History for August 15

History for August 15 - On-This-Day.com
Napoleon Bonaparte 1769, Sir Walter Scott 1771, T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") 1888


Julia Child 1912, Ben Affleck 1972, Jennifer Lawrence 1990 - Actress (TV: "The Bill Engvall Show," Movies: the "Hunger Games" series)


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. The first vessel to pass through the canal was the American cargo and passenger ship SS Ancon.


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."


1947 - India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been under British about 200 years.


1971 - U.S. President Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, rents and prices.


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.