On this day: August 15
Referee Acknowledges Years of Fixing Professional Basketball Games
A longtime professional basketball referee has admitted to manipulating game calls over multiple seasons, prompting league investigations and renewed scrutiny of officiating integrity across the sport.
Woodstock: When a Planned Concert Became an Unruly Cultural Milestone
Held on August 15–18, 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair drew an estimated 400,000 people to a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, overwhelming organizers and infrastructure and becoming both chaotic and iconic for the era.
Nixon Ends U.S. Dollar’s Convertibility to Gold
On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon announced the suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold for international holders, a decisive move that effectively ended the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates.
British troops intervene as Belfast sectarian rioting escalates
On 15 August 1969 British soldiers and armored vehicles moved into Belfast after days of sectarian clashes between Catholic and Protestant communities, marking a major escalation in the security response to Northern Ireland's communal violence.
Japan Announces Surrender, Ending World War II Fighting
On August 15, 1945, Japan formally announced its surrender to the Allied powers, signaling the effective end of World War II fighting after years of global conflict and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
India Marks Independence from British Rule on August 15, 1947
On 15 August 1947, British colonial rule in most of India formally ended with the transfer of power that created two independent dominions, India and Pakistan, following decades of nationalist struggle and World War II–era negotiations.