Historical Events
- Aug 1 George Washington quarter goes into circulation
Discovery of the Positron
Aug 2 Carl David Anderson discovers and photographs a positron, the first known antiparticle
- Aug 3 Official automatic timing & photo-finish camera for track events is used for the 1st time at Los Angeles Olympics, instrumental in changing 110m hurdles final, review gives Donald Finley bronze ahead of American Jack Keller
Event of Interest
Aug 5 Clyde Barrow and two associates kill Sheriff C.G. Maxwell and his deputy, Eugene C. Moore, the first time the Barrow gang kills a lawman
- Aug 6 1st Venice Film Festival opens, the world's oldest film festival
- Aug 10 A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
- Aug 10 The Lego Group founded in Billund, Denmark, by Ole Kirk Christiansen; name is contraction of Danish words 'leg godt' ('play well' in English)
Event of Interest
Aug 13 Adolf Hitler refuses President von Hindenburg's proposal to become vice-chancellor of Germany
Baseball Record
Aug 13 Yankees hurler Red Ruffing becomes first MLB pitcher since 1906 to hit an extra-inning, game-winning home run in NY's 1-0 win over the Senators in Washington
- Aug 14 Brooklyn Dodgers reliever John Quinn, 49, becomes oldest pitcher to win a MLB game in a 2-1, 10th inning victory over NY Giants at the Polo Grounds
- Aug 14 Philips makes 1 millionth radio
- Aug 14 X Summer Olympic Games close in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 18 Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns reach 16,201m in a balloon launched from Dübendorf, Switzerland
- Aug 18 Englishman James Mollisson is 1st to fly east to west over Atlantic
US Open Women's Tennis
Aug 19 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Helen Jacobs beats Carolin Babcock Stark 6-2, 6-2 for her first of 4 straight US singles crowns
Baseball Record
Aug 21 Cleveland Indians pitcher Wes Ferrell first to win 20 games in each of his 1st 4 seasons
- Aug 22 BBC begins experimental regular TV broadcasts
Earhart's Record Flight
Aug 24 1st transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart begins in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 25 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental non-stop flight, the first by a woman, landing in Newark, New Jersey
- Aug 27 200,000 English textile workers strike
- Aug 27 International anti-war congress opens in Amsterdam
- Aug 29 International Anti-War Committee forms in Amsterdam
- Aug 29 United Cigar Stores shuts 800 shops
Göring Elected
Aug 30 Hermann Goering elected President of the German Reichstag
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Meena Kumari, Indian film actress (Parineeta), born in Dadar, Mumbai, India (d. 1972)
- Aug 1 Meir Kahane, American founder of the Jewish Defense League, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1990)
- Aug 2 Lamar Hunt, American sports executive and NFL owner (KC Chiefs), born in El Dorado, Arkansas (d. 2006)
- Aug 2 Leo Boivin, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs) and coach (St. Louis Blues), born in Prescott, Ontario (d. 2021)
- Aug 2 Marvin David Levy, American composer (Mourning Becomes Electra), born in Passaic, New Jersey (d. 2015)
Peter O'Toole (1932-2013)
Aug 2 Irish actor (Lord Jim, Beckett, Lawrence of Arabia), born in Leeds
- Aug 3 (Averil) Mary Thomas, Welsh lyric soprano of both early and contemporary concert music, born in Swansea, Wales (d. 1997)
- Aug 4 (Calvin) "Scotty" Stoneman, American bluegrass fiddler (The Stoneman Family; The Kentucky Colonels), born in Galax, Virginia (d. 1973)
- Aug 5 Sister Vince Otto, American mental health activist (Vince)
- Aug 5 Tera de Marez Oyens, Dutch composer, born in Velsen, Netherlands (d. 1996)
- Aug 6 Anneli Sauli [Savolainen], Finnish actress (Milkmaid), born in Pyhäjoki, Finland
- Aug 6 Dorothy Ashby (née Thompson), American jazz harpist, singer, and composer, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1986)
- Aug 6 Howard Hodgkin, British abstract painter, born in London (d. 2017)
Abebe Bikila (1932-1973)
Aug 7 Ethiopian distance athlete (Olympic gold marathon 1960 WR [barefoot], 64 WR; Africa's first WR breaking athlete in any sport), born in Jato, Ethiopia
- Aug 7 Bubba Cascio, American race horse trainer (All American Futurity 1968, 70), born in Houston, Texas (d. 2022)
- Aug 7 Edward Hardwicke, British actor (Sherlock Holmes), born in London, England (d. 2011)
- Aug 7 Maurice Rabb Jr., American ophthalmologist, born in Shelbyville, Kentucky (d. 2005)
- Aug 8 Gaudenzio Bernasconi, Italian soccer midfielder (6 caps; Sampdoria 334 games), born in Ponte San Pietro, Italy (d. 2023)
- Aug 8 Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian general and dictator, born in La Paz, Bolivia (d. 2018)
- Aug 8 Mel Tillis [Lonnie Melvin Tillis], American country singer ("Who's Julie"; "M-M-Mel"), born in Pahokee, Florida (d. 2017)
- Aug 9 John Gomery, Canadian jurist (investigated 2004 sponsorship scandal), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2021)
- Aug 10 Alexander Goehr, English composer, born in Berlin, Germany
- Aug 10 Trudy Pitts, American jazz Hammond B-3 organist, pianist, and vocalist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2010)
- Aug 11 Angela Rumbold, British politician (C), born in Bristol (d. 2010)
- Aug 11 Eric Varley, British politician and cabinet minister, born in Poolsbrook, Derbyshire (d. 2008)
- Aug 11 Fernando Arrabal, Spanish song/romance writer (Baal Babilonia)
- Aug 11 Geoffrey Cass, CEO (Cambridge U Press)
- Aug 11 Israel Asper, Canadian tax lawyer (d. 2003)
- Aug 11 John Gorrie, English director
- Aug 11 Sam McCluskie, trade unionist
- Aug 11 Wilson "Papa" Godett, Curacaos worker's union leader/boxer
- Aug 12 Charlie O'Donnell, American radio and game show announcer (American Bandstand; Wheel of Fortune, 1975-80, & 1989-2010), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2010) [1]
- Aug 12 Sergei Slonimsky, Russian composer and pianist (d. 2020)
- Aug 12 Sirikit, Queen of Thailand, consort and Regent of Rama IX, born in Bangkok, Siam
- Aug 14 Barry Frank, American television sports impresario (CBS, ABC and IMG), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2019)
- Aug 14 James V. Hansen, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 2018)
- Aug 14 Lee Hoffman, American author (The Valdez Horses), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2007)
- Aug 15 Bill Dowdy, American jazz drummer (The Three Sounds), born in Osceola, Arkansas (d. 2017)
- Aug 15 Robert L. Forward, American physicist and sci-fi writer (Dragon's Egg, Starquake), born in Geneva, NY (d. 2002)
- Aug 16 Jon Lindbergh, 2nd son of aviator Charles Lindbergh
- Aug 17 Jean-Jacques Sempé, French cartoonist (Le Petit Nicolas), born in Pessac, France (d. 2022) [1]
V. S. Naipaul (1932-2018)
Aug 17 Trinidadian-British writer (In a Free State, Middle Passage), born in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago
- Aug 18 István Kausz, Hungarian fencer (Olympic gold team, épée 1964), born in Budapest. Hungary (d. 2020)
- Aug 18 Luc Montagnier, French virologist (Nobel Prize 2008, discovered HIV), born in Chabris, France (d. 2022) [1]
- Aug 19 Banharn Silpa-archa, Prime Minister of Thailand (1995-96), born in Suphanburi, Thailand (d. 2016)
- Aug 19 Thomas P. Salmon, American politician, 75th Governor of Vermont (1973-77), born in Cleveland, Ohio
- Aug 20 Anthony Ainley, British actor (Doctor Who), born in Stanmore, Middlesex (d. 2004)
- Aug 20 Atholl Mckinnon, South African cricket spin bowler (8 Tests, 26 wickets), born in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa (d. 1983)
- Aug 20 Vasily Aksyonov, Soviet-Russian novelist (The Burn), born in Kazan, Soviet Union (d. 2009)
Melvin Van Peebles (1932-2021)
Aug 21 American stage and screen actor, director (Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song; Sophisticated Gent), composer, and novelist, born in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 22 Gerald P Carr, American USMC colonel and NASA astronaut (Skylab 4), born in Denver, Colorado
- Aug 22 Theoni Vachliotis Aldredge, Greek-American award-winning costume designer, born in Thessaloniki, Greece (d. 2011)
- Aug 23 Mark Russell, American political satirist, song parody writer, and pianist (Real People), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 2023)
- Aug 24 Richard Graham Meale, Australian composer (Three Miró Pieces; Voss), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2009)
- Aug 24 Robert D. Hales, American LDS Church apostle, born in New York City (d. 2017)
- Aug 25 Anatoli Yakovlevich Kartashov, Russian cosmonaut, born in Sadovoye, Russia (d. 2005)
- Aug 26 Joe H. Engle, American USAF Major General, test pilot (X-15), and NASA astronaut (STS-2; STS-51-I), born in Chapman, Kansas
- Aug 27 Antonia Fraser, British author and biographer (Mary Queen of Scots), born in London, England
- Aug 27 François Glorieux, Flemish pianist and composer, born in Courtrai, Belgium
- Aug 27 Mikhail Nikolayevich Burdayev, Feodosina Krim, Russian cosmonaut
- Aug 28 Andy Bathgate, Canadian professional ice hockey player (New York Rangers, 1958 NHL MVP), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2016)
- Aug 28 Carlene Polite, American dancer, activist and author (Sister X), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2009)
- Aug 31 Benito Wogatzki, German radio and TV writer (My Best Friends), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2016)
- Aug 31 Robert Adams, American sci-fi author (Castaways in Time), born in Danville, Virginia (d. 1990)
- Aug 31 Roy Castle, English dancer and television entertainer (Record Breakers), born in Scholes, Yorkshire (d. 1994)
Famous Weddings
- Aug 3 Austro-Hungarian-American theatre and film director Otto Preminger (26) weds Marion Mill; divorce in 1949
Bette Davis
Aug 18 American actress Bette Davis (24) weds American musician Harmon Nelson (25) in Yuma, Arizona; divorce in 1938
Famous Deaths
- Aug 1 Arnold Fothergill, English cricket fast bowler (2 Tests, 8 wickets. BB 4/19; Somerset CCC, MCC), dies at 77
- Aug 2 Dan Brouthers, American Baseball HOF first baseman (first great MLB slugger; 4×NL batting champion; Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Wolverines, Boston Beaneaters, Brooklyn Grooms), dies at 74
- Aug 5 Israël Querido, Dutch writer (Jordan), dies at 59
- Aug 9 John Charles Fields, Canadian mathematician and founder of the Fields Medal, dies after a three-month illness at 69
- Aug 10 Rin Tin Tin, American Hollywood shepherd dog (Clash of the Wolves), dies at 13
- Aug 20 Emille-Louis-Victor Mathieu, composer, dies at 87
- Aug 20 Paul Keller, German writer (Vergrabenes Gut), dies at 59
- Aug 20 Tadeusz Joteyko, composer, dies at 60
- Aug 21 Frederick Corder, British composer (The Nabob's Pickle), dies at 80
- Aug 24 Gheorghe Cucu, Romanian composer, dies at 50
- Aug 30 Willem Marinus van Rossum, Dutch cardinal and prefect of Propaganda Fide, dies at 77
- Aug 31 Moyshe Leyb Halpern, Galican-American Yiddish poet, dies of a heart attack at 46
