Today in History - Historical Events - August 15th

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Notable Historical Events on August 15th

199051st PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Gary Player

1914A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.

1989In 2nd start since after cancer treatment, Giants Dave Dravecky breaks his pitching arm while throwing to Tim Raines

1986President Reagan decides to support a replacement for Challenger

1982Beth Daniel wins LPGA WUI Golf Classic

1950Ezzard Charles TKOs Freddie Beshore in 14 for heavyweight boxing title

778Battle of Roncevaux Pass: Roland, commander of the rearguard of Charlemagne's army is defeated by the Basques

1971US President Richard Nixon announces 90-day freeze on wages, prices & rents

199981st PGA Championship: Tiger Woods shoots a 277 at Medinah Country Club

200587th PGA Championship: Phil Mickelson shoots a 276 at Baltusrol Golf Club

1914German assault at Dinant: Lt Charles de Gaulle (24), injured

1994South African President Nelson Mandela receives Anne Frank Penning

1964Mayor Daley declares "Ernie Banks Day" in Chicago

1993Nolan Ryan, 324th & final victory, Rangers 4, Indians 1

1914US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, in a letter to J P Morgan, declares that loans to any of the belligerents go against US neutrality

1981Ian Botham scores a century in 86 balls v Australia at Old Trafford

18924th & last British government of William Gladstone forms

1979"Apocalypse Now", starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen, is released

1040King Duncan I of Scotland killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth (not murdered in his sleep as per Shakespeare's play). The latter does succeed him as King.

1990Mark McGwire is 1st to hit 30 HRs in each of his 1st 4 seasons

August 15th Historical Events
Date Event
778
Battle of Roncevaux Pass: Roland, commander of the rearguard of Charlemagne's army is defeated by the Basques 
927
The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 
1040
King Duncan I of Scotland killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth (not murdered in his sleep as per Shakespeare's play). The latter does succeed him as King. 
1185
The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 
1248
Construction of Cologne Cathedral begun 
1308
Johannieter knights conquer Rhodos on the Greece 
1457
Earliest dated book, "Mainz Psalter," completed 
1461
The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmet II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is 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 
1534
Ignatius of Loyola forms society of Jesus/Jesuits 
1537
Asunción, Paraguay, is founded. 
1540
Arequipa, Peru, is founded. 
1548
Mary queen of Scotland (6) arrives in France 
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 with 102 Pilgrims 
1635
1st recorded US hurricane hit the Plymouth Colony 
1653
-16] Dutch ship "Sperwer" stranded at Tsjedzjoe Korea 
1658
France/Sweden/Bavarian/Brunswick/Munster/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 Park in Copenhagen opens 
1848
M Waldo Hanchett patents dental chair 
1858
Regular mail to Pacific coast begins 
1861
Lincoln directs reinforcements to be sent to MO 
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
2nd Reform Bill extends suffrage in England 
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. 
1892
4th & last British government of William Gladstone forms 
1893
US no longer allowed exclusive rights in Bering Sea 
1899
Louisville's Henry Dowling struck out 5 times in a game 
1900
Russian troops advance further unto Manchuria 
1900
In China, the Empress and some of her family, the court, and retainers flee while foreign troops move through Peking in an attempt to put down the Boxer Rebellion 
1901
Arch Rock, danger to 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 
1903
The New Zealand All Blacks play their first Rugby Test Match against Australia's Wallabies at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; New Zealand wins, 22-3 
1905
Phila A's Rube Waddell no-hits St Louis Browns, 2-0 in 5 innings 
1906
1st freight delivery tunnel system begins, underneath Chicago 
1906
Kind Edward VII of Britain visits Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany to discuss the escalating rivalry between their nations' naval forces 
1911
Procter & Gamble unveils its Crisco shortening 
1912
Yankee Guy Zinn sets record by stealing home twice in a game 
1914
13th Davis Cup: Australasia beats USA in New York (3-2) 
1914
Dinant Belgium destroyed by German bombs 
1914
German assault at Dinant: Lt Charles de Gaulle (24), injured 
1914
Japan joins side of allies 
1914
Panama Canal opens (under cost) 
1914
A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground. 
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 
1914
US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, in a letter to J P Morgan, declares that loans to any of the belligerents go against US neutrality 
1915
Journalist Albert Siegfried Bettelheim, convicted of murder in Georgia 
1918
1st full length cartoon (Sinking of Lusitania) 
1918
Russia severs diplomatic ties with US 
1923
Eamon de Valera arrested in Irish Free State 
1923
Mexico & US reaches accord over oil concession of 1917 
1925
Norway annexes Spitsbergen 
1925
White Sox Dickie Kerr, 1st appearance since winning 2 world series games in 1919 
1931
Ernest Lassy completes longest canoe journey without port (6,102 mi) 
1931
Roy Wilkins joined NAACP as asst secretary 
1931
Spakenburg soccer team forms 
1939
First night game at baseball's Comiskey Park, Sox beat Browns 5-2 
1939
13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. No survivors. 
1939
"The Wizard of Oz", premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, stars Judy Garland (Dorothy), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Frank Morgan (Wizard), Billie Burke (Glinda), and Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch). 
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 von Kluge vanishes for one day 
1944
Operation Anvil: Allies land on French Mediterranean sea coast 
1944
Operation Dragoon: Allied troops land in Provence 
1944
US 12 Army corp enters Le Mans through Orleans 
1944
US 7th Armour division reaches Chartres 
1945
A riot ensued in SF while the city was celebrating the end of WW II 
1945
US wartime rationing of gasoline & fuel oil ends 
1945
Chandler sells World Series radio rights for $150,000 to Gillette, Ford had been World Series sponsor since 1934, pay $100,000 annually 
1945
World War II: Korean Liberation Day. 
1945
Victory over Japan Day, the Japanese surrender and the end of WWII is announced in Japan (due to time zones 14th Aug in the Americas) 
1947
India gains independence from Great Britain, remains a dominion until 1950 
1948
3rd US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Babe Didrikson-Zaharias 
1948
Republic of Korea (South Korea) proclaimed (National Day) 
1949
WOTV TV channel 8 in Grand Rapids, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting 
1950
8.6 earthquake in India kills 20,000 to 30,000 
1950
Ezzard Charles TKOs Freddie Beshore in 14 for heavyweight boxing title 
1950
Indians make their 1st triple play at Cleveland Stadium 
1950
Constitution of India goes into effect 
1950
Joseph Pholien becomes Belgian premier 
1950
Pres Sukarno proclaims unity of Indonesia 
1950
Rotterdam harbor strike begins 
1950
Srikakulam district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India. 
1952
19th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Los Angeles 10, All-Stars 7 (88,316) 
1952
9" of rain fall creates a 20' wave in Lynmouth, England killing 34 
1954
Alfredo Stroessner names himself president of Paraguay 
1954
WCHS TV channel 8 in Charleston-Huntington, WV (ABC) begins 
1955
WXEX TV channel 8 in Richmond-Petersburg, VA (ABC) begins 
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
25th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 35, Detroit 19 (70,000) 
1958
Soviet Marshal Bulganin resigns as director of State Bank 
1960
CFL's Calgary Stampeders move into McMahon Stadium 
1960
Chic Bears beat NY Giants 16-7 in Toronto (NFL expo) 
1960
Congo (formerly Congo/Brazzaville) declares Independence from France 
1960
Mil Brave Lew Burdette no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 
1960
UFO is sighted by 3 California patrolmen 
1961
Keiyo Road is specified as the first driveway in Japan. 
1962
Netherlands & Indonesia signs accord about New Guinea 
1962
Shady Grove Baptist Church burned in Leesburg Georgia 
1963
Fulbert Youlou, resigns as Pres of Congo-Brazzaville 
1964
Fred Trueman takes 300th Test Cricket wicket (Neil Hawke) 
1964
Mayor Daley declares "Ernie Banks Day" in Chicago 
1964
Phillies triple-play NY Mets 
1964
Race riot in Dixmoor (Chicago suburb) Ill 
1964
Ralph Boston of US, sets then long jump record at 27' 3½" 
1965
47th PGA Championship: Dave Marr shoots a 280 at Laurel Valley GC PA 
1965
Beatles play to 55,000 at Shea Stadium 
1965
Mary Mills wins LPGA St Louis Golf Open 
1965
Japanese community of SF holds Masanori Murakami Day at Candlestick Park to honor 1st Japanese player to play in major leagues 
1966
Radio Free Asia (South Korea) begins radio transmission 
1967
Pope Paul VI publishes constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae 
1967
UK's Marine Offences Bill making pirate radio stations a crime goes into effect, pirate station Radio 355 closes down 
1968
Pirate Radio Free London, begins transmitting 
1968
Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu visits Prague 
1968
USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR 
1969
Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in NY State (Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm) 
1970
Patricia Palinkas becomes 1st woman pro football player (Orlando) 
1971
Bahrain gains independence from Britain 
1971
Charles Lismont wins Helsinki marathon (2:13:09.0) 
1971
KVRL (now KRIV) TV ch 26 in Shreveport-Texarkana, LA (NBC) begins 
1971
US President Richard Nixon announces 90-day freeze on wages, prices & rents 
1971
Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Len Immke Buick Golf Open 
1971
The Social Democratic and Labour Party announce a campaign of civil disobedience in response to the introduction of Internment in Northern Ireland 
1973
Black September kills 3 and wounds 55 in Athens 
1973
David Storey's "Cromwell" premieres in London 
1973
USSR performs nuclear test 
1974
France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island 
1974
Hurricane/floods ravage Bangladesh, 4,000 killed 
1974
Longest team (6) trampoline bouncing marathon (1,248 hours (52 days)) 
1974
South Korean President Park Chung-Hee escapes assassination 
1975
Bangladesh military coup under Khondakar Moustaque Ahmed 
1975
Joanne Little acquitted of murder charges 
1975
Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. 
1976
Jane Blalock wins LPGA Wheeling Golf Classic 
1977
England regain cricket Ashes by taking a 3-0 series lead over Aust 
1977
Herbert Kappler, head of Nazi police and security services in Rome during WWII, escapes from prison hospital in Rome 
1978
US House of Representatives approves (233-169), 39-month extension for ERA 
1979
Andrew Young resigns as US ambassador to the United Nations 
1979
"Apocalypse Now", starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen, is released 
1981
Ian Botham scores a century in 86 balls v Australia at Old Trafford 
1981
Robin Leamy of US swims record 7.98 kph for 50 m 
1982
Beth Daniel wins LPGA WUI Golf Classic 
1982
Equatorial Guinea adopts constitution 
1983
Ramones guitarist Joey Ramone, beaten in fight-undergoes brain surgery 
1984
The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military 
1985
PW Botha gives the "Rubicon" Speech in Durban, South Africa, dissapointing many by refusing to consider immediate and major reforms in the country's apartheid system 
1985
First Iraqi air raid on Iran's main oil export terminal, Kharg Island 
1986
President Reagan decides to support a replacement for Challenger 
1987
US beats Cuba in Pan-Am baseball 
1987
At Pan Am games in Indianapolis, USA & Cuba are tied with 2 outs in 9th, Ty Griffin HR, Cuba 1st loss in 20 years of Pan Am competition 
1988
"Ain't Misbehavin'" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 176 perfs 
1988
At 4PM LILCO consumers used a record 3,813 megawatts 
1988
NYC begins $70 million program to rebuild 900 Bronx apartments 
1989
Frederik de Klerk becomes president of South Africa 
1989
Giorgio Lamberti swims world record 200m free style (1:46.69) 
1989
US Venus probe Magellan launched from Space shuttle 
1989
In 2nd start since after cancer treatment, Giants Dave Dravecky breaks his pitching arm while throwing to Tim Raines 
1990
51st PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Gary Player 
1990
Mark McGwire is 1st to hit 30 HRs in each of his 1st 4 seasons 
1990
Phils Terry Mulholland no-hits Giants 6-0 (8th no hitter of 1990) 
1990
At least 150 people die in clashes between the African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party, South Africa 
1991
750,000 attend Paul Simon's free concert in Central Park 
1991
US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1992
Colombo '92 closes in Genoa Italy 
1993
"Goodbye Girl" closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 188 performances 
1993
75th PGA Championship: Paul Azinger shoots a 272 at Inverness Club Oh 
1993
Cindy Schreyer wins LPGA Sun-Time Challenge Golf Tournament 
1993
NYC radio (WFAN) personality Don Imus' lung collapes for 2nd time 
1993
Nolan Ryan, 324th & final victory, Rangers 4, Indians 1 
1993
Televangelist Robert Tilton announces he is divorcing Marte 
1994
South African President Nelson Mandela receives Anne Frank Penning 
1994
Terrorist Carlos the Jackal, captured in Khartoum Sudan 
1995
Keylee Sue Sanders, 18, of Kansas, crowned 13th Miss Teen USA 
1997
Dan Wilson hits Seattle Mariners 3,000th HR 
1997
Dow Jones drops 247.37 pts 
1997
LA Dodgers retire Tommy Lasorda's #2 
1998
Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, killed 29 people and injured about 220 
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. 
1999
81st PGA Championship: Tiger Woods shoots a 277 at Medinah Country Club 
2004
Bay of Plenty win Rugby Union's Ranfurly shield for the first time in the shield's 102 year history and after 28 unsuccessful challenges. They defeated Auckland. 33-26 
2004
86th PGA Championship: Vijay Singh shoots a 280 at Whistling Straits 
2005
87th PGA Championship: Phil Mickelson shoots a 276 at Baltusrol Golf Club 
2007
An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090. 
2008
Lee Berger and his nine-year-old son, Matthew, discover the two-million-year-old fossils of a new species of human ancestor (Australopithecus sediba) at Malapa Cave, South Africa 
2009
Portugal leaves recession after three consecutive quarters of negative growth having its GDP recover by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2009 
2010
92nd PGA Championship: Martin Kaymer shoots a 277 at Whistling Straits 
2013
20 people are killed and 200 are injured in an explosion in Beirut 
2016
Reports of Gunfire at JFK Airport Prompt Evacuation 
2016
Milwaukee Shaken by Eruption of Violence After Shooting by Police 
2016
Andy Murray 1st to Win 2 Olympic Tennis Singles Golds 
2016
Usain Bolt streaks to third consecutive Olympic gold in 100 meters 
2017
North Korea maps out detailed plan for missile launches to sea off Guam 
2017
Jury finds ex-DJ groped Taylor Swift 
2017
Dozens rally in Guam for peace amid North Korea threats 
2018
Nebraska executes first inmate since 1997 
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