• August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining.

Events

700-1899

• 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, in which Roland is killed
• 927 - The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto
• 1517 - First European connection with China - seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernao Pires de Andrade met Chinese officials at Pearl River estuary.
• 1519 - Panama City, Panama founded
• 1535 - Asuncion, Paraguay founded
• 1540 - Arequipa, Peru founded
• 1620 - The Mayflower pulls out of Southampton, England
• 1843 - The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. It is today the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
• 1877 - Thomas Edison makes the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

1900-1999

• 1914 - Panama Canal opens to traffic
• 1920 - Poles defeated the Red Army at the Battle of Warsaw (Polish-Soviet War)
• 1944 - Allied forces land in southern France (Operation Anvil)
• 1947 - India gains independence from Britain. Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister of India
• 1948 - Republic of Korea established south of 38th Parallel
• 1960 - Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) declares its independence from France
• 1961 - Construction begins on the Berlin Wall, Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany.
• 1969 - First day of Woodstock Music and Art Festival
• 1971 - President Richard Nixon ends convertibility of U.S. dollar into gold
• 1973 - Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends
• 1974 - Yook Young-soo, First Lady of the South Korea is killed amid apparent assassination attempt upon President of the South Korea, Park Chung-hee by North Korean spy, during the anniversarial ceremony of the Liberation day.
• 1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh
• 1977 - The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by The Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "WOW!" signal for notation made by a volunteer on the project.
• 1978 - foundation of Mirapuri - The City of Peace and Future Man
• 1998 - Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, becoming the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles

Births

1100-1899

• 1171 - Alfonso IX of Leon,
• 1769 - Napoleon Bonaparte, general and politician (d. 1821)
• 1785 - Thomas De Quincey, author (d. 1859)
• 1858 - E. Nesbit (Edith Nesbit), author (d. 1924)
• 1872 - Shri Aurobindo, writer, nationalist, philosopher and guru (d. 1950)
• 1879 - Ethel Barrymore, actress (d. 1959)
• 1887 - Edna Ferber, novelist (d. 1968)
• 1883 - Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (d. 1962)
• 1893 - Leslie Comrie, astronomer and computing pioneer (d. 1950)
• 1896 - Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin

1900-1999

• 1900 - Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
• 1912:
  • Julia Child, cook, writer (d. 2004)
  • Dame Wendy Hiller, actress
• 1919 - Huntz Hall, actor (d. 1999)
• 1923 - Rose Marie, actress
• 1924 - Robert Bolt, screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1925:
  • Mike Connors, actor
  • Willie Jones, Major League Baseball player (d. 1983)
  • Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist
• 1928 - Nicolas Roeg, director
• 1933 - Jim Lange, game show host
• 1935:
  • Vernon Jordan Jr., Presidential advisor
  • Lionel Taylor, American football player
• 1938 - Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish science-fiction writer
• 1944 - Linda Ellerbee, journalist
• 1945 - Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, Hindu guru
• 1946 - Jimmy Webb, musician, composer
• 1947 - Raakhee Gulzar, Indian actress
• 1949 - Richard Deacon, sculptor
• 1950 - Princess Anne of the United Kingdom
• 1968 - Debra Messing, actress
• 1972 - Ben Affleck, actor
• 1974 - Natasha Henstridge, actress
• 1977 - Igor Cassina, gymnast

Deaths

700-1899

• 778 - Roland, Frankish commander
• 1057 - King Macbeth I of Scotland
• 1728 - Marin Marais, French composer and viol player.

1900-1999

• 1907 - Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (b. 1831)
• 1935 - Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
• 1935 - Will Rogers, American humorist, actor (b. 1879)
• 1951 - Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (b. 1882)
• 1959 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer
• 1962 - Lei Feng, eminent PLA Soldier
• 1967 - René Magritte, Belgian surrealist painter (b. 1898)
• 1971 - Paul Lukas, Academy Award winning actor
• 1974 - Yook Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea
• 1975 - Clay Shaw, John F. Kennedy assassination investigator
• 1975 - Sheikh Mujib, president of Bangladesh
• 1995 - John Cameron Swayze, journalist
• 1999 - Sir Hugh Casson, architect, artist

2000-2099

• 2001 - Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete, (brain tumour)
• 2003 - Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator
• 2004 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, politician

Holidays and observances

• Catholicism - Austria
• Belgium
• Cameroon
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• France
• Greece
• India
• Italy
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Malta
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Spain

August 14 - August 16 - July 15 - September 15 -- listing of all days