On This Day

What Happened in August 1856

Historical Events

  • Aug 6 The Great Bell is cast for the Great Clock of Westminster, London (Big Ben)
  • Aug 10 Hurricane washes away 2-300 revelers at Last Island, Louisiana
  • Aug 12 Anthony Faas, of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, is granted a second patent for improvements to the accordion (Patent No. 15511A)
  • Aug 20 Wilberforce University forms in Ohio
  • Aug 21 America's first consul to Japan, Townsend Harris, arrives in Shimoda. (Traditional Japanese date: July 21, 1856)

Famous Birthdays

  • Aug 1 George Coulthard, Australian rules footballer and cricketer (Test for Australia 1882), born in Victoria, Australia (d. 1883)
  • Aug 3 Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia, born in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia (d. 1919)
  • Aug 10 Paul Geisler, composer

Person of interestEdward L. Doheny

Aug 10 Edward L. Doheny, American oil tycoon, born in Fond du lac, Wisconsin

Oil Tycoon Edward L. Doheny
Oil Tycoon
Edward L. Doheny
  • Aug 10 William Willett, British inventor of Daylight Saving Time, born in Farnham, Surrey, England
  • Aug 12 "Diamond Jim" Brady, American financier (d. 1917)
  • Aug 15 J. Keir Hardie, Scottish politician and 1st Labour representative in British Parliament, born in Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 1915)
  • Aug 17 Violet Paget [Vernon Lee], British author (Satan the master)
  • Aug 18 Charles H. Gabriel, American Gospel composer, born in Wilton, Iowa (d. 1932)
  • Aug 18 Jan Karol Gall, Polish conductor an composer of mostly vocal pieces (Mizerna, cicha), born in Warsaw (d. 1912)
  • Aug 20 Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, Sorbian writer, born in Panschwitz-Kuckau, Germany (d. 1909)
  • Aug 24 Felix Mottl, Austrian conductor and composer (Agnes Bernauer), born in Unter-St.-Veit, Austria (d. 1911)
  • Aug 27 Iwan Franko, Ukrainian writer and political activist, born in Nahuievychi, Galicia (d. 1916)
  • Aug 30 Carle David Tolmé Runge, German mathematician and physicist, born in Bremen, Germany (d. 1927)
  • Aug 31 Nikoghayos Fadeyi Tigranyan, Armenian composer, born in Gyumri, Armenia (d. 1951)

Famous Deaths

  • Aug 4 Johann Gottlieb Schneider, German composer, dies at 59
  • Aug 5 Robert Lucas Pearsall, English composer, dies at 61
  • Aug 14 William Buckland, dean (Westminster)/geologist, dies
  • Aug 14 Constant Prévost, French geologist, dies at 69
  • Aug 19 Charles Frédéric Gerhardt, French chemist, dies at 39
  • Aug 20 Philipp Jakob Riotte, German composer, dies at 80
  • Aug 21 Peter Josef von Lindpaintner, German composer, dies at 64
  • Aug 29 Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, British Christian writer, dies at 77
  • Aug 30 Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (b. 1811)
  • Aug 30 John Ross, British naval officer and explorer, dies at 79


What Happened in 1856