Historical Events
- Aug 1 ArenaBowl I, Pittsburgh Civic Arena: Denver Dynamite beats Pittsburgh Gladiators 45-16, Gary Mullen MVP
- Aug 1 Crossbow flight record (2,005 yds 1'9") set by Harry Drake in Nevada
- Aug 1 In New Zealand, the Maori Language Act comes into force, making te reo Māori an official language of New Zealand; it can now be used in some legal proceedings
Boxing Title Fight
Aug 1 Mike Tyson outpoints Tony Tucker in 12 rounds in a heavyweight boxing unification matchup in Las Vegas; first to own all 3 major belts WBA, WBC and IBF simultaneously
Music History
Aug 1 Music video channel MTV Europe launches, with Elton John throwing the switch; "Money For Nothing" Dire Straits is the first video presented
- Aug 1 Nurse Mary R Stout chosen chairperson of Vietnam Veterans of America
- Aug 2 Cincinnati outfielder Eric Davis is 7th to hit 30 HRs & steal 30 bases in one season as he homers in Reds 5-4 win v Giants
- Aug 2 Don Brown sets flight record for handbow (1,336 yds 1'3")
Federation Cup
Aug 2 Federation Cup Tennis Final: Steffi Graf & Claudia Kohde-Kilsch beat Chris Evert & Pam Shriver in the doubles as Germany beats US 2-1 in Vancouver, Canada
- Aug 2 Michael Andretti runs fastest Indy car race in history (171.49mph) in winning the Marlboro 500 at the Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
- Aug 2 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Baseball Record
Aug 3 Detroit Tigers ace Jack Morris ties AL record with 5 wild pitches in a 4-2, 10 innings loss v Kansas City Royals
- Aug 3 Discovery in Orbital Processing Facility is powered up for STS-26
- Aug 3 Twins pitcher Joe Niekro is caught with a file on the mound in 11-3 win v Angels, ejected and suspended for 10 games
- Aug 4 FCC vote 4-0 to rescind fairness doctrine for broadcasters
- Aug 6 20th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at Holiday Inn
- Aug 7 5 Central American presidents sign peace accord in Guatemala
- Aug 7 Javed Miandad becomes first to score 6,000 Test runs for Pakistan as he cracks 260 in drawn 5th Test v England at The Oval
- Aug 7 Lynne Cox becomes the 1st woman to swim from the US to the Soviet Union, 4.3 km across the Bering Sea in water temperature averaging 43 to 44 °F (6 to 7 °C)
- Aug 8 Brewers' Rob Deer struck-out 5 times in a game
- Aug 8 Pakistan all out 708 v England at The Oval, Botham 3-217
- Aug 9 LA Rams beat Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in London, England (NFL expo)
PGA Championship
Aug 9 PGA Championship Men's Golf, PGA National Palm Beach: Larry Nelson wins 2nd PGA C'ship in a playoff with fellow American Lanny Wadkins
- Aug 9 The National Union of Mineworkers begin South Africa's longest wage strike
- Aug 10 Flight Readiness Firing of Discovery's main engines is successfully
- Aug 10 Kevin Gross is 2nd pitcher in 8 days to be ejected for scuffing ball
- Aug 11 France & Great-Britain send minesweepers to Persian Gulf
- Aug 12 Charles Cole climbs 870'Tyrolean Traverse from top of Elephant Rock
- Aug 13 Cards outfield sets record of no putouts in a 4-2 in 13 inning
World Record
Aug 13 Jackie Joyner-Kersee ties world record with 24'5½" jump
Baseball Record
Aug 14 Oakland's Mark McGwire sets rookie HR record at 39, en route to 49
- Aug 15 At Pan Am games in Indianapolis, USA & Cuba are tied with 2 outs in 9th, Ty Griffin HR, Cuba 1st loss in 20 years of Pan Am competition
- Aug 16 Astrological Harmonic Convergence-Dawn of New Age
- Aug 16 Northwest Airlines 255 plane crashes in Detroit, 156 die (1 lives)
- Aug 16 NY Mets beat Chicago Cubs, 23-10 at Wrigley Field, Chicago; Greg Maddox records the loss
Baseball Record
Aug 17 Bunt single gives Milwaukee Brewers' Paul Molitor longest MLB hit streak of 1980's at 32 games
- Aug 17 Dow Jones Industrial Avg closes above 2,700 for 1st time (2,700.57)
Hall of Fame
Aug 17 Muhammad Ali elected to "Ring" magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame
- Aug 18 Houston Oiler Earl Campbell, retires from NFL
- Aug 18 Ohio health care worker Donald Harvey sentenced to triple life for poisoning 24 patients
- Aug 18 Philip Rush of NZ, set record for triple crossing English Channel his time 28:21, 10 hours faster than 1st man to do it
- Aug 18 Straatsburg: Manuela Stellmach, Astrid Strauss, Anke Mohring and Heike Friedrich swims female world record 4x200m freestyle (7:55.47)
- Aug 19 Hungerford Massacre: in England, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
Film Release
Aug 21 "Dirty Dancing" film directed by Emile Ardolino, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey opens in the US
- Aug 21 "Mack Lobell" set harness racing's trotting mil (1:52)
- Aug 21 Clayton Lonetree, 1st US marine court-martialed for spying, convicted
- Aug 21 Silke Horneer swims female world record 100m breaststroke (1:07.91)
- Aug 23 15-year old boy hijacks KLM B737, demands $1 billion
- Aug 23 Violent rainfall and floods in Bangladesh, kill 100's of people
- Aug 24 Announcement of possible Martian tornadoes
- Aug 25 Dow Jones industrial stock avg reaches record 2722.42
- Aug 25 Madonna sings in Rotterdam
- Aug 26 Paul Molitor goes 0-for-4 ends hitting streak at 39 consecutive games
- Aug 28 2nd Athletics World Championships open at Rome, Italy
Baseball Record
Aug 28 Mike Schmidt passes Ted Williams & Willie McCovey with 522 HRs
- Aug 29 44th Venice Film Festival: "Au revoir les enfants" ("Goodbye, Children") directed by Louis Malle wins Golden Lion
Baseball Record
Aug 29 Houston Astro MLB player Nolan Ryan passes the 200-strikeout barrier for record 11th time
Sports History
Aug 30 2nd World Championships in Athletics: Carl Lewis wins gold in 100m after Ben Johnson is disqualified
- Aug 30 87th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Billy Mayfair
- Aug 30 Ben Johnson of Canada runs 100m in world record 9.83 sec
Baseball Record
Aug 30 Kirby Puckett goes 6-for-6 with 2 HRs in Minn 10-6 win over Milwaukee
- Aug 30 Knuckleballer Charlie Hough on the mound, Rangers catcher Geno Petralli ties the major league record by allowing 6 passed balls
- Aug 30 Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria sets high jump woman's record 2.09m (6'10½"), one of the most long-standing records in athletics
- Aug 30 Yves Pol of France runs complete marathon backwards (3:57:57)
Sports History
Aug 31 Curtis Strange sets golf's earning for year record ($697,385)
Premiere of "Bad"
Aug 31 Michael Jackson's "Bad" video, directed by Martin Scorcese, premieres during TV special "Michael Jackson: The Magic Returns" on CBS
- Aug 31 South Africa's longest mine strike in history ends
- Aug 31 The Great Potato Incident: Minor league Williamsport Bills catcher Dave Bresnahan attempts to lure an opposing baserunner off third base using a potato carved to look like a baseball. Umpire calls runner safe, and the catcher is fined $50 and released by the team [1] [2]
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Sébastien Pocognoli, Belgian footballer, born in Seraing, Belgium
- Aug 5 Genelia D'Souza, Indian actress (Bommarillu), born in Bombay, India
- Aug 5 Xenia Tchoumitcheva, Swiss model, born in Magnitogorsk, Russia
- Aug 7 Sidney Crosby, Canadian hockey player, born in Nova Scotia, Canada
- Aug 8 Katie Leung, Scottish actress (Harry Potter love interest), born in Dundee, Scotland
- Aug 8 Kim Chi [Sang-Young Shin], Korean-American drag queen, artist, and reality television personality (RuPaul's Drag Race), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 9 Noonie Bao [Jonnali Mikaela Parmenius], Swedish pop songwriter and singer, born in Stockholm, Sweden
- Aug 11 Nkem Ojougboh, American basketball player
- Aug 14 Tim Tebow, American NFL quarterback (Heisman Trophy 2007, BCS National C'ship 2006, 08; U of Florida; Denver Broncos), born in Makati, Philippines
- Aug 16 Kyal Marsh, Australian actor, born in Clare, South Australia
- Aug 18 Mika Boorem, American actress (Hearts in Atlantis), born in Tucson, Arizona
- Aug 19 Anaïs Lameche, Swedish pop singer (Play), born in the French Alps
- Aug 19 Ileana D'Cruz, Indian-Portuguese actress, born in Mumbai, India
- Aug 19 Manny Jacinto, Canadian actor (The Good Place), born in Manila, Philippines
- Aug 19 Nico Hülkenberg, German racing car driver, born in Emmerich am Rhein, West Germany
- Aug 19 Patrick Chung, Jamaican-American NFL player (New England Patriots), born in Kingston, Jamaica
- Aug 19 Richard Stearman, English footballer, born in Wolverhampton, England
- Aug 20 Cătălina Ponor, Romanian gymnast (3 Olympic gold 2004), born in Constanța, Romania
- Aug 20 Zakir Khan, Indian comedian (On Air with AIB), born in Indore, India
- Aug 21 Kibum [Kim Ki-bum], South Korean actor (Rainbow Romance), and pop singer (Super Junior, 2003-06), born in Seoul, South Korea
- Aug 23 Nikki Gil, Filipina actress, host and singer, born in Manila, Philippines
- Aug 24 Anže Kopitar, Slovenian ice hockey player, born in Jesenice, Slovenia
- Aug 24 Jon Scheyer, American-Israeli basketball player, born in Northbrook, Illinois
- Aug 25 Blake Lively, American actress (Gossip Girl), born in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 25 James Wesolowski, Australian footballer
- Aug 25 Justin Upton, American baseball player
- Aug 25 Liu Yifei, Chinese actress and singer, born in Wuhan, China
- Aug 25 Luka Šulić, Slovenian-Croatian cellist (2Cellos), born in Maribor, Slovenia
- Aug 25 Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
- Aug 27 Darren McFadden, American football player
- Aug 27 Jim Sarbh, Indian actor (Rocket Boys), born in Mumbai, India
- Aug 29 Tony Kane, Irish footballer, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Aug 31 Petros Kravaritis, Greek football goalkeeper, born in Lamia, Greece
Famous Weddings
Dave Stewart
Aug 1 Bananarama's Siobhan Fahey (30) marries Eurythmics Dave Stewart (34); divorce in 1996
Tom Selleck
Aug 7 American "Magnum, P.I." actor Tom Selleck (42) weds second wife British actress and dancer Jillie Mack (29) in Incline Village, Nevada
Patrick Dempsey
Aug 24 American actor Patrick Dempsey (21) weds American talent manager and actress Rochelle "Rocky" Parker (48); divorce in 1994
Famous Deaths
- Aug 1 Benson Fong, American character actor (Charlie Chan films; Purple Heart; Flower Drum Song), and restaurateur, dies of a stroke at 70
- Aug 1 Pola Negri [Apolonia Chalupec], Polish-American stage and silent and sound screen actress (Forbidden Paradise; Madame Bovary), and singer, dies of pneumonia and a brain tumor at 92
- Aug 2 Myron Stout, US abstract artist, dies at 79
- Aug 4 Kenny Price, American country singer ("Walking on New Grass"; "Happy Tracks"), dies of a heart attack at 56
- Aug 5 Anatoli Papanov, Russian actor (Cold Summer of 1953) named as a People's Artist of the USSR (1973), dies at 64
- Aug 5 Zygmunt Mycielski, Polish composer, music writer and editor (Ruch Muzyczny, 1957-68), dies at 79 [1]
- Aug 6 Ira C Eaker, commandant USAF in Europe (WWII), dies at 91
- Aug 6 Sherwood Bailey, actor (Spud-Our Gang), dies
- Aug 7 Camille Chamoun, President of Lebanon (1952-58), dies at 87
- Aug 7 Nobusuke Kishi, Prime Minister of Japan (1957-60), dies at 90
- Aug 8 Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician, dies at 83
- Aug 9 Kees de Galan, Dutch economist, dies at 55
- Aug 10 Calvin Culver, actor (Score), dies
- Aug 10 I W Able, CEO (United Steel Workers of America, 1965-77), dies at 87
- Aug 10 Raquel Torres, actress (Duck Soup, Sea Bat), dies
- Aug 10 Uys Krige, South African playwright and novelist (Orphan of the Desert), dies at 77
- Aug 11 Clara Peller, Russian-American manicurist and commercial spokesperson (Wendy's - "Where's the beef?"), dies of congestive heart failure at 85
- Aug 13 Vincent Persichetti, American composer (Sibyl), dies at 72
- Aug 16 Charles H. Wesley, American author and historian (The History of Alpha Phi Alpha), dies at 95
- Aug 17 Charles Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (Claro Enigma), dies at 84
- Aug 17 Gary Chester [Cesario Gurciullo], Italian-American sessiondrummer (Monkees; Lovin' Spoonful) and drum instructor, dies at 62
Rudolf Hess (1894-1987)
Aug 17 German Nazi official (Deputy Fuhrer who dramatically escaped to Britain in 1941, sentenced to life in Spandau Prison), commits suicide at 93
- Aug 17 Shaike Ophir, Israeli actor, comedian and Israel's 1st mime (The Policeman; The Delta Force), dies of lung cancer at 57
- Aug 19 Hayden Rorke, American actor (I Dream of Jeannie, When Worlds Collide), dies from multiple myeloma at 76
- Aug 21 Karl Bruck, Austrian-American actor (Star Trek), dies at 81
- Aug 23 Didier Pironi, French auto racer who won 24 Hours of Le Mans 1978; winner 3 x Formula 1 GP, dies in power boat accident at 35
- Aug 23 Siegfried Borris, German composer, dies at 80
- Aug 23 Thomas D'Alesandro Jr, American politician (US Representative for Maryland (D), 1939-47; Mayor of Baltimore, 1947-59), and father of Nancy Pelosi, dies at 84
Bayard Rustin (1910-1987)
Aug 24 American civil rights leader (March on Washington organizer, Social Democrats USA), dies of a perforated appendix at 75
- Aug 24 Malcolm Kirk "King Kong Kirk", English professional wrestler, dies of a heart attack in the ring at 51
- Aug 26 John Goddard, West Indian cricket all-rounder and captain (27 Tests @ 30.67; 33 wickets; Barbados), dies at 68
- Aug 27 Charlie Smalls, American Tony Award-winning composer and songwriter (The Wiz), dies of a burst appendix at 43
- Aug 27 Scott La Rock [Sterling], American hip-hop DJ (Boogie Down Productions), shot to death at 25
- Aug 28 John Huston, US/Irish actor and director (Maltese Falcon), dies at 81
- Aug 29 Archie Campbell, American country recording artist, comedian, and writer (Hee Haw), dies of a heart attack at 72
Lee Marvin (1924-1987)
Aug 29 American actor (Paint Your Wagon, Cat Ballou), dies of a heart attack at 63
- Aug 30 George Mikes, Hungarian-British writer and humorist (How to Be an Alien), dies at 75
