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Cleopatra commits suicide after Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium
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| 670:
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Irish abbot, St. Fiacre died. His life of severe denial attracted many. He was the founder of a hermitage in Kilkenny and of a monastery in France
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| 1253:
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Death of St. Claire of Assisi
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| 1350:
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Death of Philip VI, King of France
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| 1480:
|
Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam at the Battle of Otranto
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| 1484:
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Death of Pope Sixtus IV at the age of 70. He was pope from 1471 to 1484
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| 1508:
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Ponce de Leon arrives in Puerto Rico
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| 1515:
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Marriage of Christian II, King of Norway and Denmark, to Isabella
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| 1552:
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Emperor Charles V grants religious freedom in treaty of Passau
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| 1553:
|
Pope Julius III orders all copies of the Talmud to be confiscated and burned
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| 1753:
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English artist Thomas Bewick, English artist (British Birds, Aesop's Fables) born
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| 1762:
|
George IV, king of England (1820-30) born
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| 1774:
|
English poet laureate Robert Southey born
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| 1838:
|
Joseph Barnby, English organist and choirmaster. He composed nearly 250 hymn tunes during his life. Of these the most enduring include LAUDES DOMINI ("When Morning Gilds the Skies"), LONGWOOD ("Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart"), MERRIAL ("Now the Day is Over") and ST. ANDREW ("We Give Thee But Thine Own"). born
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| 1849:
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American painter Abbott Thayer, credited with noting camouflage in the animal world born
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| 1851:
|
Isaac Singer was granted a patent for his sewing machine. He set up business in Boston with $40 in capital
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| 1859:
|
Educator and poet Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote "America the Beautiful" born
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| 1862:
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Philanthropist Juluis Rosenwald born
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| 1862:
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General John Hunt Morgan and his raiders capture Gallatin, Texas
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| 1865:
|
Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use disinfectant during surgery
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| 1867:
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President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
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| 1876:
|
Mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart born
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| 1877:
|
This is the birthday of the phonograph record. Edison drew a sketch of his idea, with a note to his mechanic, John Kreusi, "Make this." When the mechanic did, Edison recorded himself reciting the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb." It worked. "I was never so taken aback," Edison said
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| 1880:
|
Christy Mathewson, Hall of Fame baseball pitcher born
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| 1881:
|
Movie producer Cecil B. DeMille born
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| 1888:
|
Bertha, wife of inventor Karl Benz, makes the first motor tour. Without her husband's knowledge, she borrowed one of his cars and traveled 180km to visit relatives for 5 days
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| 1898:
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A peace protocol was signed ending the Spanish-American War. The United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, and annexed Hawaii
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| 1911:
|
Comic actor Cantinflas (Mario Moreno) (Around the World in 80 Days, Pepe) born
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| 1912:
|
Actress Jane Wyatt (Father Knows Best` Spock's mother in "Star Trek") born
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| 1915:
|
The novel "Of Human Bondage," by William Somerset Maugham, was first published
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| 1919:
|
Choreographer Michael Kidd (Milton Greenwald) born
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| 1926:
|
Actor-director John Derek born
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| 1927:
|
Country singer Porter Wagoner born
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| 1929:
|
Singer-musician Buck (Alvis Edgar) Owens born
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| 1931:
|
Author/screen writer William Goldman, (Marathon Man, The Princess Bride, All the President's Men) born
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| 1933:
|
Auto racer Parnelli (Rufus) Jones born
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| 1934:
|
Babe Ruth's final game at Fenway Park, 41,766 on hand
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| 1936:
|
Padrewski recorded Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" for a movie of the same name. He bumped into Winston Churchill at the film studio working on a script. This can be described as a meeting of two world leaders because Padrewski once served for a while as premier of Poland
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| 1937:
|
Comedian, Red Skelton, got his first taste of network radio on this night, as he appeared on the Rudy Vallee Show on NBC
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| 1939:
|
Actor George Hamilton born
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| 1941:
|
Singer Jennifer Warren (Up Where We Belong [w/Joe Cocker]) born
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| 1944:
|
Joseph P. Kennedy Junior, eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England
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| 1949:
|
The former president of Brazil, Fernando Collor de Mello born
|
| 1950:
|
Singer Kid Creole born
|
| 1953:
|
Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb
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| 1954:
|
Jazz musician Pat Metheny born
|
| 1954:
|
Actor Sam J. Jones born
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| 1955:
|
President Eisenhower raises minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 an hour
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| 1956:
|
Country singer Danny Shirley (Confederate Railroad) born
|
| 1959:
|
First ship firing of a Polaris missile, Observation Island
|
| 1960:
|
The first balloon satellite -- the "Echo One" -- was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral
|
| 1961:
|
Pop musician Roy Hay (Culture Club) born
|
| 1962:
|
One day after launching Andrian Nikolayev into orbit, the Soviet Union also sent up cosmonaut Pavel Popovich; both men landed safely Aug.15
|
| 1963:
|
Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot born
|
| 1966:
|
The last tour for the Beatles began this day at the International Amphitheater in Chicago; and John Lennon apologized for boasting that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. London's "Catholic Herald" said Lennon's comment was "arrogant ... but probably true."
|
| 1967:
|
"Fleetwood Mac" made their stage debut at the National Blues Festival in Great Britain
|
| 1969:
|
The Boston Celtics basketball team was sold for $6,000,000. It was the highest price paid for a pro basketball team to that date
|
| 1971:
|
Tennis player Pete Sampras born
|
| 1972:
|
The last American combat ground troops left Vietnam
|
| 1973:
|
Jack Nicklaus won his 14th major golf title, breaking a record held for nearly 50 years by Bobby Jones. Nicklaus won the PGA Championship for the third time
|
| 1975:
|
Rock musician Bill Uechi (Save Ferris) born
|
| 1977:
|
The space shuttle "Enterprise" passed its first solo flight test by taking off atop a Boeing 747, separating, and then touching down in California's Mojave Desert
|
| 1978:
|
Pope Paul the Sixth, who had died August sixth at age 80,
|
| 1980:
|
Actress Dominique Swain born
|
| 1982:
|
Terry Felton of the Minnesota Twins set a major-league record for rookie pitchers. He went 0-for-14. Guy Morton of the Cleveland Indians had lost 13 games, but won his 14th, in 1914
|
| 1983:
|
President Reagan opened a drive for Hispanic political support as he denounced Cuba's communist government in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Tampa, Florida
|
| 1984:
|
Luis Aparicio and Don Drysdale, who began the playing careers on the same day in 1956, were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
|
| 1984:
|
The 23rd Olympic Games ended in Los Angeles with a record attendance of 5.5 million people despite a Soviet-led boycott
|
| 1985:
|
The world's worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people
|
| 1986:
|
NASA announced it had selected a new rocket design for the space shuttle aimed at correcting the flaws believed responsible for the Challenger disaster
|
| 1986:
|
Rod Carew became the first player in the history of the California Angels franchise to have his uniform number retired. Number 29 played for the Angels for seven years
|
| 1987:
|
President Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, saying his former national security adviser, John Poindexter, was wrong not to have told him about the diversion of Iran arms-sale money
|
| 1988:
|
The Last Temptation of Christ, the controversial film directed by Martin Scorsese, opened this day in nine cities despite objections by some Christians and various religious groups who felt the film was sacrilegious
|
| 1990:
|
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sought to tie any withdrawal of his troops from Kuwait to an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip
|
| 1990:
|
Air Force Staff Sergeant John Campisi of West Covina, California, died after being hit by a military truck in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first U.S. casualty of the Persian Gulf crisis
|
| 1991:
|
A letter from Lebanese kidnappers was made public; it offered to trade the release of Western hostages for the freedom of ''all detainees'' worldwide
|
| 1991:
|
The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., began hosting a two-day reunion of former Negro League players
|
| 1992:
|
After 14 months of negotiations, the United States, Mexico and Canada announced in Washington that they had concluded the North American Free Trade Agreement, which would create the world's largest trading bloc
|
| 1992:
|
Avant-garde composer John Cage died in New York at age 79
|
| 1993:
|
Pope John Paul the Second began his third US visit in Denver with a welcome by President Clinton
|
| 1993:
|
President Clinton signed a relief package for the flooded Midwest
|
| 1993:
|
President Clinton lifted a ban on rehiring air traffic controllers fired for going on strike in 1981
|
| 1993:
|
The launch of space shuttle "Discovery" was scrubbed at the last second
|
| 1994:
|
Woodstock '94 opened in Saugerties, New York, marking the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York
|
| 1994:
|
In baseball's eighth work stoppage since 1972, players went on strike rather than allow team owners to limit their salaries
|
| 1994:
|
Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, already sworn in during a private ceremony, took a public oath at the White House
|
| 1995:
|
In a methodical, daylong procession, Republican presidential candidates courted Ross Perot's followers at a United We Stand America conference in Dallas
|
| 1996:
|
The Republican Party opened its 36th national convention in San Diego by celebrating Bob Dole as a tested, trustworthy leader who would lower taxes and bring compassionate conservatism to the White House
|
| 1997:
|
Steel workers approved a contract ending a ten-month strike against Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
|
| 1997:
|
Two New York City police officers were placed in desk jobs as authorities investigated the charges of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who accused police of sodomizing him with the wooden handle of a toilet plunger after he was arrested in a nightclub fight
|
| 1997:
|
A flash flood in Arizona's Lower Antelope Canyon claimed the lives of 11 hikers
|
| 1998:
|
Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion as restitution to Holocaust survivors to settle claims for their assets
|
| 1999:
|
Los Angeles County prosecutors charged white supremacist Buford O. Furrow with murder and five counts of attempted murder, all filed as hate crimes, in the wounding of five people at a Jewish community center and the shooting death of a Filipino-American mail carrier. (Federal prosecutors already had charged Furrow in the postman's slaying.)
|
| 2000:
|
The Russian nuclear submarine "Kursk" and its 118-man crew were lost during naval exercises in the Barents Sea
|
| 2000:
|
Evander Holyfield won a 12-round unanimous decision over John Ruiz in Las Vegas for the vacant WBA heavyweight title
|
| 2000:
|
Actress Loretta Young died at age 87
|
| 2005:
|
Julian McGauran makes rude gesture to Australian Senate
|
| 2005:
|
British Airways strike grounds flights at Heathrow
|
| 2005:
|
Israel bans nonresidents from Gaza
|
| 2005:
|
Pro-democracy demonstrations erupt in Maldives
|
| 2005:
|
Iran stands firmly against nuclear agency resolution
|
| 2005:
|
Prices at the pump spike overnight in U.S
|
| 2005:
|
Former Japanese prime minister Hashimoto indicated his retirement
|
| 2006:
|
Security Council backs ceasefire in Israel-Lebanon conflict
|
| 2006:
|
British Muslims warn Prime Minister Tony Blair over foreign policy
|
| 2006:
|
Gevaert and Hellebaut win golden medal at European athletics championships
|
| 2006:
|
Chinese wiki conference occurs in Shanghai
|
| 2007:
|
US Presidential elections: Mitt Romney wins Iowa straw poll
|
| 2007:
|
Worshippers gunned down in Missouri Church
|
| 2007:
|
Los Angeles Internatonal computer glitch causes four hour backup
|
| 2008:
|
Russia withdraws from Georgia
|
| 2008:
|
Olympic highlights: August 12, 2008
|
| 2009:
|
Remnants of Hurricane Felicia affect Hawaii
|
| 2009:
|
President of Costa Rica contracts H1N1 swine flu
|
| 2009:
|
Tourist plane crash in Papua New Guinea leaves thirteen dead
|
| 2010:
|
Prospective Nobel Prize for Higgs boson work disputed
|
| 2010:
|
Plants may adapt faster to climate change than previously thought, new study shows
|
| 2010:
|
Early puberty for US girls raises health risk
|
| 2010:
|
Ramadan begins today in India
|
| 2011:
|
Three killed amongst Birmingham, England riots
|
| 2011:
|
Scientists use gene therapy, patients' own immune systems to fight leukemia
|
| 2011:
|
Australian politician Karen Overington dies aged 59
|
| 2011:
|
Former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko arrested on contempt of court charges
|
| 2011:
|
School Principal found dead in Tennessee classroom; teen held by police
|
History
Icons
Actor and comedian, Joe Besser born in St Louis, Missouri
Actress Jane Wyatt born in Campgaw, New Jersey
Academy Award winning film The Wizard of Oz premieres at the Strand Theater in New York City
Composer, songwriter, lead singer and guitarist for Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler born in Glasgow, Scotland
Actress Rebecca Gayheart born in Hazard, Kentucky