Sunday · September 27, 2026
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American history, reported as it happened
Made for the 250th
On this day › August 15

What happened on August 15 in American history

August 15 is the 227th day of the year (the 228th in leap years). Patriot Compass has published 6 stories from August 15 spanning 1814 to 1962. Among them: in 1814, British storm Fort Erie in the dark; a powder magazine answers for the Americans; and in 1824, the last French general of the Revolution steps ashore in New York Harbor.

1814Member story · 1776 Club

British storm Fort Erie in the dark; a powder magazine answers for the Americans

Three columns crossed the Niagara frontier after midnight; one bastion never made it to dawn.
1824

The last French general of the Revolution steps ashore in New York Harbor

Invited by President Monroe to mark fifty years of independence, Lafayette begins a journey that will cover all 24 states.
1914Member story · 1776 Club

The Ancon crosses from ocean to ocean; the Panama Canal opens for business

A cargo ship and two hundred dignitaries make the trip a decade of digging was for.
1944Member story · 1776 Club

Allied troops storm the Riviera; Germans fall back within hours

French and American forces hit three beaches near Saint-Tropez while a German army thinned out by Normandy barely holds the shore.
1945

Emperor's voice reaches the Japanese people for the first time: Japan surrenders

A phonograph record, smuggled past mutinous officers overnight, carries Hirohito's words into homes across the country at noon.
1962

GI dodges court martial by walking across a minefield into North Korea

Three hours before he was due to answer for forged paperwork, Dresnok chose the DMZ instead.