Historical Events
1st Pilot License for a US Woman
Aug 1 Harriet Quimby passes her pilot's test and becomes the 1st US woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator's certificate
Omar Bradley Enters West Point
Aug 1 Omar Bradley, aged 18, begins education in West Point Military Academy
- Aug 1 Transportation workers begin a major strike in England; part of a wave of industrial unrest
- Aug 2 Haiti's dictator Simon flees on US warship near Jamaica
- Aug 8 Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law would come into effect in 1913.
- Aug 8 The millionth patent is filed in the United States Patent Office by Francis Holton for a tubeless vehicle tire.
- Aug 10 Parliament Act reduces power of UK's House of Lords
- Aug 10 The UK House of Commons votes on a salary - of £400 annually - for its members
- Aug 14 General Leconte appointed temporary President of Haiti
- Aug 14 United States Senate leaders begin to rotate the office of President pro tempore (for the time being) of the Senate among leading candidates to fill the vacancy left by William P. Frye's death.
- Aug 15 Procter & Gamble unveils its Crisco shortening
- Aug 19 NY Giant Christy Mathewson loses after beating Reds 22 straight times
- Aug 21 "Mona Lisa" stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Perugia; recovered in 1913
War Meeting
Aug 23 British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith holds secret meeting about British strategy in case of war with Germany
- Aug 24 Manuel d'Arriaga elected first president of Portugal
- Aug 28 45.7 cm rainfall at St George, Georgia (state record)
- Aug 29 Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.
- Aug 31 The "Sullivan Act" requiring New Yorkers to possess licences for firearms small enough to be concealed comes into effect
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Jackie Ormes, African-American cartoonist (Torchy Brown), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1985)
- Aug 1 Kenneth Loveless, British priest, concertina player, and folk dancer, born in England (d. 1995)
- Aug 1 Ronald MacDonald, British major-general (WWII), born in Quetta, British India (d. 2005)
- Aug 3 Alex McCrindle, Scottish actor (Star Wars, Eye of the Needle), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1990)
- Aug 5 Robert Taylor, American actor (Waterloo Bridge, Quo Vadis, Death Valley Days), born in Filley, Nebraska (d. 1969)
Lucille Ball (1911-1989)
Aug 6 American comedienne and actress (I Love Lucy; Mame), born in Jamestown, New York
- Aug 6 Norman Gordon, South African cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 20 wickets; Transvaal), born in Boksburg, South Africa (d. 2014)
- Aug 7 Nicholas Ray, American film director (Rebel Without a Cause), born in Galesville, Wisconsin (d. 1979)
- Aug 8 Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (Family Matters, The Brother from Another Planet), born in New York City (d. 2002)
- Aug 9 Eddie Futch, American boxing trainer, born in Hillsboro, Mississippi (d. 2001)
- Aug 9 Khershed Meherhomji, Indian cricketer (Indian wicket-keeper 1936), born in Bombay, India (d. 1982)
- Aug 9 Robert McCormick, American NBC newscaster (Current Opinion), born in Danville, Kentucky (d. 1985)
- Aug 9 William Fowler, American astrophysicist (Nobel 1983), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1995)
- Aug 10 A. N. Sherwin-White, English historian (d. 1993)
- Aug 11 Alphonse de Waelhens, Belgian philosopher (Psychosis), born in Anvers, Belgium (d. 1981)
- Aug 11 Henry Kulky [Kulakowich], American actor (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Love Nest), born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York (d. 1965)
- Aug 11 Prem Bhatia, Indian journalist and diplomat (friend of Jawaharlal Nehru), born in Lahore, British India (d. 1995)
- Aug 11 Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai politician and general (1971 coup, Prime Minister of Thailand 1958-73), born in Tak, Siam (d. 2004)
Cantinflas (1911-1993)
Aug 12 Mexican actor (Around World in 80 Days, Pepe), born in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
- Aug 13 James Benton Parson, American judge, 1st African American federal judge, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1993)
- Aug 13 William Bernbach, American advertising creative director, born in New York City (d. 1982)
- Aug 14 Ethel Lois Payne, American civil rights journalist and "1st Lady of the Black Press", born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1991)
- Aug 14 Jan Koetsier, Dutch composer, born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (d. 2006)
- Aug 14 Pieter Platteel, Dutch civil servant and last governor Dutch New Guinea, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1978)
- Aug 15 Buster Brown, American blues singer and harmonica player (Fannie Mae), born in Cordele, Georgia (d. 1976)
- Aug 17 Frederik de Merode, Belgian prince (d. 1958)
- Aug 22 Edith Atwater, American actress (Phyllis-Love on a Rooftop), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1986)
- Aug 22 Somerset de Chair, British writer, MP and poet, born in Somerset (d. 1995)
- Aug 23 Albert Alberts, Dutch writer and journalist (French battle), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1996)
- Aug 23 Birger Ruud, Norwegian ski jumper (Olympic gold 1932, 36; World C'ship gold 1931, 35, 37), born in Kongsberg, Norway (d. 1998)
- Aug 23 Carl Dolmetsch, French music director (Haslemere Festival), born in Fontenay-sous-Bois, France (d. 1997)
- Aug 23 Elizabeth "Betty" Robinson, US 100m sprinter (Olympic gold 1928), born in Riverdale, Illinois (d. 1999)
- Aug 24 Michel Pablo [Michalis N. Raptis], Chilean-Greek writer and Trotskyist revolutionary (Fourth International), born in Alexandria, Egypt (d. 1996)
- Aug 25 Jacopo Napoli, Italian composer, born in Naples, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1994)
Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911-2013)
Aug 25 Vietnamese general (Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam War) and politician, born in Lệ Thủy District, Vietnam
- Aug 26 Lester Lanin, American orchestra leader (40 Beatle Hits), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2004)
- Aug 27 Johnny Eck [Eckhardt], American sideshow performer, actor (Freaks; Tarzan films), magician, and artist, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1991)
- Aug 27 Kathleen "Kay" Walsh, British actress (The Horse's Mouth, Oliver Twist), born in Chelsea, London, England (d. 2005)
- Aug 27 Patience Edney, British nurse and communist, born in Orpington, Kent, England (d. 1996)
- Aug 28 Jose Antonio Giron, Spanish politician, born in Herrera de Pisuerga, Spain (d. 1995)
- Aug 28 Joseph Luns, Dutch Foreign Minister and Secretary General (NATO), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2002)
- Aug 31 Hilde Jarecki, German-English educationist (The Kindertransport, Playgroups) (d. 1995)
Famous Deaths
- Aug 1 Edward Austin Abbey, American painter (Quest of the Holy Grail mural at Boston Public Library), dies at 59
- Aug 1 Konrad Duden, German linguist (the Duden dictionary), dies at 82
- Aug 5 Bob Caruthers, American baseball pitcher/outfielder (American Association wins & ERA leader 1885, wins leader 1880; St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Bridegrooms), dies at 47
- Aug 8 William P. Frye, American politician (b. 1830)
- Aug 9 John Gates ("Bet-a-million" Gates), American inventor and industrialist who established the market for barbed wire fencing, dies following an unsuccessful operation to remove a throat tumor at 56
- Aug 10 Carl Lumbye, Danish composer, dies at 70
- Aug 10 James "Soup" Perkins, American jockey (Kentucky Derby 1985; winningest jockey in America 1895), dies from a heart attack at 32
- Aug 12 Jozef Israels, Dutch landscape painter, dies at 87
- Aug 12 Petrus H Hugenholtz, Dutch reformist vicar (Levenslicht), dies at 79
- Aug 16 Karl Munzinger, Swiss conductor and composer, dies at 68
- Aug 21 W. R. Wister, American cricketer (Father of American cricket, USA v Canada 1859), dies at 83
