On August 15

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.

The Republic of Korea was established with Syngman Rhee (pictured) as its first president.

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.

Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles captured and blinded Ibatzes of Bulgaria by means of a ruse, ending the last resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.

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