- Aug 1 George Washington quarter goes into circulation
Discovery of the Positron
Aug 2 Carl David Anderson discovers and photographs a positron, the first known antiparticle
- Aug 3 Official automatic timing & photo-finish camera for track events is used for the 1st time at Los Angeles Olympics, instrumental in changing 110m hurdles final, review gives Donald Finley bronze ahead of American Jack Keller
Barrow Gang Kills Lawman
Aug 5 Clyde Barrow and two associates kill Sheriff C.G. Maxwell and his deputy, Eugene C. Moore, the first time the Barrow gang kills a lawman
- Aug 6 1st Venice Film Festival opens, the world's oldest film festival
- Aug 10 A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
- Aug 10 The Lego Group founded in Billund, Denmark, by Ole Kirk Christiansen; name is contraction of Danish words 'leg godt' ('play well' in English)
Hitler Refuses Hindenburg Proposal
Aug 13 Adolf Hitler refuses President von Hindenburg's proposal to become vice-chancellor of Germany
Ruffing's Winning HR
Aug 13 Yankees hurler Red Ruffing becomes first MLB pitcher since 1906 to hit an extra-inning, game-winning home run in NY's 1-0 win over the Senators in Washington
- Aug 14 Brooklyn Dodgers reliever John Quinn, 49, becomes oldest pitcher to win a MLB game in a 2-1, 10th inning victory over NY Giants at the Polo Grounds
- Aug 14 Philips makes 1 millionth radio
- Aug 14 X Summer Olympic Games close in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 18 Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns reach 16,201m in a balloon launched from Dübendorf, Switzerland
- Aug 18 Englishman James Mollisson is 1st to fly east to west over Atlantic
US National Women's Championship
Aug 19 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Helen Jacobs beats Carolin Babcock Stark 6-2, 6-2 for her first of 4 straight US singles crowns
Ferrell's 20 Game Record
Aug 21 Cleveland Indians pitcher Wes Ferrell first to win 20 games in each of his 1st 4 seasons
- Aug 22 BBC begins experimental regular TV broadcasts
Earhart's Record Flight
Aug 24 1st transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart begins in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 25 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental non-stop flight, the first by a woman, landing in Newark, New Jersey
- Aug 27 200,000 English textile workers strike
- Aug 27 International anti-war congress opens in Amsterdam
- Aug 29 International Anti-War Committee forms in Amsterdam
- Aug 29 United Cigar Stores shuts 800 shops
Göring Elected President
Aug 30 Hermann Goering elected President of the German Reichstag
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists