- 1071 Battle of Manzikert: Seljuq Turks led by sultan Alp Arslan beat and capture Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes
- 1278 Battle of Marchfeld: Rudolf of Habsburg defeats Ottokar II
- 1303 Ala ud din Khilji captures Chittorgarh.
Victory in Battle
1346 Battle of Crécy, south of Calais in northern France; Edward III's English longbows defeat Philip VI's army, cannons used for first time in battle
Edward III
- 1466 A conspiracy against Piero di Cosimo de Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.
Event of Interest
1498 Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.
Michelangelo
- 1545 Pope Paul III names his son Pierluigi Farnese as Duke of Parma
- 1629 Cambridge Agreement, Massachusetts Bay Company stockholders agree to emigrate
- 1634 Battle at Nordlingen Bavarian: emperor Ferdinand II & Spain beat Sweden & German protestants
- 1641 West India Company conquers Sao Paulo de Loanda, Angola
- 1648 People's uprising against Anna of Austria & Cardinal Mazarin
- 1652 Battle of Plymouth: General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of England attacked a convoy of the Dutch Republic commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter. Dutch victory
- 1745 Britan, Prussia & Hannover sign treaty
- 1748 The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1778 The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
- 1789 The National Constituent Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen at the beginning of the French Revolution
- 1791 John Fitch granted US patent for his working steamboat
- 1794 French troops occupy Lock
- 1843 Charles Thurber patents a typewriter
Event of Interest
1846 Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio "Elijah" premieres at the Birmingham Festival in England
Felix Mendelssohn
Event of Interest
1873 First free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri
Susan Blow
- 1874 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
- 1894 Netherlands Social-Democratic Worker's party (SDAP) forms
- 1895 Electric generator at Niagara Falls produces first power
- 1896 Armenian Revolutionary Federation assaults the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople to draw attention to the mass-pogroms and massacres of Armenians instigated by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II
- 1896 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: Robert Wrenn beats Fred Hovey 7-5, 3-6, 6-0, 1-6, 6-1 for his third US singles title
- 1903 Phillies walk 17 Dodgers in a game
- 1903 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: Englishman Laurence Doherty beats American defending champion William Larned 6-0, 6-3, 10-8; first non-American champion
Event of Interest
1907 Harry Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 seconds
Harry Houdini
Baseball Record
1912 Walter Johnson's 16-game winning streak ends
Walter Johnson
- 1912 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: Maurice McLoughlin wins first of 2 straight US singles titles; beats Wallace F. Johnson 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
- 1913 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: Defending champion Maurice McLoughlin beats R. Norris Williams 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
- 1914 -9/10] Russian army attacks Austrian army in Galicia
Victory in Battle
1914 Battle of Tannenberg begins (WWI): 8th German army defeats Russian Narev army
Erich Ludendorff
- 1915 German troops overrun Brest-Litovsk, Russia
- 1916 Philadelphia A's Bullet Joe Bush no-hits Cleve, 5-0
- 1916 Yanks turn triple-play beating Browns 10-6
- 1918 W Smith & F Bacon's "Lightnin'" premieres in NYC
- 1920 Percy Fender (Surrey v Northants) scores 100 in 35 mins
- 1922 Japanese cruiser Niitaka driven onto rocks in storm at Kamchatka, 284 killed
- 1924 The Catastrophe of Smyrna: known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe to Greeks. The Ottoman army expels Greeks and other non-Turks from Asia Minor. (August 13 OS)
- 1930 Hack Wilson hits his 44th HR, breaks Chuck Klein's NL record
- 1933 Jan van Houten bicycles world record time (44,588 km)
- 1935 CCC camp opens in Brecksville Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks
Victory in Battle
1937 Franco's troops conquer Santander
Francisco Franco
- 1937 Pumping to build Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay is finished
- 1938 British leaders & Arabians fight in Palestine
- 1938 Montreal Maroons dropped from NHL
- 1939 1st major league baseball telecast on W2XBS- Cincinnati Reds defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn
- 1939 Belgium mobilizes
- 1939 Croatia gets autonomous status
- 1940 RKC soccer team forms in Waalwijk
- 1940 Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
- 1942 7,000 Jews are rounded up in Vichy-France
- 1942 Japanese troops land on Milne Bay, New-Guinea
- 1942 Soviet counter offensive begins in Moscow
- 1942 Transport #24 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
- 1944 Bulgaria announces withdrawal & German troops are to be disarmed
Event of Interest
1944 Charles de Gaulle marches along the Champs-Elysees, despite coming under fire.
Charles de Gaulle
- 1944 US 12nd Army Corps crosses river Seine East of Paris
- 1945 Japanese diplomats board USS Missouri to receive instructions on Japan's surrender at the end of WWII
- 1947 1st black baseball pitcher Don Bankhead (Hit a HR on 1st at bat)
- 1950 39th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in New York (4-1)
- 1951 Jongbloed in Paris demonstrates artificial heart
Film Premier
1951 "An American in Paris" with music by George Gershwin, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron premieres in London (Academy Awards Best Picture 1952)
Gene Kelly
- 1952 Fluoridation of San Francisco water begins
- 1955 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup)
- 1955 "Pather Panchali", Indian film directed by Satyajit Ray, starring Subir Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee and Karuna Banerjee, is released
- 1956 KREY TV channel 10 in Montrose, CO (CBS/NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1956 Yankees announce purchase of outfielder Enos Slaughter from KC
- 1957 USSR announces successful test of intercontinental ballistic missile
Morris Mini-Minor
1959 British Motor Corporation introduces the Morris Mini-Minor, designed by Alec Issigonis, it was only 10 ft long but seated 4 passengers
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Lyndon B. Johnson
Event of Interest
1967 Beatles, Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithfull meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Mick Jagger
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
- 1967 Dean Chance pitches a 2-1 no-hitter, & Twins sweep Cleveland
- 1967 Dutch 2nd Chamber demands US stop bombing North Vietnam
- 1967 28th Venice Film Festival: "Belle de Jour" directed by Luis Bunuel wins Golden Lion
- 1968 "Hey Jude" single released by the Beatles (Billboard Song of the Year 1968, Billboard 10th biggest song of all time 2013)
- 1970 Minister of Home Affairs Robert Porter resigns from the Stormont government (North Ireland parliament)
- 1971 Dutch Queen Juliana & Prince Bernhard visit Indonesia
- 1971 NY Giant football team announces they're leaving Bronx for NJ in 1975
- 1971 Orioles' Don Buford struck out 5 times in a game
- 1972 XX Summer Olympic Games open in Munich, West Germany
Event of Interest
1972 Leo Durocher replaces Harry Walker as manager of Astros
Leo Durocher
- 1972 NY Cosmos beat St Louis Stars, 2-1 to win NASL championship
- 1972 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1973 David Eisenhower writes his last sports column
- 1973 University of Texas (Arlington) is first accredited school to offer belly dancing
- 1973 10-year-old Mary Boitano is 1st woman to win 6.8-mile Dipsea Race in Marin County, CA, beating a field of 1,500 runners
- 1974 Guinee-Bissau becomes independent of Portugal
- 1974 Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3
- 1977 Frank Martinus Arion forms Surinamese Writers group 77
- 1978 Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I
- 1978 Soyuz 31 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 East German) to Salyut 6
- 1980 Pete Comita replaces Tom Peterson as bassist of Cheap Trick
- 1980 John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.
- 1981 Space Shuttle vehicle moves to Launch Complex 39A for STS-2 mission
- 1981 Voyager 2 takes photos of Saturn's moon Titan
- 1982 NASA launches Telesat-F
- 1983 Floods destroy most of the old town of Bilbao, Spain.
- 1984 Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 3k woman record (8:22.62) in Leningrad
- 1984 Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women's world record)
Event of Interest
1985 Baltimore Oriole Eddie Murray knocks in 9 RBIs in a game vs California Angels
Eddie Murray
The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
1985 French government denies knowledge of attack on Rainbow Warrior
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- 1985 42nd Venice Film Festival: "Sans toit ni loi (Vagabond)" directed by Agnes Varda wins the Golden Lion
- 1986 Rosa Mota wins Stuttgart female marathon (2:28:38)
- 1986 Robert Chambers, the "Preppie Killer" murders Jennifer Levin in New York City's Central Park, afterwards claimed "rough sex" as motive
- 1987 Paul Molitor goes 0-for-4 ends hitting streak at 39 consecutive games
- 1988 Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
- 1989 Trumbull, Conn, is 1st US team since 1983 to win Little League WS
- 1990 2 murdered college students found in Gainesville, Florida
- 1990 Bo Jackson hits 4th of 4 consecutive HRs
- 1991 Royal Brett Saberegen no-hits White Sox 7-0
- 1992 "Anna Karenina" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 46 performances
- 1992 Hurricane Andrew makes landfall in Louisiana as Category 3 storm after causing deaths and severe damage in Florida
- 1993 Ernest Shonekan is appointed interim president of Nigeria by General Ibrahim Babangida
- 1995 Andrew Symonds hits 20 sixes in match for Gloucestershire v Glamorgan
- 1995 Lara completes 7th Test Cricket century, 179 at The Oval
Event of Interest
1996 US President Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in welfare policy
Bill Clinton
Television Debut
1996 "7th Heaven", starring Jessica Biel, debuts on The WB
Jessica Biel
- 1997 Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
- 1999 Michael Johnson breaks the 400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.
- 2000 Australia clinches first Tri Nations Rugby Series with a 19-18 win over South Africa in Durban; Wallabies centre Stirling Mortlock lands 4 penalties and a conversion
- 2002 Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- 2003 The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
- 2004 Félix Sánchez wins the men's 400m hurdles 47.63 in Athens; the Dominican Republic's first ever Olympic gold medal
- 2004 An American 1-2-3 in the 200m medals at the Athens Olympics; Shawn Crawford gold in 19.79 ahead of Bernard Williams & Justin Gatlin
- 2004 Germany wins its first ever Olympic women's field hockey gold medal with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands in Athens
- 2004 Lindsay Tarpley and Mary Wambach score as the US beats Brazil 2-1, maintaining an undefeated record to win the women's football gold medal at the Athens Olympics
- 2004 Hamish Carter of New Zealand wins the men's gold medal ahead of team mate Bevan Docherty, whilst Kate Allen of Austria takes out the women's Triathlon at the Athens Olympics
- 2006 New Zealand retain Tri Nations Rugby Series with 45-26 win over South Africa in Pretoria; All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter lands 4 penalties and 4 conversions
- 2008 Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia
- 2011 The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA
- 2012 17 villagers in Afghanistan's Kajaki district are beheaded by an unknown organization
- 2012 36 people are killed in a bus crash in Yan'an, China
- 2012 A Legionella outbreak in Quebec City, Canada, kills 8 and infects 104
- 2012 Canadian Open Women's Golf, Vancouver GC: New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko wins by 3 from Inbee Park
- 2013 All 25,000 applicants to the University of Liberia fail their university entrance examination
- 2014 Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry informs the WHO of an outbreak of Ebola; later confirmed as a different strain to that affecting west Africa
- 2014 Israel and Hamas accept another ceasefire
Agreement of Interest
2014 Burger King agrees to purchase Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons for $11.4 billion
Tim Horton
- 2015 WDBJ TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward are fatally shot live on TV by an ex-colleague in Moneta, Virginia
Event of Interest
2016 San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick kneels in protest during the US national anthem at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium while playing against the San Diego Chargers, objecting to racial injustice and police brutality in the US
Colin Kaepernick
- 2017 Hurricane Harvey downgraded to a tropical storm, National Hurricane Center warns of “multiday rainfall disaster”
- 2017 Violent clashes after conviction of spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh kill 31 in Panchkula, 120 admitted to hospital
- 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup: New Zealand Black Ferns defeat England 41-32 in the final in Belfast
- 2017 Half a million people take part in a peace march in Barcelona, following terrorist attacks
- 2017 Manchester City scores a 2-1 win at Bournemouth to start EPL record 18 game winning streak; Raheem Sterling scores for City but is sent off with 2 yellow cards in injury time
Papal Visit
2018 Pope Francis asks for forgiveness in speech on child abuse in Dublin, during first official visit to Ireland since 1979
Pope Francis
Event of Interest
2018 Emmerson Mnangagwa is sworn in as President of Zimbabwe
Emmerson Mnangagwa
- 2018 Danny Boyle pulls out of directing the next James Bond film due to 'creative differences'
- 2018 Gamer at a Madden NFL 19 gaming tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, loses then returns to shoot two dead and wound nine
- 2018 Moroccan pop singer Saad Lamjarred arrested in Saint-Tropez, France on a rape allegation
- 2018 Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop resigns after losing Liberal Party leadership contest
Event of Interest
2018 Boxing match between YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul ends in a draw in Manchester, England
Logan Paul
- 2018 Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former US Vatican Ambassador, claims Pope Francis knew of and ignored sex abuse allegations against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick
- 2019 Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay state of Oklahoma $572 million in 1st trial against opioid manufacturer
Event of Interest
2019 Indonesian President Joko Widodo proposes moving the country's sinking and over-crowded capital from Jakarta to the island of Borneo (Kalimantan)
Joko Widodo
- 2019 Meeting of the G7 agrees on $20 million aid package to fight fires in the Amazon in Biarritz
- 2019 Leo DiCaprio's envirnomental organization Earth Alliance donates $5 to fighting fires in the Amazon
August in History
First Faltering Steps of Jane Eyre
With hope, pride – and some subterfuge – Charlotte Brontë sent her hefty manuscript of Jane Eyre to publishers in London on this day, then crossed her fingers.
August 15, 1847The 17 Year-Old Witness to the Eruption of Vesuvius
17 year-old Pliny the Younger's account of the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii made the event famous long after Pompeii was buried and forgotten.
August 24, 79 ADHow 200 Conquistadors Conquered an Empire of 10 Million
How did a mere 200 Spanish conquistadors capture the Incan Emperor-god Atahualpa, execute him and conquer an entire empire?
August 29, 1533How Paula Yates Discovered Her Real Father
Controversial television presenter Paula Yates married pop star Bob Geldof on this day. Fate decided she would not remain happy ever after
August 31, 1986
