August 15 in history — What Happened Today in History

In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).

Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister of Japan, releases the Murayama Statement, which formally expresses remorse for Japanese war crimes committed during World War II.

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, killing 34 of the 40 people on board.

Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish Armed Forces with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh.

The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.

SAETA Flight 011 crashes into the Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador, killing all 59 people on board; the wreckage is not discovered until 2002.

Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.

Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.

Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung Hee.

Vietnam War: The US Air Force bombing of Cambodia ends.

President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.

Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.

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

Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.

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

James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.

Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.

American Airlines Flight 514, a Boeing 707, crashes near the Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, killing all five people on board.

Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.

A flash flood devastates the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.

Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800.

The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula.

India gains independence from British rule after nearly 190 years of British company and crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.

Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.

Joe Jonas, American singer, songwriter, and actor

Ryan McGowan, Australian footballer

Carlos PenaVega, American actor and singer

Jordan Rapana, New Zealand rugby league player

Oussama Assaidi, Moroccan footballer

Boban Marjanović, Serbian basketball player

Ryan D'Imperio, American football player

Michel Kreder, Dutch cyclist

Sean McAllister, English footballer

Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (died 2019)

Jarrod Dyson, American baseball player

Emily Kinney, American actress and singer-songwriter

Siobhan Chamberlain, English association football goalkeeper

Altamiro Carrilho, Brazilian flute player and composer (born 1924)

Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (born 1925)

Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1984)

Mary Catherine Lamb, American textile artist (born 1949)

Vic Toweel, South African-Australian boxer (born 1929)

Jerry Wexler, American journalist and producer (born 1917)

Richard Bradshaw, English conductor and director (born 1944)

John Gofman, American biologist, chemist, and physicist (born 1918)

Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand physician (born 1908)

Sam Pollock, Canadian businessman (born 1925)

Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand Māori queen (born 1931)

Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (born 1955)

Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer and manager (born 1923)