Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 15
August 15: Victory over Japan Day (1945); Independence Day in North Korea & South Korea (1945), India (1947), and Congo (1960); Flooding of the Nile in Egypt.
- 778 - A Frankish army led by Roland was defeated in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, a tale retold in the Old French epic poem The Song of Roland.
- 1534 - Ignatius of Loyola (pictured) and six others at Montmartre near Paris took the vows that led to the establishment of the Society of Jesus.
- 1914 - The Panama Canal opened to traffic, providing a short-cut from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
- 1945 - World War II: The Gyokuon-hōsō was broadcast in Japan, announcing the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military.
- 1969 - The Woodstock Music and Art Festival in Bethel, New York began.