Some of the significant events which took place on August 15 taken from the leaf of History:
1461- Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmet II – last Byzantine Empire remnant to fall. Emperor David exiled and later murdered.
1620 – Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims.
1900 – The Boxer Rebellion: In China, the Empress, her family and court retainers flee while foreign troops move through Peking in an attempt to quell the rebellion.
1910 – Ireland Home Rule Discussions: President Theodore Roosevelt conferred with King George and asserted that Home Rule in Ireland would be beneficial. Roosevelt offered Great Britain support for its ongoing problems with Ireland.
1914 – Panama Canal Opens: The Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, was officially opened, the original construction began in 1880 by French Engineers but after 20,000 workers died of malaria, yellow fever and other diseases during construction the French gave up and American money and engineers completed the project. The canal is 48 miles long and has three major locks and Tolls are decided by the Panama Canal Authority based on vessel type, size, and cargo. The tolls still provide a significant saving on fuel and time for ships to go the long route round Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America.
1927 – Jamaica Canadian Lumber Imports: Jamaica has been importing Canadian lumber which for the most part is Douglas Fir. Its trade with Canada has increased 100 per cent in the last year. Jamaica is still a colony of Britain.
1930 – US Hit by Drought: Following the stock market crash in late 1929, America is hit by one of the worst droughts ever seen which combined with the market crash leaves many hundreds of thousands without food and shelter. President Herbert Hoover tells Americans his plans for relief of individuals and businesses affected by the droughts, only history confirms that his plans were not wide ranging enough to stave off the great depression years which dogged not only America but the world during the rest of the 1930s.
1934 – Germany Paul von Hindenburg: In his last will and testament, the dying Reich president, Paul von Hindenburg endorsed Hitler’s revival of the fatherland and this fact was used to gain popular support for Hitler. Hindenburg wrote of Germany, “I thank Providence for permitting me to see in the evening of my life the hour of recovery.”
1945 – U.S.A. / UK VJ Day: Following the US President Harry S Truman telling the world at a press conference at the White House yesterday that Japan has surrendered unconditionally. 15 August has been declared Victory in Japan (VJ) day.
1945 – U.S.A. Gas Rationing: World War II gas rationing in America ended. Gasoline rations depended on your need for gas and there were a number of different criteria including basic use to different amounts depending on your job needs for example farmers of firemen would gain a larger number of units than an ordinary individual.
1947 – Denmark Rebuilding: Denmark’s population in this decade is 4,000,000 people and it occupies a peninsula and several islands. In the past this country was famous for its dairy products, but German occupation had decimated it. Denmark is now in the process of rebuilding and it is a member of the U.N. Assembly.
1947 – India and Pakistan Gains Independence: India and Pakistan gain independence from Britain ending 200 years of British rule much of the thanks for this should be given to the Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi as because of his many effective passive resistance campaigns he had managed to get many of the other world leaders to pressurize the British government into giving India and Pakistan independence.
1950 – Great Britain: The future queen of England Princess Elizabeth, has given birth to a daughter at Clarence House in London it is almost 2 years since her first son, Prince Charles was born.
1953 – China Jeer Mao Tse Tung: In Panmunjom rebellious Chinese POWs dealt the communists a blow, by jeering and refusing to go home to China and Mao Tse Tung. Of the 500 prisoners 490 chose captivity to communism and only 10 were subservient and agreed to covert.
1965 – Beatles Live Concert at Shea Stadium: At the peak of American Beatlemania the Beatles play at Shea Stadium in New York City where 55,000 Beatles fans mostly young teenage girls screamed and cried through the concert.
1965 – U.S.A. Watts Riots: The violence and destruction of the Watts area of Los Angeles has continued over the weekend and Armed National Guards have been put on the streets with orders to arrest looters and others who have been setting fires to local businesses.
1969 – India Elections: India has 539 million people and complex politics. Many of the voters cannot read. For the last 22 years Sanjiva Reddy had ruled, but his coalition started crumbling. His opponent, Venkata Giri was popular with left wingers and boasted the endorsement of Indira Gandhi.
1971 – Inflation, Wage Freeze: President Richard M. Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents in an attempt to bring inflation that was increasing under control. As part of the measures he also removed the gold/silver backing from the US Dollar effectively ending the (Bretton Woods System) and the American role as the guarantor of stability for the US Dollar and other worlds currencies. By the end of the year the US dollar became a floating currency and shortly after most of the rest of the world’s currencies followed which is still the case today.
1972 – In Israel hijackers get a life sentence. Two Arab girls who helped hijack a Sabena Airlines plane of Belgian origin got a sentence of 25 years in prison. The accused apparently had weapons and explosives with them and planned to use them. Their pleas for clemency were ignored by military police.
1983 – Hurricane Alicia forms in the Gulf of Mexico and three days later hits the Texas Gulf Coast causing 21 deaths, thousands of injuries and billions of dollars in damages.
1989 – American hostages were being held in Iran and Lt. Col. William Higgins was murdered. President George H. Bush said that he didn’t retaliate militarily because the rest of the eight hostages might be killed if he did.
1994 – The terrorist Illich Ramirez Sanchez, known as Carlos the Jackal, is captured in Khartoum, Sudan, by French intelligence agents, he had associations with some of the most ruthless terrorist groups including: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, The Organization for Armed Arab Struggle, and The Japanese Red Army.
1995 – The accidental shooting down of two U.S. military helicopters by seven American officers probably will cost them their military careers. Twenty-six individuals were killed in the April 14th, 1994 incident. While six officers were reprimanded, grounded, and had critical letters put in their files, only one — Captain Wang was prosecuted as a criminal.
1998 – A massive car bomb in the market town of Omagh, County Tyrone has left at least 27 dead and more than 100 injured in the worst paramilitary bombing since the start of the Northern Ireland conflict thirty years ago. A splinter group of the IRA who oppose the current peace negotiations “The Real IRA” who formed after the Provisional IRA declared a cease fire are suspected of planting the bomb.
1998 – Apple computers who have been having a hard time over with last 3 years with poor sales and financial problems are launching a new concept in home computers the iMac. The iMac is an all in one home computer and internet ready consisting of only of a monitor/central unit, keyboard and mouse and is going on sale in the US priced at $1,299. Apple currently holds less than 5% of the home computer market. (2008 market share is closer to 8%).
2000 – The first family reunions since 1985 between North and South Koreans took place in an atmosphere of highly charged emotion. One hundred family members from each side were allowed to participate. The communist north and the capitalist south have been sworn enemies since the Korean war from 1950 – 1953. However, the two sides are working towards an eventual rapprochement.
2005 – Following an agreement between Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end four years of Middle East violence which included the handover of five West Bank towns to Palestinian control. Israeli troops arrive at the Neve Dekalim Settlement in the Gaza Strip to serve eviction notices where they are facing angry Israeli settlers who are refusing to leave.
2005 – The US Census Bureau has released its latest figures showing that 35 million immigrants (those not born in the United States) in the US making up 12.4% of the US population, and Hispanics have increased to the US largest minority group, at 14.4% of the population.
2006 – Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the Maori queen of forty years died at the age of 75 on this day. Dame Te Ata, as she was known, served the longest as the head of the Kingitanga movement, a 150 year old royal line. Dame Te Ata held a ceremonial position but was often consulted by politicians and looked at as a cultural ambassador for the Maori in New Zealand.
2007 – An earthquake measuring 8.0 strikes the central coastal area of Peru affecting the cities of Pisco, Ica and Chincha Alta in the Ica Region leaving some small villages completely devastated, the death toll is believed to be over 500 with many more now homeless.
2011 – Tsewang Norbu, a Tibetan monk, set himself on fire in an apparent protest against Beijing in China’s Sichuan province. Norbu allegedly shouting “Long live the Dalai Lama” before burning himself to death.
2013 – Six people died after driving over an old landmine in Cambodia. The landmine was most likely from Cambodia’s civil war and had not been disarmed. The men who were thought to be farmers, were probably inspecting their fields in a flooded area when they drove over it, the area was a battlefield during the 1980s.
2015 – North Korea began using UTC+08:30 (official name Pyongyang Time) as a rejection of Japanese imperialism.
Comment