Year 1772
Divani and Faujdary courts seperated by East India Company.
AUGUST 15
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
15 August: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 15 August.
Observances & Special Days
Indian Independence Day & Sanskrit Day
Independence Day.
Year 1824
Freed American slaves established Liberia on the West African cost through the American colonization society.
Year 1854
The first train of the East Indian Railways steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hoogly, which was at a distance of 24 miles. It was the first passenger train catering to public traffic. Officially, it was inaugurated in 1855.
Year 1862
Madras high court was established.
Year 1867
Bhartendu Harishchandra publishes a Hindi monthly 'Kavi Vachan Sudha'.
Year 1945
Korea gained independence from the Empire of Japan.
Year 1947
India gained independence from British rule after near 190 years of British East India Company and Crown Rule. And Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India.
Year 1947
Mohammad Ali Jina became the first Governor-General of Pakistan.
Year 1947
Sir Cyril Radcliffe Award on the new boundaries of West Punjab, East Punjab, West Bengal, East Bengal and Assam.
Year 1947
Paramveer Chakra, Mahaveer Chakra, Veer Chakra instituted as 'Awards for Gallantry'.
Year 1947
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Indian Prime Minister of free India.
Year 1947
Lord Louis Mountbatten took charge as the first British Governor General of Indian Union and occupied this office till June 20, 1948.
Year 1947
Brigadier Thakur Mahadeo Singh was the first Indian Commandant. He was the DSO of Indian Militery Academy.
Year 1949
Chandernagore joins the Indian Union. Panchayati Raj inaugurated in 114,000 villages.
Year 1950
Indian Constitution goes into effect.
Year 1955
Satyagrah started for the freedom of Goa.
Year 1960
Maharashtra State Sahkari Grihvitta Corporation was established.
Year 1960
Congo gained independence from France.
Year 1965
Television starts in New Delhi.
Year 1968
Marathwada', a daily newspaper, published.
Year 1969
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) formed under the Department of Atomic Energy.
Year 1971
Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. And Shaik Mujib Rehman became the first Prime Minister.
Year 1972
Postal Index Number (PIN Code) of 6-digits was introduced.
Year 1982
Color Television Broadcasting started in India. Doordarshan's national programme and the first nationwide colour transmission started by Delhi Doordarshan.
Year 1990
Uttar Maharashtra University was established.
Year 1990
GOI declares Prophet Mohammed's birthday a national holiday.
Year 1990
India successfully test fires 'Akash', an advanced medium range surface to air missile.
Year 1992
Karnataka seeks army help to nab sandal wood smuggler Veerappan.
Year 1993
Five more Doordarshan channels launched.
Year 1994
At Churchgate railway station on platform No.1, noted film actor A.K. Hangal signalled the start of theatre in a train by waving a green flag.
Year 1995
P.V Narasimha Rao introduces the mid-day meal scheme for the primary school children under the Central Government Welfare Programme.
Year 1996
Deve Gowda speaks in Hindi on the occasion of the 50th Independence Day.
Year 1997
The Government bans doctors from determining the sex of the foetus.
Year 1997
IWM Vijayalakshmi wins Asian Zonal Women's Chess tournament in Tehran.
Year 1997
K.Sasikaran gets third IM norm in British Open Chess tournament.
Year 1997
K. R. Narayanan, President, posthumously confers nation's highest peace-time gallantry award 'Ashok Chakra' to second Lieutenant Puneet Dutta.
Year 1999
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, says Agni-2 to be inducted in the defence arsenal.
Year 2000
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, says in his Independence Day address, "Borders cannot be redrawn either in the name of religion or on the strength of the sword".
Year 2007
An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
Year 2013
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.
Year 2013
The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.
Year 2015
North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.
Year 2020
Indian Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket.
Born 1798
Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior (d. 1831)
Born 1769
Napolean Bonaparte, Emperor of France.
Born 1865
Mikao Usni, Japanese spiritual leader. He founded Reiki.
Born 1872
Shri Aurobindo, Indian novelist, freedom fighter, philosopher, guru, and poet. He was a renaissance yoga philosopher, freedom fighter and teacher. His 30-volume work discusses the 'superman', a metaphor for the divinely transformed individual soul. He withdrew from the world in 1910 and founded International Ashram in Pondicherry.
Born 1873
Ramaprasad Chanda, Indian archaeologist and historian (d. 1942)
Born 1896
Gerty Theresa Cori, Austro-Hungarian-American biochemist.
Born 1904
George Klein, Canadian inventor. He invented a Motorized Wheelchair.
Born 1912
Amir Khan, an Indian classical vocalist and the founder of the Indore gharana.
Born 1918
Hans Kumar Tiwari, famous poet and translater, was born.
Born 1921
Amrit Rai, novelist and translater, was born .
Born 1925
Sadashiv Pandurang Jantre, great freedom fighter and social worker, was born .
Born 1938
Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist (d. 2014)
Born 1947
Rakhee Gulzar, Indian film actress
Born 1964
Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates and co-founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Born 1958
Simple Kapadia, Indian actress and costume designer (d. 2009)
Born 1961
Suhasini Maniratnam, Indian actress and screenwriter
Born 1971
Adnan Sami, Indian singer, musician, music composer, pianist and actor
Born 1975
Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer and coach
Born 1990
Jennifer Lawrence, American actress.
Born 1992
Baskaran Adhiban, Indian chess player
Died 1935
Will Rogers, American actor.
Died 1942
Mahadev Desai. He was Mahatma Gandhi’s secretary and freedom fighter. He died of heart failure at Aga Khan's Palace.
Died 1967
Rene Magritte, Belgian surrealist painter.
Died 1975
Shaikh Mujibur Rehman. The first president of Bangladesh assassinated by militants.
Died 1979
Tukoji Holkar, a leader of Peshwa kingdom, dies.
Died 1994
Sukumar Gupta, a socialist, dies.
Died 2004
Amar Singh Chaudhari, 8th Chief minister of Gujrat, India.
Died 2005
Bendupudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist and academic.
Died 2015
Julian Bond. Social activist, civil rights leader, and former representative from Georgia. He was the Chairman of the NAACP from 1998 to 2010.
Died 2018
Ajit Wadekar, an Indian international cricketer.
Died 2004
Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (b. 1941)
Died 2005
Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist and academic (b. 1927)