August 31
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Events
- 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora dies suddenly without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty
- 1864 - American Civil War: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1876 - Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.
- 1886 - Earthquake kills 100 in Charleston, South Carolina
- 1888 - Mary Ann Nicholls is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's known victims
- 1895 - John Brallier is paid US$10 plus expenses to play football for the Latrobe, Pennsylvania YMCA, making him the first professional football player.
- 1897 - Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
- 1907 - England, Russia and France form the Triple Entente alliance.
- 1914 - Ecuador becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1915 - Brazil becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1920 - Polish-Bolshevik War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.
- 1920 - First news radio program broadcast in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1939 - Nazi Germany mounts a staged attack on Gleiwitz radio station, giving them an excuse to attack Poland the following day, starting World War II in Europe.
- 1943 - The USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for a black person, is commissioned.
- 1945 - The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies.
- 1957 - The Federation of Malaya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1962 - Trinidad and Tobago become independent.
- 1965 - The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aircraft makes its first flight.
- 1978 - William and Emily Harris, founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army, plead guilty to the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.
- 1980 - The Solidarity trade union is formed in Poland.
- 1986 - An Aeroméxico Douglas DC-9 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
- 1986 - The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 398.
- 1991 - Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1992 - Pascal Lissouba is inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo after a multiparty presidential election, ending a long history of one-party oppressive rule under the Congolese Workers Party.
- 1994 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.
- 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.
- 1998 - North Korea reportedly launchs Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite.
- 1999 - The first of a series of Russian Apartment Bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.
- 2005 - A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.
Births
- 12 - Gaius Caligula, Roman Emperor (d. 41)
- 161 - Commodus, Roman Emperor (d. 192)
- 1569 - Jahangir, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1627)
- 1663 - Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (d. 1705)
- 1721 - George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (d. 1775)
- 1811 - Theophile Gautier, French poet and novelist (d. 1872)
- 1821 - Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician (d. 1894)
- 1834 - Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (d. 1886)
- 1843 - Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1919)
- 1870 - Maria Montessori, Italian educator (d. 1952)
- 1871 - James E. Ferguson, Texan governor
- 1878 - Frank Jarvis, American athlete (d. 1933)
- 1879 - Alma Mahler, wife of Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel (d. 1964)
- 1880 - Queen Wilhelmina I of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
- 1885 - DuBose Heyward, American playwright (d. 1940)
- 1897 - Fredric March, American actor (d. 1975)
- 1903 - Arthur Godfrey, American television host (d. 1983)
- 1907 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (d. 1957)
- 1907 - William Shawn, American editor (d. 1992)
- 1908 - William Saroyan, American novelist and playwright (d. 1981)
- 1913 - Sir Bernard Lovell, British radio astronomer
- 1914 - Richard Basehart, American actor (d. 1984)
- 1916 - Daniel Schorr, American journalist
- 1918 - Alan Jay Lerner, American composer (d. 1986)
- 1924 - Buddy Hackett, American actor and comedian (d. 2003)
- 1928 - James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1931 - Noble Willingham, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Frank Robinson, baseball player and manager
- 1935 - Eldridge Cleaver, American political activist (d. 1998)
- 1938 - Martin Bell, British journalist and politician
- 1944 - Roger Dean, British contemporary artist and album cover designer
- 1945 - Van Morrison, Irish musician
- 1945 - Itzhak Perlman, Israeli violinist
- 1948 - Lowell Ganz, American screenwriter
- 1948 - Rudolf Schenker, German guitarist (Scorpions)
- 1949 - Richard Gere, American actor
- 1949 - H. David Politzer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1953 - György Károly, Hungarian author
- 1955 - Edwin Moses, American athlete
- 1956 - Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer
- 1961 - Anri, Japanese singer
- 1963 - Reb Beach, American rock guitarist (Winger, Whitesnake)
- 1968 - Todd Carty, British actor
- 1970 - Deborah Gibson, American singer
- 1970 - Queen Rania, Queen of Jordan and wife of King Abdullah II
- 1972 - Chris Tucker, American actor
- 1977 - Jeff Hardy, American professional wrestler
- 1977 - Ian Harte, Irish Professional Footballer
- 1977 - Craig Nicholls, Australian singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Vines)
- 1979 - Clay Hensley, Professional baseball player
- 1979 - Mickie James, American professonal wrestler
- 1980 - Joe Budden, American rapper
- 1982 - Jose Reina, Spanish footballer
Deaths
- 651 - Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Irish bishop and missionary
- 1056 - Theodora, Byzantine Empress (b. 981)
- 1234 - Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (b. 1212)
- 1372 - Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (b. 1301)
- 1422 - King Henry V of England (b. 1387)
- 1645 - Francesco Bracciolini, Italian poet (b. 1566)
- 1654 - Ole Worm, Danish physician (b. 1588)
- 1688 - John Bunyan, English writer (b. 1628)
- 1730 - Gottfried Finger, Czech composer (b. 1660?)
- 1741 - Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, German jurist (b. 1681)
- 1772 - William Borlase, English naturalist (b. 1695)
- 1782 - George Croghan, American colonist
- 1795 - François-André Danican Philidor, French chess player (b. 1726)
- 1799 - Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect (b. 1720)
- 1814 - Arthur Phillip, British admiral, first Governor of New South Wales (b. 1738)
- 1867 - Charles Baudelaire, French poet (b. 1821)
- 1920 - Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist (b. 1832)
- 1941 - Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet (b. 1892), hanged herself.
- 1963 - Georges Braque, French painter (b. 1882)
- 1967 - Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian writer (b. 1891)
- 1969 - Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923)
- 1973 - John Ford, American film director (b. 1894)
- 1978 - John Wrathall, President of Rhodesia (b. 1913)
- 1979 - Sally Rand, American dancer and actress (b. 1904)
- 1985 - Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
- 1986 - Henry Moore, English sculptor (b. 1898)
- 1986 - Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (b. 1900)
- 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales (vehicular collision) (b. 1961)
- 1997 - Dodi Fayed, Egyptian-born film producer (vehicular collision) (b. 1955)
- 2002 - Lionel Hampton, American vibraphone player (b. 1908)
- 2002 - George Porter, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
- 2004 - Carl Wayne, English singer (b. 1943)
- 2005 - Joseph Rotblat, Polish-British physicist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1908)
- 2005 - Michael Sheard, British actor (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances
- Calendar of Saints - Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, San Abbondio, Saint Raymond Nonnatus
- Moldova: Day of Our Language (Limba Noastra)
- Malaysia - Hari Merdeka, a National Day (independence within the Commonwealth, 1957)
- Kyrgyzstan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991)
- Trinidad and Tobago - Independence Day (from Great Britain, 1962)
External links
August 30 - September 1 - July 31 - September 30 -- listing of all days
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