On This Day in History for August 15

Events 1 - 100 of 169

• 927 The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
• 1185 The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
• 1248 Construction of Cologne Cathedral begun
• 1308 Knights of St John conquer Rhodes
• 1457 Earliest dated book, "Mainz Psalter," completed
• 1461 Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmet II - last Byzantine Empire remnant to fall. Emperor David 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 founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Dávila
• 1534 Ignatius of Loyola forms society of Jesus/Jesuits
• 1537 Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
• 1540 Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
• 1548 Mary Queen of Scotland arrives in France, aged 6.
• 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, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
• 1620 Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims


• 1635 1st recorded north American hurricane hits the Plymouth Colony
• 1653 -16] Dutch ship "Sperwer" stranded at Tsjedzjoe Korea
• 1658 France, Sweden, Bavarian, Brunswick, Munster and Hessen-Kassel form Confederation of the Rhine
• 1668 Confederation of the Rhine disbands
• 1684 Spain & Germany sign cease fire with France
• 1741 French troops attack the Rhine
• 1748 United Lutheran Church the American colonies organized
• 1760 Battle at Leignitz: Prussia beats Austria & Russia
• 1785 French cardinal De Rohan arrested
• 1795 Joseph Haydn leaves England forever
• 1824 Freed American slaves establish Liberia on the West African coast through the American Colonization Society (ACS)
• 1832 Gregory XVI encyclical On liberalism & religious indifferentism
• 1843 National black convention meets (Buffalo NY)
• 1843 Tivoli Gardens amusement park opens in Copenhagen, world's 2nd oldest
• 1848 M Waldo Hanchett patents dental chair
• 1858 Regular mail to Pacific coast begins

• 1863 Submarine "HL Hunley" arrives in Charleston on railroad cars
• 1863 The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
• 1864 Off New England coast, CSS Tallahassee captures 6 yankee schooners
• 1865 Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri
• 1867 The Representation of the People Act (1867) extends suffrage in the UK
• 1869 The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
• 1870 Transcontinental Railway actually completed in Colorado
• 1876 US law removes Indians from Black Hills after gold find


• 1886 Guy Hecker scores 7 runs in 1 game
• 1891 San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.

• 1893 US no longer allowed exclusive rights in Bering Sea
• 1899 Louisville's Henry Dowling struck out 5 times in a game
• 1900 The Boxer Rebellion: In China, the Empress, her family and court retainers flee while foreign troops move through Peking in an attempt to quell the rebellion
• 1900 Russian troops advance further unto Manchuria
• 1901 Arch Rock, a danger to San Francisco Bay shipping, blasted with 30 tons of nitro
• 1901 Great Britain issues a proclamation calling on the Boers to surrender by 15 September or face banishment and confiscation of their property
• 1905 Philadelphia A's Rube Waddell no-hits St Louis Browns, 2-0 in 5 innings
• 1906 1st freight delivery tunnel system begins, underneath Chicago

• 1911 Procter & Gamble unveils its Crisco shortening
• 1912 Yankee Guy Zinn sets record by stealing home twice in a game

• 1914 Japan joins side of allies
• 1914 Panama Canal opens (under cost)

• 1914 The first large public gathering of Boers in South Africa who do not want to support Britain in a war against Germany; British authorities will try to repress this movement, but discontent spreads

• 1915 Journalist Albert Siegfried Bettelheim, convicted of murder in Georgia
• 1920 Polish troops commanded by Józef Piłsudski defeat the Soviets at the Battle of Warsaw (Miracle upon the Vistula)
• 1923 Eamon de Valera arrested in Irish Free State
• 1923 Mexico & US reaches accord over oil concession of 1917
• 1925 Norway annexes Spitsbergen
• 1931 Ernest Lassy completes longest canoe journey without port (6,102 mi)
• 1931 Roy Wilkins joined NAACP as asst secretary
• 1939 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. No survivors.
• 1940 1st edition of Jewish Weekly newspaper in Amsterdam (under Nazis)
• 1940 Heavy dogfights above England: 75 German aircraft damaged
• 1941 Kovono Lithuanian Jews are herded into Slobodka ghetto
• 1942 5 hostages executed by Nazis in St-Michielsgestel
• 1943 Allies land on Kiska Aleutians
• 1944 Allied air raid on train in North Netherlands, 32 killed
• 1944 German field marshal Günther von Kluge vanishes for one day; he killed himself on the 19th in the aftermath of the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler
• 1944 Operation Anvil: Allies land on French Mediterranean sea coast
• 1944 Operation Dragoon: Allied troops land in Provence
• 1944 US 12 Army corps enters Le Mans through Orleans
• 1944 US 7th Armour division reaches Chartres
• 1945 A riot ensues in San Francisco while the city is celebrating the end of WW II
• 1945 US wartime rationing of gasoline & fuel oil ends
• 1945 World War II: Korean Liberation Day.

• 1946 Dumont TV Network (WABD NY) is launched in the US
• 1947 India gains independence from Great Britain, remains a dominion until 1950
• 1947 India becomes a sovereign and democratic nation, independent from the United Kingdom
• 1948 Republic of Korea (South Korea) proclaimed (National Day)
• 1950 8.6 earthquake in India kills 20,000 to 30,000
• 1950 Indians make their 1st triple play at Cleveland Stadium
• 1950 Joseph Pholien becomes Belgian premier

• 1950 Rotterdam dock strike begins
• 1950 Srikakulam district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• 1952 9 inches of rain fall creates a 20 ft wave in Lynmouth, England, killing 34
• 1954 Alfredo Stroessner names himself president of Paraguay
• 1955 Hurricane Connie dissipates after killing 43 in NC, SC, Virginia & Maryland
• 1957 David Simons reaches 30,942 m in Man High 2 balloon
• 1957 USAF Capt Joe B Jordan reaches 31,513 m in F-104 jet fighter
• 1958 Soviet Marshal Bulganin resigns as director of State Bank

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• 1171 King Alfonso IX of Leon (d. 1230)
• 1195 Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint (d. 1231)
• 1432 Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (Morgante), born in Florence, Italy (d. 1484)
• 1575 Bartol Kašić, Croatian writer and linguist, born in Pag, Croatia (d. 1650)
• 1613 Gilles Ménage, French scholar, born in Angers, France (d. 1692)
• 1619 Hubertus Quellinus, Flemish cartoonist and painter, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1687)
• 1688 Frederick-William I, king of Prussia (1713-1740)
• 1702 Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian rococo painter and etcher, born in Pitigliano, Italy (d. 1788)
• 1717 Blind Jack [John Metcalf], English 1st professional roadbuilder, born in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England (d. 1810)
• 1740 Matthias Claudius, German poet (d. 1815)

• 1771 Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist and poet (The Lady of the Lake), born in College Wynd, Edinburgh Scotland (d. 1832)
• 1776 Gottlieb Schick, German painter (Apollo under the Hirten), born in Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1812)
• 1782 Henri de Mérode, Belgian revolutionary (Souvenirs) (d. 1847)
• 1785 Thomas De Quincey, English writer (Confessions of English Opium Eater), born in Manchester (d. 1859)
• 1788 Carel SW van Hogendorp, Dutch colonial director
• 1794 Elias M. Fries, Swedish botanist (System mycologicum), born in Femsjö, Sweden (d. 1878)
• 1798 Sangolli Rayanna, prominent Indian warrior, born in Karnataka, India
• 1803 James Douglas, The Father of British Columbia, born in Demerara, Guyana (d. 1877)
• 1813 Jules Grévy, 2nd President of the French Third Republic, born in Mont-sous-Vaudrey, France (d. 1891)
• 1823 Orris Sanford Ferry, American lawyer, politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bethel, Connecticut (d. 1875)
• 1856 J. Keir Hardie, Scottish politician and 1st Labour representative in British Parliament, born in Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 1915)
• 1857 Albert Ballin, German inventor and shipping tycoon, born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1918)
• 1858 Edith Nesbit, British children books author (The Story of the Treasure Seekers, Five Children and It), born in London, England (d. 1924)
• 1860 Florence Harding [DeWolfe], US 1st lady (1921-23), born in Marion, Ohio (d. 1924)
• 1860 Roosje Vos, Dutch trade union leader, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1932)
• 1860 Henrietta Vinton Davis, African-American elocutionist, dramatist, impersonator and public speaker, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1941)
• 1863 Alexei Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician, born in Alatyrsky District, Russia (d. 1945)
• 1865 Johan[nes] B Schepers, Frisian writer (Braga)
• 1865 Mikao Usui, Japanese founder of Reiki (form of spiritual practice), born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan (d. 1926)
• 1872 Shri Aurobindo [Aurobindo Ghose], Indian guru and nationalist, born in Calcutta, British India (d. 1950)
• 1874 Joseph Klausner, Polish-Israeli new testament expert, born in Valkininkai, Lithuania (d. 1958)
• 1876 Aleksandar Belic, Serbian linguist, born in Belgrade, Serbia (d. 1960)
• 1878 Pjotr N Wrangel, Russian baron/general (White Armies, WW II)
• 1881 Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist, born in Görlitz, Imperial Germany (d. 1956)
• 1883 Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect, born in Vrpolje, Croatia (d. 1962)
• 1885 Edna Ferber, American author and playwright (American Beauty, Cimarron), born in Kalamazoo, Michigan (d. 1968)
• 1890 Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian (oldest verified person in the world at the time of her death), born in Somerville, Tennessee (d. 2006)
• 1890 Elvin M. Jellinek, American Physiologist and pioneer in the study of alcoholism, born in NYC, New York
• 1892 Louis de Broglie, French physicist (Nobel 1929), born in Dieppe, France (d. 1987)

• 1893 Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and computing pioneer, born in Pukekohe, New Zealand (d. 1950)
• 1896 Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (d. 1985)
• 1898 Lillian Carter, US President Jimmy Carter's (1977-1981) mom, born in Richland, Georgia (d. 1983)
• 1898 Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (The Beetle), born in Zhmerynka, Ukraine (d. 1966)
• 1901 Arias Arnulfo, 3 time president of Panama (1940-41, 49-51, 68), born in Penonomé, Coclé, Panama (d. 1988)
• 1901 Hans Lorbeer, German writer and politician, born in Lutherstadt, Wittenberg, Germany (d. 1973)
• 1901 Pyotr Sergeyevich Novikov, Russian mathematician (group theory), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1975)
• 1902 Jan RT Campert, writer (Song the 18 dead)
• 1907 Paul Vincze, Jewish-Hungarian designer of coins and medal, born in Galgagyörk, Hungary (d. 1994)
• 1909 Raymond O'Malley, English teacher
• 1910 Josef Klaus, Chancellor of Austria (1966-70), born in Kötschach-Mauthen, Austria (d. 1964)
• 1912 Wijnanda M C "Nan" Aberson, friend of Gerard Reve Sr
• 1914 Peter Nicholson Gunn, Australian writer (The Churches of Rome), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1995)
• 1915 Alma Gardeslan, Surinamese/Dutch folklorist
• 1915 Kamiel van Baelen, Flemish author and resistance fighter (Mensch op Weg), born in Turnhout , Belgium (d. 1945)
• 1916 Aleks Çaçi, Albanian writer (That way Myzeqe), born in Palasë, Himara, Albania (d. 1989)
• 1917 Jack Lynch, Irish politician, fourth Taoiseach, born in Shandon, Cork, Ireland (d. 1999)
• 1917 Oscar Romero, El Salvador Roman catholic priest who was murdered, born in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador (d. 1980)
• 1918 Fay Honey Knopp, American activist (founded a Quaker ministry for men and women in prisons), born in Bridgeport, Connecticut (d. 1995)

• 1924 Robert Oxton Bolt, English playwright (A Man for All Seasons, Doctor Zhivago), born in Sale, Manchester (d. 1995)
• 1925 Gertrude Shope, South African leader of the ANC Women’s League, born in Johannesburg, South Africa
• 1926 Lewis T Preston, American banker (President of the World Bank 1991-95), born in NYC, New York
• 1926 Kostis Stephanopoulos, Greek conservative politician (President of Greece, 1995-2005), born in Patras, Greece (d. 2016)
• 1930 Ageeda Paavel, Estonian freedom fighter
• 1931 Richard F. Heck, American chemist who discovered the Heck Reaction (Nobel Prize 2010), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 2015)
• 1932 Robert L. Forward, American physicist and sci-fi writer (Dragon's Egg, Starquake), born in Geneva, NY (d. 2002)
• 1934 Valentin Varlamov, Russian cosmonaut, born in Sukhaya Tereshka, Russia (d. 1908)
• 1935 Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr, American civil rights activist (National Urban League), born in Atlanta, Georgia
• 1937 Ronnie G. Flippo, former United States Congressman from Alabama (1977-91), born in Florence, Alabama
• 1938 Maxine Waters, American politician (Rep-D-California), born in St. Louis, Missouri
• 1938 Stephen Breyer, American lawyer and Justice of the Supreme Court, born in San Francisco, California
• 1938 Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish sci-fi author (The Whole Truth about Planet Xi), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1985)
• 1939 Herman Onno C. R. Ruding, Dutch Financial minister (CDA) and Director of Amrobank
• 1940 Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist (Founder of Red Army Faction), born in Bartholomä, Germany (d. 1977)
• 1941 Viktor Mikhailovich Pisarev, Russian cosmonaut
• 1942 Larry Hartsell, American martial artist, bodyguard, trainer, student of Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto, born in Charlotte, North Carolina (d. 2007)
• 1943 Eni F H Faleomavaega, (Rep-D-American Samoa)
• 1944 Tom Murphy, American politician
• 1945 Thomas C Sawyer, (Rep-D-Ohio)
• 1945 Begum Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1991-96 and 2001-06), born in Dinajpur, Bangladesh
• 1946 Kathryn Jean Whitmire, (4 time Mayor-Houston), born in Houston, Texas
• 1946 Jean-Claude Arnault, French Swedish photographer involved in Nobel Prize scandal, born in Marseille, France
• 1947 Manley Lanier "Sonny" Carter Jr, Macon Ga, USN/astro (STS 33)
• 1948 George Ryton, British engineer, born in Singapore
• 1949 Carlien Brouwer, translator/missing since Jan 6, 1994
• 1949 Beverly Burns, American pilot and 1st woman to captain a Boeing 747, born in Baltimore, Maryland
• 1949 Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor, born in Bangor, Wales
• 1951 Daba Diawara, Malian politician
• 1954 Mary Jo Salter, American poet

• 1956 Gordon Bruks, England, Dr/cosmonaut
• 1958 Victor Shenderovich, Russian satirist
• 1959 Scott D Altman, American Naval officer and astronaut (sk: STS 90), born in Lincoln, Illinois
• 1961 Ed Gillespie, American White House counsel to George W. Bush
• 1962 Tom Colicchio, American chef

• 1965 Rob Thomas, American writer
• 1970 Ben Silverman, American TV executive

• 1985 Anti-apartheid lawyer Bulelani Ngcuka marries in South Africa
• 2004 Fashion designer and socialite Nicky Hilton (21) weds businessman Todd Andrew Meister (33) at The Vegas Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada

• 69 Servius Sulpicius Galba, 6th emperor of Rome (68-69), murdered
• 423 Flavius Honorius, emperor East Roman Republic (395-423), dies
• 778 Roland, Frankish commander
• 1038 Stefanus I, [Arpad], 1st king of Hungary, dies

• 1064 Muhammad ibn Hazm, Andalusian historian, jurist and author of Islamic Spain, dies at 69
• 1118 Alexius I Comnenus, Emperor of Byzantium (1081-1118), dies
• 1196 Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
• 1274 Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and founder of the Sorbonne College, dies at 72
• 1369 Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England
• 1464 Pius II, [Aenea S Piccolomini], Italian Pope (1458-64), dies at 58
• 1528 Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, French military leader (b. 1485)
• 1552 Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
• 1615 Cornelis C Vrancx, Flemish poet/writer (Comfort of Soles), dies
• 1619 Miriam Bella, head of Jewish community of Kraków, dies
• 1621 John Barclay, Scottish writer (b. 1582)
• 1666 Johann A Schall von Bell, German missionary and astronomer, dies at 75
• 1714 Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1654)
• 1725 Gerhard Noodt, Dutch lawyer, dies at 77
• 1729 Benjamin Neukirch, German poet (Herrn von Hofmannswaldau), dies at 64
• 1758 Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (fotometrie), dies at 60
• 1786 Thomas Tyrwhitt, English classical scholar and critic, dies at 56
• 1799 Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)
• 1807 Johann Nikolaus Tetens, German-Danish philosopher and mathematician, dies at 70
• 1852 Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist (discovered yttrium), dies at 92
• 1864 Daniel Phineas Woodbury, US engineer/Union general-major, dies
• 1888 Carter L. Stevenson, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 70
• 1901 Karl Weinhold, German sociologist (founder of Journal of the Association of Folklore), dies at 77
• 1909 Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian writer and sociologist (b. 1866)
• 1915 Albert Siegfried Bettelheim, Jew convicted of murder, lynched
• 1917 Thomas J. Higgins, Union Army soldier during the American Civil War, recipient of America's highest military decoration (Medal of Honor), dies at 86
• 1925 Konrad Mägi, Estonian artist (b. 1878)
• 1935 Wiley Post, aviation pioneer, killed in plane crash in Alaska at 36
• 1936 Grazia Deledda, Italian author (Nobel 1926), dies at 64
• 1945 Korechika Anami, Japanese War Minister (b. 1887)
• 1953 Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)
• 1956 Constantine Freiherr von Neurath, German foreign minister, dies at 83
• 1962 Lei Feng, Chinese revolutionary (b. 1940)
• 1966 Gerhard/Gerhart Pohl, German writer (Battle of Kolbenau), dies at 64
• 1966 Gerhard Pohl, German writer (Crazy Ferdinand), dies at 64
• 1967 René Magritte, Belgian surrealist painter, dies at 68
• 1969 Stijn Streuvels [Frank Lateur], Flemish writer (De Vlaschaard), dies at 97
• 1974 Mrs Park Chung Hi, wife of South Korean president, murdered

• 1975 Clay Shaw, alleged John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracist & businessman (b. 1913)
• 1976 Jean P J C Haesaert, Flemish lawyer/sociologist, dies at 84
• 1982 Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1903)
• 1983 Benjamin V Cohen, American author of New Deal legislation, dies at 88
• 1988 Barry Bingham Sr, US daily newspaper publisher, dies at 82
• 1988 Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, killed in plane crash
• 1991 Marietta Tree, ambassador (UN Comm of Human Rights), dies at 74
• 1992 Evelyn Wesler Zemel, American author (American Glass Animals), dies
• 1992 Giorgio Perlasca, Italian anti-fascist (saved 5,200 Jews), dies
• 1992 Martha Blackburn, Canada newspaper publisher (London Free Press), dies
• 1992 Osamu Inaba, Japanese min of justice, dies
• 1993 Robert W Kempner, German officer of justice in Prussia, dies at 93
• 1994 Shepherd Mead, London England, dies of stroke at 80
• 1995 Humphrey Sims Moore, British pacifist and journalist (founder of Peace News), dies at 86
• 1995 Ismay Thomas, teacher, dies at 74
• 1996 Agnes Beatrice Read, medical social worker, dies at 86
• 1996 Masao Maruyama, social scientist, dies at 82
• 1999 Sir Hugh Casson, British architect and artist (b. 1910)
• 2004 Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, dies at 63
• 2004 Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1916)
• 2006 Te Atairangikaahu, Māori Queen for 40 years, dies at 75
• 2006 Doug White, American news anchor
• 2007 John Gofman, American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate (b. 1918)
• 2007 Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand bush walker (b. 1908)
• 2008 James Orthwein, American businessman
• 2008 Leroy Sievers, American journalist
• 2012 Harry [Maxwell] Harrison, American author, dies at 87
• 2015 Julian Bond, American civil rights leader and politician (D-Ga), dies at 75
• 2017 Vernon "Vern" Ehlers, American politician (Michigan House of Representatives), dies of complications from Alzheimers disease at 83

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