August 15
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1620
1620: The Mayflower’s first attempt
On this day in 1620, the Mayflower and the Speedwell set sail from Southampton, England, headed for North America. But the Speedwell proved neither speedy nor well. The ship sprang so many leaks that it twice had to return to port. (The Mayflower accompanied it back each time.) The Speedwell was ultimately deemed unfit for the Atlantic crossing, and the Mayflower left alone. Had the Speedwell held together, the story of European settlement in North America might have looked vastly different. Instead, the ship changed history, simply by falling apart.
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© Architect of the Capitol; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
After three decades, the Indian Independence Movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi, achieved its goal on this day in 1947 as a free and independent India was established, ending nearly 200 years of British rule. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about India’s history.]
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© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
Born in Corsica this day in 1769, Napoleon I was one of the most celebrated figures in history, especially known for introducing a number of influential reforms while emperor of the French (1804–1814/15).
Famous Birthdays
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Evgenia Novozhenina—Reuters/Alamy
2021
The Taliban regained control of Kabul, Afghanistan, as U.S. troops withdrew from the country. [Read about the Afghanistan War.]
© Mark Gurney photo; Helgen, K. M., Pinto, M., Kays, R., Helgen, L., Tsuchiya, M., Quinn, A., Wilson, D., Maldonado, J. (2013)/ZooKeys (https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.324.5827)
2013
Scientists at the Smithsonian announced the discovery of the olinguito, “the first carnivore species to be discovered in the American continents in 35 years”; the small arboreal animals live in the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador. [Take our animals quiz.]
PA/AP Images
1998
A car bomb exploded in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killing 29 people and leaving more than 200 injured. The Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA), an IRA splinter group, claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was the deadliest attack in Northern Ireland since the violence known as the Troubles began in the late 1960s.
© 1979 Omni Zoetrope; photograph from a private collection
1979
After a troubled production, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now was released. It became a film classic, noted for performances by Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall, whose character famously says that he loves “the smell of napalm in the morning.” [Test your knowledge of movie quotes.]
© 1975 NH Studioz/Sippy Films and Dinodia Photos/Alamy
1975
Sholay, widely regarded as Bollywood’s most iconic film, was released. Directed by Ramesh Sippy, written by the duo Salim-Javed, and starring an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, and Hema Malini, it held the record for highest-grossing Hindi movie for 19 years. [How did Sholay change Bollywood forever?]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1971
Bahrain proclaimed independence from the United Kingdom.
© Blank Archives—Archive Photos/Getty Images
1969
The Woodstock music festival began in Bethel, New York. Highlights of the three-day event included performances by Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin. [Test your knowledge of the Swinging ’60s.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1960
The Republic of the Congo gained independence from France. [Learn how dozens of other African countries achieved independence.]
Harris & Ewing Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: LC-DIG-hec-26756)
1948
Syngman Rhee announced the establishment of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Korea.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (cph 3a40859)
1945
Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, broke the precedent of imperial silence when he made a national radio broadcast to announce Japan’s acceptance of the Allies’ terms of surrender in World War II.
Culver Pictures
1935
Entertainer Will Rogers and aviation pioneer Wiley Post were killed in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska.
Panama Canal Authority
1914
After some 10 years of work, the Panama Canal opened to ships. [Find out how the Panama Canal was built—and who owns it.]
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1879
Actress Ethel Barrymore, who was considered the “first lady” of the American theatre, was born in Philadelphia. [Take our quiz about the history of theatre.]
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
1534
St. Ignatius of Loyola led companions, who would become cofounders of the Society of Jesus, to Montmartre, Paris, where the first members of the Roman Catholic religious order took their vows. [Learn more about Jesuit missionaries across history.]
Mary Evans Picture Library
1057
Macbeth, king of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, eldest son of Duncan I. [Test your knowledge of kings and emperors.]