Historical Events
- Aug 1 Americans sweep medals at a rainy Olympic pole vault final in Amsterdam with Sabin Carr gold, from William Droegemuller and Charles McGinnis
Italo-Ethiopian Treaty
Aug 2 Benito Mussolini signs peace treaty with Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
- Aug 3 Ray Barbuti wins 400m in 47.8 at the Amsterdam Olympics, the only individual track event won by an American at the Games
Sports History
Aug 11 NY Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell registers first MLB victory, a 4-0 shutout of Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds, NYC
- Aug 12 IX Summer Olympic Games close in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Aug 13 Soviet Union Spartacan Games begins
- Aug 14 Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur's "The Front Page," premieres in NYC
- Aug 16 Belgian cyclist Georges Ronsse wins men's road race at UCI Road World Championships in Budapest, Hungary
- Aug 25 Tri-City Rugby Football Union forms consisting of Moose Jaw, Regina & Winnipeg
- Aug 27 16 die in a NYC subway's 2nd worst accident
US Open Women's Tennis
Aug 27 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Defending champion Helen Wills defeats fellow American Helen Jacobs 6–2, 6–1 for her 5th of 7 US singles crowns
Nehru Requests Independence
Aug 30 Jawaharlal Nehru requests independence of India
The Threepenny Opera
Aug 31 Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weil's play with music "The Threepenny Opera" premieres at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 2 Hugh Francis Lamprey, British ecologist (d. 1996)
- Aug 2 Malcolm Hilton, English cricket slow left-arm (4 Tests), born in Chadderton, Lancashire (d. 1990)
- Aug 3 Cécile Aubry, French actress (The Black Rose), author (Belle et Sébastien), television screenwriter and director, born in Paris, France (d. 2010)
- Aug 4 Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver, born in Kortrijk, Belgium (d. 2003)
- Aug 4 Udham Singh, India, field hockey player (Olympic gold 1952, 56, 64), born in Sansarpur, India (d. 2000)
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Aug 6 American pop artist (Campbell's Soup Cans; Marilyn Diptych) and film producer (Frankenstein; Bad), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Aug 6 Herb Moford, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- Aug 6 Janice-Lee York Romary, California, fencer (Olympics 1948-68)
- Aug 7 Herb Reed, American musician and vocalist (The Platters - "Twilight Time"; "Only You"; "The Great Pretender"), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2012)
- Aug 7 Herbert H. Bateman, American politician (Rep-R-Virginia), born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (d. 2000)
- Aug 7 James Randi, Canadian skeptic magician (Nova), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2020)
- Aug 7 Romeo Muller, American screenwriter, born in the Bronx, New York (d. 1992)
- Aug 8 Don Burrows, Australian jazz musician, born in Marrickville, Australia (d. 2020)
- Aug 8 François Remetter, French soccer goalkeeper (26 caps; RC Strasbourg, FC Metz, FC Sochaux), born in Strasbourg, France (d. 2022)
- Aug 8 Ken Scowcroft, English insurance magnate (Swinton) (d. 2018)
- Aug 8 Lord Alfred Hayes, English pro wrestler, manager and commentator (WWF), born in London, England (d. 2005)
Bob Cousy (95 years old)
Aug 9 Basketball Hall of Fame guard (NBA C'ship 1957, 59-63; NBA MVP 1957; 13 × NBA All-Star 1951–63; Boston Celtics), born in Manhattan, New York
- Aug 10 Eddie Fisher, American pop singer ("Oh My Papa"; "Lady of Spain"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2010)
- Aug 10 Gus Mercurio, American-born Australian actor (The Blue Lagoon, Crocodile Dundee II), born in West Bend, Wisconsin (d. 2010)
- Aug 10 Jimmy Dean, American country and rockabilly singer ("Big Bad John"), television host (Jimmy Dean Show), actor (Diamonds Are Forever), and sausage maker, born in Plainview, Texas (d. 2010)
- Aug 11 Bill Bartholomay, American businessman and MLB owner (Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves 1962-76), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2020)
- Aug 11 Richard Barratt, former Chief Inspector of Constabulary
- Aug 11 Stan Kesler, American session musician (Sun Studio), songwriter ("I Forgot to Remember to Forget"), and record producer (Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs -"Wooly Bully"), born in Abbeville, Mississippi (d. 2020)
- Aug 12 Bob Buhl, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1960, 60²; World Series 1957 Milwaukee Braves; Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies), born in Saginaw, Michigan (d. 2001)
- Aug 12 Charles Blackman, Australian figurative artist (Heide circle), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2018)
- Aug 14 Laurens van Deenen, Dutch biochemist, born in Maastricht, Germany (d. 1994)
- Aug 14 Lina Wertmüller [Arcangela Braueich], Italian screenwriter, film director, and 1st woman nominated for an Academy Award for Directing (Seven Beauties), born in Rome, Italy
- Aug 15 Nicolas Roeg, English cinematographer and director (Aria, Eureka), born in London, England (d. 2018)
- Aug 16 Ann Blyth [Anne Blythe], American Academy Award-winning actress (Kismet; Mildred Pierce), and singer, born in Mount Kisco, New York
- Aug 16 Eddie Kirkland, Jamaican-American blues guitarist, singer and harmonica player (Have Mercy On Me), born in Kingston, Jamaica (d. 2011)
- Aug 16 Eydie Gormé [Edithe Gormezano], American Grammy and Emmy Award-winning pop singer ("Blame It On The Bossa Nova"; Steve and Eydie), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2013)
- Aug 17 (Thomas Jefferson) "T.J." Anderson, American classical composer, and educator (Tufts, 1972-90), born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania
- Aug 17 Willem Duys, Dutch radio and TV host, born in Bussum, Netherlands (d. 2011)
- Aug 18 Marge Schott, American MLB owner (Cincinnati Reds), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 2004)
- Aug 19 Walter Massey, Canadian stage and screen actor (Shoestring Theatre; Arthur), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2014)
- Aug 20 Ed Sandford, Canadian ice hockey forward (NHL All-Star 1951, 52, 53, 54, 55; Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings), born in New Toronto, Ontario (d. 2023)
- Aug 20 Piet Kraak, Dutch soccer goalkeeper (33 caps; Stormvogels, Elinkwijk), born in Alblasserdam, Netherlands (d. 1984)
- Aug 21 Art Farmer, American trumpet player (Farmer's Market; The Jazztet), born in Council Buffs, Iowa (d. 1999)
- Aug 21 Gillian Sheen, British fencer (Olympic gold individual foil 1956), born in London, England (d. 2021)
- Aug 21 Mário Pinto de Andrade, Angolan poet and politician who founded the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), born in Golungo Alto, Portuguese Angola (d. 1990)
- Aug 21 Zdeněk Lukáš, Czech composer, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (d. 2007)
- Aug 22 John Lupton, American actor (Tom-Broken Arrow), born in Highland Park, Illinois (d. 1993)
- Aug 22 Karlheinz Stockhausen, German classical and electronic music composer, born in Mödrath, Kerpen, Germany (d. 2007)
- Aug 22 Tinga Seisay, Sierra Leonean diplomat and pro-democracy advocate, born in Moyamba, Sierra Leone
- Aug 23 Gerd Natschinski, German composer, born in Chemnitz, Germany (d. 2015)
- Aug 23 Marian Seldes, American actress (A Delicate Balance, Father's Day), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2014)
- Aug 25 Darrell Johnson, American baseball player, born in Horace, Nebraska (d. 2004)
- Aug 25 Karl Korte, American composer (Pale is This Good Prince; The Time Is:),and educator (University of Texas, 1971-97), born in Ossining, New York (d. 2022)
- Aug 26 Andrew Porter, British organist, opera director, music critic, and librettist, born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 2015)
- Aug 26 Naïm Kattan, Canadian novelist and essayist, born in Baghdad, Iraq (d. 2021)
- Aug 26 Peter Appleyard, British-Canadian jazz vibraphonist, born in Cleethorpes England (d. 2013)
- Aug 26 Yvette Vickers [Vedder], American actress (Attack of 50 Foot Woman; Attack of the Giant Leeches), and Playboy playmate (July 1959), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. c. 2010)
- Aug 27 Jack Thompson, British politician (Labour), born in Ashington, England (d. 2011)
- Aug 27 Joan Kroc [Mansfield], American 3rd wife of Ray Kroc, the owner of McDonald's and the San Diego Padres, born in West St. Paul, Minnesota (d. 2003)
- Aug 27 Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician (Chief Minister of KwaZulu 1972-94), born in Mahlabathini, Natal, South Africa [1]
- Aug 27 Othmar Schneider, Austrian alpine skier (Olympic gold men's slalom, silver downhill 1952), born in Lech am Arlberg, Austria (d. 2012)
- Aug 27 Peter Richard Tahourdin, English-Australian composer, born in Bramdean, Hampshire (d. 2009)
- Aug 28 F. William Free, American advertising executive (I'm Cheryl – Fly Me.), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2003)
- Aug 28 Kenny Drew, American-Danish jazz pianist (Moonlight Desert), born in New York City (d. 1993)
- Aug 29 Bobby Carcassés, Cuban jazz and Latin music singer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader, born in Kingston, Jamaica
- Aug 29 Charles Gray, British actor (Clay-Rawhide, Diamonds Are Forever, The Rocky Horror Picture Show), born in Bournemouth, Hampshire (d. 2000)
- Aug 29 Thomas Stewart, American bass-baritone (La Roche Capriccio), born in San Saba, Texas (d. 2006)
- Aug 30 Johnny Mann, American music director (Johnny Mann Singers; Stand Up And Cheer), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2014)
- Aug 30 Lloyd Casner, American race car driver and owner (Casner Motor Racing Division team), born in Miami, Florida (d. 1965)
- Aug 31 James Coburn, American actor (Our Man Flint, Magnificent Seven), born in Laurel, Nebraska (d. 2002)
- Aug 31 Jeremy Maas, British art dealer and writer, born in Penang, British Malaya (d. 1997)
Famous Weddings
Frank Lloyd Wright
Aug 25 American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (61) weds Montenegrin dancer and writer Olga Ivanovna (27) in Rancho Santa Fe, California (his third marriage, her second), until his death in 1959
Famous Deaths
- Aug 6 W. H. Grattan Flood, Irish author and composer, dies at 68
- Aug 8 Stjepan Radic, Croatian politician (founder of Croatian People's Peasant Party), shot and assassinated in parliament at 57
- Aug 9 Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden (1907-18), dies at 71
- Aug 10 Rex Cherryman, American actor (Camille, The Sunshine Trail, In for Thirty Days), dies from septic poisoning at 31
- Aug 13 Fernand de La Tombelle, French organist and composer, dies at 74
- Aug 14 Klabund [Alfred Henschke], German writer (Spuk, Rasputin), dies at 37
- Aug 29 Richard Haldane, British viscount and lord-chancellor (Life of A Smith), dies at 72
- Aug 30 Franz Stuck, German painter (The Sin), dies at 65
- Aug 30 Wilhelm Wien, German physicist (laws of motion, Nobel Prize for Physics 1911), dies at 64
Greatest Generation
Silent Generation
Baby Boomer
Generation X
Millennial
Generation Z