✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 227th day of the year

August 15

A look at August 15 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Napoleon and Siobhan Chamberlain, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2005

    Free Aceh Movement

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

    1976–2005 Acehnese separatist group
  2. 1998

    Northern Ireland

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

    Part of the United
  3. 1977

    Ohio State University Radio Observatory

    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.

    Kraus-type radio telescope in
  4. 1963

    Fulbert Youlou

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

    1st President of Congo-Brazzaville
  5. 1942

    World War II

    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.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  6. 1941

    Josef Jakobs

    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.

    German spy (1898–1941)
  7. 1814

    War of 1812

    War of 1812: British forces launch a costly and unsuccessful night attack against American defenders during the siege of Fort Erie.

    1812–1815 conflict in North
  8. 1261

    Michael VIII Palaiologos

    Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years.

    Byzantine emperor from 1261
  9. 1038

    Stephen I of Hungary

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

    King of Hungary from
  10. 1018

    Eustathios Daphnomeles

    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.

    Byzantine general and governor
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Famous birthday twins

Born on August 15

Napoleon

b. 1769

Bonaparte, French general and emperor

Siobhan Chamberlain

b. 1983

English association football goalkeeper

Stephen Breyer

b. 1938

American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Carlos PenaVega

b. 1989

American actor and singer

Robert Bolt

b. 1924

English playwright and screenwriter

Nicolas Roeg

b. 1928

English director and cinematographer

Alejandro González Iñárritu

b. 1963

Mexican director, producer, and screenwriter

Wolfgang Hohlbein

b. 1953

German author

Deaths

  • 1967René Magritte, Belgian painter
  • 1936Grazia Deledda, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1758Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer
  • 1328Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty), emperor of the Yuan dynasty
  • 1038Stephen I of Hungary, Hungarian king
  • 873Emperor Yizong of Tang, Chinese emperor

Holidays & observances

  • —Armed Forces Day (Poland)
  • —Christian feast day: Altfrid
  • —Christian feast day: Alypius of Thagaste
  • —Christian feast day: Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, some states in Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu); and its related observances: Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches)
  • —Christian feast day: Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, some states in Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu); and its related observances: Ferragosto (Italy)
  • —Christian feast day: Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, some states in Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu); and its related observances: Māras (Latvia)
  • —Christian feast day: Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, some states in Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu); and its related observances: Mother's Day (Antwerp and Costa Rica)
  • —Christian feast day: Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, some states in Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu); and its related observances: National Acadian Day (Acadians)

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