Today in History - onthisday.com

            

                              

                                                                  August 14th

1040 King Duncan I of Scotland is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth, who succeeds him as king (not murdered in his sleep as in Shakespeare's play)

1281 During Kublai Khan's second Mongol invasion of Japan, his invading Chinese fleet of 3,500 vessels disappears in a typhoon near the Japanese coast 

1842 US Army Colonel Worth declares the Second Seminole War over after nearly seven years; over 3,000 surviving members of the Seminole Nation are forcibly relocated from Florida to Oklahoma, with only about 300 permitted to remain 

1901 First claimed powered flight by Gustave Whitehead in his No. 21 aircraft near Bridgeport, Connecticut 

1909 Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, home of the Indy 500, hosts its first motorized event, a series of motorcycle races

1936 America's Last Public Hanging The last man to be publicly hanged in the United States met his fate on this day in history. It was a squalid affair watched by about 10,000 people. 

1938 BBC's first feature film on TV (The Student of Prague)

1945 V-J Day, the Empire of Japan surrenders unconditionally to the Allies, ending World War II (August 15 in Japan and other countries depending on the time zone)

1947 Pakistan gains independence from the United Kingdom

1969 British Army deploys on the streets of Northern Ireland, beginning Operation Banner

1980 17,000 workers strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, beginning the Solidarity movement

1987 Oakland's Mark McGwire sets the rookie home run record at 39 en route to 49

1995 "Battle of Brit Pop" rival bands Oasis (Roll with It) and Blur (Country House) release singles on the same day