On This Day — 15 August
2000s
2025
US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Donald Trump
2021
Kabul 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.
Kabul
2020
Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine
2015
North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.
North Korea
2013
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.
August 2013 Beirut bombing
2013
The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.
Smithsonian Institution
2007
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
2005
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip
2005
The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.
Free Aceh Movement
1900s
1999
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
1998
Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured.
Northern Ireland
1998
Apple introduces the iMac computer.
Apple Inc.
1995
In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
South Carolina
1995
Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister of Japan, releases the Murayama Statement, which formally expresses remorse for Japanese war crimes committed during World War II.
Tomiichi Murayama
1989
China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, killing 34 of the 40 people on board.
China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510
1985
Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement.
Assam Accord
1984
The 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.
Kurdistan Workers' Party
1977
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
1976
SAETA Flight 011 crashes into the Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador, killing all 59 people on board; the wreckage is not discovered until 2002.
SAETA Flight 011 (1976)
1975
Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
Bangladeshis
1975
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
1974
Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung Hee.
Yuk Young-soo
1973
Vietnam War: The US Air Force bombing of Cambodia ends.
Vietnam War
1971
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
1971
Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
Bahrain
1970
Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.
Patricia Palinkas
1969
The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.
Woodstock
1965
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
1963
Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.
Henry John Burnett
1963
President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
Fulbert Youlou
1962
James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.
James Joseph Dresnok
1961
Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
Konrad Schumann
1960
Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
Republic of the Congo
1959
American Airlines Flight 514, a Boeing 707, crashes near the Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, killing all five people on board.
American Airlines Flight 514
1954
Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
Alfredo Stroessner
1952
A flash flood devastates the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.
Lynmouth Flood
1950
Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800.
Seismic magnitude scales
1948
The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula.
First Republic of Korea
1947
India gains independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
India
1947
Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
1945
Emperor Hirohito broadcasts his declaration of surrender following the effective surrender of Japan in World War II; Korea gains independence from the Empire of Japan.
Hirohito
1944
World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France.
Operation Dragoon
1943
World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds.
Battle of Trahili
1942
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
1941
Corporal 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.
Josef Jakobs
1940
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
1939
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
1939
The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
The Wizard of Oz
1935
Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
Will Rogers
1920
Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.
Polish–Soviet War
1915
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.
Great Phenol Plot
1914
A servant of American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, and murders seven people there.
Architect
1914
The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
Panama Canal
1914
World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
World War I
1914
World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.
Battle of Cer
1907
Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
Raphael Morgan
1800s
1899
Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened.
Fratton Park
1893
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
1882
Start of the second part of the Montceau-les-Mines troubles by the Black Band, groups of anarchist miners.
Montceau-les-Mines troubles
1863
The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
Bombardment of Kagoshima
1843
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.
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
1843
Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Tivoli Gardens
1824
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.
Marquis de Lafayette
1814
War of 1812: British forces launch a costly and unsuccessful night attack against American defenders during the siege of Fort Erie.
War of 1812
Before 1800
1760
Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
Seven Years' War
1695
French forces end the bombardment of Brussels.
Bombardment of Brussels
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.
Nine Years' War (Ireland)
1592
Imjin 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.
Imjin War
1549
Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549).
Jesuits
1540
Arequipa, Peru is founded.
Arequipa
1537
Asunción, Paraguay is founded.
Asunción
1534
Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
Ignatius of Loyola
1519
Panama City, Panama is founded.
Panama City
1517
Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
Watercraft
1511
Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
Afonso de Albuquerque
1483
Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
Pope Sixtus IV
1461
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
1430
Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
Francesco I Sforza
1310
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)
1281
Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
Mongol invasions of Japan
1261
Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years.
Michael VIII Palaiologos
1248
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
1237
Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Crown of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory.
Reconquista
1224
The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a Catholic military order, occupy Tarbatu (today Tartu) as part of the Livonian Crusade.
Livonian Brothers of the Sword
1209
Albigensian Crusade: The Cathar stronghold of Carcassonne falls to the crusaders.
Albigensian Crusade
1185
The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
Vardzia
1096
Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II.
First Crusade
1070
The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
Pavia
1057
King Macbeth of Scotland is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
Macbeth, King of Scotland
1038
King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him.
Stephen I of Hungary
1018
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.
Eustathios Daphnomeles
982
Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria.
Holy Roman Emperor
927
The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
Saracen
805
Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising
Bavaria
778
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army.
Battle of Roncevaux Pass
747
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.
AD 747
718
Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
Siege of Constantinople (717–718)
717
Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik
636
Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate begins.
Arab–Byzantine wars