TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – AUG 15
1057 Macbeth, king of Scotland, was killed by Malcolm Canmore.
1261 Constantinople falls to Michael VIII of Nicea and his army.
1461 Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmet II – last Byzantine Empire remnant to fall. Emperor David exiled and later murdered.
1872 The first ballot voting in England is conducted.
1911 Proctor & Gamble Company introduced Crisco vegetable shortening.
1914 The Panama Canal opens to traffic.
1945 Gasoline and fuel oil rationing ends in the United States.
1947 Britain grants independence to India and Pakistan.
1969 Over 400,000 young people attend a weekend of rock music at Woodstock, New York.
1971 US President Richard Nixon announces a 90-day freeze on wages and prices in an attempt to halt rapid inflation.
1973 US involvement in Vietnam ends The Case–Church Amendment passed by the US Congress set August 15 as the deadline for the end of the US military involvement in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
1986 Ignoring objections from President Ronald Reagan’s Administration, US Senate approves economic sanctions against South Africa to protest that country’s apartheid policies.
1994 US Social Security Administration, previously part of the Department of Health and Human Services, becomes an independent government agency.
1994 Infamous terrorist Carlos the Jackal captured in Khartoum, Sudan.
1997 The U.S. Justice Department decided not to prosecute FBI officials in connection with the deadly 1992 Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho. The investigation dealt with an alleged cover-up.
1998 Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, kills 29 people and injures about 220
2000 A group of 100 people from North Korea arrived in South Korea for temporary reunions with relatives they had not seen for half a century. Also, a group of 100 South Koreans visited the North.
2001 Astronomers announce the first solar system discovered outside our own; two planets had been found orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.
2015 North Korea Introduces Pyongyang Time The East Asian country introduced the time change to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Japanese occupation of Korea.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
