- Aug 1 US 1st class postage up to 4 cents (had been 3 cents for 26 years)
- Aug 1 US atomic submarine USS Nautilus begins 1st transit of North Pole "operation Sunshine"
- Aug 2 Jordan and Iraq dissolve their Arab Federation, after 3 months
- Aug 3 USS Nautilus reaches North Pole, 1st submarine to achieve submarine transit of North Pole
- Aug 3 The Billboard Hot 100 is founded
- Aug 5 Philip Kapleau, Zen teacher, 1st awakening under Yasutani Roshi
- Aug 6 American athlete Glenn Davis breaks his own world record by 0.3 (49.2) in 400m hurdles in Budapest, Hungary
- Aug 6 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Johnston Island
- Aug 13 Indians' right fielder Rocky Colavito makes his pitching debut, hurling 3 hitless innings, Detroit 3, Cleveland 2
- Aug 14 Canadian Football League plays 1st game (Winnipeg 29, Edmonton 21)
- Aug 14 Cleveland Indian Vic Power steals home twice in 1 game
- Aug 14 KLM Superconstellation crashes west of Ireland, killing 99
- Aug 15 25th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 35, Detroit 19 (70,000)
- Aug 15 Soviet Marshal Bulganin resigns as director of State Bank
- Aug 17 World's 1st Moon probe, US's Thor-Able, explodes at T +77 sec
Historic Publication
Aug 18 Novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov is published
Vladimir Nabokov
- Aug 18 Actress Betsy Palmer joins Today Show panel
Event of Interest
Aug 18 Fidel Castro makes a speech on Cuban pirate radio Rebelde
Fidel Castro
Boxing Title Fight
Aug 18 Floyd Patterson TKOs Roy Harris in 13 for heavyweight boxing title
Floyd Patterson
- Aug 18 United Kingdom issues regional stamps (N Ireland, Scotland & Wales)
- Aug 18 Perez Prado "Mambo King" receives one of the 1st gold records
- Aug 18 TV game show scandal investigation starts
- Aug 18 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
- Aug 18 Verne Gagne beats Edouard Carpentier in Omaha, to become NWA champ
- Aug 19 NAACP Youth Council begin sit-ins at Oklahoma City Lunch counters
- Aug 20 Cubs use 1st baseman Dale Long as their 1st major league lefty catcher since 1906
- Aug 21 KUT-FM in Austin Texas begins radio transmissions
- Aug 22 Toronto's Boyd Carter (15 yards) and Dave Mann (116 yards) combine for CFL record for the longest punt return in 15-14 win over Montreal Alouettes in Toronto
- Aug 22 Great Britain performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- Aug 23 People's Republic of China resumes bombardment of the Quemoy and Matsu islands in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
- Aug 23 Marie Ashton completes playing piano a female record 133 hours
- Aug 24 Sergei Popov wins Stockholm marathon (2:15:17.0) (WR)
- Aug 24 19th Venice Film Festival: "Rickshaw Man" directed by Hiroshi Inagaki wins Golden Lion
Instant Ramen
Aug 25 Momofuku Ando markets the first package of precooked instant noodles (Chikin Ramen)
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- Aug 27 Clark Griffith says Senators will probably accept offer to move to Minnesota
- Aug 27 US performs nuclear test at South Atlantic Ocean
- Aug 27 USSR launches Sputnik 3 with two dogs aboard
- Aug 28 Nellie Fox sets record for consecutive games without striking out (98)
- Aug 29 US Air Force Academy's permanent site opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Event of Interest
Aug 29 George Harrison joins The Quarrymen (Lennon-McCartney-Best-Sutcliffe)
George Harrison
Music Single
Aug 29 Cliff Richard and the Drifters release single "Move It", Richards debut single. Credited as 1st British Rock n Roll song.
Cliff Richard
- Aug 30 US performs nuclear test at S Atlantic Ocean