What Happened on Aug 15

Feast Of The Assumption

The great French nobles and their trained armies of knights were not the first to undertake the journey towards Jerusalem. Urban had planned the... Read more

John Carroll Becomes The First Bishop Of The Roman Catholic Church In The United States

John Carroll, (January 8, 1735 – December 3, 1815) was the first bishop and archbishop in the United States — serving as the ordinary of the Roman... Read more

Fort Dearborn Massacre

The Fort Dearborn massacre occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn, Illinois Territory (in what is now Chicago, Illinois) during the War of... Read more

Battle Of Santa Fe

The so-called Battle of Santa Fe (also known as the Battle of Cañoncito) took place, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, during the Mexican-American War on... Read more

Florence Mabel Kling DeWolfe Harding Is Born

Florence Mabel Kling DeWolfe Harding, First Lady during the Warren Harding administration (1921-23), was born on August 15, 1860. An outspoken... Read more

Sea Island Hurricane of 1893

On August 27, 1893 a major hurricane which came to be known as the Sea Islands Hurricane struck the United States near Savannah, Georgia. It was... Read more

Julia Child is Born

Julia Child (August 15, 1912 - August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She introduced French cuisine and cooking... Read more

Mamah Borthwick Cheney and Two Children Murdered

On August 15, 1914, one of Wright's recently hired domestic workers, Julian Carlton, murdered Mamah, her two children, three of Wright's... Read more

Panama Canal Officially Opens

In the end, the engineers and workers minimized the mosquito threat; moved, rebuilt and expanded the Panama Railroad; excavated over 200,000,000 cu... Read more

US Ends Occupation of Haiti, but Retains Control of Its External Finances

In 1930, Sténio Vincent, a long-time critic of the occupation, was elected President. By 1930, President Herbert Hoover had become concerned... Read more

The 'Greatest Day' of the Battle of Britain

Adlertag opened with a series of attacks, led again by Epro 210, on coastal airfields used as forward landing grounds for the RAF fighters, as well... Read more

"The Great McGinty" Is Released

The Great McGinty is a 1940 political satire comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff and... Read more

Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's Personal Secretary, Dies From Heart Failure

Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was held for two years in the Aga... Read more

Operation Cottage

Operation Cottage was a tactical maneuver during the Aleutian Islands campaign. In the operation, which took place on August 15, 1943, Allied... Read more

Allied Forces Invade Southern France through Operation Dragoon

The assault troops were formed of three American divisions of the VI Corps, reinforced with the French 5th Armoured Division, all under the command... Read more

"Notorious" Is Released

Notorious (1946) is a thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains as three people... Read more

The Partition of India

The stage was thus set for the June 3 Plan under which power was to be transferred by the British to two successor states on August 15, 1947. What... Read more

Elvis Presley signs management deal with "Colonel" Tom Parker

On August 15, 1955, "Colonel" Tom Parker became Presley's manager, signing him to a one year contract, plus renewals. Several record labels had... Read more

Buddy Holly Marries Maria Elena Santiago

In June 1958, he met Maria Elena Santiago, who was working as a receptionist for Murray Deutch, an executive at Peer-Southern Music, a New York... Read more

"Billy Liar" Is Released

Billy Liar is a 1963 film based on the novel by Keith Waterhouse. It was directed by John Schlesinger and stars Tom Courtenay (who had understudied... Read more

Woodstock Music & Art Fair 1969 - Day one

Woodstock Music & Art Fair (informally, Woodstock or The Woodstock Festival) was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition", held at Max... Read more

"1900" Is Released

1900 (original Italian title Novecento, meaning "900") is a 1976 Italian epic film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro, Gérard... Read more

First Release of Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War. The plot revolves around two US Army special operations officers, one... Read more

AC/DC releases Flick of the Switch

Flick of the Switch is the ninth album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, recorded shortly after their European Tour at the beginning of 1983. The... Read more

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is released

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!, often shortened to Buckaroo Banzai, is an American spoof science fiction film that was... Read more