August 15

August 15 in the history of the Birmingham District:

• 2014: Paul Finebaum's sports talk show began airing on ESPN's SEC Network.
• 2008: Radio station WWMM-FM went on the air at frequency FM 100.5.
• 2006: Aubie was inducted into the national Mascot Hall of Fame.
• 2003: The final Furnace Fest began at Sloss Furnaces.
• 1981: The Eternal Word Television Network debuted.
• 1963: Loveman's department store was targeted by a tear gas bomb.
• 1948: Trackless trolleys took over for streetcars on the No. 7 Wylam-Bush Hills streetcar line.
• 1944: Rita Rizzo (Mother Angelica) joined the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in Cleveland, Ohio.
• 1936: The 1936 Central Park plane crash killed two people.
• 1926: The Ritz Theatre opened downtown.
• 1923: Lake Neely Henry on the Coosa River was created by the Henry Neely Dam.
• 1923: The Birmingham City Commission was reduced from 5 members to 3 by a newly-passed state law.

James Powers, born August 15, 1851

Births

• 1944: Soul singer and producer Frederick Knight was born in Bessemer.
• 1941: Baseball player Tommie Reynolds was born.
• 1916: Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Joseph Raya was born in Zahlé, Lebanon.
• 1851: University of Alabama president James Powers was born in Lauderdale County.
• 1869: ACIPCO president and McWane Inc. founder James McWane was born in Wytheville, Virginia.
• 1841: Educator and reformer Julia S. Tutwiler was born in Tuscaloosa.

Deaths

• 1985: Real estate tycoon Sidney Smyer died.
• 1953: Mining engineer, inventor and philanthropist Erskine Ramsay died in Birmingham.
• 1936: Fred McQueen and Frank Hamlin died in the 1936 Central Park plane crash.
• 1930: Baseball player Guy Tutwiler died in Birmingham.
• 1927: Former governor B. B. Comer died in Birmingham.
• 1913: University of Alabama president James Powers died in Florence.

Sports

• 2001: The Alabama Slammers women's football team was licensed in the WAFL.
• 1931: Pitcher Ivy Andrews debuted with the New York Yankees.