Advertisement

On This Day: Woodstock begins on a farm in New York

On Aug.15, 1969, Woodstock opened on Max Yasgur's farm near Bethel, N.Y., drawing an estimated 400,000 people for three days of music.

By UPI Staff
On August 15, 1969, Woodstock opened on Max Yasgur's farm near Bethel, N.Y., drawing an estimated 400,000 people for three days of music. File Photo by Mark Goff/Wikipedia
1 of 5 | On August 15, 1969, Woodstock opened on Max Yasgur's farm near Bethel, N.Y., drawing an estimated 400,000 people for three days of music. File Photo by Mark Goff/Wikipedia

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1914, a U.S. ship sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, officially opening the Panama Canal.

Advertisement

In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and pilot Wiley Post were killed when their plane crashed in Alaska.

In 1947, India gains independence from Britain after 200 years of rule. The Indian Independence Bill also grants independence to Pakistan, though that country observes its freedom one day earlier.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, often described as a landmark counterculture event, opened on Max Yasgur's farm near Bethel, N.Y., drawing an estimated 400,000 people for three days of music.

In 1985, South African President P.W. Botha, rejecting Western pleas to abolish apartheid, declared, "I am not prepared to lead white South Africans and other minority groups on a road to abdication and suicide."

UPI File Photo

In 2003, Libya admitted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, that claimed 270 lives and agreed to pay reparations totaling $2.7 billion.

Advertisement

In 2004, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez survived a referendum to oust him.

File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI

In 2007, an 8-magnitude earthquake struck 90 miles southeast of Lima, Peru, killing an estimated 500 people and injuring hundreds more.

In 2008, Nepal elected a Maoist candidate, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, to be its next prime minister, defeating a man who held the post three times.

In 2010, China's economy moved past Japan's in the second quarter of 2010 to become the second largest in the world, trailing only the United States.

In 2013, Egyptian authorities said the death toll had surpassed 600 in violence that began with a crackdown on protesting supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

In 2014, Pope Francis celebrated his first mass in South Korea. He spoke out against materialism and economic inequality during the "Mass of the Assumption of Mary."

In 2015, the North Korean government moved to its own time zone -- back 30 minutes -- going back to what it once was before the Japanese took control of the country more than a century ago.

Advertisement

File Photo courtesy KCNA

Latest Headlines