Endless Love
Aug 1 "Endless Love" single released by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (Billboard Song of the Year 1981, Billboard Greatest Song Duet of All-Time)
- Aug 1 Music video cable channel MTV debuts in US at 12:01 AM with The Buggles song "Video Killed The Radio Star"
Cricket History
Aug 2 England cricket all-rounder Ian Botham takes 5 for 11 to end Australia's chase of 151 target, all out 121 for 29 run defeat in 4th Test at Edgbaston
Event of Interest
Aug 3 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike; US President Ronald Reagan offers ultimatum to workers: 'if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated'
- Aug 3 France performs nuclear test in Pacific
- Aug 3 Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launch the Antiimperialist Action Front-Suxxali Reew Mi.
- Aug 4 Columbia mated with SRBs and external tank for STS-2 mission
Event of Interest
Aug 4 Oliver North is assigned to White House duty
- Aug 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Aug 5 US President Ronald Reagan fires 11,500 striking air traffic controllers
- Aug 6 Argentine ex-president Isabel Peron freed
- Aug 6 NASA launches US Navy communication system Fltsatcom-5 - fails after being damaged during flight
- Aug 7 "The Washington Star" ceases all operations after 128 years of publication
- Aug 8 At a summit South African Trade Unions resolve to defy apartheid and labour laws
- Aug 9 52nd All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-4 at Municipal Stadium, Cleveland
Sports History
Aug 9 All star MVP: Gary Carter (Mont Expos)
- Aug 9 NL beats AL 5-4 in 52nd All Star Game (Cleveland Stadium)
PGA Championship
Aug 9 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Atlanta Athletic Club: Larry Nelson wins by 4 strokes from Fuzzy Zoeller
- Aug 9 Six English lifeguards set relay swim record English Channel (7:17)
- Aug 10 Coca-Cola Bottling Co agrees to pump $34 million into black business
Sports History
Aug 10 Pete Rose, 3,631 career hit, breaks Stan Musial's NL hit record
- Aug 10 Richard Nixon Museum in San Clemente, California closes
- Aug 12 IBM introduces its first Personal Computer (PC & PC-DOS version 1.0)
- Aug 12 Jon Erikson (US) becomes 1st to triple cross English Channel (38:27)
- Aug 13 American swimmer Mary T. Meagher breaks her own world women's 200 m butterfly record (2:05.96) in Brown Deer, Wisconsin
- Aug 13 Last broadcast of "The Waltons" on CBS-TV
- Aug 13 Test Cricket debut of Mike Whitney for Australia versus England at Old Trafford
- Aug 14 George Foster hits his 8th HR into red seats at Riverfront
Sports History
Aug 14 Phils Mike Schmidt hits his 300th career HR off NY Met Mike Scott
- Aug 15 Ian Botham scores a century in 86 balls v Australia at Old Trafford
- Aug 15 Robin Leamy of US swims record 7.98 kph for 50 m
- Aug 16 American swimmer Mary T. Meagher breaks her own world women's 100 m butterfly record (57.93) in Brown Deer, Wisconsin; holds 100/200m double WR
- Aug 16 Highest score in World Cup soccer match (New Zealand-13, Fiji-0)
- Aug 18 Football running back, Herschel Walker, of U of Georgia, takes out a Lloyd's of London insurance policy for $1 million
Telethon
Aug 18 Jerry Lewis appears on "Donahue" to defend Telethons
My Fair Lady
Aug 18 Revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical "My Fair Lady" opens at Uris Theater, NYC; runs for 119 performances
Murder of Interest
Aug 24 Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 yrs to life for John Lennon's murder
- Aug 25 Jeff Schwartz, sets solo record for trampoline bouncing (266:09)
Voyager 2 Spacecraft
Aug 25 Voyager 2's closest approach to Saturn (63,000 miles/100,000 km) [1]
World Record Mile
Aug 28 Britain's Sebastian Coe sets a then 1-mile word record of 3:47.33
Ronald Reagan is Shot
Aug 28 John Hinckley pleads innocent to attempt to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan
- Aug 28 National Centers for Disease Control announces high incidence of Pneumocystis & Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men
- Aug 29 28th Golf Walker Cup: US wins 15-9
- Aug 29 Phillies minor leaguer Jeff Stone steals pro baseball record 121st base en route to 122 (Spartanburg (South Atlantic League))
Sports History
Aug 30 Bill Shoemaker becomes the first jockey to win a $1 million thoroughbred horse race when John Henry takes the inaugural Arlington Million by a nose over The Bart
- Aug 31 Dirk Wellham scores 103 on Test Cricket debut, v England at Lord's
- Aug 31 MLB Kansas City Royals fire manager Jim Frey, replace him with Dick Howser
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists