Historic Event
Aug 4 Nelson Mandela captured by South African police
- Aug 5 1st quasar located by radio
- Aug 5 Nelson Mandela arrested for incitement and for illegally leaving South Africa
- Aug 5 UN command forbids flights to Katangese airports
- Aug 6 Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British rule
- Aug 7 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Aug 10 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Aug 11 Andrian G Nikolayev, becomes 3rd Russian in space aboard Vostok 3
- Aug 11 Bolotnikov runs world record 10km (28:18.2)
- Aug 11 LA Dodgers protest as San Francisco manager Alvin Dark orders Candlestick Park ground crew to water down base paths to hinder MLB All-Star Maury Wills' base-stealing attempts; Giants win 5-4
- Aug 12 1st time 2 people in space
- Aug 12 Russia launches Vostok 4, Pavel Popovich, who lands safely Aug 15
- Aug 13 Bert Campaneris of Daytona Beach (FSL) pitches ambidextrously
- Aug 14 French & Italian workers break through at Mont Blanc Vehicular Tunnel
Historic Event
Aug 14 NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 60,000 m
Music History
Aug 16 Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as Beatles' drummer, first official concert two days later
- Aug 17 East German border guards shot and kill Peter Fechter, 18, attempting to cross Berlin Wall into western sector
- Aug 18 Peter, Paul & Mary release their first hit "If I Had a Hammer"
- Aug 19 Homer Blancos plays finest round in golf, shooting a 55
- Aug 20 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Aug 21 Verne Gagne beats Mister M (doctor X) in Minn, to become NWA champ
Assassination Attempt
Aug 22 Failed assassination attempt on French President Charles de Gaulle
Sports History
Aug 24 Los Angeles Dodger coach Leo Durocher suffers a near-fatal allergic reaction to a penicillin injection while in the clubhouse at the Polo Grounds, NYC
- Aug 24 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Aug 25 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Aug 25 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Aug 25 23rd Venice Film Festival: "Family Diary" directed by Valerio Zurlini and "Ivan's Childhood" directed by Andrei Tarkovsky jointly awarded Golden Lion
- Aug 26 Minnesota Twins Jack Kralick no-hits KC A's, 1-0
- Aug 27 Mariner 2 launched; first probe to fly by Venus
- Aug 27 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Aug 28 55.9 cm rainfall at Hackberry, Louisiana (state record)
- Aug 28 Dr Geza De Kaplany tortures his wife with acid to punish her for supposed infidelity
Music Recording
Aug 28 Tony Sheridan & Beat Brothers (The Beatles) record "Ya Ya (Parts 1 + 2)" in Hamburg, Germany
- Aug 29 Some provisions of Kuwaiti constitution are suspended
- Aug 29 US U-2 flight sees SAM launch pads in Cuba
- Aug 30 Japan conducts a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since the war and its only successful commercial aircraft from before or after the war.
- Aug 31 Trinidad & Tobago gain independence from Britain (National Day) with Eric Williams as first Prime Minister