A Monday that opened Indonesia's independence day observances abroad while marking the anniversary, at home, of the moment India's new border with Pakistan was actually made public.
On this day
1945Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed Indonesia's independence from Dutch colonial rule in Jakarta, a declaration the Netherlands would not formally recognise for another four years.M.akbar.raf via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
1962Peter Fechter was shot by East German border guards while trying to climb over the Berlin Wall and left to bleed to death in full view of Western media, becoming one of the Wall's most widely publicised victims.OTFW, Berlin via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
1947IndiaThe Radcliffe Line, the boundary separating India and Pakistan drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, was made public two days after independence — its late release meant many communities didn't know which country they were in until the map appeared.Elliott & Fry via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
Did you know
On this day in 1978, the Double Eagle II landed in a French barley field, completing the first successful hot-air balloon crossing of the Atlantic — a 137-hour flight from Presque Isle, Maine, that used a helium-filled balloon rather than hot air despite the name.