On This Day

Historical Events in August 1791

  • Aug 2 Samuel Briggs and his son granted US patent for a nail-making machine
  • Aug 4 The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman-Habsburg wars

United States Declaration of Independence

Aug 19 Benjamin Banneker sends a copy of his Almanac and writes a letter to Thomas Jefferson criticizing his pro-slavery stance and requesting justice for African Americans using language from the Declaration of Independence

Engrossed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence
  • Aug 22 Haitian Slave Revolution begins under voodoo priest Boukman
  • Aug 26 John Fitch granted US patent for his working steamboat
  • Aug 30 HMS Pandora sank after running aground on a reef the previous day, on her return from her search for the Bounty and the mutineers who had taken her

Historic Event

Aug 30 Thomas Jefferson responds to Benjamin Banneker's letter on the issue of slavery

Thomas Jefferson
3rd US President Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Banneker
Mathematician, Astronomer and Almanac Author Benjamin Banneker


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