Historical Events
- Aug 3 Teatro alla Scala opens in Milan
Cook Reaches the Bering Straits
Aug 9 Captain James Cook reaches Cape Prince of Wales, Bering Straits
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 11 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German educator and founder of the turnverein (gymnastics) movement, born in Lanz, Brandenburg, Prussia (d. 1852)
- Aug 12 Francis Horner, Scottish political economist and politician (1810 Bullion Report), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1817)
- Aug 13 George Bridgetower, Polish-African violinist (musical prodigy and friend of Beethoven), born in Eastern Poland (d. 1860) [1]
- Aug 20 Bernardo O'Higgins, Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule (Supreme Director of Chile 1817-23), born in Chillán, Captaincy General of Chile (d. 1842)
Famous Weddings
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Aug 8 Naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (34) weds Marie Anne Rosalie Delaporte
Famous Deaths
- Aug 4 Pierre de Rigaud, Canadian-born French Governor of New France, dies at 79
- Aug 5 Charles Clémencet, French historian (b. 1703)
- Aug 5 Thomas Linley the younger, English composer and musician "English Mozart", drowns in a boating accident at 22
- Aug 11 Augustus Montague Toplady, British hymn writer (Rock of Ages), dies at 37
- Aug 12 Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, British general and politician (b. 1714)
- Aug 28 Jacob Wallenberg, Swedish writer and naval chaplain (My Son on the Galley), dies at 32
