- 479 BC Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Mycale won by Greek forces over Persian naval troops on Ionian coast, double victory with that at Plataea ends Persian invasion
- 479 BC Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Plataea, Persian forces led by Mardonius routed by Greek army under Pausanias; together with Greek success at Battle of Mycale halts Persian invasion of Greece
- 663 Battle of Baekgang: Tang Chinese and Silla Korean forces defeat Korean Baekje forces and their Yamato Japanese allies on the Geum River in Korea. Last Japanese invasion of Korea for 900 years.
- 1232 The Formulary of Adjudications is promulgated by Regent Hōjō Yasutoki. (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 1232)
- 1549 Battle of Dussindale: John Dudley Earl of Warwick destroys Robert Kett's army, ending Kett's rebellion in Norfolk, England
- 1556 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V abdicates in favor of his brother Ferdinand I
- 1569 Pope Pius names Cosimo I de Medici as grand duke of Tuscany
- 1585 Duke of Parma's troops occupy Antwerp
- 1601 Olivier van Noort completes first Dutch circumnavigation of the globe, returning home after two years but with little success at trading or taking Spanish possessions
- 1610 Polish King Wladyslaw IV Vasa claims crown as King of Russia (disputed)
- 1619 Frederik van Palts chosen as King of Bohemia
- 1626 Battle of Lutter: Catholic League beats Danish king Christian IV
- 1628 Java: Sultan Agung of Mataram attacks Batavia
- 1665 "Ye Bare & Ye Cubb" is the first play performed in North America in Acomac, Virginia
- 1689 The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing empire
- 1715 Earl of Mar raises the Jacobite standard at Braemar, Aberdeenshire starting the Jacobite uprising in Scotland
- 1776 British defeat Americans in Battle of Long Island
Battle of the Combahee River
1782 Battle of the Combahee River near Beaufort, South Carolina, American abolitionist John Laurens is killed leading the charge
- 1783 First hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches an altitude of 900m
- 1788 Jacques Neeker named as French minister of Finance
- 1789 French National Assembly issues the "Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen"
- 1798 Battle of Castlebar, Ireland: French army and Irish rebels rout a larger the British force
- 1799 British invasion army lands in North Holland
- 1802 The West India Quay officially opens - London’s first purpose-built dock, with the then largest brick building in the world [1]
- 1816 Lord Exmouth bombards Algiers, a refuge for Barbary pirates
- 1828 The Russians defeat the Turks at the Battle of Akhalzic.
- 1828 Uruguay gains independence during Brazil-Argentina peace talks
- 1832 Black Hawk, leader of Sauk-indians, gives himself up
- 1859 1st successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, by Edwin Drake
- 1861 Battle of Cape Hatteras SC-Union troops take Ft Clark
- 1869 1st international boat race (River Thames, Oxford beats Harvard)
- 1881 Hurricane hits Florida & Carolinas; about 700 die
Krakatoa: The World’s Mightiest Explosion
1883 Krakatoa volcano, west of Java in Indonesia, erupts with a force of 200 megatons of TNT and kills approximately 40,000 people
- 1892 NYC's Metropolitan Opera House (opened in 1883) catches fire; takes two years to restore
- 1894 Congress passes Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which includes a graduated income tax later struck down by the Supreme Court
- 1896 Britain defeats Zanzibar in a 38-minute war (9:02 AM-9:40 AM). Shortest recorded war in history.
Battle of Bergendal
1900 Battle of Bergendal: General Buller defeats the Boer under General Louis Botha
- 1900 Gabriel Fauré's grand cantata "Prométhée" premieres at Arènes de Béziers, France; performance involved almost 800 singers and musicians (including two wind bands and 15 harps) and an audience of 10,000
- 1908 Calgary City Rugby Football Club re-organizes as the Tigers
Chesbro's Final Highlander Game
1909 Future Baseball HOF pitcher Jack Chesbro's final game for NY Highlanders; 17-6 loss to the Tigers at Bennett Park, Detroit
- 1910 Using twenty 137,000 candlepower arc lights, 2 amateur baseball teams play a night game at White Sox Park
- 1910 Wash Red Killefer sacrifices record 4 times against Detroit
- 1913 Lt Pyotr Nesterov, of Imperial Russian Air Service, performs a loop in a monoplane at Kiev (1st aerobatic maneuver in an airplane)
- 1913 Swedish engineer Gideon Sundback of Hoboken applies to patent all-purpose zipper
Battle of Tannenberg
1914 Second day of Battle of Tannenberg (WWI): Germans bombard Usdau
- 1914 US war reporter Richard H Davis visits Leuven
- 1916 Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary
- 1917 Indians set club record by stealing eight bases in a game
- 1918 Christy Mathewson resigns as Cincinnati Reds manager to accept a commission as a captain in chemical warfare branch of US Army
- 1918 Dr Joseph L Johnson named as US minister to Liberia
The 1918 Flu Pandemic
1918 Spanish flu arrives in Boston, beginning of the second wave and deadliest wave in the US
World Record 3000m
1922 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 3000m (8:28.6)
Pearson No-hits Cleveland
1938 New York Yankees pitcher Monte Pearson no-hits Cleveland Indians, 13-0; Joe DiMaggio hits 3 triples
- 1938 Two NYC subway trains collide at 116th Street killing 2 and injuring 51
- 1939 Erich Warsitz in a Heinkel He-178 makes the 1st manned jet-propelled flight, with a turbo engine designed by Hans von Ohain
- 1939 Nazi Germany demands Danzig & Polish corridor
Queen Receives German Ambassador
1939 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands receives German ambassador Grave Zech
- 1940 Caproni-Campini CC-2, experimental jet plane, maiden flight (Milan)
Shah of Iran Abdicates
1941 Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi abdicates throne in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- 1941 WWII: British Royal Navy captures German U-boat U-570 on its maiden voyage; it is re-flagged as HMS Graph, and used by the British for nearly 2 years
- 1942 Cuba declares war on Germany, Japan & Italy
Russian sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko
1942 Soviet woman sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko arrives in Washington D.C., the 1st Soviet citizen welcomed at the White House, by Eleanor Roosevelt
- 1944 200 RAF Halifax bombers attack oil installations in Hamburg
- 1945 US troops land in Japan after Japanese surrender
- 1948 102°F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in August
- 1950 1st transmission of a TV programme from continental Europe shown on BBC
- 1950 General Foods blacklists Jean Muir of Aldrich Family for alleged communist sympathies
Zátopek Takes the Treble
1952 Having already won 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals, Czech star Emil Zátopek claims rare Olympic treble taking out Helsinki Games marathon in OR 2:23:03.2
Roman Holiday
1953 Romantic comedy film "Roman Holiday" is released, starring Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Eddie Albert
- 1955 "Guinness Book of World Records" 1st published
Record 23 Strike Outs
1955 Sandy Koufax fans 14 Reds, both teams combine for record 23 strikeouts
- 1956 Curt Robert of Columbus (Intl League) hits 4 HRs in 7 inning game
- 1957 Hickory Smoke wins Hambletonian Stakes
- 1957 The Constitution of Malaysia comes into force
- 1957 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1958 Clark Griffith says Senators will probably accept offer to move to Minnesota
- 1958 US performs nuclear test at South Atlantic Ocean
- 1958 USSR launches Sputnik 3 with two dogs aboard
- 1960 Anita Lonsbrough swims world/olympic record 200m (2:49.5)
- 1960 Australian swimmer John Devitt controversially wins the 100m freestyle gold medal at the Rome Olympics; recorded same time 55.2 as silver medallist American Lance Larson
- 1960 British swimmer Anita Lonsbrough sets 200m breaststroke world record 2:49.5 to beat German pair Wiltrud Urselmann & Barbara Göbel for the gold medal at the Rome Olympics
- 1961 Francis the Talking Mule is mystery guest on "What's My Line"
- 1962 Mariner 2 launched; first probe to fly by Venus
- 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
Mary Poppins
1964 Walt Disney's musical film "Mary Poppins" directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with songs by Richard and Robert Sherman, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California; wins 5 Academy Awards
- 1965 The Beatles spend an evening with Elvis Presley, at his Los Angeles, California home
- 1965 WTVI TV channel 42 in Charlotte, North Carolina (PBS) begins broadcasting
Event of Interest
1966 Francis Chichester begins 1st solo sail around world
- 1966 Oakland Pitcher Paul Lindblad begins a 385 cons errorless streak
- 1966 Race riot in Waukegan, Illinois
- 1967 Naomi Sims is 1st black model on US cover (Fashion of the Times)
- 1968 Protest by the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) at the Guildhall's council chamber; after which Eamon Melaugh phones the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) to organise a march in Derry
- 1969 Lindy's Pride wins Hambletonian Stakes
- 1969 Mike Procter hits six consecutive sixes (across two overs)
Slow Blues
1970 Jimi Hendrix creates his last studio recording at Electric Lady Studios in NYC, an instrumental called "Slow Blues"
- 1972 Operation Lion's Den: US Navy bombards Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam from the sea, firing over 700 rounds in 33 minutes [1]
- 1972 The Grateful Dead holds a benefit concert for the Springfield Creamery (a yogurt company owned by writer Ken Kesey's brother) at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon [1]
- 1974 NY Met Benny Ayala hits a HR in his 1st at bat
- 1975 Veronica & Colin Scargill (England) complete tandem bicycle ride, a record 18,020 miles around the world
- 1977 Army shoots on market vendor women in Conakry, Guinea
- 1977 Toby Harrah and Bump Wills hit back-to-back inside-the-park-homers off Yankee Ken Clay at Yankee Stadium, Rangers won 8-2
- 1978 Dutch cyclist Gerrie Knetemann wins UCI Road World C'ship from Francesco Moser of Italy and Dane Jorgen Marcussenin in Nürburg, West Germany
Baseball Record
1978 MLB Cincinnati Reds Joe Morgan is 1st to hit 200 HRs & have 500 stolen bases
- 1978 MLB New York Yankees pitcher Catfish Hunter's 6-2 win gives him a perfect 6-0 record in month of August
Event of Interest
1979 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and last Viceroy of India, is killed along with three companions, two of them children by the IRA when his boat is blown up near Sligo, Ireland
- 1979 Warrenpoint ambush: 18 British Army soldiers killed when Provisional IRA explode two roadside bombs as a British convoy passes Narrow Water Castle
- 1980 Chon Doo Hwan elected president of South Korea
- 1981 Divers begin to recover a safe found aboard sunken Italian liner Andrea Doria
- 1981 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Baseball Record
1982 Rickey Henderson steals 119th base of season breaks Lou Brock's mark
- 1982 Soyuz T-7 returns to Earth
- 1983 Haiti adopts constitution
- 1983 US performs nuclear test
Event of Interest
1984 US President Ronald Reagan announces 'Teacher in Space' project
- 1984 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1984 War Against Indiscipline is launched by the Buhari regime in Nigeria
- 1985 20th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-I): Discovery 6 launches
Event of Interest
1985 General Ibrahim Babangida overthrows Major General Muhammadu Buhari's regime in Nigeria
- 1986 Protests erupt in Soweto, South Africa, against evictions carried out after an 11 week rent boycott
Sports History
1988 Dodger Tommy Lasorda wins 1,000th game as manager tops Philadelphia, 4-2
- 1989 100 march through Bensonhurst protesting racial killings
- 1989 89th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Chris Patton
No Fences
1990 "No Fences" second studio album by Garth Brooks is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1991)
- 1990 52 Americans arrive in Turkey from Iraq
- 1990 Brewers-Blue Jays game is delayed 35 minutes due to gnats
- 1990 Market prices plunge as OPEC nears informal agreement to increase output to cover shortfall due to invasion; cash market trading experiences abrupt decline.
- 1991 Moldavia declares independence from USSR
Event of Interest
1991 Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida creates nine states: Abia, Enugu, Delta, Jigawa, Kebbi, Osun, Kogi, Taraba, and Yobe
- 1992 CFL revokes BC Lions franchise
Baseball Trade
1992 Mets trade David Cone to Toronto for Jeff Kent & Ryan Thompson
- 1993 The Rainbow Bridge connecting Tokyo's Shibaura and the island of Odaiba is completed.
- 1993 Yak-40 crashes in Tajikistan, killing 79 people with 1 survivor
- 1995 95th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Tiger Woods
- 1995 Worst fire in New York in 80 years ends after 4 days
Sports History
1996 Dino Ciccarelli is traded by the Detroit Red Wings to the Tampa Bay Lightning
Ostankino Tower
2000 540-metre (1,772 ft)-tall Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.
Film & TV History
2001 Angelina Jolie is named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva
- 2003 Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant.
- 2004 Australia wins its first ever Olympic men's field hockey gold medal with a 2-1 win a.e.t. against the Netherlands in Athens
- 2004 China's first ever gold in Olympic Games men's track and field; Liu Xiang wins 110m hurdles in Athens, equalling Colin Jackson's 1993 world record time of 12.91 seconds
- 2004 Craig Kilborn's final appearance as host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS, after 1,190 episodes
- 2004 German kayaker Birgit Fischer wins gold in K-4 500m & silver in K-2 500m in Athens; first woman in any sport to win gold medals at 6 different Olympics, gold 24 years apart, and 1st person to win 2 or more medals in 5 different Games
- 2004 In a huge upset in the men's basketball semi final at the Athens Olympics, Argentina beats a star-studded but unsettled US team 89-81; they go on to take gold and US bronze
- 2004 Osleidys Menéndez of Cuba throws an Olympic record 71.53m to easily beat German Steffi Nerius for the women's javelin gold medal at the Athens Games
- 2004 Timothy Mack vaults an Olympic record 5.95m to win the pole vault gold medal from fellow American Toby Stevenson (5.90m) at the Athens Olympics
Emmy Awards
2006 58th Emmy Awards: 24, The Office, Kiefer Sutherland & Mariska Hargitay win
- 2006 Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, bound for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia killing 49 of 50 on board
Sports History
2006 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, Reserve Vineyards & GC: Eduardo Romero of Argentina wins first of 2 Champions Tour majors with birdie on 1st playoff hole against Lonnie Nielsen
Presidential Convention
2008 US Senator Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be nominated by a major political party for President of the United States
- 2011 Australia claims final Tri Nations Rugby Series with 25-20 win over New Zealand in Brisbane; Argentina's Pumas join competition the following year; series rebranded The Rugby Championship
Thrift Shop
2012 "Thrift Shop" single is released by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Billboard Song of the Year 2013, Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song 2014)
- 2012 First interplanetary human voice recording is broadcast from the Mars Rover Curiosity
Film & TV History
2013 Dove Cameron releases a cover of "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons
- 2014 Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls the international response to Ebola “irresponsible” and “slow and derisory”
The Shepherd's Crown
2015 "The Shepherd's Crown" by Terry Pratchett published by Doubleday, 5 months after the author's death, last book in the Discworld series
- 2015 Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos names top Supreme Court judge, Vassiliki Thanou caretaker Prime Minister - Greece's 1st female Prime Minister
Sports History
2017 Former five-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats MMA fighter Conor McGregor in his debut match in the 10th round in Las Vegas
- 2018 Reigning French Open tennis champion Simona Halep becomes first top-seeded woman to lose in 1st round of the U.S. Open; loses to Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-4; first match at newly renovated Louis Armstrong Stadium
- 2018 UN releases report saying Myanmar military leaders should face genocide and crimes against humanity charges for violence against Rohingya
- 2019 At least 25 people killed in a fire at a bar, deliberately lit by gang members in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico
- 2019 Race car driver Jessi Combs dies while setting new fastest women's land speed record of 522.783 mph at Alvord Desert, Oregon (posthumously awarded 2020)
- 2020 Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant sentenced to life without parole, for the killing of 51 mosque worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1st time the country imposes the sentence [1]
- 2020 Hurricane Laura makes landfall in Louisiana near the Texas border as a category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, killing at least 16
Mike Pence Nominated
2020 Mike Pence accepts nomination for vice president at the Republican convention, calling for "law and order" after the shooting of Jacob Blake
Biles Wins 8th Championship
2023 Gymnast Simone Biles (26) wins her record 8th US Championship in San Jose, California
