Historical Events on Friday, 15th August

15/08/2025

US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

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15/08/2021

Kabul falls into the hands of the Taliban as Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan along with local residents and foreign nationals, effectively reestablishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is within the jurisdiction of Kabul District and has an estimated population of 5,333,284 people. Located in the eastern half of the country, forming part of the Kabul Province, the city is administratively divided into five zones and 22 municipal districts. The native population of Kabul primarily speaks Persian, locally referred to as Persian Dari, using regional Dari dialects with a distinctive Kabuli accent. Kabul has long been Afghanistan's political, cultural and economic center. Rapid urbanization has made it the country's primate city. It is located high in a narrow valley in the Hindu Kush mountain range, and is bounded by the Kabul River. At an altitude of 1,791 m (5,876 ft) above sea level, it is one of the highest capital cities in the world. The center of the city contains its oldest neighborhoods, including the areas of Bala Hisar, Deh Afghanan and Murad Khani.

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15/08/2020

Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.

Sputnik V or Gam-COVID-Vac is an adenovirus viral vector vaccine for COVID-19 developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia. It is the world's first registered combination vector vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19, having been registered on 11 August 2020 by the Russian Ministry of Health.

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15/08/2015

North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.

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15/08/2013

At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.

On 15 August 2013, a car bomb exploded in Beirut, Lebanon killing 27 people and injuring over 200 people. The car bomb was intended for the stronghold of Hezbollah. It was reportedly the "worst explosion in south Beirut" since a 1985 truck bomb assassination attempt targeting top Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. The Islamist group Aisha Umm-al Mouemeneen, also known as Brigades of Aisha, were responsible for the explosion. In their statement the group accused Hezbollah of being Iranian agents and threatened more attacks. "This is the second time that we decide the time and place of the battle ... And you will see more, God willing," However Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and other politicians blamed Israel for the attack.

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The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.

The Smithsonian Institution is a group of museums, education and research centers, created by the United States federal government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967.

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15/08/2007

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.

The 2007 Peru earthquake, which measured 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale, hit the central coast of Peru on August 15 at 23:40:57 UTC and lasted two minutes. The epicenter was located 150 km (93 mi) south-southeast of Lima at a depth of 39 km (24 mi). At least 595 people died and over 2,290 people were injured.

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15/08/2005

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.

In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements there. Nonetheless, the Gaza Strip has continued to be regarded by the United Nations, many other international humanitarian and legal organizations, and most academic commentators as being under Israeli occupation due to Israel's active control over the territory's external affairs, as affirmed by the 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion. Historically, according to Article 42 of the Hague Regulations and precedent in international law, it has been generally understood that a territory remains effectively occupied so long as a belligerent's authority is established and exercised over it, even if said belligerent does not have ground forces deployed in the area.

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

The Free Aceh Movement was a separatist group seeking independence for the province of Aceh of Sumatra, Indonesia. GAM fought against Indonesian government forces in the Aceh insurgency from 1976 to 2005. Estimates of the death toll total over 15,000 people killed.

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15/08/1999

Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.

Béni Ounif is a town and commune in Béchar Province, Algeria, coextensive with the district of Béni Ounif. It has a population of 10,732 as of the 2008 census, up from 8,199 in 1998, and had an annual growth rate of 2.8%, the second highest in the province. The commune covers an area of 16,600 square kilometres (6,400 sq mi).

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15/08/1998

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

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares an open border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. At the 2021 census, its population was 1,903,175, making up around 3% of the UK's population and 27% of the population on the island of Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. The government of Northern Ireland cooperates with the government of Ireland in several areas under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The Republic of Ireland also has a consultative role on non-devolved governmental matters through the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

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Apple introduces the iMac computer.

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley, best known for its consumer electronics, software and online services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Company by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, the company was incorporated by Jobs and Wozniak as Apple Computer, Inc. the following year. It was renamed to its current name in 2007 as the company had expanded its focus from computers to consumer electronics. Apple is one of the Big Tech companies.

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15/08/1995

In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).

South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern, South Atlantic and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia to the west and south across the Savannah River. Along with North Carolina, it makes up the Carolinas region of the East Coast. South Carolina is the 11th-smallest and 23rd-most populous U.S. state with a recorded population of 5,118,425 according to the 2020 census. In 2019, its GDP was $213.45 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. The capital is Columbia with a population of 136,632 in 2020; while its most populous city is Charleston with a 2020 population of 150,227. The Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC Combined Statistical Area is the most populous combined metropolitan area in the state, with an estimated 2023 population of 1,590,636.

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Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister of Japan, releases the Murayama Statement, which formally expresses remorse for Japanese war crimes committed during World War II.

Tomiichi Murayama was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He was the country's first socialist premier since Tetsu Katayama in 1948, and is best remembered for the Murayama Statement on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which he officially apologized for Japan's past colonial wars and aggression.

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15/08/1989

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, killing 34 of the 40 people on board.

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 was a domestic flight from Shanghai to Nanchang, operated by an An-24. On 15 August 1989, an An-24 operating this flight crashed into Zhoujiabang about 240 meters away from the airport due to engine failure when taking off at Hongqiao Airport, killing 34 people. Only 6 people survived.

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15/08/1985

Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement.

The Assam Accord was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement. It was signed in the presence of the then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi on 15 August 1985. The Citizenship Act was amended for the first time the following year, in 1986. It followed a six-year agitation that started in 1979. Led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the protestors demanded the identification and deportation of all illegal foreigners – predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants. They feared that past and continuing large scale migration was overwhelming the native population, impacting their political rights, culture, language and land rights. The Assam Movement caused the estimated death of over 855 people. The movement ended with the signing of the Assam Accord.

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15/08/1984

The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish Armed Forces with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla group primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq and north-eastern Syria. It was founded in Ziyaret, Lice, on 27 November 1978 and was involved in asymmetric warfare in the Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency. Although the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state, in the 1990s, its official platform changed to seeking autonomy and increased political and cultural rights for Kurds within Turkey.

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15/08/1977

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.

The Ohio State University Radio Observatory was a Kraus-type radio telescope located on the grounds of the Perkins Observatory at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio from 1963 to 1998. Known as Big Ear, the observatory was part of Ohio State University's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. The telescope was designed by John D. Kraus. Construction of the Big Ear began in 1956 and was completed in 1961, and it was finally turned on for the first time in 1963.

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15/08/1976

SAETA Flight 011 crashes into the Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador, killing all 59 people on board; the wreckage is not discovered until 2002.

SAETA Flight 011 was a scheduled passenger flight operated by SAETA Air Ecuador between Quito and Cuenca, using a Vickers Viscount 785D aircraft. On 15 August 1976, the flight was reported missing near the Chimborazo stratovolcano while carrying 55 passengers and four crew members. Searches for the plane would be carried out for 26 years, until the wreckage of the aircraft was officially located in February 2003.

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15/08/1975

Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.

Bangladeshis are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.

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Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.

Takeo Miki was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1974 to 1976.

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15/08/1974

Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung Hee.

Yuk Young-soo was the wife of the 3rd South Korean president Park Chung-hee and the mother of the 11th South Korean president Park Geun-hye. She was the first lady when Park was in office, from 1962 until she was killed in 1974 during an attempted assassination of her husband.

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15/08/1973

Vietnam War: The US Air Force bombing of Cambodia ends.

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

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15/08/1971

President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.

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Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated near the western shore of the Arabian Gulf, about a third of its length from the south end, the country comprises a small archipelago of 33 natural islands and an additional 50 artificial islands, centred on Bahrain Island, which makes up around 80 percent of the country's landmass. Bahrain is situated between Qatar and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia, to which it is connected by the King Fahd Causeway. The population is 1,588,670 as of 2024, of whom 739,736 are Bahraini nationals, and 848,934 are expatriates. Bahrain spans some 760 square kilometres (290 sq mi) and is the third-smallest nation in Asia after Maldives and Singapore. The capital and largest city is Manama.

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15/08/1970

Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.

Patricia Palinkas was the first woman to have played American football professionally in a predominantly male league. She was a holder for her husband Stephen Palinkas for the Orlando Panthers of the minor league Atlantic Coast Football League. She was the only woman professional American football player until Katie Hnida signed with the Fort Wayne Firehawks in 2010.

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15/08/1969

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 60 miles (95 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music" and alternatively referred to as the Woodstock Rock Festival, it attracted an audience of more than 460,000. Thirty-two acts performed outdoors despite overcast skies and sporadic rain. It was one of the largest music festivals in history and would become the peak musical event to reflect the counterculture of the 1960s.

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15/08/1965

The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the most influential band in popular music and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.

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15/08/1963

Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.

Henry John Burnett was the last man to be hanged in Scotland, and the first in Aberdeen since 1891. He was tried at the high court in Aberdeen from 23 to 25 July 1963 for the murder of merchant seaman Thomas Guyan. His execution, at HM Prison, Craiginches, Aberdeen, was performed by hangman Harry Allen.

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

Fulbert Youlou was a Congolese nationalist leader and former Catholic priest who became the first President of the Republic of the Congo upon its independence in 1960.

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15/08/1962

James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.

James Joseph Dresnok was an American defector to North Korea, one of seven U.S. soldiers to defect after the Korean War.

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15/08/1961

Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Hans Conrad Schumann, also known as Konrad Schumann, was an East German Bereitschaftspolizist who escaped to West Germany during the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961.

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15/08/1960

Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.

The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply Congo, is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River. It is bordered to the west by Gabon, to the northwest by Cameroon, to the northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and to the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean.

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15/08/1959

American Airlines Flight 514, a Boeing 707, crashes near the Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, killing all five people on board.

American Airlines Flight 514 was a training flight from Idlewild International Airport in Queens, New York, to the Grumman Aircraft Corporation airfield in Calverton, New York. On the afternoon of August 15, 1959, the Boeing 707 operating the flight crashed near the Calverton airport, killing all five crew members aboard. This was the first accident to involve a Boeing 707, which had only gone into service in October of the previous year, and the first of three accidents involving American's 707s in the New York area within three years, followed by Flight 1502 and Flight 1.

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15/08/1954

Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.

Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda was a Paraguayan politician, army general, and military dictator who ruled as the 42nd president of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 until his overthrow in 1989. Known as El Stronato, his dictatorship was marked by political violence. Before his accession to the presidency, he was the country's de facto leader from May to August 1954.

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15/08/1952

A flash flood devastates the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.

The Lynmouth Flood occurred on the night of 15–16 August 1952, principally affecting the village of Lynmouth, in North Devon. A storm with heavy rainfall, combined with already saturated soil and flood debris, led to the flooding of the village and a total loss of 34 lives.

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15/08/1950

Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800.

Seismic magnitude scales are used to describe the overall strength or "size" of an earthquake. These are distinguished from seismic intensity scales that categorize the intensity or severity of ground shaking (quaking) caused by an earthquake at a given location. Magnitudes are usually determined from measurements of an earthquake's seismic waves as recorded on a seismogram. Magnitude scales vary based on what aspect of the seismic waves are measured and how they are measured. Different magnitude scales are necessary because of differences in earthquakes, the information available, and the purposes for which the magnitudes are used.

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15/08/1948

The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula.

The First Republic of Korea was the government of South Korea from August 1948 to June 1960. The First Republic was founded on 15 August 1948, and it became the first independent republican government in Korea. Syngman Rhee was the first president of South Korea. The National Assembly was created following the May 1948 general election, and the National Assembly in Seoul promulgated South Korea's first constitution in July, establishing a presidential system of government.

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15/08/1947

India gains independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia.

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Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 and then as Pakistan's first governor-general until his death a year later in 1948.

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15/08/1945

Emperor Hirohito broadcasts his declaration of surrender following the effective surrender of Japan in World War II; Korea gains independence from the Empire of Japan.

Emperor Shōwa , known colloquially by his personal name Hirohito, was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1926 until his death in 1989. He remains the longest-reigning emperor in Japanese history and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world. As emperor during the Shōwa era, Hirohito presided over the rise of Japanese militarism, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Asia-Pacific theater of World War II, and the nation's postwar economic miracle.

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15/08/1944

World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France.

Operation Dragoon, known as Débarquement de Provence in French, was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence on 15 August 1944. Although initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, the June 1944 Allied landing in Normandy, insufficient resources led to the cancellation of the second landing. By July 1944 the landing was reconsidered, as the clogged-up ports in Normandy did not have the capacity to adequately supply the Allied forces. Concurrently, the high command of the French Liberation Army pushed for a revival of the operation, which would involve large numbers of French troops. As a result, the operation was finally approved in July to be executed in August.

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15/08/1943

World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds.

The Battle of Trahili was fought on 15 August 1943 between Cretan partisans and German occupying forces during World War II. It took place near the village of Vorizia in south-central Crete, when German forces attempted to surround a small group of partisans led by the local chieftain Petrakogiorgis. Most of the partisans managed to escape, despite being heavily outnumbered.

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15/08/1942

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.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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15/08/1941

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.

Josef Jakobs was a German spy and the last person to be executed at the Tower of London. He was captured shortly after parachuting into the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Convicted of espionage under the Treachery Act 1940, Jakobs was sentenced to death and shot by a military firing squad. He was not hanged since he was captured as an enemy combatant.

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15/08/1940

An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.

The Kingdom of Italy was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 18 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished, following civil discontent that led to an institutional referendum on 2 June, resulting in the establishment of the modern Italian Republic. The kingdom was established through the unification of several states over a decades-long process, called the Risorgimento. That process was influenced by the Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia, which was one of Italy's legal predecessor states.

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15/08/1939

Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn.

The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 and served the Axis in World War II from beginning to end (1939–1945).

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The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind. The screenplay is credited to Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf, but includes contributions from other writers. The film stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton. The music was composed by Harold Arlen and adapted by Herbert Stothart, with lyrics by Edgar "Yip" Harburg.

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15/08/1935

Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.

William Penn Adair Rogers was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory, and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son". As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films, and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was one of the higher paid Hollywood film stars. He died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Utqiaġvik, Alaska, in northern Alaska.

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15/08/1920

Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.

The Polish–Soviet War was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution.

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15/08/1915

A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.

The Great Phenol Plot was a clandestine effort by the German government during the early years of World War I to divert American-produced phenol from the manufacture of high explosives that supported the British war effort. Phenol was used by the German-owned Bayer company, which could no longer import the compound from Britain, to produce aspirin.

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15/08/1914

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

An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have human occupancy or use as their principal purpose. Etymologically, the term architect derives from the Latin architectus, which derives from the Greek, i.e., chief builder.

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The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.

The Panama Canal is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow the passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow for the transit of larger, Neopanamax ships. An average of 200,000,000 litres of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts.

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World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as The Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

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World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.

The Battle of Cer was a military campaign fought between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in August 1914, starting three weeks into the Serbian Campaign of 1914, the initial military action of the First World War. It took place around Cer Mountain and several surrounding villages, as well as the town of Šabac.

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15/08/1907

Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.

Robert Josias "Raphael" Morgan was a Jamaican-American who is believed to be the first Black Eastern Orthodox priest in the United States. After being active in other denominations, including the AME Church, Church of England, and the Episcopal Church, Morgan converted to Orthodoxy. He was ordained as an Eastern Orthodox priest of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He was designated as "Missionary to America and the West Indies." He claimed to have founded the "Order of Golgotha", but the Orthodox Church is not organized into orders.

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15/08/1899

Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened.

Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and is the home of Portsmouth Football Club. Constructed in 1899, it has been the only home ground in Portsmouth F.C.'s history. The stadium's location on Portsea Island makes it the only professional English football ground not located on the mainland of Great Britain.

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15/08/1893

Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.

Ibadan is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is one of the largest cities by population in Nigeria with a population of 4.3 million within its metropolitan area. At 3,080 square kilometres it is the country's largest city by land area. At the time of Nigeria's independence in 1960, Ibadan was the largest and most populous city in the country, and the second-most populous in Africa behind Cairo. Ibadan is ranked one of the fastest-growing cities in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN Human Settlements Program (2022). It is also ranked third in Nigeria and fifth in West Africa in the tech startups index. Ibadan joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016. During the 19th century, Ibadan was the capital of the Ibadan Republic, one of the most powerful states of contemporary Yorubaland.

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15/08/1882

Start of the second part of the Montceau-les-Mines troubles by the Black Band, groups of anarchist miners.

The Montceau-les-Mines troubles are a series of social movements and events that took place in Montceau-les-Mines, France and, more broadly, in a large part of Saône-et-Loire, roughly between 1878 and 1885. The period was marked by a strong penetration of anarchism within the population - particularly among the miners - of the region, and saw the appearance of the syndicalist movement in Saône-et-Loire, associated with anarchism at the time. It was characterised by great political violence between the French State and the anarchists of the region, some of whom joined the Black Band.

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15/08/1863

The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).

The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the Anglo-Satsuma War , was a military engagement fought between Britain and the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima from 15 to 17 August 1863. The British were attempting to extract compensation and legal justice from daimyo Shimazu Tadayoshi for the 1862 Namamugi incident.

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15/08/1843

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.

The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is the mother church and cathedral of the Diocese of Honolulu.

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Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, also in Denmark.

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15/08/1824

The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, in the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette commanded Continental Army troops in the decisive siege of Yorktown in 1781, the Revolutionary War's final major battle, which secured American independence. After returning to France, Lafayette became a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830 and continues to be celebrated as a hero in both France and the United States.

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15/08/1814

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

The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.

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15/08/1760

Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.

The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a global war fought by numerous great powers, primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and the Indian subcontinent. The warring states were Great Britain and Prussia fighting against France and Austria, with other countries joining these coalitions: Portugal, Spain, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. Related conflicts include the Third Silesian War, French and Indian War, Third Carnatic War, Anglo-Spanish War (1762–1763), and Spanish–Portuguese War.

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15/08/1695

French forces end the bombardment of Brussels.

During the Nine Years' War, the French Royal Army carried out a bombardment of Brussels from August 13–15, 1695. Led by King Louis XIV and the Duke of Villeroi, French forces bombarded the city in an attempt to divert Grand Alliance troops from reinforcing the concurrent siege of Namur. The bombardment ultimately proved to be the most destructive event in the history of Brussels, destroying a third of the buildings in the city, including the Grand-Place/Grote Markt.

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15/08/1599

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.

The Nine Years' War was a conflict in Ireland between a confederacy of Irish lords and the English-led government. The war was primarily a response to the English Crown's advances into territory traditionally owned by the Gaelic nobility. It was also part of the broader Anglo-Spanish War and the European wars of religion.

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15/08/1592

Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Ŏkki, and Wŏn Kyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu.

The Imjin War was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War. The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate in Korea's southern provinces.

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15/08/1549

Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549).

The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits, is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church. Headquartered in Rome, it was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of Pope Paul III. The Society of Jesus is the largest Catholic religious male order and has played a significant role in education, charity, humanitarian acts and global policies. Jesuits are engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 countries, including education, research, and cultural pursuits. They also conduct retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social and humanitarian works, and promote ecumenical dialogue.

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15/08/1540

Arequipa, Peru is founded.

Arequipa, also known by its nicknames of Ciudad Blanca and León del Sur, is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous province and department. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated city in Peru, after the capital Lima, with an urban population of 1,195,700 in 2025. Known for its colonial architecture and volcanic stone buildings, it is a major cultural and economic center.

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15/08/1537

Asunción, Paraguay is founded.

Asunción is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city lies on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, immediately north northeast of the confluence where it is joined by the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River separates Asunción from the Occidental Region of Paraguay to the northwest, and from Argentina to the southwest. The eastern part of the city is surrounded by the Central Department.

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15/08/1534

Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.

Ignatius of Loyola, venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and became its first Superior General, in Paris in 1541.

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15/08/1519

Panama City, Panama is founded.

Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a total population of 410,354 in the city proper and 1,086,990 in the Panama District, which includes the outer corregimientos of the city. The metropolitan area has over 2,100,000 people. The city is at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of Panama. The city is the political and administrative center of the country, as well as a hub for banking and commerce.

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15/08/1517

Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.

A watercraft or waterborne vessel is any vehicle designed for travel across or through water bodies, such as a boat, ship, hovercraft, submersible or submarine.

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15/08/1511

Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.

Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa, was a Portuguese general, admiral, statesman, and conquistador. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean and built a reputation as a fierce and skilled military commander.

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15/08/1483

Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.

Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, Italian: Sisto IV; born Francesco della Rovere; was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included the construction of the Sistine Chapel and the creation of the Vatican Library. A patron of the arts, he brought together the group of artists who ushered the early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpieces of the city's new artistic age.

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15/08/1461

The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.

The Empire of Trebizond or the Trapezuntine Empire was one of the three Byzantine rump states of the Byzantine Empire that existed during the 13th through to the 15th century. The empire consisted of the Pontus, or far northeastern corner of Anatolia, and portions of southern Crimea. It was formed with the help of Georgia's interventions in Trebizond.

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15/08/1430

Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.

Francesco I Sforza was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) duke from 1450 until his death. Renowned for his military skill and political acumen, he was among the few condottieri to successfully transform battlefield success into stable dynastic rule.

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15/08/1310

The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.

Rhodes is the principal city and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It has a population of approximately 56,000 with nearly 90,000 in its metropolitan area. Rhodes has been famous since antiquity as the site of Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The citadel of Rhodes, built by the Hospitallers, is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe. The Medieval city is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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15/08/1281

Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.

Major military efforts were taken by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty in 1274 and 1281 to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of the Korean kingdom of Goryeo to vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the invasion attempts are of macro-historical importance because they set a limit on Mongol expansion and rank as nation-defining events in the history of Japan. The invasions are referred to in many works of fiction and are the origin of the word kamikaze, first used to describe the typhoons that destroyed the Mongol invasion fleets in the 13th century. The term was later adopted in the 20th century to describe Japanese pilots who deliberately crashed their aircraft into enemy warships during the last years of World War II.

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15/08/1261

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

Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282, and previously as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. He recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261 and transformed the Empire of Nicaea into a restored Byzantine Empire. His reign saw considerable recovery of Byzantine power, including the enlargement of the Byzantine army and navy. It also included the reconstruction of the city of Constantinople, and the increase of its population. His re-establishment of the University of Constantinople contributed to the Palaeologan Renaissance, a cultural flowering between the 13th and 15th centuries.

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15/08/1248

The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)

A cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

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15/08/1237

Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Crown of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory.

The Reconquista or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military campaigns by northern Iberian Christian polities against Muslim-ruled al-Andalus, which had previously been part of the Visigothic Kingdom before the Muslim Conquest of 711. The Reconquista concluded in 1492 with the capture of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, thereby ending the presence of any Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula.

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15/08/1224

The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a Catholic military order, occupy Tarbatu (today Tartu) as part of the Livonian Crusade.

The order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword or Sword Brethren, formally known as The Militia of Christ of Livonia was a Catholic military order of German crusading knights established in 1202 in Livonia by Albert, the third bishop of Riga. Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment in 1204 for the second time.

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15/08/1209

Albigensian Crusade: The Cathar stronghold of Carcassonne falls to the crusaders.

The Albigensian Crusade, also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect. It resulted in the significant reduction of practicing Cathars and a realignment of the County of Toulouse with the French crown. The distinct regional culture of Languedoc was also diminished.

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15/08/1185

The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.

Vardzia is a cave monastery site in southern Georgia, excavated from the slopes of the Erusheti Mountain on the left bank of the Kura River, thirty kilometres from Aspindza. The main period of construction was the second half of the twelfth century. The caves stretch along the cliff for some five hundred meters and in up to nineteen tiers. The monastery was an important cultural center, a place of significant literary and artistic work.

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15/08/1096

Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II.

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, which were initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. Their aim was to return the Holy Land—which had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century—to Christian rule. By the 11th century, although Jerusalem had then been ruled by Muslims for hundreds of years, the practices of the Seljuk rulers in the region began to threaten local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest impetus for the First Crusade came in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent ambassadors to the Council of Piacenza to request military support in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, at which Pope Urban II gave a speech supporting the Byzantine request and urging faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

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15/08/1070

The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.

Pavia is a town and comune in south-western Lombardy, Northern Italy, 35 kilometres south of Milan on the lower Ticino near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of about 73,086.

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15/08/1057

King Macbeth of Scotland is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.

Macbethad mac Findláech, nicknamed the Red King, was King of Scotland from 1040 until his death in 1057, during a period when the Scottish kingdom is referred to as the Kingdom of Alba.

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15/08/1038

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

Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen, was the last grand prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first king of Hungary from 1000 or 1001 until his death in 1038. The year of his birth is uncertain, but many details of his life suggest that he was born in, or after, 975, in Esztergom. He was given the pagan name Vajk at birth, but the date of his baptism is unknown. He was the only son of Grand Prince Géza and his wife, Sarolt, who was descended from a prominent family of gyulas. Although both of his parents were baptized, Stephen was the first member of his family to become a devout Christian. He married Gisela of Bavaria, a scion of the imperial Ottonian dynasty.

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15/08/1018

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.

Eustathios Daphnomeles was a Byzantine strategos and patrician who distinguished himself in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. He ranks as one of the most prominent and successful generals in the thirty-year war between Emperor Basil II and Samuel of Bulgaria, helping to end the long conflict by blinding and capturing the last Bulgarian leader, Ibatzes, in 1018.

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15/08/0982

Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria.

The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.

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15/08/0927

The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.

The word "Saracen" was commonly used in medieval Europe to refer to a person who lived in or near what the ancient Romans knew as Arabia Petraea and Arabia Deserta. Its original meaning in Greek and Latin is not known with certainty. By the early medieval period, it had come to be associated with the Arabian tribes. Following the rise of Islam, which occurred in Arabia, the word's definition evolved to refer not only to Arabs, but to Muslims taken generally as well. It eventually became the standard adjective among European Christians for all people and things from the Muslim world, regardless of whether they were Arab in origin.

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15/08/0805

Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony, as well as the countries of Austria and the Czech Republic. Its capital and largest city is Munich and other major cities include Nuremberg and Augsburg. With an area of 70,550 square kilometres, it is the largest German state, and with 13.08 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous.

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15/08/0778

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army.

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the present border between France and Spain, after his invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.

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15/08/0747

Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother, Pepin the Short, becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom.

Year 747 (DCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 747 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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15/08/0718

Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.

In 717–718, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, was besieged by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate. The campaign marked the culmination of twenty years of attacks and progressive Arab occupation of the Byzantine borderlands, while Byzantine strength was sapped by prolonged internal turmoil. In 716, after years of preparations, the Arabs, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. The Arabs initially hoped to exploit Byzantine civil strife and made common cause with the general Leo III the Isaurian, who had risen up against Emperor Theodosius III. Leo, however, deceived them and secured the Byzantine throne for himself.

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15/08/0717

Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.

Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik was an Umayyad prince and one of the most prominent Arab generals of the early decades of the 8th century, leading several campaigns against the Byzantine Empire and the Khazar Khaganate. He achieved great fame especially for leading the last Arab siege of the Byzantine capital Constantinople.

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15/08/0636

Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate begins.

The Arab–Byzantine wars or Muslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between the successive Islamic caliphates and the Byzantine Empire. Following the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of the Yarmuk, Muslim armies conquered most Byzantine territory in the Levant, Egypt and North Africa within decades. Arab expansion subsequently slowed to a more gradual rate, following two failed sieges of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in the late 7th and early 8th centuries. By the mid-9th century, the Byzantines had partially recovered and proceeded to recapture some of their lost territory in Anatolia in the following decades.

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