Harry Reasoner (American journalist and TV Commentator) dies from a blood clot in the brain he received from a fall in his CT home at age 68 (1991) - Aug. 6
Lucille Ball (American comedian and TV Star) is born (1911) - Aug. 6
Pope Paul VI dies from a heart attack at age 80 in the Castel Gandolfo (1978) - Aug. 6
ALH84001 Meteorite found in Allan Hills, Antarctica in December, 1984 is believed to contain evidence for traces of life on Mars (1996) - Aug. 6
Anne Hathaway (wife of William shakespeare) died (1623) - Aug. 6
Bix Beiderbecke (American jazz cornetist and composer) dies from an alcoholic seizure (1931) - Aug. 6
Bolivia declares its independence from Spain (1825) - Aug. 6
Braniff Airways Flight 250 crashes near Falls City, NE with all 42 people aboard killed (1966) - Aug. 6
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates and dissolves the empire making him the last Holy Roman Emperor (1806) - 8/6
Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel (1926) - Aug. 6
US Drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (1945) - Aug. 6
Jamaica declares independence from the UK (1962) - Aug. 6
Prometheus (a bristlecone pine growing in Nevada, USA that was at least 5,000 years old) is cut down for research purposes (1964) - 8/6
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning monarch to address a joint session of US Congress (1942) - 8/6
William Kemmler becomes the first man to be executed in the electric chair (1860) - Aug. 6
Korean Airlines Flight 801 crashes on approach to Guam airport killing 228 of the 254 people aboard (1997) - Aug. 6
A daily briefing report given to the President (PDB) on this day was titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US" (2001) - Aug. 6
Summer Halfway Point - Aug. 6
John Hughes (American film director, producer and screenwriter) dies of a heart attack at age 59 while walking in Manhattan (2009) - Aug. 6
Transfiguration of Christ (Orthodox Christian) - Aug. 6
Tottenham Riots occur north of London with local business looted and set on fire injuring at least 26 police officers (2011) - Aug. 6
International Forgiveness Day - 1st Sunday in August (2017) - Aug. 6
International Friendship Day - 1st Sunday in August (2017) - Aug. 6
Sisters' Day - 1st Sunday in August (2017) - Aug. 6
August 7, 2017
President Carter of the USA declares a federal emergency at Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY (1978) - 8/7
Kon Tiki (Raft expedition lead by Thor Heyerdahl) strikes a reef and is beached on an islet off Raroia Island (1947) - Aug. 7
Peter Jennings (Canadian-American journalist and news anchor) died (2005) - Aug. 7
Eric Dowling (British Royal Air Force navigator aka "Digger") who helped plan the WWII breakout known as "The Great Escape" dies at age 92 (2008) - Aug. 7
NASA Explorer 6 is launched from Cape Canaveral, FL (1959) - Aug. 7
Ivory Coast declares independence from France (1960) - Aug. 7
Judge Harold Haley is taken hostage by James McClain, who was on trial, and subsequently murdered (1970) - 8/7
Lynne Cox (American swimmer) became the first person to swim from the US to the Soviet Union across the Bering Strait (1987) - Aug. 7
George Washington establishes the Badge of Military Merit (later renamed Purple Heart) for unusual gallantry in battle (1782) - 8/7
Peace Bridge linking US and Canada celebrates its official opening (1927) - Aug. 7
Philippe Petite (French high wire artist) who gained fame for his illegal walk between the Twin Towers in NYC (1974) - Aug. 7
Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom (youngest daughter of George III) is born (1783) - Aug. 7
Konstantin Stanislavski (Russian actor and theatre director - best known for his systematic approach to acting) died (1938) - Aug. 7
Unity in Diversity Day - Aug. 7
Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange (consort ot William V of Orange) is born (1751) - Aug. 7
Moscow smog from wildfires kills over 700 people a day (2010) - Aug. 7
China's Flooding in the Gansu Province creates a landslide that kills 127, injures 76 and leaves 2,000 missing (2010) - Aug. 7
Washington Star (Newspaper in Washington, DC) ceased publication after 130 years (1981) - Aug. 7
Canada Civic Day - 1st Monday in August (2017) - 8/7
August Full Moon (Sturgeon Moon)
Raksha Bandhan (Hindu Festival) is held on the date of the August Full Moon (2017) - 8/7
Summer Bank Holiday - 1st Monday in August observed in Scotland and Ireland (2017) - 8/7
August 8, 2017
2008 Summer Olympics (Games of the XXIX Olympiad held in Beijing China) holds their opening ceremony (2008) - Aug. 8
Princess Beatrice of York (elder daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson) is born (1988) - Aug. 8
Dimmitt Texas is struck by a tornado system that becomes the most thoroughly studied tornadic storm in history (1995) - Aug. 8
Bhutan declares its independence from India (1949) - Aug. 8
Central Hotel fire in Bundoran, Ireland occurs killing ten people (1980) - Aug. 8
XB-36 (US strategic bomber) had its first flight where it failed to meet the Army Air Corps standards (1946) - Aug. 8
James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor daughter of Henry VII of England (sister of Henry VIII) at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh (1503) - Aug. 8
Thomas Edison receives a US patent for his "autographic printing" machine later known as the mimeograph (1876) - Aug. 8
Graf Zeppelin makest its first "round-the-world" flight (1929) - Aug. 8
Shirley Jackson (American author best known for her short story "The Lottery") dies of heart failure in her sleep at the age of 48 (1965) - Aug. 8
Britain's Great Train Robbery is undertaken resulting in over £2m used, untraceable banknotes being stolen (1963) - Aug. 8
Mont Blanc is ascended for the first time (1786) - Aug. 8
STS-28 (space shuttle Columbia) is launched (1989) - Aug. 8
NYC has an EF2 tornado strike (2007) - Aug. 8
Wilbur Wright makes his first public flight at a racecourse in Le Mans, France (1908) - Aug. 8
Marie of Hesse (aka Maria Alexandrovna Empress consort to Alexander II of Russia) is born (1824) - Aug. 8
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise (American superstars) divorce with an amicable out of court settlement over the divisions of their assets (2001) - Aug. 8
Insurrection of Lyon (French Republican forces laid siege and captured the city-1793) - Aug. 8
August 9, 2017
Edward VII is crowned King at Westminster Abbey (1902) - Aug. 9
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (consort to Archduke Joseph of Austria) is born (1783) - Aug. 9
Hermann Hesse (German-Swiss born poet, novelist and painter) dies in Switzerland (1962) - Aug. 9
Richard Nixon (37th President of the USA) resigns from office after the Watergate scandal (1974) - Aug. 9
Sharon Tate and four friends were murdered by the Manson gang (1969) - Aug. 9
Singapore separates from Malaysia (1965) - Aug. 9
Fat Boy (US's second nuclear bomb) is dropped onto Nagasaki, capital city of Nagasaki Japan (1945) - Aug. 9
Sistine Chapel in Italy opens (1483) - Aug. 9
Construction begins on the Tower of Pisa in Italy (1173) - Aug. 9
Chinese Valentine's Day (Qixi or Magpie Festival) falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month on the Chinese Calendar (2016) - Aug. 9
August 10, 2017
Adam Walsh (the 7 year old abducted from a Sears on July 27 for which Code Adam is named) has his severed head found in Vero Beach, FL (1981) - 8/10
Transatlantic Aircraft Plot is foiled by British police resulting in unprecedented security measures regarding carry-on liquids to be put in place (2006) - Aug. 10
Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah is proclaimed as HRH The Crown Prince of Brunei (1998) - 8/10
Candid Camera (photo of Allen Funt and Arthur Godfrey) premieres on television (1948) - Aug. 10
David Berkowitz (convicted "Son of Sam" serial killer) is arrested (1977) - Aug. 10
European heat wave causes the death of over thirty-five thousand people, reaches record temperatures (2003) - 8/10
Ferdinand VI of Spain dies a year after his beloved wife (1759) - Aug. 10
Ippolito de' Medici dies of either malaria or poison (1535) - Aug. 10
Leno and Rosemary LaBianca become the second set of murders for the Manson gang (1969) - Aug. 10
Magellan space probe (launched May 4, 1989) begins its orbit around venus (1990) - Aug. 10
Missouri becomes the 24th state of the Union (1821) - Aug. 10
Rin Tin Tin (canine film star named for a puppet called Rintintin that French children gave to soldiers for good luck) died (1932) - Aug. 10
Foundation stone for the Royal Observatory, Greenwich is laid (1675) - Aug. 10
Saint Lawrence of Rome Feast Day honors the day of his death (258) - Aug. 10
March on the Tuileries begins the fall of the French Monarchy with the King and Queen of France taken hostage by revolutionaries (1792) - Aug. 10
Handlova Slovakia mining incident occurs when an explosion occurs in the Handlova coal mine killing twenty (2009) - Aug. 10
World Population reaches 6 Billion (2000) - Aug. 10
Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko becomes the first man to marry in space (2003) - 8/10
August 11, 2017
15 Guinea special (Last main-line passenger train hauled by a steam locomotive-1968) - Aug. 11
Alcatraz opens as a Federal Prison (1934) - Aug. 11
Alex Haley (American writer best known for Roots) is born (1921) - Aug. 11
Clare of Assisi (follower of Saint Francis of Assisi and founder of the Order of Poor Ladies) died (1253) - Aug. 11
Edith Wharton (American novelist and short story writer) dies in France at age 75 (1937) - Aug. 11
First ascent of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps (1858) - Aug. 11
Hussein of Jordan becomes King when his father, King Talal is forced to resign due to mental illness (1952) - Aug. 11
Paris - European heatwave reaches 112 degrees F (44 C) leaving about 144 dead (2003) - Aug. 11
Romance Day - Aug. 11
Salt Lake City Tornado strikes downtown Salt Lake City and kills 1 person (1999) - Aug. 11
Watts Riots (Los Angeles, CA) began (1965) - Aug. 11
Kool-Aid Day - Aug. 11
Francis I becomes the first Emperor of Austria while still holding the position of the Holy Roman Emperor (1804) - Aug. 11
Eunice Kennedy Shriver (sister of Ted and Jack Kennedy) dies at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, MA at age 88 from an undisclosed ailment (2009) - 8/11
Last total eclipse of the sun in the 1900s occurs (1999) - Aug. 11
Robin Williams (American actor, comedian, film producer and screenwriter) commits suicide by hanging in his Marin County apartment at age 63 (2014) - 8/11
Japan Obon Festival (Tokyo) - Festival of Souls (2016) - Aug 11
August 12, 2017
Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, is born (1904) - Aug. 12
Aloha Day commemmorates the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the USA (1898) - Aug. 12
The city of Chicago is founded (1833) - 8/12
Cleopatra commits suicide after her lover Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium (50BC) - Aug. 12
NASA's Echo 1 - USA's first communication satellite is launched (1960) - Aug. 12
First Ford Model-T is built (1908) - Aug. 12
George IV of England is born (1762) - Aug. 12
Henry Fonda (American Academy Award-winning film and stage actor) dies in his Los Angeles home from heart disease at age 77 (1982) - Aug. 12
Ian Fleming (author of James Bond novels) dies from a heart attack he suffered in Canterbury, Kent, England at age 56 (1964) - Aug. 12
IBM's first PC is released (1981) - Aug. 12
International Youth Day - Aug. 12
Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashed into the ridge of Mount Takamagahara with 520 deaths (1983) - Aug. 12
Kursk (a Russian submarine) exploded killing all hands on board (2000) - Aug. 12
Loretta Young (Academy Award-wiining American actress) dies from ovarian cancer in Los Angeles, CA at age 87 (2000) - Aug. 12
The last Quagga (subspecies of the plains zebra) died in Amsterdam bringing the animal into total extinction (1883) - Aug. 12
Soviet's continue their nuclear testing with "Joe 4" the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon (1953) - Aug. 12
Sue (the largest and most complete (90%) skeleton of a T-Rex currently in existence) is discovered by Sue Hendrickson (1990) - Aug. 12
Thank You Day - 8/12
Laren Bacall (American film and stage actress) dies in New York City home from a massive stroke at age 89 (2014) - Aug. 12
Les Paul (American Jazz and Country guitarist) dies at age 94 in White Plains, NY from complications of pneumonia (2009) - Aug. 12
August 13, 2017
Alfred Hitchcock (British/American filmaker who pioneered many techniques in the suspense thriller genres) is born (1899) - Aug. 13
Annie Oakley (American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter) is born (1860) - Aug. 13
Aradia di Toscano (daughter of the goddess Diana) founds the tradition of Stregheria (1326) - Aug. 13
Bambi (5th full-length animated feature film by Disney Studios) is released by RKO Radio Pictures in U.S. theaters (1942) - Aug. 13
Battle of Blenheim (Bavaria) major battle and victory during the Spanish War of Succession for the Duke of Marlborough (1704) - Aug. 13
Central African Republic declares its independence from France (1960) - Aug. 13
Florence Nightingale (English pioneer nurse also known as "The Lady with the Lamp") dies peacefully in her sleep at age 90 (1910) - 8/13
H.G. Wells (English science fiction novelist) dies from unspecified causes in his London home at age 79 (1946) - Aug. 13
Hurricane Charley (category 4) strikes the Florida coast causing over $13 billion in damages (2004) - Aug. 13
Julia Child (famous American cook, author and TV personality) dies of kidney failure in her home just 2 days shy of her 92nd birthday (2004) - 8/13
Marc Dutroux (Belgian criminal) is arrested for kidnapping, torturing and sexually abusing six girls (1996) - 8/13
Michael Servetus (Aragonese theologian and physician) is arrested as a heretic by John Calvin (1553) - Aug. 13
Mickey Mantle (American baseball player) dies from liver cancer that had spread despite a transplant given earlier that year (1995) - Aug. 13
Opha Mae Johnson becomes the first of 305 women to enlist in the Marine Corps (1918) - Aug. 13
Otto Witte (a circus acrobat who bore an uncanny resemblance to Halim Eddine) claims to have been crowned King of Albania (1913) - Aug. 13
Rene Laennec (French physician and inventor of the stethoscope) dies from tuberculosis at age 45 (1826) - Aug. 13
STS-28 (NASA's 4th shuttle mission dedicated to the US Dept of Defense and 1st flight of Columbia since 1986) lands at Edwards AFB (1989) - Aug. 13
Tenochtitlan (Mexico City under the Aztecs) surrenders to Hernan Cortes after a lengthy siege during which most of the city was destroyed (1521) - Aug. 13
Left-handers Day - 8/13
Michael Phelps (American Olympic Athlete) wins the most Olympic medals won by an individual when he takes the gold in Beijing's 200m Butterfly race (2008) - Aug. 13
Most photos and captions are courtesy of Wikipedia
