August 1934 in History

Events in History

Aug 2 1st airplane train, plane tows 3 mail gliders behind it

Event of Interest

Aug 2 Adolf Hitler becomes commander-in-chief of German armed forces

Aug 2 William Franks twirls an indian club overhead 17,280 times in 1 hour
Aug 3 Adolf Hitler merges the offices of German Chancellor and President, declaring himself "Führer" (leader)
Aug 4 II British Empire Games open at London's White City Stadium
Aug 6 US troops leave Haiti, which had been occupied since 1915

Event of Interest

Aug 7 US Court of Appeals upheld lower court ruling striking down government's attempt to ban controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses"

Aug 11 1st federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay
Aug 15 US ends occupation of Haiti after 19 years; started after the 1915 assassination of Haiti's president
Aug 16 US explorer William Beebe descends 3,028' (923 m) in Bathysphere, off the coast of Bermuda
Aug 19 The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio

Birthdays in History

Aug 2 Valery Bykovsky, Soviet cosmonaut (Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, 31), born in Pavlovsky Posad, Russia
Aug 4 Jonas Savimbi, Angolan revolutionary politician and military leader who founded the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), born in Munhango, Bié, Portuguese Angola (d. 2002)
Aug 4 Rutger Kopland [Rutger van den Hoofdakker], Dutch poet
Aug 5 Wendell Berry, American poet, writer and farmer, born in Henry County, Kentucky
Aug 6 John Storey Bonington, UK, mountain climber (Annapurna I in 1970)
Aug 6 Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob, UK, sci-fi author (Chthon, Phthor)
Aug 8 Julian Dixon, American politician (Rep-D-California, 1979-2000), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 2000)
Aug 9 Yves Coppens, French anthropologist, born in Vannes, France
Aug 11 Bob Hepple, South African-born academic and master of Clare College Cambridge, (d. 2015)
Aug 12 Kenneth Eaton, Controller (British Navy)
Aug 14 Robin McLaren, British ambassador (China)
Aug 15 Valentin Varlamov, Russian cosmonaut, born in Sukhaya Tereshka, Russia (d. 1980)
Aug 16 Diana Wynne Jones, British sci-fi author (Drowned Ammet; Witch Week), born in London, England (d. 2011)
Aug 16 Ed van Thijn, Dutch politician (House of Representatives, 1977-82; Mayor of Amsterdam, 1983-94; Member of Senate, 1999-2007), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 2021)
Aug 18 Vincent Bugliosi, American attorney and author (Helter-Skelter), born in Hibbing, Minnesota (d. 2015)
Aug 19 David Durenberger, American politician, (US Sen-R-MN, 1978-95), born in St. Cloud, Minnesota (d. 2023)

Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012)

Aug 22 US Army General and commander of coalition forces in the Gulf War, born in Trenton, New Jersey

Aug 25 Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 4th President of Iran (1989-97) and de facto commander-in-chief of the Iranian military during the Iran-Iraq War, born in Bahreman, Persia (d. 2017)
Aug 25 John Stears, special effects expert (Dr No), born in Middlesex, England
Aug 25 Lise Bacon, French Canadian politician, born in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Canada
Aug 25 Valery F. Bykovsky, USSR cosmonaut (Vostok V, Soyuz 22, 31/39), born in Pavlovsky Posad, Soviet Union
Aug 26 Gordon Clough, English journalist (BBC Radio 4), born in Salford, England (d. 1996)
Aug 29 David Pryor, American politician (Sen-D Arkansas, 1979-97), born in Camden, Arkansas

Deaths in History

Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934)

Aug 2 German WW1 general and President of Germany (1925-34), dies of lung cancer at 86

Aug 6 Hermann Glauert, British aerodynamicist, dies at 41
Aug 10 John Kane, Scottish-American primitivist painter (Self-Portrait), dies at 73
Aug 12 Hendrik P Berlage, architect (Stock exchange Amsterdam), dies at 78
Aug 13 Mary Austin, American nature writer and early feminist (Land of Little Rain), dies at 65
Aug 18 Delilah Beasley, American author and the 1st Black female newspaper columnist (Oakland Tribune, The Negro Trial-Blazers of California), dies of heart disease at 61
Aug 28 Doris Ulmann, American photographer best known for her portraits of the people of Appalachia, dies aged 52
Aug 30 Earnest L. Wolzogen, German writer (That tolle Komtess), dies at 79