August 15 Birthday
August 15, 1969: Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, hosted the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. 400,000 people showed up; the fences had been torn down, making it a free concert. Rain turned the field into mud. There was not enough food or sanitation. No violence was reported. The festival became a symbol of the 1960s counterculture, but it was also a logistical disaster that bankrupted the promoters. They sold the film rights to recoup losses, and the documentary became one of the highest-grossing documentaries ever. People born on August 15 fall under the zodiac sign of Leo. The birthstone is Peridot and the birth flower is Gladiolus. Historical events on August 15 include 1969: Woodstock opens, 1971: Nixon ends gold standard, 1990: Gordie Howe retires (final time). Famous people born on August 15 include Napoleon Bonaparte (1769), Julia Child (1912), Ben Affleck (1972).