Events in History
Historic Event
Aug 1 US President Harry Truman establishes Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
Historic Event
Aug 7 1st US commemorative coin of an African American, Booker T. Washington (half dollar)
- Aug 8 India agrees to give Bhutan 32 sq miles
- Aug 8 First flight of the Convair B-36.
- Aug 13 Britain diverts illegal emmigrants bound for Palestine to Cyprus
- Aug 15 Dumont TV Network (WABD NY) is launched in the US
- Aug 16 Direct Action Day: Widespread riots erupt in Calcutta between Muslims and Hindus over whether Pakistan should be a separate state, killing over 4,000 and leaving 100,000 homeless
Historic Publication
Aug 17 George Orwell publishes "Animal Farm" in the United Kingdom
- Aug 23 Ordinance No. 46 of the British Military Government constitutes the German Land (state) of Schleswig-Holstein.
Birthdays in History
- Aug 1 Rick Boucher, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia), born in Abingdon, Virginia
- Aug 1 Richard O. Covey, American astronaut (STS 51I, 26, 38, 61) and USAF officer, born in Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Aug 1 Tom Loeffler, American politician (United States House of Representatives for Texas, 1979-87), born in Fredericksburg, Texas
- Aug 1 Fiona Stanley, Australian epidemiologist (Telethon Institute for Child Health Research), born in Little Bay, Sydney, Australia
- Aug 3 Jack Straw, British politician (Member of Parliament for Blackburn), born in Buckhurst Hill, Essex
- Aug 5 Ron Silliman, American poet (The Alphabet), born in Pasco,Washington
- Aug 6 Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean politician
- Aug 7 Ed Seykota, American commodities and futures trader
- Aug 8 Robin M Tallon, (Rep-D-SC, 1983- )
- Aug 8 James W. Lewis, American convicted extortionist
- Aug 11 Marilyn Vos Savant, writer/world's highest IQ (228), born in St Louis, Missouri
Janet Yellen
Aug 13 Janet Yellen, American economist (Chair of US Federal Reserve 2014-18), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Aug 14 Alexander Curly [Harm Breemer], Dutch artist, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 2012)
- Aug 14 Marga van Praag, Dutch radio hostess, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Aug 15 Kathryn Whitmire, American accountant and politician (4 time Mayor-Houston), born in Houston, Texas
- Aug 15 Jean-Claude Arnault, French Swedish photographer involved in Nobel Prize scandal, born in Marseille, France
- Aug 16 Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdish politician
- Aug 17 Patrick Manning, Trinidad and Tobago politician, Prime Minister (1991-95, 2001-10), born in San Fernando (d. 2016)
- Aug 19 Charles F. Bolden Jr, American astronaut (STS 61C, 31, 45, 60), born in Columbia, South Carolina
Bill Clinton
Aug 19 Bill Clinton [William Jefferson], 42nd US President (Democrat, 1993-2001), born in Hope, Arkansas
- Aug 20 N.R. Narayana Murthy, Indian industrialist and co-founder (Infosys), born in Shidlaghatta, Kolar district, India
- Aug 22 Felix Meurders, Dutch radio host, born in Maastricht, Netherlands
- Aug 24 Richard N. Richards, American naval officer and astronaut (STS 28, 41, 50, 64), born in Key West, Florida
- Aug 25 Larry LaRocco, American politician (Rep-D-Idaho), born in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 25 Charles Ghigna (Father Goose), American poet and children's books author (Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose), born in Bayside, New York
- Aug 30 Anne-Marie of Greece, Danish princess and daughter of Frederik IX, born in Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Kingdom of Denmark
- Aug 31 Jerome Corsi, American writer and conspiracy theorist, born in East Cleveland, Ohio
Weddings in History
- Aug 10 Author and founder of the Scientology cult L. Ron Hubbard (35) weds Sara Northrup Hollister
Divorces in History
Bugsy Siegel
Aug 8 Esta Krakower divorces mobster Bugsy Siegel (40) after 17 years of marriage
Deaths in History
H. G. Wells
Aug 13 H. G. Wells, English sci-fi author (The War of the Worlds, Time Machine), dies at 79
- Aug 16 Herman Harrell Horne, American philosopher (idealism), dies at 71
- Aug 29 J E Feenstra, Nazi military police commandant, executed
- Aug 29 John Steuart Curry, American painter (Baptism in Kansas), dies at 48
- Aug 30 Grigory Semyonov, Russian counter-revolutionary (executed) (b. 1890)
- Aug 31 Harley Granville-Barker, English dramatist, producer (The Voysey Inheritance) and critic, dies at 68