugham, published
  • Aug 14 British transport Royal Edward sank by German U boat kills 1000
  • Aug 15 Journalist Albert Siegfried Bettelheim, convicted of murder in Georgia
  • Aug 16 Kansas City Packers' Alex Main no-hits Buffalo Blues (Federal League), 5-0
  • Aug 17 German troops over run Kovno, Lithuania
  • Aug 17 Hurricane makes landfall near Galveston, Texas killing 275, and causing $50M damage
  • Aug 17 Mob lynches Jewish businessman Leo Frank in Cobb County, Georgia, after death sentence for murder of 13-year-old girl commuted to life
  • Aug 19 British liner "SS Arabic" sunk by German submarine without warning leaving Liverpool for New York; killing 44. Creates diplomatic incident
  • Aug 19 Rationing laws go into effect in Netherlands
  • Aug 19 World War I: the Battle of Van begins
  • Aug 21 Italy declares war on Turkey in World War One
  • Aug 23 Tsar Nicolaas II takes control of Russian Army
  • Aug 26 German troops overrun Brest-Litovsk, Russia
  • Aug 31 Brazil becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty

Birthdays in History

  • Aug 2 Johan Limpers, Dutch sculptor and resistance fighter, born in Heemstede, Netherlands (d. 1944)
  • Aug 3 Sal Santen, Dutch writer (You Are Jewish People), born in Amsterdam (d. 1998)
  • Aug 4 Warren Avis, American entrepreneur (Avis Rent a Car System), born in Bay City, Michigan (d. 2007)
  • Aug 8 Jumbo Elliott, American track coach (d. 1981)
  • Aug 14 B.A. Santamaria, Australian political activist and journalist, born in Melbourne (d. 1998)
  • Aug 14 Victor Mishcon, Baron Mishcon, British solicitor and a Labour politician, born in London (d. 2006)
  • Aug 15 Alma Gardeslan, Surinamese-Dutch folklorist
  • Aug 15 Kamiel van Baelen, Flemish author and resistance fighter (Mensch op Weg), born in Turnhout, Belgium (d. 1945)
  • Aug 19 Alfred Rouleau, French Canadian businessman and administrator (Desjardins Group) (d. 1985)
  • Aug 21 Joshua Hassan, first Chief Minister of Gibraltar (1964-69, 72-87), born in Gibraltar (d. 1997)
  • Aug 22 David Dellinger, American social rights and peace movement leader, born in Wakefield, Massachusetts (d. 2004)
  • Aug 22 James Hillier, Canadian-American inventor (co-created the electron microscope), born in Brantford, Canada (d. 2007)
  • Aug 24 James Tiptree Jr. [Alice Sheldon], American sci-fi author (Byte Beautiful), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1987)
  • Aug 25 Walter Trampler, American violist (Beaux Arts Trio), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1997)
  • Aug 27 Walter Heller, economist (Old Myths & New Realities), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1987)
  • Aug 28 Tasha Tudor, American illustrator and children's books author (Pumpkin Moonshine, Corgiville Fair), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2008)
  • Aug 29 Denys Hay, British historian, born in Newcastle upon Tyne (d. 1994)
  • Aug 29 Nathan Pritikin, American nutritionist and inventor, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1985)
  • Aug 30 Liesbeth Saijers, Dutch sculptor (d. 1992)

Deaths in History

  • Aug 4 Richard Kiepert, German cartographer (Africa), dies at 68
  • Aug 9 Henry Longbottom, English lieutenant, dies in battle
  • Aug 10 Henry Moseley, English physicist (relationship between atomic number and charge of the atomic nucleus), shot and killed at Gallipoli during WWI, at 27
  • Aug 15 Albert Siegfried Bettelheim, Jew convicted of murder, lynched
  • Aug 17 Leo Frank, American convict, hanged in 1915 by a lynch mob in Georgia at 31
  • Aug 20 Paul Ehrlich, German bacteriologist and physician (Chemotherapy, Nobel Prize 1908), dies in 61
  • Aug 28 John Davis Long, 32nd Governor of Massachusetts (1880-1915), dies at 76

Historical Figures

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