August This Day in History, Historic Events
What Historic August Events Occurred on Your Birthday?
Our sizzling hot “This Day in History for August” section contains historical August events categorized by month and day. See what happened on your birthday, or any day of the year. Find out what happened on this day in August.
Major Historical August Events
August 1, 1774 – English chemist John Priestley discovers Oxygen, isolating it in a gaseous state.
August 1, 1790 – The first U.S. Census is completed. There are four million people in the U.S.
August 1, 1632 – Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced Spiderman as a new Marvel Comics superhero.
August 1, 1941 – The first Jeep comes off the assembly line.
August 1, 1990 – The World Wide Web is conceived.
August 2, 1791 – Samuel Briggs and his son patents a nail-making machine.
August 2, 1865 – Lewis Carroll publishes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
August 2, 1876 – Wild Bill Hickock is killed during a poker game. He was holding a “Dead Man’s Hand”, two pair aces, and 8’s.
August 2, 1909 – The first Lincoln head pennies are minted.
August 2, 2018 – Apple becomes the first publicly listed American company to reach a value of $ 1 trillion.
August 3, 1492 – Christopher Columbus sets sail on his first voyage to the “Indies” with three ships – the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.
August 3, 1900 – Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is founded by Harvey Firestone.
August 3, 1934 – Adolph Hitler declares himself the Fuhrer.
August 3, 1958 – The Nautilus, a nuclear-powered submarine is the first submarine to cross the North Pole underwater.
August 4, 1693 – Champagne is invented by Dom Perignon. I’ll drink to that!
August 4, 1862 – The U.S. tax man collects income tax for the first time.
August 4, 2015 – Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog of the Muppets announce the end of their relationship on Twitter.
August 5, 1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe’s Island.
August 5, 1891 – American Express issues the world’s first Traveller’s Checks.
August 5, 1924 – Little Orphan Annie comic strip debuts.
August 5, 1957 – American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark premieres.
August 6, 1890 – Murderer John Hart is the first person to be executed in an electric chair.
August 6, 1890 – Baseball pitching legend Cy Young pitches his first his first game, a win.
August 6, 1930 – New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater disappears in NYC amid a political scandal, never to be seen again. He was declared dead on June 6, 1939.
August 6, 1945 – The Atom bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by the U.S.
August 7, 1782 – The “Order of the Purple Heart” is created by President George Washington.
August 7, 1789 – Through an Act of Congress, the Federal Government takes over the creation and maintenance of the nation’s lighthouses.
August 7, 1882 – Hatfield – McCoy feud begins.
August 7, 1927 – The Peace Bridge between Canada and the United States is dedicated.
August 8, 1890 – The Daughters of the American Revolution organization is created.
August 8, 1945 – The USSR finally declares war against Japan.
August 8, 1945 – President Harry S. Truman signs the United Nations Charter.
August 8, 1960 – The song Iitsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini hits #1.
August 9, 1173 – Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins. It takes two centuries to be completed!
August 9, 1898 – Rudolph Diesel receives a patent for the internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine.
August 9, 1930 – Animated cartoon Dizzy Dishes premieres, with new star Betty Boop!
August 9, 1944 – Smokey Bear debuts as the spokesperson for wildfire prevention.
August 9, 1974 – President Richard M. Nixon becomes the first and only president to resign while in office.
August 10, 1833 – The village of Chicago is incorporated.
August 10, 1846 – The U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Smithsonian Institution.
August 10, 1889 – Dan Rylands patents the screw cap.
August 10, 1948 – “Smile, You’re on Candid Camera”. Allen Funt’s wildly popular show debuts.
August 10, 2017 – 100-year-old fruit cake by Huntley & Palmers was deemed “almost eatable” after being discovered in a hut in Antarctica.
Lefty's Celebrate Lefthander's Day in August
August 11, 1866 – The world’s first roller skating rink opens in Newport, RI.
August 11, 1966 – The Beatles begin their last US concert tour.
August 11, 2008 – Airbnb is founded.
August 12, 1850 – The sewing machine was patented by Isaac Singer.
August 12, 1869 – Self-proclaimed (United States) Emperor Joshua Abraham Norton issues an edict abolishing the Democratic and Republican parties. (Yes, he did!)
August 12, 1877 – Thomas Edison invents the phonograph.
August 12, 1898 – US annexes Hawaii.
August 12, 1908 – Henry Ford builds the first Model T.
August 12, 1930 – Clarence Birdseye receives a patent for a method of freeze-drying food.
August 12, 1955 – Minimum wage is raised to $1.00 per hour.
August 13, 3114 B.C. – Estimated start date of the Mayan calendar.
August 13, 1521 – Spanish defeated the Aztecs Indians, and conquerors Mexico City.
August 13, 1889 – William Grey patents the coin-operated telephone.
August 13, 1907 – The first taxi cabs begin operation in New York. City.
August 13, 1997 – the first episode of South Park airs on television.
August 13, 2016 – American swimmer Michael Phelps ends his Olympic swimming career with his 23rd gold medal win at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
August 14, 1935 – The Social Security bill is signed into law, providing unemployment benefits.
August 14, 1937 – The Appalachian Trail is formally completed. It is over 2,000 miles across 14 states.
August 14, 1945 – Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
August 14, 1953 – Get a whiff of this…the Whiffle Ball was patented on this day.
August 14, 1965 – Sonny & Cher’s song “I’ve Got You Babe” hits #1.
August 15, 1911 – Proctor and Gamble create Crisco shortening.
August 15, 1914 – The Panama Canal is opened.
August 15, 1969 – Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened.
August 16, 1501 – The Overseers of the Office of Works of the Duomo, Florence’s cathedral church, awards Michelangelo a contract to create his statue of David.
August 16, 1896 – Gold is discovered in the Klondike.
August 16, 1898 – Edwin Prescott patents the first vertical loop roller coaster. See National Roller Coaster Day.
August 16, 1954 – Ramon “Monchito” Marerro, a bartender in San Juan Puerto Rico, invents the Pina Colada
August 16, 1954 – Sports Illustrated is first published.
August 16, 1962 – Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as drummer for the Beatles.
August 16, 1977 – Elvis Presley dies of a heart attack.
August 17, 1877 – American Astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Mar’s moon Phobos.
August 1, 1945 – Korea is separated into North and South Korea along the 38th parallel.
August 17, 1961 – Construction is started on the Berlin Wall.
August 17, 1969 – Woodstock music festival ends.
August 18, 293 B.C. – The oldest known temple to Venus is founded, and the tradition of Vinalia Rustica (grape harvest festival) is begun.
August 18, 1872 – Montgomery Ward issues its first mail-order catalog.
August 18, 1938 – The 1,000 Islands bridge, connecting the US and Canada is dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
August 18, 1960 – The first commercially produced oral contraceptives were marketed by Searle Company.
August 19, 1839 – Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre invents the photographic Daguerreotype. See World Photography Day.
August 19, 1909 – Indianapolis Speedway holds its first auto race.
August 19, 1958 – Production of Packard automobile ends.
August 20, 1866 – The Civil War is formally declared to be over by President Andrew Johnson.
August 20, 1896 – The Dial telephone is patented.
August 20, 1897 – British doctor Sir Ronald Ross. discovers the link between mosquitos and the transmission of malaria was discovered. See World Mosquito Day
August Historical Events - Champagne was Invented
August 21, 1841 – Venetian blinds are patented.
August 21, 1878 – American Bar Association was founded.
August 21, 1911 – The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre in Paris, France by Vincenzo Peruggia. It was recovered in 1913.
August 21, 1959 – Hawaii becomes the 50th state.
August 21, 2015 – A “Message in a bottle” put into the sea by the UK Marine Biological Association washes ashore on a beach in Amrom, Germany 108 years later.
August 22, 1902 – Cadillac automobile begins production.
August 22, 1989 – Nolan Ryan strikes out his 5,000th batter.
August 23, 79 – Mount Vesuvius begins to stir on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. It erupts the next day.
August 23, 1919 – “Gasoline Alley” comic strip premieres.
August 23, 1966 – The first picture of Earth from the moon is taken by Lunar Orbiter 1.
August 24, 79 – The infamous Mount Vesuvius eruption buries the city of Pompeii.
August 24, 1857 – The “Panic of 57” begins, setting off one of the worst economic crises in United States history.
August 24, 1869 – The Waffle Iron is patented by Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York.
August 24, 1891 – Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.
August 24, 1954 – The Communist political party is banned in the United States.
August 24, 1989 – Pete Rose is suspended from major league baseball for life for gambling on games.
August 24, 2006 – To the dismay of millions of star gazers, Pluto was demoted from a “Planet” to a “Dwarf Planet”.
August 25, 1530 – Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of Russia was born.
August 25, 1904 – The Banana Split was invented by David Strickler at a soda fountain in Latrobe, Pa.
August 25, 1916 – The National Park Service was founded.
August 25, 1932 – Amelia Earhart completes her trans-continental flight.
August 25, 1939 – The movie classic Wizard of Oz was released to movie theaters.
August 25, 2006 – Naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor discover the world’s tallest tree, a Redwood named Hyperion. It towers 379.1 feet tall in the Redwood National Park in California.
August 26, 55 B.C.- Julius Caesar’s Roman army invades Britain.
August 26, 1682 – English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes a comet, later named after him.
August 26, 1871 – Toilet paper is first sold in the U.S. I wonder what they did before it was invented.
August 26, 1920 – U.S. Congress passes the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote.
August 26, 1961 – International Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
August 27, 1859 – The first successful oil well was drilled near Titusville, PA.
August 27, 1883 – Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia erupts with a force of over 1,300 megatons. One of the biggest natural disasters ever recorded. It was heard over 3,000 miles away, creating an over 120-foot tsunami.
August 27, 1955 – The Guinness World Book of Records is first published.
August 27, 2003 – Mars makes is closest approach to Earth in over 60,000 years at just 34,646,418 miles apart.
August 28, 1837 – Pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce.
August 28, 1957 – Senator Thurmond begins a 24-hour filibuster against the Civil Rights Bill.
August 28, 1963 – Martin Luther King Jr. makes his “I Have a Dream” speech.
August 29, 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler receives a German patent for a motorcycle.
August 29, 1893 – First baby born in the White House to a sitting president. President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland. The little girl is named Esther.
August 29, 1964 – Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins is released.
August 29, 1966 – The Beatles hold their last public concert in Candlestick Park, San Francisco.
August 30, 1890 – President Benjamin Harrison signs the first bill to require inspection of meat.
August 30, 1956 – Lake Ponchartrain Causeway opens in Louisiana. It is the longest continuous bridge in the world.
August 30, 1979 – The first recorded occurrence of a comet hitting the surface of the sun. It releases energy the equivalent of one million hydrogen bombs.
August 30, 1993 – The Late Show with David Letterman premieres on CBS.
August 31, 1888 – Jack the Ripper kills his first victim.
August 31, 1946 – Warner Bros. cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn debuts in the cartoon “Walky Talky Hawky”.
August 31, 1964 – Heavy weight champion Rocky Marciano dies in a plane crash near Newton, Iowa.
August 31, 1994 – A Pentium computer beats world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
August 31, 1997 – Princess Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car accident.
August 31, 2015 – President Barack Obama officially renames Mt. McKinley in Alaska back to Denali, its Native American name.
Additional Resources
Famous Birthdays Who else was born on your Birthday? Find out!
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