TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2017

On this day in history:

1057 - Macbeth, the King of Scotland, was killed by the son of King Duncan.

1904 - Dalgety is named as the site of the future Federal Capital Territory of Australia. 1914 - The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic as an American ship, SS Ancon, sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The first vessel to pass through the canal was the American cargo and passenger ship SS Ancon. 1918 - Diplomatic ties between the US and Russia were severed.

1944 - The Allied forces landed in southern France.

1945 - The Allies proclaimed V-J Day a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

1945 - Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley announces the end of the war against Japan, on what is now known as VP Day (Victory in the Pacific) in Australia. 1947 - India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been under British about 200 years.

1948 - The Republic of Korea was proclaimed.

1961 - East German workers began construction of the Berlin Wall.

1985 - The opal is made the state gemstone of South Australia.

1986 - The US Senate approved a package of economic sanctions against South Africa. The ban included the importing of steel, uranium, textiles, coal, and produce from South Africa.

1992 - Vietnam blamed Hollywood for creating the “myth” concerning the issue of U.S. servicemen still being held prisoner in Indochina. 2000 - A group of 100 people from North Korea arrived in South Korea for temporary reunions with relatives they had not seen for half a century. Also, a group of 100 South Koreans visited the North.

2001 - Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own – discovering two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.