- 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 American pilots Jim Heth and Bill Burkhart take off from Dallas, Texas in "The Old Scotchman", their modified Cessna 172 in an effort to break airplane flight endurance record; they fly forslightly over 50 days, eclipsing existing record by more than 3 days
- 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
#1 in the Charts
Aug 4 The Billboard Hot 100 is published for the 1st time, with "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson at #1
Sports History
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
- Aug 18 Actress Betsy Palmer joins Today Show panel
Radio History
Aug 18 Fidel Castro makes a speech on Cuban pirate radio Rebelde
Boxing Title Fight
Aug 18 Floyd Patterson TKOs Roy Harris in 13 for heavyweight boxing title at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, California
Historic Publication
Aug 18 Novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov is published
- Aug 18 Perez Prado "Mambo King" receives one of the 1st gold records
- Aug 18 TV game show scandal investigation starts
- Aug 18 United Kingdom issues regional stamps (N Ireland, Scotland & Wales)
- Aug 18 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands
- Aug 18 Verne Gagne beats Edouard Carpentier in Omaha, to become NWA champ
- Aug 19 NAACP Youth Council begin sit-in at "whites-only" lunch counter at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma [1]
- 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 Great Britain performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- 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 23 "Musical Marie" Ashton completes playing piano at the Plaza-Central cinema in England - a female record 133 hours
- Aug 23 People's Republic of China resumes bombardment of the Quemoy and Matsu islands in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
- Aug 24 19th Venice Film Festival: "Rickshaw Man" directed by Hiroshi Inagaki wins Golden Lion
- Aug 24 Sergei Popov wins Stockholm marathon (2:15:17.0) (WR)
Instant Ramen
Aug 25 Momofuku Ando markets the first package of precooked instant noodles (Chikin Ramen)
Music Single
Aug 29 Cliff Richard and the Drifters release single "Move It", Richards debut single. Credited as 1st British Rock n Roll song.
Music History
Aug 29 George Harrison joins The Quarrymen, who later become The Beatles
- Aug 29 US Air Force Academy's permanent site opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Aug 30 US performs nuclear test at S Atlantic Ocean