Historical Events
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Aug 2 Lewis Carroll publishes "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
- Aug 2 Trans Atlantic Cable being laid by SS Great Eastern between Great Britain and America snaps and is lost
1st Antiseptic Surgery
Aug 12 British surgeon Joseph Lister performs 1st antiseptic surgery using carbonic spray on instruments and bandages
- Aug 15 Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri: fierce fighting between Union soldiers and Confederate forces prompted by bushwacker attacks destroys town of Lone Jack
- Aug 16 Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic regains its independence after 4 years of fighting against the Spanish Annexation.
- Aug 22 William Sheppard is issued the first US patent for liquid soap
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Frank Grant, American Baseball HOF 2nd baseman (International League; pioneer early Negro leagues; considered greatest African-American player of 19th century), born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (d. 1937)
- Aug 2 Irving Babbitt, American writer (Rousseau & Romanticism), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1933)
- Aug 2 John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist, born in Łódź, Poland (d. 1955)
- Aug 4 Gus Kempis, South African cricketer (South Africa's 1st Test), born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (d. 1890)
- Aug 7 Micha Josef Berdyczewski, Jewish writer, born in Medzhybizh, Russian Empire (d. 1921)
- Aug 10 Alexander Glazunov, Russian pianist, composer (Chopiniana; Stenka Razin), and educator (St Petersburg Conservatory, 1899-1930), born in St.Petersburg, Russia (d. 1936)
- Aug 14 Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician, born in Venice (d. 1952)
- Aug 15 Johan Bernard Schepers, Frisian writer (Braga), born in Heerenveen, Netherlands (d. 1937)
- Aug 15 Louisa Aldrich-Blake, British pioneering surgeon, born in Chingford, Essex (d. 1925)
- Aug 15 Mikao Usui, Japanese founder of Reiki (form of spiritual practice), born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan (d. 1926)
- Aug 16 Jón Friðfinnsson, Icelandic-Canadian composer (The Millennial Cantata), born in Breiðdal, Iceland (d. 1936)
- Aug 20 Bernard Tancred, South African cricket batsman (2 Tests; Northern Cape), born in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province (d. 1911)
- Aug 22 Pieter Hopmans Dutch Bishop of Breda (Eucharistic Crusade) (d. 1951)
- Aug 24 Ferdinand I [Meinrad], King of Romania (1914-27), born in Sigmaringen, German Confederation (d. 1927)
- Aug 27 Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States, banker and 1925 Nobel Peace Prize winner, born in Marietta, Ohio (d. 1951)
- Aug 27 James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist and anthropologist, born in Rockford, Illinois (d. 1935)
Famous Deaths
- Aug 12 William Jackson Hooker, English botanist and director (Kew Gardens), dies at 80
- Aug 13 Ignaz Semmelweis, Hungarian physician who discovered the cause of puerperal (childbed) fever and introduced antisepsis into medical practice, dies at 47
- Aug 17 Johann Nepomuk Poissl, Bavarian composer, dies at 82
- Aug 17 Mosby Munroe Parsons, United States officer in the Mexican–American War and brigadier general of the Confederate States Army, dies in battle at 42
- Aug 26 Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (Comet Encke), dies at 73
- Aug 26 Marcellus Monroe Crocker, US attorney/Union brigadier general, dies at 35
- Aug 27 Józef Nowakowski, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 64
- Aug 27 Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (The Clockmaker; or, The Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick of Slickville), dies at 68
- Aug 29 John Brough, US publisher/(gov-R-Ohio), dies at about 54
