15 August

The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending more than 28 years of fighting.

The Troubles: A car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army killed 29 people and injured approximately 220 others in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

Big Ear, a radio telescope at Ohio State University received a strong, apparently extraterrestrial radio signal that became known as the Wow! signal.

President Fulbert Youlou was overthrown in the Republic of Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.

Jawaharlal Nehru (pictured) took office as the first prime minister of India, a post he held for 16 years.

World War II: Allied forces began Operation Dragoon, their invasion of southern France.

World War II: The tanker SS Ohio reached Malta as part of an operation to deliver much-needed supplies during the siege of Malta.

Josef Jakobs, a German spy, became the last person executed at the Tower of London.

A military coup against the government of Dimitrios Rallis began in the neighbourhood of Goudi in Athens, Greece.

War of 1812: Potawatomi warriors ambushed a United States Army convoy after it had evacuated Fort Dearborn (site pictured), in present-day Chicago, and razed the fort.

Byzantine–Ottoman wars: The Empire of Trebizond, the longest-surviving Byzantine successor state, was conquered by Ottoman forces following a month-long siege.

Michael VIII Palaiologos was crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.

Upon the death of his uncle Stephen I, Peter (depicted) became the second king of Hungary.

Forces of the Umayyad Caliphate abandoned a year-long siege of Constantinople, ending their goal of conquering the Byzantine Empire.

US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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.

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

North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.

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

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

The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.

Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.

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