On this day in History - Aug. 15

• 0778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, in which Roland is killed.
• 0778 - Roland dies. Frankish commander.
• 0927 - The Saracens conquered and destroyed Taranto.
• 1001 - Duncan I of Scotland was born.
• 1018 - 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.
• 1040 - King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as Scottish Monarch.
• 1057 - King Mac Bethad is killed in the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
• 1057 - King Macbeth I of Scotland dies.
• 1118 - Alexius I Comnenus, dies (b. 1048). Byzantine emperor.
• 1171 - Alfonso IX of Leon was born.
• 1185 - The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
• 1195 - Anthony of Padua was born (d. 1231). Portuguese Saint / Nascimento de Santo António de Lisboa, ou de Pádua, tendo-lhe sido dado o nome de Fernando de Bulhões.
• 1248 - The foundation stone of the Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, was laid. Construction eventually completed in 1880.
• 1250 - Matteo Visconti I was born (d. 24 Jun 1322). Italian head of the Milanese Visconti dynasty.
• 1261 - Michael VIII Palaeologus is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
• 1274 - Robert de Sorbon dies (b. 1201). French theologian.
• 1309 - The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquartes on the island, and rename themselves as the Knights of Rhodes.
• 1369 - Philippa of Hainault dies. Queen of Edward III of England.
• 1432 - Luigi Pulci was born (d. 1484). Italian poet.
• 1461 - The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmet II. This is the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
• 1498 - Fundação da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, por D. Leonor, rainha viúva de D. João II, enquanto regente de Portugal, na ausência de D. Manuel.
• 1517 - Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernao Pires de Andrade met Chinese officials at Pearl River estuary.
• 1519 - Panama City, Panama founded by Pedro Arias de Avila.
• 1534 - Saint Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates took initial vows that would lead to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September of 1540.
• 1537 - Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
• 1540 - Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
• 1549 - Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
• 1575 - Bartol Kašić was born (d. 1650). Croatian writer and linguist (d. 1650)
• 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, were sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
• 1613 - Gilles Ménage was born (d. 1692). French scholar.
• 1620 - The Mayflower pulled out of Southampton, England.
• 1636 - The Covenant of the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts was first signed.
• 1703 - O português José da Gama Machado assume o governo de Macau.
• 1717 - Blind Jack was born (d. 1810). English roadbuilder.
• 1728 - Marin Marais dies (b. 1656). French composer and viol player.
• 1740 - Matthias Claudius was born (d. 1815). German poet.
• 1760 - Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz - Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst von Laudon.
• 1769 - Napoleon Bonaparte was born (d. 1821). French general, politician and emperor of France.
• 1771 - Walter Scott was born (d. 1832). Scottish novelist, poet, historian and biographer.
• 1785 - Thomas De Quincey was born (d. 1859). English author.
• 1799 - Giuseppe Parini dies. Italian poet.
• 1803 - James Douglas was born in Guyana (d. 2 Aug 1877). Canadian fur trader and colonial governor.
• 1813 - Jules Grévy was born (d. 1891). 2nd President of the French Third Republic.
• 1824 - Freed American slaves form Liberia.
• 1825 - Nascimento de Bernardo Guimarães, em Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais (m. 10 Mar 1884). Magistrado, jornalista, professor, romancista, poeta. Membro da Academia Brasileira de Letras (A Escrava Isaura).1834 - Abertura das primeiras Cortes, de acordo com a Carta Constitucional, após o fim da Guerra Civil. As sessões decorreram no Convento de S. Bento da Saúde, que passou a denominar-se Palácio das Cortes. É a 1.ª Legislatura do Regime Constitucional.
• 1843 - The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
• 1843 - Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opened in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 1844 - Thomas-Alfred Bernier was born (d. 1908). Canadian journalist and politician.
  
• 1848 - Nascimento de António Enes. Escritor, político e diplomata português.
• 1855 - Walter Hines Page was born (d. 1918). Ameerican journalist, publisher, author and diplomat.
• 1856 - Ivan Franko was born (d. 1916). Ukrainian writer.
• 1857 - Albert Ballin was born (d. 1918). German shipping tycoon.
  
• 1858 - E. Nesbit was born (d. 1924). English author.
• 1859 - Charles Comiskey was born (d. 1931). American baseball owner.
• 1860 - Henrietta Vinton Davis was born (d. 1941). American elocutionist.
• 1860 – Florence Harding was born (d. 1924). American First Lady.
• 1863 - The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
• 1863 - Alexei Krylov was born (d. 1945). Russian engineer and mathematician.
• 1865 - Usui Mikao was born (d. 1926). Japanese founder of Reiki.
  
• 1866 - Margarida Adelina Abranches was born. Portuguese actress.
• 1869 - Cirilo Antonio Rivarola Acosta assume a presidência do Paraguai.
• 1869 - The Meiji government establishes six ministries below Pardication in the bottom of Cabinet, officer-of-Shinto-Worship, and jurisdiction of Cabinet.
• 1872 - Sri Aurobindo was born (d. 1950). Writer, nationalist, philosopher, and guru.
• 1875 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born (d.1912). English composer.
• 1876 - Stylianos Gonatas was born (d. 1966). Greek military officer and Prime Minister of Greece.
  
• 1877 - Thomas Edison made the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
• 1878 - Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel was born (d. 1928). Russian counter-revolutionary.
  
• 1879 - Ethel Barrymore was born (d. 18 Jun 1959). Ameriucan actress who was considered the "first lady" of the American theatre.
• 1881 - Alfred Wagenknecht was born (d. 1956). German-born American activist.
• 1883 - Ivan Meštrović was born (d. 1962). Croatian sculptor.
  
• 1886 - António Silva was born in Lisbon (d. 3 Mar 1971). Portuguese actor / Nasce, em Lisboa, António Silva (m. 3 Mar 1971). Grande actor português. ( O Costa do Castelo, A Menina da Rádio, A Vizinha do Lado, O Leão da Estrela, O Grande Elias, O Noivo das Caldas, As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor, etc).
• 1886 - Bill Whitty was born (d. 1974). Australian cricketer.
• 1887 - Edna Ferber was born (d. 16 Apr 1968). American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright.
• 1888 - Término do mandato de Gregorio Pacheco na presidência da Bolívia e início do mandato de Aniceto Arce Ruiz na Presidência.
• 1890 - Elizabeth Bolden was born (d. 2006). American Supercentenarian.
• 1890 - Jacques Ibert was born (d. 1962). French composer.
• 1891 - San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
• 1892 - Louis, 7th duc de Broglie was born (d. 1987). French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1929.
• 1893 - Leslie Comrie was born (d. 1950). Astronomer and computing pioneer.
• 1896 - Leon Theremin was born (d. 1993). Inventor.
• 1896 - Gerty Cori was born in Prague. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1947 co-laureate with Carl Ferdinand Cori and Bernardo Alberto Houssay (Argentine).
• 1896 - Sheldon Glueck was born (d. 1980). Polish born American criminologist.
• 1898 - Lilian Carter was born in Richland, Georgia (d. 30 Oct 1983). American nurse. Member of the Peace Corps. Mother of Jimmy Carter.
• 1898 - Fundação do Club Atlético Estudiantes - Argentina.
• 1899 - The Morinaga cake factory inaugurates an enterprise by Taichiro Morinaga.
• 1900 - As Legações estrangeiras em Pequim, cercadas pelos Boxers, camponeses chineses conhecido por este nome por pertenceram à Sociedade Harmoniosa dos Punhos, foram socorridos por uma força militar internacional de 15.000 homens, metade dos quais eram japoneses.
• 1900 - Jan Brzechwa was born (d. 1966). Polish poet.
• 1907 - Joseph Joachim dies (b. 1831). Austrian violinist.
• 1909 - Euclides da Cunha dies (b. 1866). Brazilian writer and sociologist / Morte de Euclides da Cunha (Euclides Rodrigues Pimenta da Cunha). Engenheiro, jornalista, professor, ensaísta, historiador, sociólogo, poeta e Membro da Academia Brasileira de Letras.
• 1912 - Julia Child was born (d. 2004). American cook.
• 1912 - Dame Wendy Hiller was born (d. 2003). English actress.
• 1914 - The Panama Canal opens to traffic.
  
• 1914 - A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright set fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murdered seven people, and burned the living quarters to the ground.
• 1915 - The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship Ancon.
• 1916 - Aleks Çaçi was born. Albanian writer.
• 1916 - Manuel Franco assume a presidência do Paraguai.
• 1917 - Jack Lynch was born (d. 20 Oct 1999). Irish politician; prime minister of Ireland (1966-73, 1977-9)
• 1919 - Huntz Hall was born (d. 1999). Actor.
• 1920 - Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw - Poles defeat the Red Army.
• 1920 - Manuel Gondra Pereira assume (pela 2º vez) a presidência do Paraguai.
• 1922 - Lukas Foss was born. German-born composer.
• 1923 - Rose Marie was born. Actress.
• 1924 - Robert Bolt was born (d. 20 Feb 1995). English screenwriter and dramatist.
• 1924 - José Eligio Ayala assume (pela 2º vez) a presidência do Paraguai.
• 1924 - Phyllis Schlafly was born in Saint Louis, Missouri. American Lawyer, Author, Columnist. Conservative activist (A Choice Not an Echo).
• 1925 - Mike Connors was born. Actor.
• 1925 - Willie Jones was born (d. 1983). Major League Baseball player.
• 1925 - Oscar Peterson was born. Canadian jazz pianist.
• 1927 - John Cranko was born (d. 26 Jun 1973). South African-born dancer and director of the Stuttgart Ballet.
• 1928 - Nicolas Roeg was born. Director.
• 1928 - José Patricio Guggiari Corniglione assume a presidência do Paraguai.
• 1932 - Eusebio Ayala assume (pela 2º vez) a presidência do Paraguai.
• 1933 - Rita Hunter was born (d. 29 Apr. 2001). English soprano.
• 1933 - Jim Lange was born. American game show host.
• 1933 - Bobby Helms was born (d. 1997). American pop singer.
• 1934 - Nino Ferrer was born (d. 1998). French-Italian singer.
• 1935 - Vernon Jordan Jr. was born. U.S. Presidential advisor.
• 1935 - Lionel Taylor was born. American football player.
• 1935 - Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
• 1935 - Paul Signac dies (b. 1863). French painter.
• 1936 - Grazia Deledda dies (b. 1871). Italian writer. 1926 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.
• 1938 - Janusz A. Zajdel was born. Polish science-fiction writer.
• 1938 - Fiama Hasse Pais Brandão was born in Lisbon. Portuguese writer. See critics on the work of Fiama Hasse.
• 1938 - Fundação do Grupo de Amigos de Olivença - Portugal.
• 1939 - O general Félix Estigarribia (herói da guerra do chaco) é eleito presidente do Paraguai.
• 1939 - 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. No survivors.
• 1939 - Federico Gamboa dies. Mexican writer.
• 1940 - An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbour during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
• 1942 - World War II: Operation Pedestal – The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
• 1942 - Peter York was born. Rock drummer, Spencer Davis Group Gimme Some Lovin’, Keep on Runnin’, Somebody Help Me.
• 1942 - SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta in Operation Pedestal barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island defenses.
• 1944 - World War II: Operation Dragoon - Allied forces land in southern France.
• 1944 - Linda Ellerbee was born. American journalist.
• 1944 - Sylvie Vartan was born. French pop singer.
• 1945 - World War II: Japan surrenders unconditionally; Victory over Japan Day.
  Japan has surrendered to the Allies after almost six years of war. There is joy and celebration around the world and 15 August has been declared Victory in Japan day. The end of war will be marked by two-day holidays in the UK, the USA and Australia.
• 1945 - World War II: Korean Liberation Day.
• 1945 - Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda was born. Indian guru
• 1945 - Begum Khaleda Zia was born. Bangladeshi politician.
• 1945 - Gene Upshaw was born. American NFL executive.
• 1946 - Jimmy Webb was born. American musician and composer.
• 1946 - Tony Robinson was born. English actor and television presenter.
• 1947 - India gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes an independent nation within the Commonwealth , Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation with the Indian Declaration of Independence and takes office as the first Prime Minister of India.
• 1947 - Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor General of Pakistan at Karachi.
• 1947 - Raakhee Gulzar was born. Indian actress.
• 1947 - Jenny Hanley was born. British TV presenter.
• 1948 - The Republic of Korea established south of 38th Parallel.
• 1948 - Juan Natalicio González Paredes assume a Presidência do Paraguai.
• 1948 - José Agostinho Baptista was born in Funchal, Madeira. Portuguese poet.
  
• 1948 - Uschi Digard was born. American pornographic actress and model.
• 1948 - Patsy Gallant was born. Canadian pop singer.
• 1949 - Richard Deacon was born. Welsh sculptor.
• 1950 - Srikakulam district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• 1950 - Princess Anne of the United Kingdom was born. British royalty: daughter of Philip Mountbatten [Duke of Edinburgh] and Alexandra Mary Windsor [Queen Elizabeth II], sister of Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward.
• 1950 - Tommy Aldridge was born. American musician.
• 1950 - Tom Kelly was born. Minnesota Twins manager.
• 1951 - Daba Diawara was born. Malian politician.
• 1951 - Artur Schnabel dies (b. 1882). Polish pianist.
• 1952 - Devon, United Kingdom: A flashflood drenches the town of Lynmouth, killing 34 people.
• 1954 - Mary Jo Salter was born. American poet.
• 1956 - Lorraine Desmarais was born. French Canadian jazz pianist and composer.
• 1957 - Željko Ivanek was born. Slovenian-American actor.
• 1958 - Victor Shenderovich was born. Russian satirist.
• 1958 - Craig MacTavish was born. Canadian ice hockey player/coach.
• 1958 - Rondell Sheridan was born. American actor and comedian.
• 1959 - Blind Willie McTell dies. Blues singer.
• 1960 - Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) declares its independence from France.
• 1961 - Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
• 1961 - Keiyo Road is specified to be the first driveway in Japan.
• 1961 - Matt Johnson was born. Rock singer-musician.
• 1962 - James Joseph Dresnok defected to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, running across the Korean DMZ. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
• 1962 - Tom Colicchio was born. American chef.
• 1962 - Paraskevas Karasoulos was born. Greek lyricist.
• 1962 - Lei Feng dies. Chinese revolutionary.
• 1962 - Inauguração do Museu da Marinha - Portugal.
• 1963 - O general Alfredo Stroessner inicia o seu terceiro mandato como Presidente do Paraguai.
• 1963 - Alejandro González Iñárritu was born. Mexican film director.
• 1963 - John Powell dies (b. 1882). American pianist and composer.
• 1964 - Melinda French Gates was born. American wife of Bill Gates.
  
• 1964 - Debi Mazar was born. American actress.
• 1965 - John Coltrane plays in Chicago, Illinois for the Downbeat Jazz Festival with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and other.
• 1965 - The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, marking the birth of stadium rock.
• 1965 - Jane Fonda / Roger Vadim marriage.
• 1965 - Rob Thomas was born. American writer.
• 1966 - Angela Rae was born. Country singer (Wild Horses).
• 1966 - Scott Brosius was born. American baseball player.
• 1966 - Shirley Kwan was born. Hong Kong singer.
• 1967 - Peter Hermann was born. German-born American actor.
• 1967 - René Magritte dies (b. 1898). Belgian surrealist painter.
• 1968 - Debra Messing was born. American actress (''Will and Grace'').
• 1969 - First day of Woodstock Music and Art Festival /Início do Festival de Woodstock, num campo perto de Bethel, no estado americano de Nova Iorque. O festival durou três dias, tendo passado pelo palco 24 bandas musicais, que tocaram para mais de 300.000 pessoas.
• 1969 - Kevin Cheng was born. Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1970 - Maddie Corman was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Ben Silverman was born. American TV executive.
• 1970 - Anthony Anderson was born. Actor.
• 1971 - President Richard Nixon ends convertibility of U.S. dollar into gold.
• 1971 - Bahrain Independence Day.
• 1971 - Paul Lukas dies. Academy Award-winning actor.
• 1972 - Ben Affleck was born. American actor (Pearl Harbor, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Glory Daze, Good Will Hunting, Armageddon, Forces of Nature, Reindeer Games).
• 1972 - Mikey Graham was born. Singer (Boyzone).
• 1972 - Chris Morrissey was born. American film director/actor.
• 1973 - O general Alfredo Stroessner é empossado (pela 5º vez) na presidência do Paraguai.
• 1973 - Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
• 1974 - Seoul Subway Line 1 opened, between Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station.
• 1974 - Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea is killed amid an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee, during the anniversarial ceremony of the Liberation day.
• 1974 - Natasha Henstridge was born. Canadian actress and model.
• 1974 - Yook Young-soo dies (b. 1925). First Lady of South Korea wife of the president of the Republic of Korea Park Chung-hee.
• 1975 - Clay Shaw dies (b. 1913). John F. Kennedy assassination investigator.
• 1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (b. 1920), President of Bangladesh is murdered.
• 1975 - Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by a sitting prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
• 1975 - Kara Wolters was born. American basketball player.
• 1976 - Boudewijn Zenden was born. Dutch football player.
• 1977 - The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by The Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "WOW!" signal for notation made by a volunteer on the project.
• 1977 - Nicole Paggi was born. American actress.
• 1977 - Igor Cassina was born. Italian gymnast.
• 1977 - Martin Biron was born. Professional ice hockey goaltender.
• 1978 - Foundation of Mirapuri - The City of Peace and Future Man.
• 1978 - Tim Foreman was born. American bassist (Switchfoot).
• 1978 - Lilia Podkopayeva was born. Ukrainian gymnast.
• 1978 - Stavros Tziortziopoulosvwas born. Greek footballer.
• 1979 - Carl Edwards was born. American NASCAR driver.
• 1981 - Lionel Richie and Diana Ross hit number one on the pop music charts with their beautiful duet, Endless Love.
• 1981 - Brendan Hansen was born. American swimmer.
• 1981 - Oliver Perez was born. American baseball player.
• 1981 - Sung Ji Hyo was born. South Korean actress.
• 1982 - Hugo Theorell dies (b. 1903). Swedish scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate.
• 1984 - The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military
• 1989 - Belinda was born. Mexican singer.
• 1989 - Joe Jonas was born. American musician (Jonas Brothers).
• 1990 - Viktor Tsoi dies (b. 1962). Russian musician (Kino).
• 1993 - Junko Asari wins the women's marathon in the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, Japan's first major women's athletics victory.
• 1995 - In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel, but drops out in less than a week.
• 1995 - John Cameron Swayze dies (b. 1906). American journalist.
• 1995 - Antonio Vilar dies in Madrid. Portuguese actor / Morre, em Madrid, António Vilar (n. 31 Out 1912, em Lisboa). Actor português, um dos poucos que teve uma verdadeira carreira internacional de prestígio no cinema.
• 1998 - Raúl Alberto Cubas Grau assume a presidência do Paraguai.
• 1998 - Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, becoming the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles.
• 1998 - Inés Leonor Enríquez Frödden dies. Chilean poolitician.
• 1999 - Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria; some 29 people killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
• 1999 - Sir Hugh Casson dies (b. 1910). British architect and artist.
• 2001 - Richard Chelimo dies (brain tumour) (b. 1972). Kenyan athlete.
• 2002 - Bulgária ratifica o Protocolo de Kyoto.
• 2003 - Gösta Sundqvist dies of heart attack. Finnish songwriter and singer.
• 2004 - Amarsinh Chaudhary dies (b. 1941). Indian politician.
• 2004 - Semiha Berksoy dies (b. 1910). First Turkish opera singer.
• 2004 - Sune Bergström dies (b. 1916). Swedish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 2006 - Te Atairangi Kaahu dies (b. 1931). Māori Queen.
• 2007 - An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
• 2007 - Richard Bradshaw dies (b. 1944). British opera conductor.
• 2007 – John Gofman dies (b. 1918). American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate.
• 2007 – Geoffrey Orbell dies (b. 1908). New Zealand bush walker.
• 2007 – Sam Pollock dies (b. 1925). Canadian sports executive.
• 2008 - Jerry Wexler dies (b. 1917). Mmusic producer and coiner of the term "Rhythm & Blues".
  
• 2008 – James Orthwein dies (b. 1924). American businessman.
  
• 2008 – Leroy Sievers dies (b. 1955). American journalist.
  
• 2008 – Vic Toweel, South African boxer, bantamweight world champion (b. 1929)
• Eastern Orthodoxy – Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, the commemoration of the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
• Roman Catholicism – Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Holy Day of Obligation. Public Holiday in: Lebanon, Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, Croatia, Cyprus, East Timor, France, Greece, India, Italy, Côte d'Ivoire, Lithuania, Malta, Mauritius, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovenia and Spain.
• Egypt – Flooding of the Nile Day.
• Hawaii – Toro Nagashi (Floating Lantern Ceremony) to commemorate the end of the second world war.
• Italy – "Ferragosto", remembrance of an ancient Roman holiday in honor of Augustus (Feriae Augusti).
• Korea – Liberation Day.
• Liechtenstein – Liechtenstein Day.
• Poland – Polish Armed Forces Day.
• VJ Day / VP Day.
• India – Independence Day (from the United Kingdom, 1947).
• Acadie – National Day.
• Austria, Maria Himmelfahrt day.
• Bangladesh – National Mourning Day.
• Hawaii – Toro Nagashi (Floating Lanterns Ceremony) to commemorate the end of the Second world war.
• Hindu – Krishna Janmaashtami, also on August 16.
• Japan – Day of End of the War / The day which mourns for war dead, and prays for peace National War-Dead Memorial Ceremony" is performed on that day every year after 1963.
• Japan – Dutch Tray.
• Ancient Latvia – Māras.
• Liechtenstein – Liechtenstein Day.
• Tuva – Tuva Republic Day, Naadym.
• Portugal– Our Lady of Angels Feast, Azores.
• Costa Rica– Mother's Day.