today.nukz.net: Almanac August 15

Lev Sergeyevich Termen; Léon Theremin in America (27 August 1896 – 3 November 1993) was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, and the first to be mass produced. He is also the inventor of interlace, a technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal, widely used in video and television technology. His invention of "The Thing", an espionage tool, is considered a predecessor of RFID technology.

Events

636 – The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
718 – Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Koan.
1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
1519 – Panama City, Panama, is founded.
1534 – Saint Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
1537 – Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
1540 – Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
1549 – Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
1599 – Nine Years War: Battle of Curlew Pass – Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
1695 – French forces end the Bombardment of Brussels, leaving a third of the buildings in the city in ruins.
1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz – Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
1812 – War of 1812: The Battle of Fort Dearborn is fought between United States troops and Potawatomi at what is now Chicago, Illinois.
1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
1869 – The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
1893 – Ibadan area became a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
1914 – A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
1914 – The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
1920 – Battle of Warsaw so called Miracle at the Vistula.
1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
1939 – 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. There are no survivors.
1939 – The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood California.
1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 am, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.
1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal – The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon – Allied forces land in southern France.
1945 – World War II: Japan surrenders to end the war.
1947 – India gains Independence from the British Indian Empire and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, United Kingdom, killing 34 people.
1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
1961 – Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland, UK.
1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York, New York, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
1969 – Woodstock opens.
1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
1975 – Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
1984 – The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Semdinli and Eruh
1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
1996 – President of Turkey Süleyman Demirel approved to "Law of ban For Casino in Turkey"
1998 – Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles
1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria; some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.

Births

1171 – King Alfonso IX of León (d. 1230)
1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint (d. 1231)
1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
1575 – Bartol Kašic, Croatian writer and linguist (d. 1650)
1613 – Gilles Ménage, French scholar (d. 1692)
1717 – Blind Jack, English roadbuilder (d. 1810)
1736 – Johann Christoph Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1803)
1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet (d. 1815)
1769 – Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican-born French military officer and Emperor of France (d. 1821)
1771 – Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist and poet (d. 1832)
1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English author (d. 1859)
1798 – Sangolli Rayanna, a prominent freedom fighter from Karnataka, India (d. 1831)
1813 – Jules Grévy, French statesman (d. 1891)
1824 – John Chisum, American Cattle Baron (d. 1884)
1844 – Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1908)
1846 – Charles Woodruff, American archer (d. 1927)
1856 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (d. 1916)
1857 – Albert Ballin, German shipping tycoon (d. 1918)
1858 – E. Nesbit, English author (d. 1924)
1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball owner (d. 1931)
1860 – Henrietta Vinton Davis, American elocutionist (d. 1941)
1860 – Florence Harding, American First Lady (d. 1924)
1863 – Aleksey Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician (d. 1945)
1865 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual figure (d. 1926)
1866 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer (d. 1945)
1872 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian writer and philosopher (d. 1950)
1873 – Ramaprasad Chanda, Indian historian and archaeologist (d. 1942)
1875 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English composer (d. 1912)
1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek military officer and politician (d. 1966)
1877 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (d. 1941)
1878 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian counter-revolutionary (d. 1928)
1879 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
1881 – Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist (d. 1956)
1882 – Marion Bauer, American composer, teacher, writer, and music critic (d. 1955)
1883 – Ivan Meštrovic, Croatian sculptor (d. 1962)
1885 – Edna Ferber, American novelist (d. 1968)
1886 – Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (d. 1974)
1890 – Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian (d. 2006)
1890 – Jacques Ibert, French composer (d. 1962)
1892 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1987)
1893 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and mechanical computation designer (d. 1950)
1896 – Gerty Cori, Austrian biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1957)
1896 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist (d. 1985)
1896 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer (d. 1958)
1896 – Leon Theremin, Russian inventor (d. 1993)
1898 – Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
1900 – Estelle Brody, American actress (d. 1995)
1901 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician (d. 1975)
1904 – George Klein, Canadian inventor (d. 1992)
1905 – Emile St. Godard, Canadian dog sled racer (d. 1948)
1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
1910 – Signe Hasso, Swedish actress (d. 2002)
1912 – Julia Child, American cook and TV personality (d. 2004)
1912 – Dame Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
1912 – Amir Khan, Indian classical vocalist (d. 1974)
1914 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
1916 – Aleks Çaçi, Albanian writer (d. 1989)
1917 – Jack Lynch, Irish politician (d. 1999)
1917 – Óscar Romero, El Salvadorian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1980)
1919 – Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
1919 – Benedict Kiely, Irish author (d. 2007)
1919 – Dina Wadia, only child of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his wife Maryam Jinnah
1921 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor, director, and Holocaust survivor (d. 2012)
1922 – Leonard Baskin, American sculptor and graphic artist (d. 2000)
1922 – Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek songwriter and musician (d. 2005)
1923 – Rose Marie, American actress
1924 – Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
1924 – Werner Abrolat, German actor (d. 1997)
1925 – Mike Connors, American actor
1925 – Münir Özkul, Turkish actor
1925 – Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist (d. 2007)
1925 – Bill Pinkney, American baritone singer (d. 2007)
1926 – Sami Michael, Iraqi-born Israeli author
1926 – Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, Greek politician
1927 – Eddie Leadbeater, England cricketer (d. 2011)
1928 – Nicolas Roeg, English film director
1929 – Georgios Roubanis, Greek athlete
1930 – Ageeda Paavel, Estonian freedom fighter
1933 – Bobby Helms, American pop singer (d. 1997)
1933 – Jim Lange, American game show host
1934 – Bobby Byrd, American soul/funk singer (d. 2007)
1934 – Nino Ferrer, French-Italian singer (d. 1998)
1934 – Reginald Scarlett, West Indian cricketer
1935 – Jim Dale, English actor
1935 – Vernon Jordan, American presidential advisor
1935 – Lionel Taylor, American football player
1938 – Maxine Waters, American politician
1938 – Janusz Zajdel, Polish writer
1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist (d. 1977)
1940 – Rita Shane, American soprano
1941 – Manolis Mavrommatis, Greek politician
1942 – Larry Hartsell, American martial arts instructor (d. 2007)
1943 – María Rojo, Mexican actress and politician
1944 – Linda Ellerbee, American journalist
1944 – Tom Murphy, American politician
1944 – Dimitris Sioufas, Greek lawyer and politician
1944 – Sylvie Vartan, Bulgarian-French pop singer
1945 – Duffy Dyer, American baseball player
1945 – Gene Upshaw, American football player (d. 2008)
1945 – Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician
1946 – Tony Robinson, English actor and television presenter
1946 – Jimmy Webb, American musician and composer
1947 – Raakhee, Indian actress
1947 – Jenny Hanley, British TV presenter
1948 – Uschi Digard, American pornographic actress and model
1948 – Patsy Gallant, Canadian pop singer
1948 – George Ryton, British engineer
1949 – Beverly Burns, American pilot
1949 – Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor
1949 – Garry Disher, Australian author
1949 – Mark B. Rosenberg, American educator
1950 – Tommy Aldridge, American musician
1950 – Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
1950 – Tom Kelly, American baseball manager
1951 – Ann Biderman, American film and television writer
1951 – Bobby Caldwell, American singer and musician
1951 – John Childs, England cricketer
1951 – Daba Diawara, Malian politician
1951 – Ranjan Gunatilleke, Sri Lankan cricketer
1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
1954 – Mary Jo Salter, American poet
1956 – Lorraine Desmarais, French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer
1956 – Freedom Neruda, Ivorian journalist
1957 – Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
1958 – Simon Baron-Cohen, British psychiatrist and author
1958 – Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1958 – Simple Kapadia, Indian actress and designer (d. 2009)
1958 – Victor Shenderovich, Russian satirist
1958 – Rondell Sheridan, American actor and comedian
1958 – Laurie Bembenek, American convicted murderer and fugitive (d. 2010)
1959 – Scott Altman, American astronaut
1961 – Ed Gillespie, American White House counsel to George W. Bush
1961 – Gary Kubiak, American football coach
1962 – Tom Colicchio, American chef
1963 – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican film director
1963 – Jack Russell, England cricketer
1963 – Valery Levaneuski, entrepreneur, politician, former political prisoner
1963 – Lady Miss Kier, American Singer and DJ
1964 – Melinda Gates, American wife of Bill Gates
1965 – Rob Thomas, American writer
1966 – Scott Brosius, American baseball player
1966 – Shirley Kwan, Hong Kong singer
1966 – Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player
1967 – Peter Hermann American actor
1968 – Debra Messing, American actress
1969 – Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong actor and singer
1969 – Bernard Fanning, Australian singer/songwriter (Powderfinger)
1969 – Cris Judd, American actor/choreographer
1970 – Anthony Anderson, American comedian and actor
1970 – Maddie Corman, American actress
1970 – Ben Silverman, American TV executive
1972 – Ben Affleck, American actor
1972 – Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballet dancer (d. 2007)
1972 – Chris Morrissey, American film director/actor
1972 – Matthew Wood, American actor and sound editor
1973 – Adnan Sami, British-born Pakastani music composer and singer
1973 – Adam Willard, American musician (The Offspring)
1973 – Amitabh Bhattacharjee Indian actor
1974 – Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress
1974 – Tomasz Suwary, Polish footballer
1975 – Bertrand Berry, American football player
1975 – Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer
1975 – Brendan Morrison, Canadian hockey player
1975 – Kara Wolters, American basketball player
1976 – Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football player
1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
1977 – Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
1977 – Nicole Paggi, American actress
1978 – Tim Foreman, American bassist (Switchfoot)
1978 – Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
1978 – Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
1978 – Kerri Walsh, American beach volleyball player
1979 – Carl Edwards, American NASCAR driver
1980 – Brandon Harrod, American songwriter
1980 – Natalie Press, English actress
1981 – Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
1981 – Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
1981 – Óliver Pérez, American baseball player
1982 – Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
1984 – Quinton Aaron, American actor
1986 – Natalia Kills, English singer-songwriter, actress, and director
1989 – Belinda, Mexican singer
1989 – Joe Jonas, American actor and singer
1989 – Carlos Pena, Jr., American singer and actor (Big Time Rush)
1990 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
1993 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, English footballer

Deaths

423 – Flavius Honorius, Roman Emperor (b. 384)
465 – Libius Severus, Roman Emperor
778 – Roland, Frankish commander
1038 – King Stephen I of Hungary
1040 – King Duncan I of Scotland
1057 – Macbeth, King of Scotland
1118 – Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1048)
1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
1274 – Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and educator (b. 1201)
1369 – Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England
1528 – Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, French military leader (b. 1485)
1552 – Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
1621 – John Barclay, Scottish writer (b. 1582)
1666 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German Jesuit missionary (b. 1591)
1714 – Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1654)
1728 – Marin Marais, French composer and viol player (b. 1656)
1758 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (b. 1698)
1799 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)
1852 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish scientist (b. 1760)
1859 – Nathaniel Claiborne, American politician (b. 1777)
1880 – Adelaide Neilson, English actress (b. 1848)
1907 – Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (b. 1831)
1909 – Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian writer and sociologist (b. 1866)
1917 – Thomas J. Higgins, American Union Army soldier (b. 1831)
1925 – Konrad Mägi, Estonian artist (b. 1878)
1928 – Anatole von Hügel, Catholic ethnologist and co-founder of St Edmund's College, Cambridge (b. 1854)
1931 – Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani WWI nurse (b. ca. 1878)
1935 – Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
1935 – Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (b. 1879)
1935 – Paul Signac, French painter (b. 1863)
1936 – Grazia Deledda, Italian writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1871)
1942 – Mahadev Desai, personal secretary of Mohandas Gandhi (b.1892)
1945 – Korechika Anami, Japanese War Minister (b. 1887)
1951 – Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (b. 1882)
1953 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)
1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese revolutionary (b. 1940)
1967 – René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
1971 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1887)
1975 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi statesman (b. 1920)
1975 – Clay Shaw, American lawyer and John F. Kennedy assassination investigator (b. 1913)
1982 – Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1903)
1989 – Minoru Genda, Japanese military aviator and politician (b. 1904)
1989 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek Army officer (b. 1897)
1990 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician (b. 1962)
1995 – John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (b. 1906)
1999 – Sir Hugh Casson, British architect and artist (b. 1910)
2000 – Ginetta Sagan, Italian-American human rights activist (b. 1925)
2001 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (b. 1972)
2003 – Gösta Sundqvist, Finnish songwriter and singer (heart attack) (b. 1957)
2004 – Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1916)
2004 – Semiha Berksoy, first Turkish opera singer (b. 1910)
2004 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician (b. 1941)
2005 – Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist (b. 1927)
2006 – Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Maori queen (b. 1931)
2006 – Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (b. c. 1955)
2006 – Coenraad Bron, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1937)
2006 – Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer (b. 1923)
2007 – Richard Bradshaw, British opera conductor, (b. 1944)
2007 – John Gofman, American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate (b. 1918)
2007 – Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand bush walker (b. 1908)
2007 – Sam Pollock, Canadian sports executive (b. 1925)
2008 – James Orthwein, American businessman (b. 1924)
2008 – Heinz-Ludwig Schmidt, German football manager (b. 1920)
2008 – Leroy Sievers, American journalist (b. 1955)
2008 – Vic Toweel, South African boxer (b. 1929)
2008 – Jerry Wexler, American music producer (b. 1917)
2011 – Michael Legat, English writer (b. 1923)
2011 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1984)