Events in History
- Aug 9 Otis Tuft patents the first passenger elevator in the US
- Aug 17 1st air mail (in a balloon) took off from Lafayette, Indiana
- Aug 27 1st successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, by Edwin Drake
- Aug 28 A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far afield as Japan.
Birthdays in History
- Aug 4 Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer (Nobel Prize 1920), born in Lom, Gudbrandsdalen, Norway (d. 1952)
- Aug 6 J Arthur S Berson, Austria meteorologist (Balloon flights, Amazon)
- Aug 12 Katharine Lee Bates, American author (America the Beautiful)
- Aug 19 Hippolyte Delehaye, Flemish historian/hagiographer
Deaths in History
Horace Mann
Aug 2 Horace Mann, American education advocate, dies at 63
Horace Mann