About the day » Thursday August 15, 1872Calender converter

• Aaltje Pen, Munnikeburen († 1950)
• Adèle Bertha Storm van ‘s Gravesande, Venlo,Gemeente Venlo,Limburg,Netherlands († 1956)
• Aaltjen (Alice) Middelkamp, Almelo, Overijssel, Nederland
• Andreas Hubertus Fleuren, Maasbree, Limburg, Nederland
• Adèle Bertha Storm van æs Gravesande, Venlo NL († 1952)
• Adrianus Henricus Van Soom, Reet
• Alfred H. Post, Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, Verenigde Staten († 1873)
• Albert de Vos, Steenwijk († 1875)
• Feskens, Breda, Noord-Brabant, Nederland († 1955)
• Ann Eliza Dalby, Idle, Yorkshire, England

• Adriaantje van Burgt (53), Renesse
• Abraham van Oosten (83), Delft
• Verton, Renesse
• Adrianus Stuij (0)
• Carolus Ignatius Bruggeman (66), Beselare, West-Vlaanderen, België
• Adriaan van Zundert (0), Oosterhout
• ABRAM VAN OOSTEN (83), DELFT
• Catharina Victoria Parmentier (73), Stalhille
• Adriaantje van Burgt (53), Renesse
• Catharina Schrama (58), Wassenaar

• 1863 » Aleksey Krylov, Russian mathematician and engineer († 1945)
• 1865 » Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual leader, founded Reiki († 1926)
• 1866 » Italo Santelli, Italian fencer († 1945)
• 1872 » Sri Aurobindo, Indian guru, poet, and philosopher († 1950)
• 1873 » Ramaprasad Chanda, Indian archaeologist and historian († 1942)
• 1875 » Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English pianist, violinist, and composer († 1912)
• 1876 » Stylianos Gonatas, Greek colonel and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Greece († 1966)
• 1877 » Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna († 1941)
• 1879 » Ethel Barrymore, American actress († 1959)
• 1881 » Alfred Wagenknecht, German-American activist and politician († 1956)

• 1844 » José María Coppinger, governor of Spanish East Florida (b. 1733)
• 1852 » Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (b. 1760)
• 1859 » Nathaniel Claiborne, American farmer and politician (b. 1777)
• 1907 » Joseph Joachim, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1831)
• 1909 » Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian sociologist and journalist (b. 1866)
• 1917 » Thomas J. Higgins, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1831)
• 1925 » Konrad Mägi, Estonian painter and educator (b. 1878)
• 1928 » Anatole von Hügel, Italian ethnologist and academic, co-founded St Edmund's College, Cambridge (b. 1854)
• 1935 » Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
• 1935 » Will Rogers, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1879)

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from January 4, 1871 to July 6, 1872 the cabinet Thorbecke III, with Mr. J.R. Thorbecke (liberaal) as prime minister.
• From July 6, 1872 till August 27, 1874 the Netherlands had a cabinet De Vries - Fransen van de Putte with the prime ministers Mr. G. de Vries Azn. (liberaal) and I.D. Fransen van de Putte (liberaal).
• The Netherlands had about 4.0 million citizens.
• January 12 » Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
• March 1 » Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.
• March 5 » George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
• March 11 » Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.
• September 18 » King Oscar II accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway.
• December 4 » The crewless American brigantine Mary Celeste, drifting in the Atlantic, is discovered by the Canadian brig Dei Gratia. The ship has been abandoned for nine days but is only slightly damaged. Her master Benjamin Briggs and all nine others known to have been on board are never accounted for.

The temperature on August 15, 1872 was about 18.7 °C. The air pressure was 4 kgf/m² and came mainly from the northeast. The atmospheric humidity was 56%.