August 15

August 15 is the birthdate of Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence, an archaeologist who joined the British Army in 1914. He gained fame as a liaison in the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule in 1916-18 in what's now Syria and Jordan. That role earned him the appellation “Lawrence of Arabia,” a title used for David Lean’s epic film (1962) that won seven Academy Awards. Lawrence’s adventurous public image was fostered by his autobiographical account of the revolt, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1922). He lost nearly all of the huge manuscript while changing trains in England, then rewrote the book from memory, having destroyed his wartime notes.