A man in Oregon legally changed his name to 'Captain Awesome' at the age of 27
Douglas Allen Smith Jr. went to court and successfully petitioned to become Captain Awesome, citing his desire to make people smile. His driver's lice...
August 15 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2013
2007
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck Peru, killing over 500 people and destroying the city of Pisco
The massive quake struck just off the coast near Lima during evening hours, causing widespread devastation. The historic city of Pisco was almost comp...
1998
A car bomb exploded in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killing 29 people in the deadliest single incident of the Troubles
The Real IRA detonated a 500-pound car bomb in the town center on a busy Saturday afternoon. Tragically, a misleading warning call caused police to ev...
1977
The 'Wow! signal' was detected by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope, suggesting possible extraterrestrial intelligence
Astronomer Jerry Ehman discovered a 72-second radio signal from the constellation Sagittarius that was 30 times stronger than background noise. He cir...
1969
The Woodstock Music Festival began in upstate New York, defining the counterculture movement
MajorOver 400,000 people descended on Max Yasgur's dairy farm for three days of peace and music. Despite rain, mud, and severe overcrowding, the festival f...
1965
The Beatles performed the first stadium rock concert at Shea Stadium in New York to 55,600 screaming fans
The band couldn't hear themselves play over the crowd noise, even with the largest amplifiers available at the time. The concert grossed $304,000, a r...
1947
India and Pakistan gained independence from British rule, ending nearly 200 years of colonial control
MajorThe British Empire formally ended its rule over the Indian subcontinent at midnight on August 15, 1947. The partition created two independent nations,...
1914
The Panama Canal officially opened for business, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
MajorThe SS Ancon became the first vessel to officially transit the canal, completing in about 10 hours what previously required a dangerous weeks-long jou...
1888
T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, was born in Wales
Lawrence would become one of the most famous figures of World War I through his role in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. His exploits becam...
1771
Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish novelist who essentially invented the historical novel genre, was born in Edinburgh
Scott would go on to write 'Ivanhoe' and 'Rob Roy,' creating the template for historical fiction that persists today. His novels were so popular that...
1620
The Mayflower departed from Southampton on its first attempt to reach the New World, but had to turn back due to leaks
The Mayflower was accompanied by another ship, the Speedwell, but the Speedwell proved unseaworthy and kept springing leaks. Both ships had to return...
1281
A typhoon destroyed the Mongol fleet invading Japan, an event the Japanese called 'kamikaze' or divine wind
MajorKublai Khan's massive invasion force of over 4,000 ships was decimated by a massive storm off the Japanese coast. The Japanese interpreted this as div...
