- Aug 2 1st mailboxes installed in Boston and NYC streets
- Aug 2 Government of India transferred from East India Company to the British Crown
1st Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
Aug 5 First transatlantic telegraph cable lands at Trinity Bay, Newfoundland spearheaded by Cyrus West Field (will fail after 3 weeks)
British Queen Telegraphs US President
Aug 16 Britain's Queen Victoria telegraphs US President James Buchanan for 1st time by transatlantic telegraph cable, he replies "it is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle."
- Aug 17 1st bank in Hawaii opens
- Aug 18 Netherlands & Japan sign trade agreement
- Aug 20 Rudolf Virchov's groundbreaking medical text "Cellular Pathology" is published in Berlin, establishing the basis for modern medical science [1]
- Aug 21 1st Lincoln-Douglas debate in Illinois
- Aug 24 Richmond "Daily Dispatch" reports 90 blacks arrested for learning
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists