Historical Events
Captain Webb Conquers the English Channel
Aug 25 Captain Matthew Webb makes the 1st observed and unassisted swim across the English Channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 2 Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist, born in Veliky Novgorod, Russia (d. 1957)
- Aug 6 Marcel Labey, French conductor and composer, born in Vésinet, France (d. 1968)
- Aug 8 Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)
- Aug 9 Albert William Ketèlbey, British pianist and composer (In A Monastery Garden), born in Aston, Birmingham (d. 1959)
- Aug 12 (Héctor) Ettore Panizza, Argentinian composer (Aurora; Bizancio). and opera conductor, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 1967)
- Aug 12 Mezio Agostini, Italian composer, born in Fano, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1944)
- Aug 15 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, African-British composer (Hiawatha's Wedding Feast), born in London, England (d. 1912)
- Aug 16 Florrie Forde [Flannagan], Australian singer and British music hall performer, born in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia (d. 1940)
- Aug 18 Johan E. Elias, Dutch historian (Amsterdam's regency), born in Amsterdam (d. 1960)
- Aug 19 Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (Ethiopia, South America), born in Karlovac, Croatia (d. 1936)
- Aug 21 Maurice Lippens, Belgian governor of Congo (1921-23), born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1956)
- Aug 23 Eugene Lanceray, Russian artist, born in Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1946)
- Aug 23 William Eccles, English physicist and radio pioneer, born in Barrow-in-Furness, England (d. 1966)
- Aug 26 John Buchan, Scottish politician, Governor-General of Canada (1935-40), writer (The Thirty-Nine Steps) and historian, born in Perth, Scotland (d. 1940)
- Aug 27 Katharine McCormick, American biologist, suffragist and philanthropist, born in Dexter, Michigan (d. 1967)
- Aug 31 Eddie Plank, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1910, 11, 13 Philadelphia A's), born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1926)
Famous Deaths
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)
Aug 4 Danish author of 150 fairy tales (The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen), dies at 70
- Aug 10 Karl Andree, German geographer and journalist (founded journal Globus), dies at 66
- Aug 17 Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (Father of Bantu Philology), dies at 48
- Aug 27 William Chapman Ralston, American banker (b. 1826)
- Aug 31 Oskar Peschel, German geographer (classified men into seven races in his book "The Races of Man: and their geographical distribution"), dies at 49
