History Events on August 15

Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.

#Francesco_I_Sforza

The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)

#Cornerstone

Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.

#Seven_Years'_War

Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.

#Ignatius_of_Loyola

French forces end the bombardment of Brussels.

#Bombardment_of_Brussels

Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.

#Henry_John_Burnett

Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.

#Béni_Ounif

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.

#Nine_Years'_War_(Ireland)

Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.

#Watercraft

India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.

#India

The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.

#Panama_Canal

The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.

#Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette

The 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.

#Ohio_State_University_Radio_Observatory

World 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.

#World_War_II

The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in ?emdinli and Eruh

#Kurdistan_Workers'_Party

Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria

#Holy_Roman_Emperor

Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.

#Raphael_Morgan

Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.

#Michael_VIII_Palaiologos

Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.

#Ibadan

World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.

#Battle_of_Cer

Twenty-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.

#Junkers_Ju_87

North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8?1?2 hours ahead of UTC.

#North_Korea

The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.

#The_Wizard_of_Oz_(1939_film)

The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).

#Bombardment_of_Kagoshima

A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin.

#Architect

The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.

#Pavia

Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of K?an.

#Mongol_invasions_of_Japan

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.

#2007_Peru_earthquake

President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.

#Fulbert_Youlou

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.

#Woodstock

Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.

#Bahrain

The 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 is exiled and later murdered.

#Empire_of_Trebizond

Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.

#Pope_Sixtus_IV

Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.

#Muhammad_Ali_Jinnah

Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising

#Bavaria

The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.

#Saracen

President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.

#Richard_Nixon

Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.

#Afonso_de_Albuquerque

The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.

#Vardzia

World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.

#World_War_I

Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.

#Vietnam_War

A story in 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.

#New_York_World

Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured.

#Northern_Ireland

Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.

#Alfredo_Stroessner

The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory.

#Battle_of_the_Puig

The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.

#The_Beatles

Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan.

#Jewel_Voice_Broadcast

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established south of the 38th parallel north.

#South_Korea

King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him.

#Stephen_I_of_Hungary

The 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.

#Rhodes_(city)

Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.

#Polish-Soviet_War

Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.

#Will_Rogers

Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.

#Republic_of_the_Congo

An 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.

#Kingdom_of_Italy

Arab-Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.

#Arab-Byzantine_wars

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army.

#Battle_of_Roncevaux_Pass

World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France.

#Operation_Dragoon

In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).

#South_Carolina

Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.

#Takeo_Miki

Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549).

#Society_of_Jesus

Carloman, 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.

#Carloman_(mayor_of_the_palace)

The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.

At 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.

The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.

Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.

Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee.

Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.

James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.

Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.

A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.

World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds.

Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage.

Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The 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.

Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu.

Arequipa, Peru is founded.

Asunción, Paraguay is founded.

Panama City, Panama is founded.

King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.

Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.

Arab-Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.

Arab-Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.