1969In upstate New York, the counterculture comes together for Woodstock, the largest rock concert of the 60s. “What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000.” Among the acts of the festival, which ended in more than three days later, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, The Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

1769Napoleon Bonaparte, the French General and ruler whose wars reshape the map of Europe, is born on the island of Corsica.

1947In Asia, India gains its independence a day after neighboring Pakistan is established, concluding British colonial rule over the entire Indian subcontinent.

1998In Northern Ireland, the deadliest terror attack in decades of sectarian violence takes place in the town of Omagh, that’s where a car bomb planted by an IRA splinter group kills 29 people and wounds hundreds of others.

1914In central America, the Panama Canal opens to shipping traffic, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

And 1939The Wizard of Oz, the movie musical fantasy starring Judy Garland that remains a pop culture classic, premieres in Hollywood.

Today in History. August 15th, Camille Bohannon, the Associated Press.