- Aug 1 12th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at U.S. Grant Hotel
- Aug 1 Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo forms government in Portugal
- Aug 2 "Broadway Opry '79" closes at St James Theater NYC after 6 performances
- Aug 2 "Gilda Radner: Live From New York" opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 52 performances
- Aug 2 MLB New York Mets purchase contract of outfielder José Cardenal from Philadelphia Phillies between games of a double-header between the two teams
Paul Volcker
Aug 2 Paul Volcker is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Chairman of the Federal Reserve
- Aug 2 Washington, D.C. trial attorney Edward Bennett Williams buys MLB's Baltimore Orioles from Jerold Hoffberger for reported $12.3 million
- Aug 3 Fastest jai-alai shot (188 mph), Jose Arieto at Newport Jai Alai, Rhode Island
PGA Championship
Aug 3 Sam Snead, at 67 years, 2 months and 7 days sets the record for the oldest player to make the cut in a major - PGA Championship at Oakland Hills CC
- Aug 3 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Aug 4 Italian government of Cossiga begins
- Aug 4 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
But Never Jam Today
Aug 5 Bert Keyes and Bob Larimer's musical "But Never Jam Today", based on the works of Lewis Carroll, closes at Longacre Theater, NYC, after 8 performances
- Aug 5 Government of Mauretania signs peace treaty with Polisario
- Aug 5 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Oakland Hills CC: Australian David Graham wins on the 3rd playoff hole against Ben Crenshaw
- Aug 5 Varetta Shankle (Miss), crowned 12th Miss Black America
Baseball Hall of Fame
Aug 5 Willie Mays, Warren Giles, and Hack Wilson inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY
- Aug 6 Marcus Hooper, 12, becomes then youngest person to swim English Channel
Hussein Executes Opponents
Aug 8 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein executes 22 political opponents
- Aug 9 English seaside resort Brighton gets 1st British nude beach
Off the Wall
Aug 10 "Off the Wall" 5th studio album by Michael Jackson is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1980)
- Aug 10 Ecuador adopts its 17th constitution, extending citizenship and suffrage to all Ecuadorians over 18
- Aug 10 Wings release single "Getting Closer" & "Baby's Request"
- Aug 11 28°F in Embarrass Minnesota
- Aug 11 British rock band Led Zeppelin performs for what becomes the final time in England at Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire, before over 200,000 fans
- Aug 11 Phillies Tug McGraw gives up record 4th grand slam of year
- Aug 12 "Whoopee!" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 204 performances
- Aug 12 Iranian press censors start massive book burnings
- Aug 14 Rainbow seen in Northern Wales for a 3 hours duration
Apocalypse Now
Aug 15 "Apocalypse Now", directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen, is released (Palme d'Or 1979)
- Aug 15 Andrew Young resigns as US ambassador to the United Nations
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Aug 17 "Monty Python's Life of Brian" directed by Terry Jones, starring Graham Chapman, Mickael Palin, & John Cleese, and funded by George Harrison's HandMade Films, premieres in US theaters
- Aug 17 2 Russian passenger planes collide above Ukraine, 173 killed
Event of Interest
Aug 18 Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini demands Saint War against Kurds
- Aug 18 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Aug 19 "My Sharonna" by the Knack hits #1, stays at top for 6 weeks
- Aug 19 Soviet Cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakov and Valery Ryumin return to Earth aboard Soyuz 34 after a record 175 days in space
- Aug 20 American singer Vikki Carr (39) weds businessman Michael Nilsson
- Aug 20 India premier Charan Singh resigns
- Aug 20 The East Coast Main Line rail route between England and Scotland is restored when the Penmanshiel Diversion opens.
- Aug 21 Mets win a protested game against Astros, 5-0
- Aug 21 Russian Bolshoi Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defects in NYC; joins the American Ballet Theatre, and works as a film actor
- Aug 22 200 black leaders meet in NY to support Andrew Young
- Aug 23 Iranian army opens offensive against Kurds
- Aug 23 UN's Vienna office opens
- Aug 24 36th Venice Film Festival opens
- Aug 24 NFL fans (60,916) choose old Patriots logo over new
- Aug 24 Rock band "The Cars" play concert at the Wollman Rink in NYC's Central Park
- Aug 24 UN's Vienna office begins issuing postage stamps
- Aug 25 "Madwoman of Central Park West" closes at 22 Steps NYC after 86 performances
- Aug 25 California Angels trounce Toronto Blue Jays, 24-2
- Aug 25 Somali adopts constitution
Hart to Hart
Aug 25 TV series "Hart to Hart" starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers premieres in the US on ABC
Event of Interest
Aug 27 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
- Aug 27 Warrenpoint ambush: 18 British Army soldiers killed when Provisional IRA explode two roadside bombs as a British convoy passes Narrow Water Castle
- Aug 28 IRA bomb explodes in Brussels' Great Market
- Aug 28 Train crash at Nijmegen, 7 die
- Aug 29 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Aug 29 Sheridan Broadcasting Corp purchases Mutual Black Network
- Aug 30 -Sept 13] Hurricane David, kills 1200 in Florida, Domincana & Dominican Republic
- Aug 30 1st recorded occurrence of a comet hitting the sun, releases energy equal to one million hydrogen bombs
Cricket History
Aug 30 Cricketer Ian Botham passes 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Tests in his 21st match for England
US Men's Tennis Open
Aug 30 In a wild encounter at the US Open, John McEnroe beats Ilie Năstase 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Năstase is defaulted by the umpire then reinstated
- Aug 31 Comet Howard-Koomur-Michels collides with Sun
- Aug 31 Donald McHenry named to succeed Andrew Young as US UN ambassador
Teen Prodigies Face Off
Aug 31 In the battle of American teenage tennis prodigies, 16-year-old Tracy Austin beats 14-year-old Andrea Jaeger 6-2, 6-2 in the 2nd round at US Open
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists