15th of August

This is the 227th day of the year with only 138 days remaining.

927 - The Saracen Army conquers and destroys Taranto.

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

1040 - King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth.  The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.

1057 - King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Mael Coluim mac Donnchada.

1248 - The foundation stone of the Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid.  The construction will eventually be completed 632 years later.

1534 - Saint Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creations of the Society of Jesus in September of six years later.

1769 - Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican-born French military officer and dictator is born.

1824 - Freed American slaves found the country of Liberia on the African continent.

1843 - Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1859 - Charles Comiskey, American baseball owner of the Chicago White Sox is born.

1914 - A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the creator's Wisconsin home, Taliesin.  The fire kills seven and burns the building to the ground.

1935 - Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.

1941 - Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 AM, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.

1944 - Operation Dragoon begins with Allied forces landing in southern France.

1945 - The celebration of VJ Day, Victory over Japan as they finally surrender.

1945 - American football player for the Oakland Raiders, Gene Upshaw is born.

1947 - India gains its independence from the British Indian Empire, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.

1948 - The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.

1961 - Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany, while on duty guarding the construction of the infamous Berlin Wall.

1962 - James Joseph Dresnok, defects to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, after running across the Korean DMZ.  Dresnok still resides in the capital of Pyongyang.

1963 - The execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in the country of Scotland.

1965 - The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, in an event later seen as marking the birth of stadium rock.

1969 - The Woodstock Music and Art Festival officially opens.

1973 - The United States strategic bombing of Cambodia ceases during the Vietnam War.

1975 - Clay Shaw, American lawyer and John F. Kennedy assassination investigator passes away.

2007 - An 8.0 earthquake rocks off the Pacific Coast devastating Ica, and various regions of Peru, killing nearly 514 and injuring 1,090 people.