Historical Events on August 31

Events 1 - 200 of 215

• 1142 Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League [disputed date - other research places date between 1450 and 1660]
• 1230 Bishop Willebrand of Utrecht grants Swells state justice
• 1310 German king Heinrich VII makes his son Johan king of Bohemia

• 1751 British troops under Sir Robert Clive occupy Arcot, India
• 1772 Hurricane destroy ships off Dominica
• 1778 British kill 17 Stockbridge Indians in Bronx during Revolution
• 1836 HMS Beagle anchors in Postage Praia, Cape Verde Islands

• 1842 American blacksmith Micah Rugg patents a nuts & bolts machine
• 1842 US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress
• 1843 Liberty Party nominates James Birney as presidential candidate
• 1850 California pioneers organized at Montgomery & Clay Streets

• 1864 Atlanta Campaign: Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, 1900 casualties
• 1876 Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II
• 1881 1st US men's single tennis championships held at Newport, Rhode Island
• 1886 1st major earthquake recorded in eastern US, at Charleston, South Carolina, 110 die

• 1894 Phillies outfielder Billy Hamilton equals George Gore's MLB single game stolen bases record with 7 steals in 10-8 win vs Washington Senators in Philadelphia
• 1894 The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act passed by Richard Seddon’s Liberal government, making New Zealand the first country in the world to outlaw strikes in favour of compulsory arbitration
• 1895 1st pro football game (QB John Brallier paid $10 & won 12-0)
• 1896 Louis Napoleon Parker's play "Rosemary" premieres in NYC

• 1900 British troops over run Johannesburg
• 1900 Brooklyn pitcher Brickyard Kennedy walks 6 straight Philadelphia Phillies in 2nd inning of the Superbas' 9-4 loss at Washington Park; Kennedy still achieves his 4th 20-win season
• 1902 Split skirt 1st worn by Mrs Adolph Landeburg (a horse rider)
• 1903 New York Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Joe McGinnity wins his 3rd doubleheader of month, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 and 9-2 at the Polo Grounds
• 1905 Mbunga rebellion takes German Fort Mahenge East Africa
• 1907 Britain & Russia sign treaty with Afghanistan, Persia & Tibet
• 1907 Britain, Russia & France form Triple Entente
• 1909 A. J. Reach Co. patents cork-centered baseball
• 1909 Swedish runner Thure Johansson runs world record marathon (2:40:34.2) in Stockholm

• 1911 The "Sullivan Act" requiring New Yorkers to possess licences for firearms small enough to be concealed comes into effect
• 1913 Massive protest rally on Sackville Street attacked by the Dublin Metropolitan Police; two strikers killed by the police
• 1913 Soccer club PSV forms in Eindhoven, Netherlands
• 1914 24.8 cm rainfall at Bloomingdale, Michigan (state record)
• 1914 Ecuador becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty
• 1914 General von Kluck decides not to attack Paris
• 1914 German troops reconquer Soldau/Neidenburg East-Prussia
• 1915 Brazil becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty
• 1915 Chicago White Sox Jimmy Lavender no-hits NY Giants, 2-0
• 1916 Oscar Asche's musical "Chu Chin Chow" premieres in London

• 1918 Boston Red Sox, win earliest AL pennent ever (season ended Sept 2)
• 1919 John Reed forms American Communist Labor Party in Chicago
• 1919 Petlyura's Ukrainian Army kills 35 members of a Jewish defense group
• 1919 Ukrainian (Petlyura) Army recaptures Kiev
• 1920 Belgium starts paying old age pensions
• 1920 Detroit radio station 8MK (now WWJ, 950AM) is 1st to broadcast a news program on the air
• 1923 Italian troops occupy Corfu
• 1923 League of Nations gives Belgium mandate of Ruanda-Urundi (was German)

• 1934 1st NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 0, All-Stars 0 (79,432)
• 1935 1st national skeet championship in Indianapolis
• 1935 Chicago White Sox Vern Kennedy no-hits Cleveland Indians, 5-0

• 1935 Russian miner Aleksey Stachanov digs 102 tons of coal in under 6 hours, using a jackhammer
• 1937 Det's rookie Rudy York sets record for HRs of 18 HRs in August
• 1938 5th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 28, Washington 16 (74,250)
• 1939 Japanese invasion army driven out of Mongolia
• 1939 Staged "Polish" assault on radio station in Gleiwitz
• 1940 1st edition of illegal opposition newspaper Free Netherlands
• 1940 German occupiers in Netherlands begin soap rationing
• 1940 RAF Fighter Command loses 39 aircraft against Luftwaffe's 41
• 1940 US National Guard assembles
• 1941 Radio program "Great Gildersleeve," a spin-off of "Fibber McGee & Molly", debuts on NBC
• 1942 Battle at Alam Halfa: German & Italians assault
• 1942 U-boats sink and damage 131 allied ships this month (639,946 tons)
• 1943 1st battle of Essex/new Yorktown: US assault on Marcus Island
• 1943 Japanese occupiers intern Jewish Congregation of Sorabajo
• 1944 Allied offensive at "Gothen-linie" Italy
• 1944 French provisional government moves from Algiers to Paris
• 1944 French troops liberate Bordeaux
• 1944 Soviet & Romanian troops march into Bucharest

• 1946 Foghorn Leghorn, Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Robert McKimson and Warren Foster, (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series), first debuts in "Walky Talky Hawky"
• 1947 Hungarian communist party wins election
• 1947 NY Giants set season record for HRs by a club 183 (en route to 221)

• 1951 1st 33 1/3 album introduced in Dusseldorf
• 1953 KRBC TV channel 9 in Abilene, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1953 WKBG (now WLVI) TV channel 56 in Cambridge-Boston, MA (IND) begins
• 1954 Cincinnati 1st baseman Ted Kluszewski hits 2 HRs in a 9-3 loss v Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia; 1st Redleg to ever hit 40 MLB HRs, en route to season total 49
• 1954 Hurricane Carol hits New England, 70 die. Costliest ever hurricane at the time and 1st storm name to be retired.
• 1954 Indians beat Yanks 6-1 for record tying 26 wins in August (1931 A's)
• 1954 WMTW TV channel 8 in Portland-Poland Spring, ME (ABC) begins
• 1955 1st sun-powered automobile demonstrated (Chicago, Illinois)
• 1955 KTRE TV channel 9 begins broadcasting in Lufkin, Texas (ABC/NBC affiliate)

• 1960 Agricultural Hall of Fame forms
• 1960 US sweeps the medals in the shot put at the Rome Olympics; Bill Nieder wins gold with 19.68m, ahead of countrymen Parry O'Brien and Dallas Long
• 1961 Amsterdam National Ballet forms
• 1962 Trinidad & Tobago gain independence from Britain (National Day) with Eric Williams as first Prime Minister
• 1964 Ground is broken for Anaheim Stadium, future home of MLB California Angels
• 1965 The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aircraft makes its first flight.
• 1965 US Congress establishes Department of Housing & Urban Development
• 1966 Referee Leo Horn whistles his last soccer match (Ajax-Bulgaria)
• 1968 12,000 die in 7.8 quake which destroys 60,000 buildings in NE Iran
• 1968 68th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Bruce Fleisher

• 1968 Roy Face ties W. Johnson's record of 802 pitching appearances with club
• 1968 Verne Gagne beats Dick Beyers (Dr X) in Minnesota to become NWA champ
• 1970 Lonnie McLucas, a Black Panther activist, convicted of conspiracy to commit murder
• 1970 Molukkers occupy Indonesian ambassador's home in Wassenaar
• 1970 WKMJ TV channel 68 in Louisville, Kentucky (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1971 Adrienne Beames runs female world record marathon (2:46:30)
• 1971 An inquiry into allegations of brutality by the security forces against those interned without trial in Northern Ireland is announced

• 1972 American super swimmer Mark Spitz wraps up the Olympic butterfly double with a world record 54.27 in the 100m in Munich, having already won the 200m in world record time 2:00.70
• 1972 Australian swimmer Gail Neall with a world record 5:02.97 wins the 400m individual medley gold medal at the Munich Olympics
• 1972 Finnish runner Lasse Viren runs Olympic and world record 10,000m (27:38.4)

• 1974 Pirate Radio Veronica moves into Scheveningen, Neteherlands harbor
• 1976 Mexican peso devalued
• 1976 Trinidad & Tobago adopts constitution
• 1977 Aleksandr Fedotov sets aircraft altitude record of 38.26 km (125,524')
• 1977 Ian Smith, espousing racial segregation, wins Rhodesian general election with 80% of overwhelmingly white electorate's vote
• 1977 Spyros Kyprianou appointed president of Cyprus
• 1978 Constitution adopted by Sri Lanka

• 1978 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1979 Comet Howard-Koomur-Michels collides with Sun
• 1979 Donald McHenry named to succeed Andrew Young as US UN ambassador
• 1980 80th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Hal Sutton
• 1980 Poland's Solidarity trade union federations forms and is officially recognised by the Polish government
• 1980 The Gdańsk Agreement is signed, allowing Polish citizens to bring democratic changes within the communist political structure
• 1981 Dirk Wellham scores 103 on Test Cricket debut, v England at Lord's
• 1981 MLB Kansas City Royals fire manager Jim Frey, replace him with Dick Howser
• 1982 USSR performs underground nuclear test
• 1983 Edwin Moses of USA sets 400m hurdle record (47.02) in Koblenz
• 1984 Pinklon Thomas beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
• 1985 "Prakas" sets trotting mile record of 1:53.4 at Du Quoin, Illinois

• 1985 Night Stalker suspect that terrorized California captured in East Los Angeles
• 1986 Aeromexico DC-9 & small plane collide in LA, killing 82 (15 on the ground)
• 1986 Russian cargo ship crashes into cruise ship Admiral Nakhimov; 398 die

• 1987 South Africa's longest mine strike in history ends
• 1987 The Great Potato Incident: Minor league Williamsport Bills catcher Dave Bresnahan attempts to lure an opposing baserunner off third base using a potato carved to look like a baseball. Umpire calls runner safe, and the catcher is fined $50 and released by the team [1] [2]
• 1988 5-day power blackout of downtown Seattle begins
• 1988 Arbitrator George Nicolau rules owners conspired against free agents
• 1988 Bomb attack on office of South Africa Council of Churches
• 1989 Arbitrator T Roberts orders owners to pay $105 million for collusion

• 1990 Dennis Eckersley saves his 40th game of the season
• 1990 East & West Germany sign a treaty to join legal & political systems
• 1991 Houston QB David Klingler sets NCAA record with 6 touchdown passes in the 2nd quarter as the Cougars clobbered Louisiana Tech 73-3
• 1991 Richard J. Kerr, ends term as deputy director of CIA
• 1991 Rockies bat out of order against Expos in 1st inning
• 1991 Uzbekistan declares independence from the Soviet Union following the failed coup in Moscow

• 1992 Dynamite explosion in a mine in the Philippines kills 500
• 1992 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Cleveland, Ohio on WNCX 98.5 FM

• 1993 HMS Mercury, the Royal Navy's communications training establishment, closes after 52 years in commission.
• 1993 Minnesota Twins beat Cleveland Indians 5-4 in 22 innings
• 1993 Venezuela president Carlos Perez flees
• 1994 Last Russian soldiers leave Estonia & Latvia

• 1994 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Sinn Féin) declares a ceasefire in Northern Ireland

• 1997 Eddie George runs for 216 yards on 35 carries and scores a touchdown as the Oilers, playing their first NFL game in Tennessee, beat Oakland 24-21 in overtime at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis
• 1997 Last episode of Rolanda airs
• 1998 North Korea reportedly launches Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite.

• 1999 A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including 2 on the ground.

• 1999 The first of a series of apartment bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.

• 2005 A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.

• 2012 Apple loses its patent dispute with Samsung in Tokyo, Japan

• 2015 US President Barack Obama arrives in Alaska on a 3 day tour highlighting climate change
• 2015 Violent protests in Kiev after Ukraine parliament vote leave 1 national guard dead, 100 injured

• 2017 Indications that Neanderthals were the first to make glue out of tar strengthened by research published in "Scientific Reports"
• 2017 International Organization for Migration states 18,500 Rohingya Muslims have fled from violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state after 110 deaths, making for Bangladesh
• 2018 19-year old Indonesian boy rescued after 49 days afloat when his floating fish trap became adrift

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