Discover · History

On this day — August 15

A hand-curated thread of what happened on this date, across centuries.

2025

Politics

US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska

the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

2021

Milestone

Kabul falls into the hands of the Taliban as Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan along with local residents and foreign nationals, effectively reestablishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

2020

Milestone

Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.

2015

Milestone

North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time

81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

2013

Milestone

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

Science

The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito

the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.

2007

Disaster

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

2005

Milestone

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.

2005

Milestone

The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed

ending almost three decades of fighting.

1999

Milestone

Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria

Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.

1998

Milestone

Northern Ireland

Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured.

1998

Milestone

Apple introduces the iMac computer.

1995

Milestone

In South Carolina

Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).

1995

Politics

Tomiichi Murayama

Prime Minister of Japan, releases the Murayama Statement, which formally expresses remorse for Japanese war crimes committed during World War II.

1989

Milestone

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport

killing 34 of the 40 people on board.