Holidays Calendar for August 14, 2015

Independence Day is one of the secular public holidays celebrated in Pakistan. It is observed on August 14 to commemorate the independence of Pakistan from the United Kingdom (as the Dominion of Pakistan).

August 14 is celebrated as Anniversary Day in Tristan da Cunha. This public holiday commemorates the day the United Kingdom made the archipelago a British colony in 1816.

August 14 is Oued Ed-Dahab Day in Morocco. This public holiday is also known as Oued Ed-Dahab Allegiance Day. It commemorates the day Morocco recovered the southern province of Oued Ed-Dahab from Mauritania.

World Lizard Day is celebrated annually on August 14. It is unclear who exactly invented this unofficial holiday and why they chose this date, but does it really matter? What matters is that all lizard enthusiasts have an excuse to celebrate their favorite reptiles.

August 14 is Engineer’s Day in the Dominican Republic. Every year the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (CODIA) is responsible for organization of special festive events for all engineers.

Energy Industry Employee’s Day (Dzień Energetyka), sometimes translated as Power Engineer’s Day, is celebrated in Poland on August 14 every year. It was created to celebrate the contribution of all people working in the country’s energy industry.

In the middle of South Africa, there is a small town named Orania that was founded by Afrikaners (descendants of Dutch, German and French settlers). Oranians do not recognize South African national holidays and celebrate their own holidays instead. One of these holidays is Language Day (Taaldag), observed annually on August 14.

Victory over Japan Day, also known as V-J Day, is the anniversary of the day on which Japan surrendered in the Second World War. It is observed on August 14 or August 15, depending on the time zone.

On August 14, Indonesian scouts celebrate Pramuka Day. It commemorates the founding of the national Scouting organization of Indonesia, Gerakan Pramuka, in 1961.

Islamic Resistance Day is an Iranian observance celebrated annually on August 14 (the 23th of Mordad in the Iranian calendar). It commemorates the end of the 2006 Lebanon War between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah paramilitary forces.

Falklands Day is a no longer official observance in the Falkland Islands celebrated on August 14. It commemorates the first sighting of the archipelago by John Davis in 1592.

Partition Horrors Remembrance Day is an official memorial day in India that is celebrated nationwide every August 14. It was established to commemorate the struggles and suffering of those who were affected by the partition of India in 1947.

National Navajo Code Talkers Day is observed annually on August 14. It was first proclaimed in 1982 to honor the contributions of Native Americans who served in the US military during the Second World War, using their native language to support the war effort.

August 14 is National Creamsicle Day in the United States. Creamsicle is a brand of frozen dessert owned by Unilever. It is part of the Popsicle product line along with Yosicle, Fudgsicle, and other frozen desserts.

The festival of Obon (or simply Bon) is one of the Japanese Buddhist custom. This festival is celebrated for three days: from August 13 to 15. Originally the festival was observed on the 15th day of the7th lunar month, but after transition to the Gregorian calendar the date of celebration is fixed.

 

This Day in History

  • 2013 Security forces of Egypt killed hundreds of demonstrators, supporting former president Mohamed Morsi. The government of Egypt declared a state of emergency in the country.
  • 2010 The first-ever Youth Olympic Games were held in Singapore. The Games are organized by the International Olympic Committee and held every four years in staggered summer and winter events.
  • 2007 At least 796 people were killed and 1,592 wounded in the Yazidi communities bombings. Four co-ordinated suicide bombers detonated bombs in the towns of Kahtaniya and Jazeera in Iraq.
  • 2005 Helios Airways Flight 522 en route from Larnaca, Cyprus to Prague, Czech Republic via Athens, crashed in the hills near Grammatiko, Greece. All 121 people on board (115 passengers and 6 crew members) were killed.
  • 1988 Died: Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, famous as the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team and subsequently of the Ferrari automobile brand.
  • 1984 Died: John Boynton Priestley, best known as J. B. Priestley, English novelist and broadcaster. He is known for depiction of life of Yorkshire, that is much reflected in The Good Companions. This work brought him wide public notice. Many of his plays were structured around the time-slip and he developed a new theory of time with different dimensions that link past, present and future.
  • 1983 Born: Mila Kunis, American actress. She made a breakthrough in 2008 playing in the romantic comedy-drama Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Other important roles followed, like in films Max Payne, The Book of Eli, Oz the Great and Powerful, Black Swan.
  • 1972 Died: Oscar Levant, American composer, pianist and actor. He is most famous for his mordant character and witticism on radio and in movies. He appeared in various films, including An American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue and The Barkleys of Broadway.
  • 1972 An East German Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft crashed in Berlin. The crash was caused by fire, that destroyed the tail section, making the aircraft uncontrollable. All 156 people on board were killed.
  • 1966 Born: Halle Berry, American actress, former fashion model, winner of an Academy Award for Best Actress and the only woman of color to win Oscar for a leading role. She appeared in many films, including The Flinstones, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, X-Men film series, Swordfish, Die Another Day.
  • 1963 Born: Emmanuelle Béart, French actress, well known in Europe. She appeared in over 60 film and television products, won César Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for seven times for Most Promising Actress and Best Actress.
  • 1960 Born: Sarah Brightman, English singer-songwriter and actress, singing in many languages. She debuted in Cats in 1981 and rose to prominence, starring in such musicals, as The Phantom of the Opera. After retirement from the stage she started her solo career.
  • 1958 Died: Frédéric Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist. In 1935 he shared a Nobel Prize in Chemistry with his wife Irène Joliot-Curie for discover of artificial radioactivity.
  • 1956 Died: Bertolt Brecht, German poet, playwright, and director. He made great contributions to the post-war dramaturgy and theatrical production, and known as the author of numerous plays, acted around the world: Drums in the Night, The Threepenny Opera, Mother Courage and Her Children.
  • 1951 Died: William Randolph Hearst, American publisher and politician. He founded the largest newspaper chain in America and profoundly influenced American journalism. After acquiring 30 newspapers, he started expansion to magazines, creating the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world.
  • 1947 Born: Danielle Steel, American novelist, author of such best-sellers as Hotel Vendome, Big Girl, A Perfect Stranger. He is the fourth bestselling author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold.
  • 1945 Japan accepted the Allied terms of surrender in World War II. The Emperor of Japan recorded the Imperial Rescript on Surrender. Due to time differences, this event took place in Japan on August 15.
  • 1941 Died: Paul Sabatier, French chemist and academic. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for improvement of the hydrogenation of organic species in the presence of metals in 1912.
  • 1941 Died: Maximilian Kolbe, Polish friar and saint. During the detention in the Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz he volunteered to die in place on a stranger. For this action Kolbe was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982 and proclaimed to be "the patron saint of our difficult century".
  • 1941 Born: Connie Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist, active since 1964. She is widely considered to be one of the best female vocalists in the USA. She earned 11 Grammy nominations, released 20 top ten Billboard country singles and 31 charting albums.
  • 1941 Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter of war, that defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was agreed by all the Allies of WWII.
  • 1936 The last public execution in the United States of America took place. Rainey Bethea charged with raping and murdering of a 70-year-old woman was hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky.
  • 1933 Born: Richard R. Ernst, Swiss chemist and academic. In 1991 he was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for contributions towards the development of Fourier Transform nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
  • 1909 Died: William Stanley, British inventor and engineer. During the lifetime he patented 78 inventions in the UK and in the USA. His work included development and making of precision drawing and mathematical instruments.
  • 1893 France introduced motor vehicle registration, thus becoming the first country to do so.
  • 1867 Born: John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright. He is best known for number of novels, like The Forsyte Saga, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter. In 1932 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
  • 1863 Born: Ernest Thayer, American poet, author of Casey at the Bat, the single most famous baseball poem ever written. This ballad was his last work and it made him a prize specimen of the one-poem poet.
  • 1742 Born: Pope Pius VII, born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramontil. Before the papacy he was a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict and a well known theologian. In 2007 he was posthumously granted the title of Servant of God.
  • 1464 Died: Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini. His longest and enduring work is the story of his life, that is the only autobiography ever written by a reigning Pope. He is also known for erotic writings done before he was ordained a priest.
  • 1040 King Duncan I of Scotland was killed in a battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeded him and became the new King of Scotland.