August in History

Historical Events on August

2017 A suicide attack on a mosque in Heart, Afghanistan kills 20 people.

1990 Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.

2004 The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11 attacks.

1924 Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.

1977 U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.

1945 World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning.

1990 Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.

1945 World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. Thirty-five thousand people are killed outright, including 23,200-28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers.

2014 Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male in Ferguson, Missouri, was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer after reportedly assaulting the officer and attempting to steal his weapon, sparking protests and unrest in the city.

1964 South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.

1940 World War II: The Hardest Day air battle, part of the Battle of Britain. At that point, the largest aerial engagement in history with heavy losses sustained on both sides.

1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory.

1990 Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War.

2011 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War.

1944 World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.

1990 Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.

1911 Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.

1945 The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Douglas MacArthur lands at Atsugi Air Force Base.

Famous Birthdays on August

1977 Tom Brady

1961 Barack Obama

1981 Roger Federer

1946 Bill Clinton

1957 Steve Davis

1978 Kobe Bryant

1936 John McCain

1958 Michael Jackson

Famous Deaths on August

1977 Elvis Presley

1786 Frederick the Great

1776 David Hume

1900 Friedrich Nietzsche

2001 Aaliyah

2009 Ted Kennedy

1982 Ingrid Bergman

1997 Diana, Princess of Wales

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