- Aug 2 George A. Wheeler is granted a US patent for a prototype of the escalator
Merwede Canal Opens
Aug 4 Queen Wilhelmina and Emma open Merwede Canal between Amsterdam and the Rhine
Borden Murders
Aug 4 Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother are murdered with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts; Borden is later arrested, tried and acquitted
- Aug 13 US black newspaper "Afro-American" begins publishing from Baltimore
Fourth Gladstone Ministry
Aug 15 4th & last British government of William Gladstone forms
David Beatty Promoted
Aug 25 British naval officer David Beatty is promoted to lieutenant
- Aug 27 NYC's Metropolitan Opera House (opened in 1883) catches fire; takes two years to restore
- Aug 30 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, R.I.: Three straight US singles titles to Oliver Campbell; beats Fred Hovey 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists