Events in History
Fauci's Warning
Aug 1 American virologist Dr. Anthony Fauci says "things are going to get worse" as US COVID-19 cases double in 10 days due to surge of Delta variant
- Aug 1 Canada marks its first Emancipation Day (date slavery abolished in the British Empire in 1834)
- Aug 1 Myanmar's military ruler Min Aung Hlaing names himself Prime Minister, pledges to hold elections by 2023
- Aug 1 The US passes the 35 million mark in COVID-19 cases with California becoming first state to record 4 million cases
- Aug 1 Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas records a WR 15.67m to claim the women's gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics
COVID-19 Pandemic
Aug 2 70% of American have had at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot, a target President Joe Biden had hoped to meet by 4 July
- Aug 3 132 wildfires in Turkey's southern coastal Manavgat district have burnt 118,789 hectares of land in six days, killing eight people [1]
- Aug 3 Hawaii's largest wildfire on record, Mana Road Fire in South Kohala, finally being brought under control after burning through 40,000 acres
- Aug 4 Global known COVID-19 caseload passes 200 million, with the death toll at 4.2 million according to Johns Hopkins
- Aug 4 Largest wildfire in California so far in 2021, the Dixie Fire at 320,000 acres, destroys the gold rush town of Greenville [1]
- Aug 4 Mediterranean region evolving into a "wildfire hotspot" according to authorities, amidst extreme temperatures with Greece experiencing one of its worst heatwaves in 40 years [1]
- Aug 8 "Wright Brothers' moment" in nuclear fusion research when 1.3 megajoules of energy produced at National Ignition Facility by the Livermore Lab [1]
- Aug 8 More than 51 people killed in northern Mali after attacks on three villages by Islamist jihadists
- Aug 8 Taliban forces capture three regional Afghan cities including key northern city of Kunduz [1]
- Aug 8 The Dixie Fire becomes California's second-largest wildfire ever at 463,000 acres (724 square miles)
- Aug 9 Cholera outbreak in Nigeria has killed more than 800 people with 31,425 suspected cases since January 2021 according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [1]
- Aug 9 Herd of 14 elephants returning home from a 500km (300-mile) trek across China, lead authorities to evacuate 150,000 people out of their path [1]
- Aug 9 Landmark UN IPCC climate report "is a "Code Red for humanity", rise of 1.5C now certain, catastrophic change can still be avoided if the world works fast [1] [2]
- Aug 10 Forest fires kill 65 people, including 25 soldiers, in Algeria in the Kabylie region during heatwave conditions
Event of Interest
Aug 10 Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo resigns amid a sexual harassment scandal
- Aug 11 Sicily records highest-ever temperature in Europe of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in city of Siracusa (unverified)
- Aug 11 Torrential rains cause flash flooding in Turkey's northwestern provinces of Kastamonu, Sinop and Barti, killing at least 77 with more missing [1]
- Aug 12 195 million Americans across 34 states under heat advisory warnings from Pacific Northwest to the Northeast as summer of intense heat continues in Northern Hemisphere [1]
- Aug 12 Bennu Asteroid, size of the Empire State Building, now has 1-in-1,750 chance of hitting Earth in 2182, according to data from NASA's OSIRIS-REX spacecraft [1]
- Aug 12 Phoenix is the US's fastest-growing city (+11.2%), overtaking Philadelphia to be nations's fifth largest at 1.6 million according to US Census [1]
- Aug 12 US Census reveal country grown more diverse, growth in Hispanic (+23%) and Asian (+36%) populations, 1st ever decline in white population (-2.6%) [1]
- Aug 12 US FDA authorises a third booster COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for people with weak immune systems
- Aug 14 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes south-west Haiti near city of Les Cayes, killing at least 2,200 people, injuring many more and destroying 52,000 homes
- Aug 14 Calder Fire, near Lake Tahoe, begins in California, goes on to destroy 1000 structures and over 218,000 acres [1]
- Aug 14 It rains for the first time at Greenland ice sheets' highest point, at Summit Station research facility, above freezing conditions create some melting for 337,000 square miles of ice [1]
- Aug 14 Spain records its highest ever temperature of 47.2C (117F) in Montoro, Córdoba [1]
Event of Interest
Aug 15 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees the country as Taliban forces enter the capital Kabul and take control
Election of Interest
Aug 15 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls a snap election for 20 September, two years ahead of schedule
- Aug 15 Petrol tanker explosion kills 27 and injures 79 in al-Tleil, Lebanon, amid the country's continuing economic crisis
- Aug 16 First official water shortage declared at Lake Mead, major reservoir on Colorado river supplying 40 million people, with cuts mandated mainly for Arizona
- Aug 16 Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet resign after losing their majority amid political turmoil
- Aug 16 US President Joe Biden says "I stands squarely behind my decision" to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, despite sudden collapse of the country to the Taliban
- Aug 17 One in five US hospital ICUs at or over 95% capacity due to Delta surge of COVID-19, with 1,800 children hospitalized [1]
- Aug 19 Iran's official COVID-19 death toll passes 100,000 amid its fifth wave of infections, according to its Health Ministry
- Aug 21 Flash flooding in Humphreys County, Middle Tennessee, kills 22 with dozens missing
- Aug 22 Tropical storm Henri makes landfall near Westerly, Rhode Island
Kamala Harris Visits South East Asia
Aug 22 US Vice President Kamala Harris arrives in Singapore to begin a short visit to South East Asia
1st Female Governor of NY
Aug 24 Kathy Hochul becomes the first female Governor of New York, replacing Andrew Cuomo after his resignation
- Aug 24 UN says Madagascar on brink of world's first "climate change famine" with people suffering "catastrophic" levels of hunger, after four years without rain [1]
- Aug 26 Two bomb blasts from suicide bombers at Kabul Airport, Afghanistan, kill at least 60 civilians and 13 US soldiers, amid international efforts to evacuate citizens out of the country
- Aug 27 Britain's Prince Andrew served with a US federal lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a teenager 20 years ago [1]
- Aug 29 Hurricane Ida makes landfall as a Category 4 storm near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
- Aug 29 Missile and drone attack on al-Anad airbase in south Yemen kills at least 30 soldiers, one of the deadliest attacks in recent years [1]
- Aug 30 Algeria becomes the last country to stop selling leaded petrol, ending 99 years of gasoline use worldwide, saving 1.2 million lives a year [1]
- Aug 30 America ends its longest-ever war of 20 years in Afghanistan as the last military evacuation plane flies out of Kabul
- Aug 30 China restricts online gaming for under 18s to one hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays ordering companies to enforce this [1]
Weddings in History
- Aug 20 Yusuf Buhari, son of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, marries Zahra Nasir Bayero, daughter of the emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado Bayero, in Bichi, in the country's celebrity wedding of the year
Deaths in History
- Aug 7 Douglas Applegate, American politician (US Representative from Ohio, 1977-95), dies at 93
- Aug 12 Emilio Flores Márquez "Don Millo", Puerto Rican sugar cane worker and centenarian, (world's oldest man in 2021), dies at 113 [1]
- Aug 22 Eric Ash, British engineer and university rector (Imperial College, London), dies at 93
Hissène Habré (1942-2021)
Aug 24 Dictator of Chad (1982-90) and convicted war criminal, dies in prison of COVID-19 at 79 [1]
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists