Historical Events
- Aug 1 First patient to receive the Jarvik 2000, the first total artificial heart that can maintain blood flow in addition to generating a pulse
- Aug 3 England cricket wicket-keeper Alec Stewart becomes only the 4th batsman to score a century (105) in his 100th Test, during the 3rd Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford
- Aug 3 South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Amnesty Committee grants amnesty to Curnick Ndlovu, the KwaZulu-Natal leader of the African National Congress and United Democratic Front, for committing sabotage during December 1961 and June 1963 near Durban
- Aug 5 Moni Maker wins the $500,00 Nat Ray at the Meadowlands in world record 1:52.1 to become harness racing's first $5m stakes earner
Event of Interest
Aug 7 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore picks Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate, making him the first Jewish person to run for the nation's second-highest office
Sports History
Aug 7 Los Angeles Lakers announce retirement of former star player and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Jerry West; name Mitch Kupchak to succeed him
Event of Interest
Aug 9 South African President Thabo Mbeki unveils the Women's Monument commemorating the role of women in the anti-apartheid struggle
- Aug 12 The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
Canadian Women's Open
Aug 13 Canadian Open Women's Golf (du Maurier Classic), Royal Ottawa GC: Meg Mallon wins by 1 from Rosie Jones
PGA Championship
Aug 20 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Valhalla GC: Tiger Woods becomes first since Ben Hogan (1953) to win 3 majors in a calendar year; wins back-to-back PGA titles in 3-hole playoff with Bob May
- Aug 23 A Gulf Air Airbus A320 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143.
- Aug 23 Nicaragua becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. This essentially deprecated the Buenos Aires Convention treaty, because as of this date, all members of the BA Convention were also signatories to Berne.
- Aug 24 Argon fluorohydride, the first Argon compound ever known, is discovered at the University of Helsinki by Finnish scientists.
- Aug 26 Australia clinches first Tri Nations Rugby Series with a 19-18 win over South Africa in Durban; Wallabies centre Stirling Mortlock lands 4 penalties and a conversion
Ostankino Tower
Aug 27 540-metre (1,772 ft)-tall Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.
- Aug 30 57th Venice Film Festival: "Dayereh" directed by Jafar Panahi wins Golden Lion
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 8 Félix Auger-Aliassime, Canadian tennis player, born in Monte Carlo, Monaco
- Aug 9 Arlo Parks [Anaïs Marinho], British singer-songwriter (Collapsed in Sunbeams - 2021 Mercury Prize), born in London, England
- Aug 13 Jaemin [Na Jae-min], South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, (NCT; NCT Dream), and actor (Method To Hate You), born in Jeonju, South Korea
Famous Weddings
Gordon Brown
Aug 3 British PM Gordon Brown (49) weds Sarah Jane Macaulay (36) in North Queensferry, Fife
Dave Matthews
Aug 10 American singer-songwriter Dave Matthews (33) weds long-time girlfriend American naturaopoathic doctor (Jennifer) Ashley Harper (32) in Albemarle County, Virginia
Will Ferrell
Aug 12 "Saturday Night Live" actor-comedian Will Ferrell (33) weds Swedish actress Viveca Paulin (31)
Newt Gingrich
Aug 18 Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (57) weds former congressional aide Calista Bisek (34) in Alexandria, Virginia
- Aug 23 "7th Heaven" actor Ed Begley Jr. (51) weds actress Rachelle Carson (40) in Las Vegas
Patrick Stewart
Aug 25 British "Star Trek: The Next Generation" actor Patrick Stewart (60) weds film producer Wendy Neuss (39) in Los Angeles, California; divorce in 2003
Famous Deaths
Alec Guinness (1914-2000)
Aug 5 British actor (The Ladykillers, The Bridge on the River Kwai), dies of liver cancer at 86
- Aug 5 Dudley Randall, African-American poet who founded the pioneering publishing house "Broadside Press", dies at 84
- Aug 5 Lala Amarnath, Indian cricket all-rounder and captain (24 Tests, 1 x 100, 4 x 50, HS 118, 45 wickets; Gujarat CC, Hindus CC), dies at 88
- Aug 5 Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian writer and ecological activist, dies at 80
- Aug 9 Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician and leader of Egypt's Wafd Party, dies at 88
- Aug 9 John Harsanyi, Hungarian-American economist (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1994, for game theory), and educator (University of California, Berkeley, 1964-90), dies of a heart attack at 80 [1]
- Aug 9 Nicholas Markowitz, American teenager kidnapped and murdered by Jesse James Hollywood at 15
- Aug 10 Gilbert Parkhouse, Welsh cricket batsman (7 Tests England, 2 x 50; Glamorgan CCC, MCC), dies at 74
- Aug 11 Jean Papineau-Couture, Canadian composer, dies at 83
Loretta Young (1913-2000)
Aug 12 American actress (Farmer's Daughter, Stranger), dies of ovarian cancer at 87
- Aug 12 Patrick Peter Sacco, American composer, dies at 71
- Aug 13 Antony Duff, British WWII submarine commander, diplomat, (1946-80), intelligence officer (Director of MI5, 1985-88), and advocate for the homeless, dies at 80
- Aug 13 Nazia Hassan, Pakistani pop singer-songwriter, lawyer and social activist known as "Queen of Pop" in South Asia, dies of lung cancer at 35
- Aug 14 Alain Fournier, French-born computer graphics researcher (b. 1943)
- Aug 14 Cuan McCarthy, South African cricketer (36 Test wkts for South Africa, 1 career no-ball), dies at 71
- Aug 14 John Milford, American actor (Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Homefront), dies at 72
- Aug 15 Helmut Coing, German legal historian (Max Planck institute), dies at 88
- Aug 16 Alan Caddy, English musician (The Tornados), dies at 60
- Aug 17 Robert Gilruth, American aviation and space pioneer (NASA Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, 1961-74), dies at 86
- Aug 18 Maurice Evans, English soccer wing half (Reading, 407 games) and manager (Shrewsbury Town, Reading, Oxford United), dies from a heart attack at 63
- Aug 19 Antonio Pugliese, Italian professional wrestler (b. 1941)
- Aug 19 Bineshwar Brahma, Bodo littérateur and religious figure (birth date unknown)
- Aug 20 Henry Austin, British tennis player (3-time Grand Slam runner-up), dies of complications from a fall at 94
- Aug 21 Daniel Lisulo, Prime Minister of Zambia (1978-81), dies at 69
- Aug 23 John Anthony Kaiser, American Roman Catholic priest assassinated near his mission at Morendat, Kenya at 67
Carl Barks (1901-2000)
Aug 25 American cartoonist (creator of Scrooge McDuck), dies at 99
- Aug 25 Jack Nitzsche, American composer, arranger, music producer, keyboardist (Rolling Stones; Neil Young), and songwriter ("Up Where We Belong"), dies at 63
- Aug 26 Akbar Adibi, Iranian engineer and professor (electronics and VLSI technology), dies at 61
- Aug 26 Lynden Pindling, Bahamas 'Father of the Nation' Prime Minister of Bahamas (1967-92), dies at 70
- Aug 26 [Douglas] Allen Woody, American bassist (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule), dies at 44
- Aug 30 Willie Maddren, English soccer defender (Middlesborough 293 games) and manager (Middlesborough 1984-86), dies from motor neurone disease at 49
- Aug 31 Patricia Owens, Canadian-American actress (The Fly), dies at 75
