August the 15th:

1261-Constantinople falls fo Michael VIII of Nicea and his army.
1864-The Tallahassee, a Confederate Raider captured 6 Federal ships off New England.
1872-The first ballot voting in England is conducted.
1914-The Panama Canal opened to traffic.
1935-American comedian and "cowboy philosopher" Will Rogers died in an airplane crash along with American aviation pioneer Wiley Post.
1942-The Japanese submarine I-25 departed from Japan with a floatplane in its hold which was to be assembled upon arriving off the West Coast of the U.S and used to bomb U.S. Forests.
1945-Gasoline and fuel oil rationing ended in the U.S
1947-Britain grants independence to India and Pakistan.

August the 16th:

1513-Henry VIII of England and Emperor Maximilian defeated the French at Guinegatte, France, in the Battle of the Spurs.
1777-France declares a state of bankruptcy.
1858-U.S. President James Buchanan and Britain's Queen Victoria exchanged messages inaugurating the first transatlantic telegraph line.
1896-Gold was discovered in the Klondike of Candace's Yukon Territory, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
1977-Elvis Presley died.

August the 17th:

1833-The first steam ship to cross the Atlantic entirely on its own power, the Canadian ship Royal William, began her journey from Nova Scotia to the Isle of Wight.
1863- Union gun boats attack Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC for the first time.
1945-Upon hearing confirmation that Japan has surrendered, Sukarno proclaims Indonesia's independence.
1978-3 Americans complete the first crossing of the Atlantic in a balloon.
1987-93 year old Rudolf Hess, former Nazi leader and deputy of Hitler, is found hanged to death in Spandau Prison.

August the 18th:

1587-In the Roanoke Island colony, Ellinor and Ananias Dare became parents of a baby girl who they namde Virginia, the first English child born in what would become the United States.
1698-After invading Denmark and capturing Sweden, Charles XII of Sweden forced Frederick IV of Denmark to sign the Peace of Travendal.
1782-Poet and artist William Blake married Catherine Sophia Boucher.
1862-Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart?s headquarters was raided by Union troops of the 5th New York and 1st Michigan cavalries.
1864-Union General William T. Sherman sent General Judson Kilpatrick to raid confederate lines of communication outside Atlanta. The raid was unsuccessful.
1914-Germany declared war on Russia while President Woodrow Wilson issued his Proclamation of Neutrality.
1920-Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment granting women?s suffrage, completing the ¾ necessary to put the amendment into effect.
1939-The film The Wizard of Oz opened in New York City.
1942-Japan sent a crack army to Guadalcanal to repulse the U.S. Marines fighting there.
1943- The Royal Air Force Bomber Command completed the first major strike against the German missile development facility at Peenemunde.
1965-Operation Starlite marked the beginning of major U.S. ground combat operations in Vietnam.
1991-A group of hard-line communist leaders unhappy with the drift toward the collapse of the Soviet Union seized control of the government in Moscow and placed President Mikhail S. Gorbachev under house arrest.

August the 19th:

1493-Maximilian succeeded his father Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor.
1587-Sigismund III is chosen to be King of Poland.
1692-Five women were hung in Salem, Massachusetts after being convicted of the crime of witchcraft. 14 more people were executed in that year and 150 others were imprisoned.
1772-Gustavus III of Sweden eliminated the rule of parties and established an absolute monarchy.
1812-The USS Constitution earned the nickname ?Old Ironsides? during the battle of Nova Scotia that saw her defeat the HMS Guerriere.
1914-The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) lands in France.
1934-38 Million Germans voted to make Adolf Hitler the official successor to President von Hindenburg.
1936-Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca was shot by Franco?s troops after being forced to dig his own grave.
1944-In an effort to prevent a communist uprising in Paris, Charles DeGualle began attacking German forces all around the city.
1957-The first balloon flight to exceed 100,000 feet took off from Crosby, Minnesota.
1965-The U.S. Forces destroyed a Viet Cong stronghold near Van Tuong, in South Vietnam.

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Ok.. <L> I?m done! I?ll finish my post about the French and Indian War later. It?s a fascinating topic. <L> Thank y?all for being so patient while I try to get the hang of it. Y?all can relax because Aaron should be back now so the weekly history post will return to its original format and conciseness. <gg>

The OSHS and HBH (with a little help from RA :-D )