August 15

Today in History
• 1457 - Earliest dated book, "Mainz Psalter," completed, 1st to be printed in three colors
• 1534 - Ignatius of Loyola co-founds the Society of Jesus (Jesuit)
• 1620 - Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims
• 1635 - 1st recorded north American hurricane hits the Plymouth Colony
• 1748 - United Lutheran Church the American colonies organized
• 1858 - Regular mail to Pacific coast begins
• 1870 - Transcontinental Railway actually completed in Colorado
• 1876 - US law removes Indians from Black Hills after gold find


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Assumption of Mary (Spain)
• Feast of Assumption (Chile)
• Foundation of Old Panama City
• Founding of Asuncion in Paraguay
• Indian Independence Day
• Liberation Day
• Liechtenstein National Day
• National Acadian Day

Birthdays
• 1171 - Alfonso IX, King of León and Galicia (1188-1230)
• 1195 - Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint
• 1769 - Napoléon Bonaparte, French military leader and Emperor of the French
• 1803 - James Douglas 'The Father of British Columbia' fur trader and politician
• 1813 - Jules Grévy, 2nd President of the French Third Republic
• 1857 - Albert Ballin, German inventor and shipping tycoon
• 1860 - Florence Harding [DeWolfe], US 1st lady (1921-23)
• 1865 - Mikao Usui, Japanese founder of Reiki (form of spiritual practice)