- Aug 1 38 government leaders signs Helsinki accord
- Aug 1 41st Chicago Charities College All-Star Game: Pittsburgh 21, All-Stars 14 (54,103)
- Aug 1 Helsinki Pact guaranteeing boundaries, rights signed by 35 nations
- Aug 1 CSCE Final Act creates the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- Aug 2 104°F (40°C) at Providence, Rhode Island (state record)
- Aug 2 107°F (42°C) at Chester/New Bedford, Massachusetts (state record)
- Aug 3 500 drown when 2 river boats collide and sink in China's West River
- Aug 3 Louisiana Superdome is dedicated
- Aug 3 Poland and West Germany reach accord about returning ethnic Germans
Event of Interest
Aug 4 Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant is seriously hurt in a car crash in Rhodes, Greece
Robert Plant
- Aug 5 Philadelphia Phillies create MLB record when first 8 batters get hits off Bill Bonham, beat Cubs 13-5
Contract of Interest
Aug 5 Stevie Wonder signs $13M contract with Motown
Stevie Wonder
Event of Interest
Aug 8 Hank Williams Jr. falls off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana
Hank Williams Jr
- Aug 8 As a result of rainfall from Typhoon Nina, the Banqiao Dam in China fails, causing the collapse of almost 6 million buildings and 229,000 deaths
- Aug 9 1st NFL game in Louisiana Superdome, Houston beats Saints 13-7
- Aug 9 Dodger Davey Lopes steals record 32nd consecutive base without being caught
- Aug 9 Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Colgate European Ladies Golf Open
Golf Major
Aug 10 PGA Championship, Firestone CC: Jack Nicklaus wins 4th PGA C'ship by 2 shots from Australian Bruce Crampton
Jack Nicklaus
- Aug 10 David Frost purchases exclusive rights to interview Nixon
- Aug 11 Expos' Jose Mangual struck out 5 times in a game
- Aug 11 US vetoes proposed admission of North & South Vietnam to UN
- Aug 13 Viv Richards out for 291 v England at Cricket, at the Oval
- Aug 13 Bayardo Bar attack: Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers carry out a gun and bomb attack on a pub in Belfast frequented by Ulster Volunteer Force commanders; 4 Protestant civilians and 1 UVF member are killed
Coup d'état
Aug 14 -15] Pakistani military coup against Bangladeshi President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Event of Interest
Aug 14 Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich is buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow
Dmitri Shostakovich
- Aug 14 Norwegian King Olav V opens Longyearbyen Airport on Spitsbergen
- Aug 15 Bangladesh military coup under Khondakar Moustaque Ahmed
- Aug 15 Joanne Little acquitted of murder charges
- Aug 15 Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
Film Release
Aug 15 Indian action-adventure film "Sholay" directed by Ramesh Sippy, starring Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan is released, highest-grossing Indian film ever
Amitabh Bachchan
- Aug 16 "Rodgers & Hart" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 108 performances
- Aug 16 Peter Gabriel quits Genesis
- Aug 19 Astros hire Bill Virdon to replace Preston Gomez as manager
- Aug 20 Il-62 crashes south of Damascus, Syria, killing 126
- Aug 20 Viking 1 launched to orbit around Mars, soft landing
- Aug 21 3 truck pile up kills 10, injures 26 on French highway
- Aug 21 Rick & Paul Reuschel become 1st brothers to pitch a combined shut out
- Aug 21 US lightens trade embargo against Cuba
- Aug 22 McNichols Sports Arena in Denver opens
- Aug 23 Classical Way wins Championship Cup at Roosevelt Raceway
- Aug 23 Communists take over Laos
- Aug 23 Ethiopian junta under Mengistu Haile
- Aug 23 Free guitarist Paul Kossoff revived from dead after heart attack
- Aug 23 Philip Kapleau conducts 1st jukai ceremony in Poland
- Aug 23 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Aug 24 Davey Lopes steals his 38th consecutive base, then thrown out stealing
- Aug 24 Papadopoulos, Pattakos and Makarezos sentenced to death in Athens
- Aug 24 SF Giant Ed Halick no-hits NY Giants, 6-0
- Aug 24 Tampa Bay Rowdies beat Portland 2-0 for NASL cup
- Aug 27 1st night match at US Tennis Open (Parun defeats Smith)
- Aug 27 Veronica & Colin Scargill (England) complete tandem bicycle ride, a record 18,020 miles around the world
- Aug 29 Star in Cygnus goes nova becoming 4th brightest in sky
- Aug 30 KTW-AM in Seattle Wash changes call letters to KYAC (now KKFX)