This Day in History on 15 August

The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.

On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 15 August. The students can refer them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.

Important Days

Indian Independence Day & Sanskrit Day

Independence Day.

Important Events

1772: Divani and Faujdary courts seperated by East India Company.

1824: Freed American slaves established Liberia on the West African cost through the American colonization society.

1854: The first train of the East Indian Railways steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hoogly, which was at a distance of 24 miles. It was the first passenger train catering to public traffic. Officially, it was inaugurated in 1855.

1862: Madras high court was established.

1867: Bhartendu Harishchandra publishes a Hindi monthly ‘Kavi Vachan Sudha’.

1945: Korea gained independence from the Empire of Japan.

1947: India gained independence from British rule after near 190 years of British East India Company and Crown Rule. And Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India.

1947: Mohammad Ali Jina became the first Governor-General of Pakistan.

1947: Sir Cyril Radcliffe Award on the new boundaries of West Punjab, East Punjab, West Bengal, East Bengal and Assam.

1947: Paramveer Chakra, Mahaveer Chakra, Veer Chakra instituted as ‘Awards for Gallantry’.

1947: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Indian Prime Minister of free India.

1947: Lord Louis Mountbatten took charge as the first British Governor General of Indian Union and occupied this office till June 20, 1948.

1947: Brigadier Thakur Mahadeo Singh was the first Indian Commandant. He was the DSO of Indian Militery Academy.

1949: Chandernagore joins the Indian Union. Panchayati Raj inaugurated in 114,000 villages.

1950: Indian Constitution goes into effect.

1955: Satyagrah started for the freedom of Goa.

1960: Maharashtra State Sahkari Grihvitta Corporation was established.

1960: Congo gained independence from France.

1965: Television starts in New Delhi.

1968: Marathwada’, a daily newspaper, published.

1969: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) formed under the Department of Atomic Energy.

1971: Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. And Shaik Mujib Rehman became the first Prime Minister.

1972: Postal Index Number (PIN Code) of 6-digits was introduced.

1982: Color Television Broadcasting started in India. Doordarshan’s national programme and the first nationwide colour transmission started by Delhi Doordarshan.

1990: Uttar Maharashtra University was established.

1990: GOI declares Prophet Mohammed’s birthday a national holiday.

1990: India successfully test fires ‘Akash’, an advanced medium range surface to air missile.

1992: Karnataka seeks army help to nab sandal wood smuggler Veerappan.

1993: Five more Doordarshan channels launched.

1994: At Churchgate railway station on platform No.1, noted film actor A.K. Hangal signalled the start of theatre in a train by waving a green flag.

1995: P.V Narasimha Rao introduces the mid-day meal scheme for the primary school children under the Central Government Welfare Programme.

1996: Deve Gowda speaks in Hindi on the occasion of the 50th Independence Day.

1997: The Government bans doctors from determining the sex of the foetus.

1997: IWM Vijayalakshmi wins Asian Zonal Women’s Chess tournament in Tehran.

1997: K.Sasikaran gets third IM norm in British Open Chess tournament.

1997: K. R. Narayanan, President, posthumously confers nation’s highest peace-time gallantry award ‘Ashok Chakra’ to second Lieutenant Puneet Dutta.

1999: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, says Agni-2 to be inducted in the defence arsenal.

2000: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, says in his Independence Day address, “Borders cannot be redrawn either in the name of religion or on the strength of the sword”.

2007: An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.

2013: At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.

2013: The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.

2015: North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8​1⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

2020: Indian Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket. 

Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior
Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior

Birth/Birth Anniversary

1798: Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior (d. 1831)

1769: Napolean Bonaparte, Emperor of France.

1865: Mikao Usni, Japanese spiritual leader. He founded Reiki.

Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo
Ramaprasad Chanda
Ramaprasad Chanda

1872: Shri Aurobindo, Indian novelist, freedom fighter, philosopher, guru, and poet.  He was a renaissance yoga philosopher, freedom fighter and teacher. His 30-volume work discusses the ‘superman’, a metaphor for the divinely transformed individual soul. He withdrew from the world in 1910 and founded International Ashram in Pondicherry.

1873: Ramaprasad Chanda, Indian archaeologist and historian (d. 1942)

1896: Gerty Theresa Cori, Austro-Hungarian-American biochemist.

Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist
Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist
 Rakhee Gulzar
Rakhee Gulzar
Simple Kapadia
Simple Kapadia

1904: George Klein, Canadian inventor. He invented a Motorized Wheelchair.

1912: Amir Khan, an Indian classical vocalist and the founder of the Indore gharana.

1918: Hans Kumar Tiwari, famous poet and translater, was born.

1921: Amrit Rai, novelist and translater, was born .

1925: Sadashiv Pandurang Jantre, great freedom fighter and social worker, was born .

Suhasini Maniratnam
Suhasini Maniratnam

1938: Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist (d. 2014)

1947: Rakhee Gulzar, Indian film actress

1964: Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates and co-founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

1958: Simple Kapadia, Indian actress and costume designer (d. 2009)

Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer and coach
Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer and coach

1961: Suhasini Maniratnam, Indian actress and screenwriter

Baskaran Adhiban, Indian chess player
Baskaran Adhiban, Indian chess player
Adnan Sami, Indian singer,
Adnan Sami, Indian singer,

1971: Adnan Sami, Indian singer, musician, music composer, pianist and actor

1975: Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer and coach

1990: Jennifer Lawrence, American actress.

1992: Baskaran Adhiban, Indian chess player

Death/ Death Anniversary

Mahadev Desai

1935: Will Rogers, American actor.

1942: Mahadev Desai. He was Mahatma Gandhi’s secretary and freedom fighter. He died of heart failure at Aga Khan’s Palace.

1967: Rene Magritte, Belgian surrealist painter.

1975: Shaikh Mujibur Rehman. The first president of Bangladesh assassinated by militants.

1979: Tukoji Holkar, a leader of Peshwa kingdom, dies.

1994: Sukumar Gupta, a socialist, dies.

Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician
Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician

2004: Amar Singh Chaudhari, 8th Chief minister of Gujrat, India.

2005: Bendupudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist and academic.

2015: Julian Bond. Social activist, civil rights leader, and former representative from Georgia. He was the Chairman of the NAACP from 1998 to 2010.

2018: Ajit Wadekar, an Indian international cricketer.

2004: Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (b. 1941)

2005: Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist and academic (b. 1927)

Further Reading

Month-wise This Day in History