1. US History This Day in American History August 15
1899 – In Detroit, Michigan, Henry Ford resigns his position as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company's main plant in order to concentrate on automobile production.

2. US History This Day in American History August 15
The American-built waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is inaugurated with the passage of the U.S. vessel Ancon, a cargo and passenger ship.

3. US History This Day in American History August 15
1969 – the Woodstock Music Festival opens on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.

4. US History This Day in American History August 15
1983 – Hurricane Alicia forms south of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Three days later, the Texas Gulf Coast is slammed by the storm, causing 21 deaths, thousands of injuries and billions of dollars in damages.