Historical Events
- Aug 7 The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester.
- Aug 12 1st National Archery Association tournament (Chicago)
- Aug 17 Ferdinand de Lesseps forms French Panama Canal Company
- Aug 20 Government Kappeijne of Coppello resigns
- Aug 21 The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, reportedly appears to the people of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.
- Aug 23 Governor-general Charles Gordon of Sudan returns to Cairo
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 6 Joseph Wirth, 5th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, Germany (Stalin Peace Prize), born in Freiburg im Breisgau, German Empire (d. 1956)
- Aug 7 Johannes Kotze, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 6 wickets, BB 3/64; London County, Transvaal, Western Province), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 1931)
- Aug 8 "Dr. Bob" Smith, American physician and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont (d. 1950)
- Aug 8 Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary and peasant leader (Plan de Ayala), born in Anenecuilco, Mexico (d. 1919)
- Aug 13 John Ireland, English composer and pianist (Mai-Dun), born in Bowdon, Cheshire, England (d. 1962)
Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959)
Aug 15 American classic film and stage actress (Constant Wife, Corn is Green), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Aug 18 Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Russian lieutenant-general and corps commander of the White Army during the Russian Civil War, born in Russia (d. 1970)
Claude Grahame-White (1879-1959)
Aug 21 English aviation pioneer who was the 1st to make a night flight, born in Bursledon, England
- Aug 21 Henry Ainley, English actor (As You Like It), born in Morley, West Yorkshire, England (d. 1945)
- Aug 23 Alfrēds Kalniņš, Latvian organist, composer (Baņuta), conductor, and pedagogue, born in Cēsis, Russian Empire (now Latvia) (d. 1951)
- Aug 24 Rentaro Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1903)
- Aug 26 Joe Jeannette, American boxer (world coloured champion 1909), born in West Hoboken, New Jersey (d. 1958)
- Aug 31 Alma Schindler Mahler, Viennese composer and wife of Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1964)
- Aug 31 Viktor Alexandrovich Uspensky, Russian composer and ethnomusicologist, born in Kaluga, Russia (d. 1949)
- Aug 31 Yoshihito [Taishō], 123rd Emperor of Japan (1912-26), born in Akasaka Palace, Tokyo City, Japan (d. 1926)
Famous Deaths
Rowland Hill (1795-1879)
Aug 27 English inventor who introduced 1st adhesive postage stamp (1840), dies at 84
