| Date | Event Name |
| 8/15/1947 |
Indian Independence Day. |
| 8/15/1772 |
Divani and Faujdary courts seperated by East India Company. |
| 8/15/1854 |
The first train of the East Indian Railways steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hoogly, which was at a distance of 24 miles. It was the first passenger train catering to public traffic. Officially, it was inaugurated in 1855. |
| 8/15/1867 |
Bhartendu Harishchandra publishes a Hindi monthly 'Kavi Vachan Sudha'. |
| 8/15/1872 |
Sri Aurobindo Man Mohan Ghosh born in Calcutta. He was a renaissance yoga philosopher, freedom fighter and teacher. His 30-volume work discusses the 'superman', a metaphor for the divinely transformed individual soul. He withdrew from the world in 1910 and founded International Ashram in Pondicherry. |
| 8/15/1918 |
Hans Kumar Tiwari, famous poet and translater, was born. |
| 8/15/1921 |
Amrit Rai, novelist and translater, was born . |
| 8/15/1925 |
Sadashiv Pandurang Jantre, great freedom fighter and social worker, was born . |
| 8/15/1942 |
Mahadev Haribhai Desai, an activist and Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary, died of heart failure at Aga Khan's Palace. |
| 8/15/1947 |
Sir Cyril Radcliffe Award on the new boundaries of West Punjab, East Punjab, West Bengal, East Bengal and Assam. |
| 8/15/1947 |
India gains independence from the British rule and Pakistan emerges as a separate Islamic nation. Around 600,000 die in clashes during the subsequent population exchange of 14 million people between the two new countries. |
| 8/15/1947 |
At the stroke of midnight, India is free after 163 years of British Raj. At the same time Muslims win a degree of freedom from Hindus. They have their own separate dominion Pakistan in the British Commonwealth Sect. |
| 8/15/1947 |
Paramveer Chakra, Mahaveer Chakra, Veer Chakra instituted as 'Awards for Gallantry'. |
| 8/15/1947 |
Hindu-Muslim association in Calcutta. |
| 8/15/1947 |
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Indian Prime Minister of free India. |
| 8/15/1947 |
Lord Louis Mountbatten took charge as the first British Governor General of Indian Union and occupied this office till June 20, 1948. |
| 8/15/1947 |
On the the stroke of mid-night on 14th August 1947, India became independent and was partitioned. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister and Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the first president of free India. The mixed economy policy was taken on a five-year plan basis for economic development. On 26th January 1950, India became a democratic and is the biggest democracy of the world today. In 1956, on the basis of languages, India was divided into 14 states and 6 union territories. Today, there are 27 states and 7 union territories. |
| 8/15/1947 |
India and Pakistan gain independence (dominion status). Lord Mountbatten becomes Governor General of India and Mohammad Ali Jinnah is appointed the Governor General of Pakistan. Independent India's first cabinet meeting with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister held. Members of the first Cabinet were: 1. J. L. Nehru - PM, External and Commonwealth Relations and Scientific Research, 2. Sardar Patel - Home Information and Broadcasting and States, 3. Dr. Rajendra Praised - Food and Agriculture, 4. Maulana Azad - Education, 5. John Mathai - Railways and Transport, 6. Sardar Baldev Singh - Defence, 7. Jagjivan Ram - Labour, 8. C. H. Bhabha - Commerce, 9. R. A. Kidwai - Communications, 10. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur - Health, 11. B. R. Ambedkar - Law 12. R. K. Sanmukham Chetty - Finance, 13. Shyama Prasad Mookerji - Industries and Supplies, 14. N. V. Gadgil - Works, Mines and Power. |
| 8/15/1947 |
The Defence department becomes the Ministry of Defence under a Cabinet Minister. Each service was placed under its own Commander-in-Chief. Under the Constitution, the supreme command of the Armed Forces was vested with the President. |
| 8/15/1947 |
The Indian independence divided not only the country but its armed forces as well. These units came down and their equipment was transferred to the newly created Royal Pakistan Air Force. Thus, the principal components of the Royal Indian Air Force, during the partition, were nos. 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10 Squadrons with Tempest US, No. 2 Squadron with Spitfires and No. 12 Squadron with C-47s and No. 1 Air Observation Flight (AOF). The establishment of this AOF with AOP Auster 4s, 5s and 6s, coincided with independence. No. 6 Squadron, which had been in process of converting from Spitfires to C-47s at Drigh Road, had been stood down and its transports transferred to Pakistan. |
| 8/15/1947 |
Brigadier Thakur Mahadeo Singh was the first Indian Commandant. He was the DSO of Indian Militery Academy. |
| 8/15/1949 |
Chandernagore joins the Indian Union. Panchayati Raj inaugurated in 114,000 villages. |
| 8/15/1950 |
Indian Constitution goes into effect. |
| 8/15/1950 |
Earthquake measuring 8.6 on Richter Scale hits Assam in north eastern India claiming 11,000 lives. |
| 8/15/1955 |
Satyagrah started for the freedom of Goa. |
| 8/15/1960 |
Maharashtra State Sahkari Grihvitta Corporation was established. |
| 8/15/1965 |
Television starts in New Delhi. |
| 8/15/1968 |
Marathwada', a daily newspaper, published. |
| 8/15/1969 |
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed under Department of Atomic Energy. |
| 8/15/1972 |
Postal Index Number (PIN Code) of 6-digits was introduced. |
| 8/15/1979 |
Tukoji Holkar, a leader of Peshwa kingdom, dies. |
| 8/15/1982 |
Doordarshan's national programme and the first nationwide colour transmission started by Delhi Doordarshan. |
| 8/15/1985 |
Accord reached on the Assam foreign nationals issue, agitation called off. |
| 8/15/1990 |
Uttar Maharashtra University was established. |
| 8/15/1990 |
GOI declares Prophet Mohammed's birthday a national holiday. |
| 8/15/1990 |
India successfully test fires 'Akash', an advanced medium range surface to air missile. |
| 8/15/1992 |
Karnataka seeks army help to nab sandal wood smuggler Veerappan. |
| 8/15/1993 |
Five more Doordarshan channels launched. |
| 8/15/1994 |
At Churchgate railway station on platform No.1, noted film actor A.K. Hangal signalled the start of theatre in a train by waving a green flag. |
| 8/15/1994 |
Sukumar Gupta, a socialist, dies. |
| 8/15/1995 |
P.V Narasimha Rao introduces the mid-day meal scheme for the primary school children under the Central Government Welfare Programme. |
| 8/15/1996 |
Deve Gowda speaks in Hindi on the occasion of the 50th Independence Day. |
| 8/15/1997 |
Freedom fighter's pension to be doubled from the existing Rs. 1,500. |
| 8/15/1997 |
The Government bans doctors from determining the sex of the foetus. |
| 8/15/1997 |
IWM Vijayalakshmi wins Asian Zonal Women's Chess tournament in Tehran. |
| 8/15/1997 |
K.Sasikaran gets third IM norm in British Open Chess tournament. |
| 8/15/1997 |
K. R. Narayanan, President, posthumously confers nation's highest peace-time gallantry award 'Ashok Chakra' to second Lieutenant Puneet Dutta. |
| 8/15/1998 |
Golden jubilee celebrations of the Indian Independence ends. |
| 8/15/1999 |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, says Agni-2 to be inducted in the defence arsenal. |
| 8/15/2000 |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, says in his Independence Day address, ""Borders cannot be redrawn either in the name of religion or on the strength of the sword"". |
