http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Aug 15, 1969: The Woodstock festival opens in Bethel, New York
On this day in 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival opens on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.
Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near the town of Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists' colony was already a home base for Bob Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more. Plans for the festival were on the verge of foundering, however, after both Woodstock and the nearby town of Wallkill denied permission to hold the event. Dairy farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue at the last minute, giving the promoters access to his 600 acres of land in Bethel, some 50 miles from Woodstock.
Early estimates of attendance increased from 50,000 to around 200,000, but by the time the gates opened on Friday, August 15, more than 400,000 people were clamoring to get in. Those without tickets simply walked through gaps in the fences, and the organizers were eventually forced to make the event free of charge. Folk singer and guitarist Richie Havens kicked off the event with a long set, and Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie also performed on Friday night.
Somewhat improbably, the chaotic gathering of half a million young "hippies" lived up to its billing of "Three Days of Peace and Music." There were surprisingly few incidents of violence on the overcrowded grounds, and a number of musicians performed songs expressing their opposition to the Vietnam War. Among the many great moments at the Woodstock Music Festival were career-making performances by up-and-coming acts like Santana, Joe Cocker and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; the Who's early-morning set featuring songs from their classic rock opera "Tommy"; and the closing set by Hendrix, which climaxed with an improvised solo guitar performance of "The Star Spangled Banner."
Though Woodstock had left its promoters nearly bankrupt, their ownership of the film and recording rights more than compensated for the losses after the release of a hit documentary film in 1970. Later music festivals inspired by Woodstock's success failed to live up to its standard, and the festival still stands for many as a example of America's 1960s youth counterculture at its best.
Aug 15, 1945: The Japanese emperor speaks
On this day in 1945, Emperor Hirohito broadcasts the news of Japan's surrender to the Japanese people.
Although Tokyo had already communicated to the Allies its acceptance of the surrender terms of the Potsdam Conference several days earlier, and a Japanese news service announcement had been made to that effect, the Japanese people were still waiting to hear an authoritative voice speak the unspeakable: that Japan had been defeated.
That voice was the emperor's. In Japan's Shinto religious tradition, the emperor was also divine; his voice was the voice of a god. And on August 15, that voice—heard over the radio airwaves for the very first time—confessed that Japan's enemy "has begun to employ a most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives." This was the reason given for Japan's surrender. Hirohito's oral memoirs, published and translated after the war, evidence the emperor's fear at the time that "the Japanese race will be destroyed if the war continues."
A sticking point in the Japanese surrender terms had been Hirohito's status as emperor. Tokyo wanted the emperor's status protected; the Allies wanted no preconditions. There was a compromise. The emperor retained his title; Gen. Douglas MacArthur believed his at least ceremonial presence would be a stabilizing influence in postwar Japan. But Hirohito was forced to disclaim his divine status. Japan lost more than a war—it lost a god.
Today
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
778 - Battle of Roncevaux Pass: Roland, commander of the
rear guard of Charlemagne's army is defeated by the Basques
927 - The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
1040 - King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first
cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scots.
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.
1308 - Johannieter knights conquer Rhodos on the Greece
1457 - Earliest dated book, "Mainz Psalter,"
completed
1461 - The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of
Sultan Mehmet II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the
Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
1517 - Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de
Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
1519 - Panama City founded
1534 - Ignatius of Loyola forms society of Jesus/Jesuits
1537 - Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
1540 - Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
1548 - Mary queen of Scotland (6) arrives in France
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.
1620 - Mayflower sets sail from Southampton with 102
Pilgrims
1635 - 1st recorded US hurricane hit the Plymouth Colony
1653 - -16] Dutch ship "Sperwer" stranded at
Tsjedzjoe Korea
Roman Emperor CharlemagneRoman Emperor Charlemagne 1658 -
France/Sweden/Bavarian/Brunswick/Munster/Hessen-Kassel form Rijnbond
1668 - Rijnbond disbands
1684 - Spain & Germany sign cease fire with France
1741 - French troops attack the Rhine
1748 - United Lutheran Church of US organized
1760 - Battle at Leignitz: Prussia beats Austria &
Russia
1785 - French cardinal De Rohan arrested
1795 - Joseph Haydn leaves England forever
1824 - Freed American slaves forms country of Liberia
1832 - Gregory XVI encyclical On liberalism & religious
indifferentism
1843 - National black convention meets (Buffalo NY)
1843 - Tivoli Park in Copenhagen opens
1848 - M Waldo Hanchett patents dental chair
1858 - Regular mail to Pacific coast begins
1861 - Lincoln directs reinforcements to be sent to MO
1863 - Submarine "HL Hunley" arrives in Charleston
on railroad cars
1863 - The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma
Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2,
1863).
1864 - Off New England coast, CSS Tallahassee captures 6 yankee
schooners
1867 - 2nd Reform Bill extends suffrage in England
1869 - The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new
ministries, including one for Shinto.
1870 - Transcontinental Railway actually completed in
Colorado
1876 - US law removes Indians from Black Hills after gold
find
1886 - Guy Hecker scores 7 runs in 1 game
1891 - San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel
church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
1892 - 4th & last British government of Gladstone forms
1893 - US no longer allowed exclusive rights in Bering Sea
1899 - Louisville's Henry Dowling struck out 5 times in a
game
1901 - Arch Rock, danger to Bay shipping, blasted with 30
tons of nitro
1905 - Phila A's Rube Waddell no-hits St Louis Browns, 2-0
in 5 innings
1906 - 1st freight delivery tunnel system begins, underneath
Chicago
1911 - Procter & Gamble unveils its Crisco shortening
1912 - Yankee Guy Zinn sets record by stealing home twice in
a game
1914 - 13th Davis Cup: Australasia beats USA in New York
(3-2)
1914 - Dinant Belgium destroyed by German bombs
French President Charles de GaulleFrench President Charles
de Gaulle 1914 - German assault at Dinant: Lt Charles de Gaulle (24), injured
1914 - Japan joins side of allies
1914 - Panama Canal opens (under cost)
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.
1915 - Journalist Albert Siegfried Bettelheim, convicted of
murder in Georgia
1918 - 1st full length cartoon (Sinking of Lusitania)
1918 - Russia severs diplomatic ties with US
1923 - Eamon de Valera arrested in Irish Free State
1923 - Mexico & US reaches accord over oil concession of
1917
1925 - Norway annexes Spitsbergen
1925 - White Sox Dickie Kerr, 1st appearance since winning 2
world series games in 1919
1931 - Ernest Lassy completes longest canoe journey without
port (6,102 mi)
1931 - Roy Wilkins joined NAACP as asst secretary
1931 - Spakenburg soccer team forms
1939 - "Wizard of Oz" premieres at Grauman's
Chinese Theater, Hollywood
1939 - In 1st night game at Comiskey Park, Sox beat Browns
5-2
1939 - 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous
air-practice at Neuhammer. No survivors.
1940 - 1st edition of Jewish Weekly newspaper in Amsterdam
(under Nazi)
1940 - Heavy dogfights above England: 75 German aircrafts
damaged
1941 - Kovono Lithuanian Jews are herded into Slobodka
ghetto
1942 - 5 hostages executed by Nazis in St-Michielsgestel
1943 - Allies land on Kiska Aleutians
1944 - Allied air raid on train in North Netherlands, 32
killed
1944 - German field marshal von Kluge vanishes for one day
1944 - Operation Anvil: Allies land on French Mediterranean
sea coast
1944 - Operation Dragoon: Allied troops land in Provence
1944 - US 12 Army corp enters Le Mans through Orleans
1944 - US 7th Armour division reaches Chartres
1945 - A riot ensued in SF while the city was celebrating
the end of WW II
1945 - South Korea liberated from Japanese rule
1945 - US wartime rationing of gasoline & fuel oil ends
1945 - Chandler sells World Series radio rights for $150,000
to Gillette, Ford had been World Series sponsor since 1934, pay $100,000
annually
1945 - World War II: Korean Liberation Day.
1947 - India declares independence from UK, Islamic part
becomes Pakistan
1947 - Pakistan (formerly West Pakistan) declares
independence from UK
1948 - 3rd US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Babe
Didrikson-Zaharias
1948 - Republic of Korea (South Korea) proclaimed (National
Day)
1949 - WOTV TV channel 8 in Grand Rapids, MI (NBC) begins
broadcasting
1950 - 8.6 earthquake in India kills 20,000 to 30,000
1950 - Ezzard Charles TKOs Freddie Beshore in 14 for
heavyweight boxing title
1950 - Indians make their 1st triple play at Cleveland
Stadium
1950 - Indies Constitution goes into effect
1950 - Joseph Pholien becomes Belgian premier
1950 - Pres Sukarno proclaims unity of Indonesia
1950 - Rotterdam harbor strike begins
1950 - Srikakulam district is formed in Andhra Pradesh,
India.
1952 - 19th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Los Angeles 10,
All-Stars 7 (88,316)
1952 - 9" of rain fall creates a 20' wave in Lynmouth,
England killing 34
1954 - Alfredo Stroessner names himself president of
Paraguay
1954 - WCHS TV channel 8 in Charleston-Huntington, WV (ABC)
begins
1955 - WXEX TV channel 8 in Richmond-Petersburg, VA (ABC)
begins
1955 - Hurricane Connie dissipates after killing 43 in NC,
SC, Virginia & Maryland
1957 - David Simons reaches 30,942 m in Man High 2 balloon
1957 - USAF Capt Joe B Jordan reaches 31,513 m in F-104 jet
fighter
1958 - 25th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 35, Detroit
19 (70,000)
1958 - Marshal Boelganin resigns as director of Staatsbank
1958 - Soviet Marshal Bulganin resigns as director of State
Bank
1960 - CFL's Calgary Stampeders move into McMahon Stadium
1960 - Chic Bears beat NY Giants 16-7 in Toronto (NFL expo)
1960 - Congo (formerly Congo/Brazzaville) declares
Independence from France
1960 - Mil Brave Lew Burdette no-hits Philadelphia Phillies,
1-0
1960 - UFO is sighted by 3 California patrolmen
1961 - Keiyo Road is specified as the first driveway in
Japan.
1962 - Netherlands & Indonesia signs accord about New
Guinea
1962 - Shady Grove Baptist Church burned in Leesburg Georgia
1963 - Fulbert Youlou, resigns as Pres of Congo-Brazzaville
1964 - Fred Trueman takes 300th Test Cricket wicket (Neil
Hawke)
Hall of Fame MLB shortstop Ernie BanksHall of Fame MLB
shortstop Ernie Banks 1964 - Mayor Daley declares "Ernie Banks Day"
in Chicago
1964 - Phillies triple-play NY Mets
1964 - Race riot in Dixmoor (Chicago suburb) Ill
1964 - Ralph Boston of US, sets then long jump record at 27'
3½"
1965 - 47th PGA Championship: Dave Marr shoots a 280 at
Laurel Valley GC PA
1965 - Beatles play to 55,000 at Shea Stadium
1965 - Mary Mills wins LPGA St Louis Golf Open
1965 - Japanese community of SF holds Masanori Murakami Day
at Candlestick Park to honor 1st Japanese player to play in major leagues
1966 - Radio Free Asia (South Korea) begins radio
transmission
1967 - Pope Paul VI publishes constitution Regimini
Ecclesiae Universae
1967 - England's Marine Offense Bill makies pirate radio
stations a crime goes into effect, pirate station Radio 355 closes down
1968 - Pirate Radio Free London, begins transmitting
1968 - Romanian president Ceausescu visits Prague
1968 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1969 - Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in NY State (Max
Yasgur's Dairy Farm)
1970 - Patricia Palinkas becomes 1st woman pro football
player (Orlando)
1971 - Bahrain gains independence from Britain
1971 - Charles Lismont wins Helsinki marathon (2:13:09.0)
1971 - KVRL (now KRIV) TV ch 26 in Shreveport-Texarkana, LA
(NBC) begins
1971 - Pres Nixon announces 90-day freeze on wages, prices
& rents
1971 - Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Len Immke Buick Golf Open
1973 - Black September kills 3 wounds 55 Athens
1973 - David Storey's "Cromwell," premieres in
London
1973 - USSR performs nuclear test
1974 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1974 - Hurricane/floods ravage Bangladesh, 4,000 killed
1974 - Longest team (6) trampoline bouncing marathon (1,248
hours (52 days))
1974 - South Korean President Park Chung-Hee escapes
assassination
1975 - Bangladesh military coup under Khondakar Moustaque
Ahmed
1975 - Joanne Little acquitted of murder charges
1975 - Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to
Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of
World War II.
1976 - Jane Blalock wins LPGA Wheeling Golf Classic
1977 - England regain cricket Ashes by taking a 3-0 series
lead over Aust
1977 - SS chief Kappler escapes from prison hospital in Rome
1978 - House of Reps approves (233-169), 39-month extension
for ERA
1979 - Andrew Young resigns as UN ambassador
1981 - Botham scores a century in 86 balls v Australia at
Old Trafford
1981 - Robin Leamy of US swims record 7.98 kph for 50 m
1982 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA WUI Golf Classic
1982 - Equatorial Guinea adopts constitution
1983 - Ramones guitarist Joey Ramone, beaten in fight-undergoes
brain surgery
1984 - The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks
upon the Turkish military
1985 - Iraqi air raid on Iran oil-island Kharg
1986 - Pres Reagan decides to support a replacement for
Challenger
1987 - US beats Cuba in Pan-Am baseball
1987 - At Pan Am games in Indianapolis, USA & Cuba are
tied with 2 outs in 9th, Ty Griffin HR, Cuba 1st loss in 20 years of Pan Am
competition
1988 - "Ain't Misbehavin'" opens at Ambassador
Theater NYC for 176 perfs
1988 - At 4PM LILCO consumers used a record 3,813 megawatts
1988 - NYC begins $70 million program to rebuild 900 Bronx
apartments
1989 - Cancer sufferer/SF Giant pitcher Dave Dravecky breaks
arm on mound
1989 - Frederik de Klerk becomes president of South Africa
1989 - Giorgio Lamberti swims world record 200m free style
(1:46.69)
1989 - US Venus probe Magellan launched from Space shuttle
1989 - In 2nd start since after cancer treatment, Giants
Dave Dravecky breaks his pitching arm while throwing to Tim Raines
1990 - 51st PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Gary Player
1990 - Mark McGwire is 1st to hit 30 HRs in each of his 1st
4 seasons
1990 - Phils Terry Mulholland no-hits Giants 6-0 (8th no
hitter of 1990)
1991 - 750,000 attend Paul Simon's free concert in Central
Park
1991 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1992 - Colombo '92 closes in Genoa Italy
1993 - "Goodbye Girl" closes at Marquis Theater
NYC after 188 performances
1993 - 75th PGA Championship: Paul Azinger shoots a 272 at
Inverness Club Oh
1993 - Cindy Schreyer wins LPGA Sun-Time Challenge Golf
Tournament
1993 - NYC radio (WFAN) personality Don Imus' lung collapes
for 2nd time
1993 - Nolan Ryan, 324th & final victory, Rangers 4,
Indians 1
1993 - Televangelist Robert Tilton announces he is divorcing
Marte
Anti-apartheid activist/South African President Nelson
MandelaAnti-apartheid activist/South African President Nelson Mandela 1994 -
South African President Nelson Mandela receives Anne Frank Penning
1994 - Terrorist Carlos the Jackal, captured in Khartoum
Sudan
1995 - Keylee Sue Sanders, 18, of Kansas, crowned 13th Miss
Teen USA
1997 - Dan Wilson hits Seattle Mariners 3,000th HR
1997 - Dow Jones drops 247.37 pts
1997 - LA Dodgers retire Tommy Lasorda's #2
1998 - Omagh bomb 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.
2004 - Bay of Plenty win Rugby Union's Ranfurly shield for
the first time in the shield's 102 year history and after 28 unsuccessful
challenges. They defeated Auckland. 33-26
2007 - An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast
devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
1057 - Macbeth, the King of Scotland, was killed by the son of King Duncan. 1848 - The dental chair was patented by M. Waldo Hanchett. 1877 - Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA. The letter stated that the word, "hello" would be a more appropriate greeting than "ahoy" when answering the telephone. 1911 - The product Crisco was introduced by Procter & Gamble Company. 1914 - The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic as an American ship sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. 1918 - Diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Russia were severed. 1935 - Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed in an airplane crash in near Point Barrow, AK. 1939 - "The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA. Judy Garland became famous for the movie's song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." 1943 - Because of his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes, the U.S. War Department awarded Sgt. Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit. 1944 - The Allied forces of World War II landed in southern France. 1945 - The Allies proclaimed V-J Day a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally. 1947 - India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been under British about 200 years. 1948 - The Republic of Korea was proclaimed. 1948 - CBS-TV inaugurated the first nightly news broadcast with anchorman Douglas Edwards. 1949 - In San Francisco, a stunt leap off the Golden Gate Bridge was performed for the first time. 1961 - East German workers began construction of the Berlin Wall. 1970 - Mrs. Pat Palinkas became the first woman to ‘play’ in a pro football game when she held the ball for the Orlando, FL, Panthers. 1971 - U.S. President Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, rents and prices. 1983 - Six-month-old Lisa Harap of Queens Village, NY became the youngest identifiable living person to appear on a cover of "TIME" magazine. 1986 - The U.S. Senate approved a package of economic sanctions against South Africa. The ban included the importing of steel, uranium, textiles, coal, and produce from South Africa. 1992 - Vietnam blamed Hollywood for creating the "myth" concerning the issue of U.S. servicemen still being held prisoner in Indochina. 1994 - The U.S. Social Security Administration became an independent government agency. It had been a part of the Department of Health and Human Services agency. 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. 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 announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own. They had discovered two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.
1057 Macbeth, king of Scotland, was killed by Malcolm Canmore. 1911 Proctor & Gamble Company introduced Crisco vegetable shortening. 1935 Aviator Wiley Post and actor Will Rogers were killed in a plane crash. 1939 The Wizard of Oz premiered in Hollywood. 1947 The Indian Independence Bill created the two independent states of India and Pakistan. 1948 South Korea became the Republic of Korea. 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York. 1998 A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killed 29 people. It was the deadliest act of violence in more than 30 years of "Troubles." 2001 Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug15.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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