Unix Timestamp: -11751177600
Friday, August 15. 1597, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Michael Phelps of the United States wins his sixth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics in the men’s 200 metres individual medley setting a new world record. //www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4536961.ece ("The Times")

Pushpa Kamal Dahal (known as Prachanda) is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, after the Nepalese monarchy was abolished in May.

The Nepalese Constituent Assembly elects former Maoist rebel Prachanda as the first first Prime Minister of Nepal as a republic. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/16/2337302.htm (BBC News via ABC Australia)

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale rocks Peru 100 miles near Lima, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A tsunami warning is issued for Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Colombia, following the earthquakes. At least 72 people are killed and another 680 injured. //www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293415,00.html (Fox News) //earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007gbcv.php (USGS) //www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1529452420070816?feedType=RSSfeedName=topNewsrpc=22sp=true (Reuters) //www.smh.com.au/news/world/people-here-hugging-and-crying-in-fear/2007/08/16/1186857642862.html?sssdmh=dm16.274167 (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)

An 8.0 earthquake strikes Peru, killing 512 people, injuring more than 1,500, and causing tsunami warnings in the Pacific Ocean.

Government sources reveal that the Russian administration of Boris Yeltsin sent unofficial signals to Finland at the end of 1991 about returning Karelia to Finland. //newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=16468group=Politics (Kainuun Sanomat via NewsRoom Finland)

The Israeli Defence Force destroys a tunnel from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. //www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticlecid=1186557457129pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull (Jerusalem Post)

Former U.S. President Gerald Ford is admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. //today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOnestoryID=2006-08-15T234927Z_01_N15420739_RTRUKOC_0_US-FORD.xmlWTmodLoc=Home-C2-TopNews-newsOne-6 (Reuters)

Libya formally accepts responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. It consists of general language that lacks expression of remorse for lives lost. //www.nytimes.com/2003/08/16/international/middleeast/16NATI.html?ex=1061611200en=5387c2ece8da7744ei=5062partner=GOOGLE Although some claim the acceptance is just a business deal and not a true admission of guilt. //news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=434456

Oil price increases since 2003: Global oil production begins a 4-year plateau (and subsequent decline) in the face of rising demand, causing new price increases.

Omagh bombing, A terrorist bombing carried out in Northern Ireland by the Real IRA.

Bob Dole is nominated for President of the United States, and Jack Kemp for Vice President, at the Republican National Convention in San Diego, California.

F. W. de Klerk becomes the seventh and last State President of apartheid South Africa.

The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, officially halting 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia.

August 18 ndash The Woodstock Festival is held in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.

August 15 – The United Kingdom Marine Broadcasting Offences Act declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal. Radio Caroline defies the Act and continues broadcasting.

The Beatles perform the first stadium concert in the history of rock, playing before 55,600 persons at Shea Stadium in New York City.

President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.

The New York Agreement is signed trading the West New Guinea colony to Indonesia.

The Beatles drummer Pete Best is fired and replaced by Ringo Starr.

Algeria joins the Arab League.

The Mediterranean island of Cyprus receives its independence from the United Kingdom.

Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches the satelliteSputnik 5, with the dogs Belka and Strelka (the Russian for Squirrel and Little Arrow), 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. This satellite returns to earth the next day and all animals are recovered safely.

Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at an aititude of about 102,800 feet (31,333 meters). Kittinger set unbeaten () world records for: high-altitude jump free-fall by falling 16.0 miles (25.7 kilometers) before opening his parachute and the fastest speed attained by a human being without mechanical or chemical assistance, about 982 k.p.h (614 m.p.h.). Kittinger survived more or less uninjured, and he is still alive in Florida as of 2012.

Gabon becomes independent from France.

Middle Congo becomes independent from France, as Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville).

Cold War: In Moscow, the American U - 2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage.

The newly-named band, the Beatles begin a 48-night series of performances at the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany.

The trial of the American U - 2 pilot Francis Gary Powers begins in Moscow.

The Hebgen Lake Earthquake in southwest Montana kills 28.

Columbia Records releases Miles Davis' groundbreaking album, "Kind of Blue".

Cyprus gains independence.

An earthquake and floods in Assam, India kill 574 and leave 5,000,000 homeless.

The Republic of Korea is established.

WWII: Operation Dragoon lands Allies in southern France. The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division participates in its fourth assault landing at St. Maxime, spearheading the drive for the Belfort Gap.

Polish-Jewish teacher Janusz Korczak follows a group of Jewish children into the Treblinka death c.

WWII: The American tanker SS ''Ohio'' reaches Malta as part of the convoy of "Operation Pedestal".

The U.S. Navy blimp "L-8" (Flight 101) comes ashore near San Francisco, eventually coming down in Daly City (the crew is missing).

MGM's classic musical film "The Wizard of Oz", based on L. Frank Baum's famous novel, and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

MGM's classic musical film "The Wizard of Oz", based on L. Frank Baum\'s famous novel, and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post are killed when Post's plane crashes shortly after takeoff near Barrow, Alaska.

Irish War of Independence: The town hall of Templemore, Ireland, is burned down during the riots.

Sante Geronimo Caserio is executed for the assassination of Marie François Sadi Carnot.

Ibadan area became a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.

Benjamin Disraeli's Second Reform Act enfranchises many urban working men and adds 938,000 to an electorate of 1,057,000 in England and Wales.ref name=CBH

August 15 ndash Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

September ndash"The Economist" newspaper is first published in London.

The South Australia Act allows for the creation of a colony there.

29 ndash Visit of King George IV to Scotland.

By act of the U.S. Congress (March 3), the Alabama Territory is created by splitting the Mississippi Territory in half, on the day the Mississippi constitution is drafted, four months before Mississippi became a State of the United States.ref name=TN/

Cardinal de Rohan is arrested in Paris the Necklace Affair comes into the open.

November ndash A drought occurs in Haiti.

Cardinal de Rohan is called before the court to account for his actions in the Queen's Necklace Affair.

American Revolution: First Hessian troops land on Staten Island to join British forces.

William Battin, 17, is hanged for arson and murder in the colony of Pennsylvania.

France under Louis XIV makes the Truce of Ratisbon separately with the Holy Roman Empire (Habsburg) and Spain.

Oliver Cromwell lands in Dublin to begin the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

First Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces defeat the English.

or 19) ndash The Portuguese galleon "Madre de Deus", laden with treasure, is captured by English privateers.

Led by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano, a Spanish missionary colony of 1,500 men, on 13 ships, arrives from Vera Cruz at Pensacola Bay, founding the oldest European settlement in the mainland U.S. (St. Augustine is founded in 1565.)

Asunción is founded by Juan de Salazar y Espinoza. It's the oldest city in South America.

Panama City is founded.

Portuguese merchant Fernao Pires de Andrade meets Ming Dynasty Chinese officials through an interpreter at the Pearl River estuary and lands at what is now in the jurisdiction of Hong Kong. Although the first European trade expeditions to China took place in 1513 and 1516 by Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrello, respectively, Andrade's mission is the first official diplomatic mission of a European power to China commissioned by a ruler of Europe (Manuel I of Portugal).

November ndash The Treaty of Westminster creates an alliance between Henry VIII of England and Ferdinand II of Aragon against France.

ndash Capture of Malacca: Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca, giving Portugal control over the Strait of Malacca, through which all sea-going trade between China and India is concentrated. The Sultanate then establishes rule from Johor, starting decades of skirmishes against the Portuguese to regain the fallen city. While taking the city, the Portuguese slaughter a large community of Chinese merchants living there.Mentioned by Zhang Xie writing a century later. Malacca is the first city in Southeast Asia to be taken by a Western nation, gaining home rule only in 1957 when it becomes part of Malaysia.

Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is founded by the Ottomans.

François Villon writes "Le Grand Testament".

Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli become students of Verrocchio.

Louis XI of France succeeds Charles VII of France as king (reigns until 1483).

The Empire of Trebizond, the last major Romano-Greek outpost, falls to the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II, after a 21-day siege.

Cirencester Grammar School is founded in south-west England by the Bishop of Durham.

Treaty of Szeged between Ottoman (Turkish) Empire and Kingdom of Hungary.

August ndash After making peace with Karamanids, Murad II abdicated in favor of his son Mehmed II.

Magnus_IV_of_Sweden abdicates from the throne of Norway in favor of his son Haakon VI of Norway. However Haakon is still a minor, allowing Magnus to remain de facto ruler.

Louis the Child becomes king of Sicily and duke of Athens.

The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island, and rename themselves as the Knights of Rhodes.

Michael VIII Palaeologus is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.

Alphonse of Toulouse orders the expulsion of Jews from Poitou, France.

The Hungariancapital is moved from Esztergom to Buda.

Swedish statesman Birger Jarl subjugates the province of Tavastia in Finland, securing Swedish power in Finland.

The city of Stralsund (in present-day Germany) is burned to the ground by forces from the rival city of Lübeck.

The First Battle of Athenry is fought in Galway, Ireland.

Tallinn (Reval) receives the Lübeck Rights.

Construction on the Alhambra palace, in Granada, Spain, is begun by the Nasrids.

In the middle of the night on November 24 a mass on the north side of Mont Granier suddenly collapsed, in one of the largest historical rockslope failures known in Europe.//geomorphologie.revues.org/7495

King Louis IX of France launches the Seventh Crusade, leading an army of 20,000 toward Egypt.

The University of Piacenza is founded.

Pope Innocent IV grants the Croats permission to use their own language and script in liturgy (see Glagolitic alphabet).

The Aztec Empire is established.

Reconquista: King Ferdinand III of Castile recaptures the city of Seville from the Moors and Prince Alfonso X of Castile the city of Alicante.

The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, Archbishop of Utrecht on August 25.

The foundation stone of the Cologne cathedral is laid after an older cathedral on the site burns down on April 30. Construction is completed 632 years later, in 1880.

Roger Bacon publishes the formula for black powder in Europe.

Following the death of Saladin, the lands of the KurdishAyyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria are split among his descendants.

On his return from the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart is captured by his personal enemy, Leopold V, Duke of Austria."King John" by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 44

Muhammad Khilji, a general under the command of Qutb-ud-Din, sacks and burns Nalanda, India's greatest Buddhist university.

The Aztec civilization begins in Mexico.

Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Ghurid slave commander, captures Delhi.

Pope Celestine III calls for a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe.

Philip II of France marries Ingeborg, daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark.

The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.

The Shalu Monastery is founded in Tibet.

The oldest brewery still active is founded at Weihenstephan.

Printing using woodblocks is invented in China (approximate date).

King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth, who succeeds him as King of Scotland.

The ancient city of Taranto, in southern Italy, is destroyed by the Saracens.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is recognised as autocephalous by the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Irene of Athens's orders are carried out her son is blinded, and she is declared empress the next day.

Battle of Roncevaux Pass (Roncesvalles): Charlemagne's army suffers a terrible defeat at the hand of the Basques. Among those killed is Roland, lord of the Breton March the 11th-century "Song of Roland" is loosely based on the events of this battle.

Charlemagne fights the Moors in Spain.

Widukind returns to Saxony from Denmark.

Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.

20 ndash Battle of Yarmouk: In engagements along the Yarmouk River, Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate led by Khalid ibn al-Walid decisively defeat the armies of the Eastern Roman-Byzantine Empire, effectively completing the Muslim conquest of Syria. It will be regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests after the death of Muhammad.

Ricimer, "de facto" ruler, establishes political control for 2 years at his residence in Rome.

King Remismund establishes a policy of friendship with the Visigoths and promotes the conversion of the Suebi into Arianism in Galicia (Northern Spain).

Qian Fei Di, then Ming Di becomes ruler of the Liu Song Dynasty after his nephew is assassinated.

Libius Severus, puppet emperor of the Western Roman Empire, dies after a 4-year reign.

Battle of Wippedesfleot: The Saxons under command of Hengist and Aesc are defeated by the Britons near Ebbsfleet (Kent). During the battle 12 Welsh leaders are killed (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).

Theodoret becomes bishop of Cyrrhus (Syria). He converts more than 1,000 Marcionites in his diocese.

Winter ndash Emperor Theodosius II refuses Joannes to recognise as emperor and prepares for war. He mobilished a expeditionary force under command of Ardaburius and his son Flavius Aspar.

The Pannonian Ostrogoths who have been settled in Thrace south of the Danube (see 421) by Theodosius II organize a farmers' strike. Only payment of amounts to a huge farm loan prevents them from occupying Rome.

Emperor Honorius, age 38, dies at Ravenna of dropsy, perhaps pulmonary edema. With no children to claim the throne, Joannes, "primicerius notariorum" (chief notary, head of the civil service), seizes the throne of the Western Roman Empire, and is declared emperor. Among the supporters are Flavius Aetius, Roman general ("magister militum"). Joannes' rule is accepted in the dioceses of Gaul, Hispania and Italia, but not in Africa. ref name=dictionary