Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. Table of contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances Events 1517 - First European connection with China - seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernao Pires de Andrade met Chinese officials at Pearl River estuary. 1519 - Panama City, Panama founded 1535 - Asuncion, Paraguay founded 1877 - Thomas Edison makes the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb" 1914 - Panama Canal opens to traffic 1944 - Allied forces land in southern France (Operation Anvil) 1945 - VJ Day: Korea is liberated after Japan accepts the Allied terms of surrender in World War II 1947 - India and Pakistan become independent of Britain 1948 - Republic of Korea established south of 38th Parallel 1960 - Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) declares its independence from France 1967 - UK introduces legislation to outlaw offshore pirate radio stations. All except Radio Caroline comply. 1969 - First day of Woodstock Music and Art Festival 1971 - President Richard Nixon ends convertibility of U.S. dollar into gold 1973 - The United States bombing of Cambodia ends 1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh 1994 - Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the terrorist known as "Carlos", is captured 1998 - Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, becoming the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles Births 1769 - Napoleon Bonaparte, general and politician (+ 1821) 1785 - Thomas De Quincey, author (+ 1859) 1858 - E. Nesbit (Edith Nesbit), author (+ 1924) 1872 - Shri Aurobindo, writer, nationalist, philosphter and guru (+ 1950) 1879 - Ethel Barrymore, actress (+ 1959) 1887 - Edna Ferber, novelist (+ 1968) 1888 - Lawrence of Arabia 1896 - Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin 1912 - Julia Child, cook, writer 1912 - Dame Wendy Hiller, actress 1919 - Huntz Hall, actor (+ 1999) 1923 - Rose Marie, actress 1924 - Robert Bolt, screenwriter (+ 1995) 1925 - Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist 1925 - Mike Connors, actor 1928 - Nicolas Roeg, director 1933 - Jim Lange, game show host 1935 - Vernon Jordan Jr, Presidential advisor 1944 - Linda Ellerbee, journalist 1946 - Jimmy Webb, musician, composer 1949 - Richard Deacon, sculptor 1950 - Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise Windsor (Princess Anne) 1968 - Debra Messing, actress 1972 - Ben Affleck, actor 1974 - Natasha Henstridge, actress Deaths 778 - Roland, Frankish commander 1057 - King Macbeth I of Scotland 1907 - Joseph Joachim, violinist 1935 - Wiley Post, pilot 1935 - Will Rogers, humorist, actor 1951 - Artur Schnabel, pianist 1959 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer 1962 - Lei Feng, eminent PLA Soldier 1971 - Paul Lukas, Academy Award winning actor 1975 - Clay Shaw, John F. Kennedy assassination investigator 1975 - Sheikh Mujib, president of Bangladesh 1995 - John Cameron Swayze, journalist 1999 - Sir Hugh Casson, architect, artist Holidays and observances Catholicism - Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Public Holiday in: Spain Italy Croatia Greece Austria Belgium Portugal Cyprus Malta France Ivory Coast Cameroon Poland Italy - "Ferragosto" Korea - Liberation Day India - Independence Day Ancient Latvia - Maras See Also: August 14 - August 16 - July 15 - September 15 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December\n This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.