On This Day

August 2000 in History

Events in History

  • Aug 1 First patient to receive the Jarvik 2000, the first total artificial heart that can maintain blood flow in addition to generating a pulse
  • Aug 3 South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Amnesty Committee grants amnesty to Curnick Ndlovu, the KwaZulu-Natal leader of the African National Congress and United Democratic Front, for committing sabotage during December 1961 and June 1963 near Durban
  • Aug 8 Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.

Historic Event

Aug 9 South African President Thabo Mbeki unveils the Women's Monument commemorating the role of women in the anti-apartheid struggle

Thabo Mbeki
President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki
  • Aug 12 The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
  • Aug 18 A Federal jury finds the US Environmental Protection Agency guilty of discrimination against Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, later inspiring passage of the No FEAR Act.
  • Aug 23 A Gulf Air Airbus A320 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143.
  • Aug 23 Nicaragua becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. This essentially deprecated the Buenos Aires Convention treaty, because as of this date, all members of the BA Convention were also signatories to Berne.
  • Aug 24 Argon fluorohydride, the first Argon compound ever known, is discovered at the University of Helsinki by Finnish scientists.

Ostankino Tower

Aug 27 540-metre (1,772 ft)-tall Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.

Ostankino Tower, Moscow

Weddings in History

Gordon Brown

Aug 3 British PM Gordon Brown (49) weds Sarah Jane Macaulay (36) in North Queensferry, Fife

Gordon Brown
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Newt Gingrich

Aug 18 Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (57) weds former congressional aide Calista Bisek (34) in Alexandria, Virginia

Newt Gingrich
US Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich

Deaths in History

  • Aug 1 Hugh Hood, Canadian author (White Figure, White Ground), dies at 72
  • Aug 3 Michael Meyer, English novelist and translator, dies at 79
  • Aug 5 Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian writer and ecological activist, dies at 80
  • Aug 5 Dudley Randall, African-American poet who founded the pioneering publishing house "Broadside Press", dies at 84
  • Aug 9 Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician and leader of Egypt's Wafd Party, dies at 88
  • Aug 9 John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist (1994 Nobel Prize for Economics for game theory), dies at 80
  • Aug 13 Antony Duff, British diplomat, Head of MI5, advocate for the homeless, dies at 80
  • Aug 14 Alain Fournier, French-born computer graphics researcher (b. 1943)
  • Aug 17 Robert Gilruth, American aviation and space pioneer (NASA Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, 1961-74), dies at 86
  • Aug 19 Bineshwar Brahma, Bodo littérateur and religious figure (birth date unknown)
  • Aug 21 Daniel Lisulo, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
  • Aug 23 John Anthony Kaiser, Roman Catholic priest (b. 1932)
  • Aug 25 Carl Barks, American cartoonist (creator of Scrooge McDuck), dies at 99
  • Aug 26 Lynden Pindling, Bahamas 'Father of the Nation' Prime Minister of Bahamas (1967-92), dies at 70
  • Aug 26 Akbar Adibi, Iranian engineer and professor (electronics and VLSI technology), dies at 61

Historical Figures

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