August 15
1057
Macbeth, king of Scotland, was killed by Malcolm Canmore.
1911
Proctor & Gamble Company introduced Crisco vegetable shortening.
1935
Aviator Wiley Post and actor Will Rogers were killed in a plane crash.
1939
The Wizard of Oz premiered in Hollywood.
1947
The Indian Independence Bill created the two independent states of India and Pakistan.
1948
South Korea became the Republic of Korea.
1969
Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York.
1998
A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killed 29 people. It was the deadliest act of violence in more than 30 years of “Troubles.”
2001
Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own.
Birthdays
Napoleon I
1769–1821, emperor of the French, born in Ajaccio, Corsica, known as “the Little Corporal.”
Walter Scott
writer (1771)
Ethel Barrymore
actress (1879)
Edna Ferber
author (1887)
T. E. Lawrence
adventurer (1888)
Julia Child
chef (1912)