Updated August 14, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Aug. 15, 1947, India and Pakistan became independent after some 200 years of British rule.
On Aug. 15, 1879, Ethel Barrymore, who was considered the “first lady” of the American theatre, was born. Following her death on June 18, 1959, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1057 Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain. 1769 Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica. 1935 Humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. 1939 “The Wizard of Oz” premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. 1944 Allied forces landed in southern France during World War II. 1945 The Allies proclaimed V-J Day, one day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally. 1947 India became independent after some 200 years of British rule. 1948 The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed. 1960 The Republic of the Congo became independent of French rule. 1971 President Richard M. Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents. 1998 A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killed 29 people and injured 370; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility. 2000 One hundred people from North Korea arrived in South Korea for temporary reunions with relatives they had not seen for half a century; 100 South Koreans visited the North. 2001 Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own – two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper. 2006 Israel began withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Ben Affleck turns 40 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
Actress Debra Messing (“Smash,” “Will and Grace”) turns 44 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
1923 Rose Marie, Actress (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”), turns 89 1924 Phyllis Schlafly, Conservative activist, turns 88 1925 Mike Connors, Actor (“Mannix”), turns 87 1935 Vernon Jordan, Civil rights activist, turns 77 1935 Jim Dale, Actor, singer, turns 77 1936 Pat Priest, Actress (“The Munsters”), turns 76 1938 Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court justice, turns 74 1944 Linda Ellerbee, Author, journalist, turns 68 1946 Jimmy Webb, Songwriter, turns 66 1950 Princess Anne, Member of the British royal family, turns 62 1950 Tess Harper, Actress, turns 62 1955 Larry Mathews, Actor (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”), turns 57 1957 Zeljko Ivanek, Actor, turns 55 1963 Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Director (“Babel”), turns 49 1970 Anthony Anderson, Actor, turns 42 1974 Natasha Henstridge, Actress, turns 38 1989 Joe Jonas, Rock singer (The Jonas Brothers), turns 23
Historic Birthdays
Ethel Barrymore 8/15/1879 – 6/18/1959 American stage and motion-picture actress.Go to obituary »
71 Matteo Visconti I 8/15/1250 – 6/24/1322
Italian head of the Milanese Visconti dynasty51 Napoleon 8/15/1769 – 5/5/1821
French general, First Consul and Emperor61 Sir Walter Scott 8/15/1771 – 9/21/1832
Scottish novelist, poet, historian and biographer80 Edna Ferber 8/15/1887 – 4/16/1968
American novelist and short-story writer94 Louis-Victor Broglie 8/15/1892 – 3/19/1987
French Nobel Prize-winning physicist (1929)82 Bil Baird 8/15/1904 – 3/18/1987
American puppeteer82 Jack Lynch 8/15/1917 – 10/20/1999
Irish politician; prime minister of Ireland (1966-73, 1977-9)70 Robert Bolt 8/15/1924 – 2/20/1995
English screenwriter and dramatist45 John Cranko 8/15/1927 – 6/26/1973
South African-born dancer and director of the Stuttgart Ballet
