Today In History
Today is Saturday, August 15, the 227th day of 2015. There are 138 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
1945: Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced in a recorded radio address that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II.
ON THIS DATE
1057: Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain.
1483: The Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV.
1812: The Battle of Fort Dearborn took place as Potawatomi warriors attacked a U.S. military garrison of about 100 people. (Most of the garrison was killed, while the remainder were taken prisoner.)
1914: The Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
1935: Humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory.
1947: India became independent after some 200 years of British rule.
1965: The Beatles played to a crowd of more than 55,000 at New York’s Shea Stadium.
1969: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actress Rose Marie is 92. Political activist Phyllis Schlafly is 91. Actor Mike Connors is 90. Civil rights activist Vernon Jordan is 80. Actor Jim Dale is 80. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 77. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is 77. Musician Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) is 73. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 71. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 69. Rock singer-musician Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers) is 67. Britain’s Princess Anne is 65. Philanthropist Melinda Gates is 51. Country singer Angela Rae (Wild Horses) is 49. Actor Peter Hermann is 48. Actress Debra Messing is 47. Actor Anthony Anderson is 45. Actor Ben Affleck is 43. Singer Mikey Graham (Boyzone) is 43. Actress Natasha Henstridge is 41. Figure skater Jennifer Kirk is 31. Latin pop singer Belinda (cq) is 26. Rock singer Joe Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 26. Actor-singer Carlos Pena is 26. Actress Jennifer Lawrence is 25. Rap DJ Smoove da General (Cali Swag District) is 25.