Historical Events
- Aug 1 A supermarket fire kills 396 people and injures 500 in Asunción, Paraguay
- Aug 1 British Open Women's Golf, Sunningdale: England's Karen Stupples wins her lone major title, 5 shots ahead of runner-up Rachel Teske of Australia
US Senior Golf Open
Aug 1 US Senior Open Men's Golf, Bellerive GC: Peter Jacobson wins by 1 shot from 2-time champion Hale Irwin
- Aug 3 MESSENGER spacecraft launches from Cape Canaveral
Baseball Record
Aug 3 St. Louis 1st baseman Albert Pujols becomes first player in MLB history to hit at least 30 HRs in each of his first 4 seasons as Cardinals beat Montreal, 10-6
Statue of Liberty
Aug 3 The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11, 2001 attacks
Sports History
Aug 7 Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux enters the history books with his 300th career win in the Chicago's 8-4 triumph v San Francisco at SBC Park
Hall of Fame
Aug 8 John Elway is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Event of Interest
Aug 12 Lee Hsien Loong succeeds Goh Chok Tong as Prime Minister of Singapore
- Aug 12 New Jersey Governor James McGreevey comes out publicly as gay
- Aug 13 156 Congolese Tutsi refugees massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi
- Aug 13 28th Olympic Games opens at Athens, Greece
- Aug 13 Black Friday crackdown by NSS on a peaceful protest in the capital city of Maldives, Malé.
- Aug 13 Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, strikes Punta Gorda, Florida and devastates the surrounding area.
- Aug 14 The Australian women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Alice Mills, Lisbeth Lenton, Petria Thomas & Jodie Henry smash the world record to take gold in 3:35.94 at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 15 Bay of Plenty defeat Auckland 33-26 in Rugby Union to win NZ's Ranfurly shield for the first time in the shield's 102 year history and after 28 unsuccessful challenges
PGA Championship
Aug 15 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Whistling Straits GC: Vijay Singh of Fiji wins his 2nd PGA C'ship in a playoff with Chris DiMarco & Justin Leonard
- Aug 15 South African 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend & Ryk Neethling smash the world record with 3:13.17 at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 16 Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe wins the men's 200m freestyle in Olympic record 1:44.71, giving him the 200/400m freestyle double at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 17 MD5 collision found by Chinese researchers.
- Aug 17 The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Boze Pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
- Aug 17 Yana Klochkova of Ukraine wins the 200m individual medley in 2:11.14 at the Athens Olympics to wrap up the 200/400m medley double
- Aug 18 Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband wins the coveted 100m freestyle gold medal in 48.17 ahead of Roland Schoeman of South Africa at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 18 Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima wraps up the 100/200m breaststroke double at the Athens Olympics when he wins the 200m in 2:09.44, an Olympic record
- Aug 18 Shot put event at the Athens Olympics held in Ancient Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic Games; first time women ever compete in venue; Yumileidi Cumbá of Cuba wins women's gold; American Adam Nelson men's gold
- Aug 18 US women's 4 × 200m freestyle relay team of Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer & Kaitlin Sandeno smash long-standing world record set by GDR in 1987 to win gold at the Athens Olympics (7:53.42)
Olympic Games
Aug 19 American swimmer Aaron Peirsol wins the men's 200m backstroke in Olympic record 1:54.95, giving him the 100/200m backstroke double at the Athens Olympics
Olympic Games
Aug 19 American swimmer Michael Phelps wraps up the 200/400m individual medley double at the Athens Olympics when he wins the 200m (1:57.14 OR) ahead of teammate Ryan Lochte
- Aug 19 Australian swimmer Jodie Henry records 53.84 to win the blue ribband 100m freestyle gold medal ahead of Dutch star Inge de Bruijn at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 19 US gymnast Carly Patterson becomes the 2nd American woman to win the all-around gold medal, and 1st to win at a non-boycotted Olympic games, when she takes gold in Athens
- Aug 20 American swimmer Michael Phelps wraps up the 100/200m butterfly double at the Athens Olympics when he wins the 100m (51.25 OR) ahead of teammate Ian Croker
Olympic Games
Aug 20 Ethiopian runners Kenenisa Bekele (27:05.10 OR) and Sileshi Sihine go 1-2 in the 10,000m at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 21 American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his 6th gold medal of the Athens Olympics even though he doesn't swim the final of men's 4 x 100m medley relay; US wins in world record 3:30.68
- Aug 21 Belarusian sprinter Yulia Nestsiarenka runs 10.93 to beat American Lauryn Williams and win the 100m gold medal at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 21 Nicolás Massú & Fernando González win the men's doubles tennis at the Athens Olympics beating German pair Nicolas Kiefer & Rainer Schüttler in 5 sets; it's Chile's first Olympic gold medal
- Aug 21 South Africa clinch their 2nd Tri Nations Rugby Series on points differential with a 23-19 win over Australia in Durban; Wallabies score 3 tries to 2, but Percy Montgomery lands 5 goals for Springboks
- Aug 21 The archery competition concludes at the Athens Olympics with South Korea dominant with 3 of 4 gold medals; venue is the Panathenaic Stadium, in which the 1896 games were held
- Aug 21 The Australian women's 4 x 100m medley relay team of Giaan Rooney, Leisel Jones, Petria Thomas & Jodie Henry smashes the world record to take gold in 3:57.32 at the Athens Olympics
Theft of The Scream
Aug 22 "The Scream" (1910 painted version) and "Madonna", two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
- Aug 22 After winning the doubles tennis gold medal at the Athens Olympics, Chile's Nicolás Massú wins the men's singles gold 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 over American Mardy Fish
Olympic Gold
Aug 22 American sprinter Justin Gatlin wins the coveted Olympic 100m gold medal in Athens in 9.85 ahead of Francis Obikwelu of Portugal & American Maurice Greene
- Aug 22 Athens Olympic marathon is run on same route as 1896 Games, start at site of the Battle of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens: Mizuki Noguchi of Japan wins women's gold in 2:26:20
Olympic Gold
Aug 22 Justine Henin of Belgium wins the women's singles tennis gold medal at the Athens Olympics 6-3, 6-3 over Amélie Mauresmo of France
- Aug 22 The rowing program at the Athens Olympics ends with the United States winning the men's eights, and Romania taking the gold in the women's eights
- Aug 23 An American sweep in the 400m medals at the Athens Olympics; Jeremy Wariner gold in 44.00 ahead of Otis Harris and Derrick Brew
- Aug 23 Outstanding British athlete Kelly Holmes wins 1st leg of her 800/1,500m double at the Athens Olympics taking the gold medal in 1:56.38
- Aug 23 Winning pitcher Lisa Fernadez (4-0) leads the US to the softball gold medal at the Athens Olympics, beating Australia 5-1
- Aug 24 89 passengers die after two airliners explode after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions were caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.
- Aug 24 Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May team up to win the women's beach volleyball gold at the Athens Olympics beating Brazilian pair Shelda Bede & Adriana Behar 21–17, 21–11
Sports History
Aug 24 Future 8-time Olympic gold medal winner Usain Bolt of Jamaica finishes 5th in his 200m heat in 21.05, failing to qualify for the 2nd round at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 24 Kenyan runners sweep the medals in the 3000m steeplechase at the Athens Olympics; Ezekiel Kemboi wins gold ahead of Brimin Kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech
- Aug 24 Moroccan super star athlete Hicham El Guerrouj wins 1st leg of his 1,500/5,000m double at the Athens Olympics in 3:34.18
- Aug 24 Roman Šebrle of the Czech Republic (8,893 points OR) edges American Bryan Clay (8,820) in the decathlon at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 24 Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia vaults 4.91m to break her own pole vault world record and win the gold medal from teammate Svetlana Feofanova at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 25 Cuba beats Australia 6-2 to win the baseball gold medal at the Athens Olympics; Japan takes bronze; US did not qualify
- Aug 25 Emanuel Rego & Ricardo Santos win Brazil's first gold medal in men's beach volleyball with a 21–16, 21–15 victory over Spanish pair Javier Bosma & Pablo Herrera
- Aug 25 Gal Fridman becomes Israel's first Olympic gold medallist when he wins the men's Mistral One Design windsurfing event at the Athens Games
- Aug 25 Greek athlete Fani Chalkia comes out of retirement to compete in her home Olympics in Athens; wins 400m hurdles gold medal in 52.82
- Aug 25 Olga Kuzenkova of Russia throws an Olympic record 75.02m to edge the field and win the women's hammer throw gold medal at the Athens Games
- Aug 26 An American 1-2-3 in the 200m medals at the Athens Olympics; Shawn Crawford gold in 19.79 ahead of Bernard Williams & Justin Gatlin
- Aug 26 Félix Sánchez wins the men's 400m hurdles 47.63 in Athens; the Dominican Republic's first ever Olympic gold medal
- Aug 26 Germany wins its first ever Olympic women's field hockey gold medal with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands in Athens
- Aug 26 Hamish Carter of New Zealand wins the men's gold medal ahead of teammate Bevan Docherty, whilst Kate Allen of Austria takes out the women's Triathlon at the Athens Olympics
Olympic Gold
Aug 26 Lindsay Tarpley and Abby Wambach score as the US beats Brazil 2-1, maintaining an undefeated record to win the women's football gold medal at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 27 Australia wins its first ever Olympic men's field hockey gold medal with a 2-1 win a.e.t. against the Netherlands in Athens
- Aug 27 China's first ever gold in Olympic Games men's track and field; Liu Xiang wins 110m hurdles in Athens, equalling Colin Jackson's 1993 world record time of 12.91 seconds
- Aug 27 Craig Kilborn's final appearance as host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS, after 1,190 episodes
- Aug 27 German kayaker Birgit Fischer wins gold in K-4 500m & silver in K-2 500m in Athens; first woman in any sport to win gold medals at 6 different Olympics, gold 24 years apart, and 1st person to win 2 or more medals in 5 different Games
- Aug 27 In a huge upset in the men's basketball semi final at the Athens Olympics, Argentina beats a star-studded but unsettled US team 89-81; they go on to take gold and US bronze
- Aug 27 Osleidys Menéndez of Cuba throws an Olympic record 71.53m to easily beat German Steffi Nerius for the women's javelin gold medal at the Athens Games
- Aug 27 Timothy Mack vaults an Olympic record 5.95m to win the pole vault gold medal from fellow American Toby Stevenson (5.90m) at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 28 A huge upset at the Athens Olympic Stadium in the men's 4×100m relay; Great Britain 38.07 edges the United States 38.08 to take the gold medal
- Aug 28 British athlete Kelly Holmes wraps up the 800/1,500m double at the Athens Olympics taking out the 1.5k in 3:57.90
- Aug 28 Carlos Tevez scores the winner as Argentina beats Paraguay 1-0, maintaining an undefeated record to win the men's football gold medal at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 28 Led by San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginóbili Argentina beats Italy 84-69 for the Olympic basketball gold medal in Athens; star-studded US team takes bronze
- Aug 28 Moroccan super star athlete Hicham El Guerrouj wraps up the 1,500/5,000m double at the Athens Olympics taking the 5k gold in 13:14.39
- Aug 28 The diving competition at the Athens Olympics concludes with the Chinese contingent dominant, winning 6 of the 8 gold medals
- Aug 28 The US women's basketball team goes through the Athens Olympics undefeated to win its 5th Olympic gold medal, beating Australia 74-63 in the final
Video Music Awards
Aug 29 21st MTV Video Music Awards: OutKast, Beyoncé & Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris win
- Aug 29 28th Olympic Games closes at Athens, Greece
- Aug 29 Athens Olympic marathon is run on same route as 1896 Games, start at site of the Battle of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens: Stefano Baldini of Italy wins men's gold in 2:10:55
- Aug 29 Brazil takes out the men's volleyball gold medal with a 3-1 victory over Italy at the Athens Olympics
- Aug 29 Future undisputed world light heavyweight boxing champion Andre Ward of the US wins the light heavyweight gold medal at the Athens Olympics beating Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus on points
F1 World Champion
Aug 29 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher clinches his 5th straight F1 World Drivers Championship with a 2nd place in the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
- Aug 29 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, Reserve Vineyards & GC: Craig Stadler wins his final major event by 1 stroke from Allen Doyle and Jerry Pate
Presidential Convention
Aug 31 Barbara Pierce Bush gives a speech to the Republican Convention
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 4 Savanna Shaw, American pop singer (Mat and Savanna), born in Utah
- Aug 14 Marsai Martin, American actress and producer (Black-ish), born in Plano, Texas
- Aug 19 Siena Agudong, American actress (No Good Nick), born in Kauai, Hawaii
- Aug 31 Jang Won-young, South Korean pop singer (Ive; Iz*One), born in Seoul, South Korea
Famous Weddings
- Aug 7 American "The Wonder Years" actor Fred Savage (28) weds American commercial real estate agent Jennifer Stone (31) in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 14 "Dancing With The Stars" contestant and "Seinfeld" actor John O'Hurley (49) weds Lisa Mesloh at the Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara, California
Josh Brolin
Aug 14 Actor Josh Brolin (36) weds actress Diane Lane (39) at his ninety-seven acre spread in San Luis Obispo, California
- Aug 15 Fashion designer and socialite Nicky Hilton (21) weds businessman Todd Andrew Meister (33) at The Vegas Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada
Mariska Hargitay
Aug 28 "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" actress Mariska Hargitay (40) weds actor-writer Peter Hermann (37) at the Unitarian Society in Santa Barbara, California
Famous Deaths
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)
Aug 3 French photographer famous for 'The Decisive Moment', dies at 95
- Aug 4 Kenneth Couzens, British Deputy Chairman of British Coal Board and significant figure during Miners Strike, dies at 79
Rick James (1948-2004)
Aug 6 American funk musician ("Super Freak"), dies of pulmonary failure and cardiac failure at 56
- Aug 9 David Raksin, American composer renown for his work in film and TV (Laura; Modern Times), dies at 92
- Aug 9 Robert Lecourt, French politician and president of the European Court of Justice (b. 1908)
- Aug 9 Tony Mottola, American jazz guitarist, dies at 86
- Aug 12 George Yardley III, American Basketball Hall of Fame forward (6 × NBA All-Star 1955–60; first player to score 2,000 points in a season; Fort Wayne Pistons), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 75
- Aug 12 Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer and inventor (CT scan, 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine), dies at 84 [1]
- Aug 12 Peter Woodthorpe, British actor (b. 1931)
- Aug 13 Julia Child, American chef, author and television personality (The French Chef), dies at 91
- Aug 14 Czesław Miłosz, Polish-American writer (Bells in Winter, Nobel 1980), dies at 93
- Aug 14 Eric Petrie, New Zealand cricket wicketkeeper (14 Tests, 25 dismissals, 1 x 50; Auckland, Northern Districts), dies at 77
- Aug 14 William David Ford, American politician (Rep-D-Michigan, 1965-95), dies at 77
- Aug 15 Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, dies at 63
- Aug 15 Semiha Berksoy, Turkish operatic soprano (Istanbul Opera, 1940-72), dies of heart surgery complications at 94
- Aug 15 Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, (1982 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for identification of prostaglandins), dies at 88
- Aug 16 Acquanetta [Mildred Davenport], American actress nicknamed "The Venezuelan Volcano" (Tarzan & Leopard Woman), dies at 83
- Aug 16 Carl Mydans, American photographer (b. 1907)
- Aug 16 Ivan Hlinka, Czech ice hockey coach (b. 1950)
- Aug 16 Robert Quiroga, American boxer (b. 1969)
- Aug 17 D-Roc the Executioner [Dennis Miles], American heavy metal musician (Body Count), dies of complications of lymphoma at 44
- Aug 17 Gérard Souzay, French baritone, dies at 85
- Aug 17 Thea Astley, Australian novelist and short-story writer, dies at 78
- Aug 18 Elmer Bernstein, American film music composer (The Magnificent Seven; To Kill A Mockingbird; The Age Of Innocence; Thoroughly Modern Millie), dies at 82
- Aug 18 Hiram Fong, American businessman and politician (U.S. Senator from Hawaii), dies at 97
- Aug 18 Joe Dodge, American jazz drummer (Dave Brubeck Quartet, 1953-56), dies at 82
- Aug 21 Arthur Hockaday, British civil servant (Defence Ministry; Director-General of Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 1982-89), dies after a fall at 78
- Aug 21 Isaäc Arend Diepenhorst, Dutch lawyer and Minister of Education, dies at 88
- Aug 22 Al Dvorin, American Elvis Presley concert announcer, dies at 81
- Aug 22 Daniel Petrie, Canadian television and movie director, dies at 83
- Aug 22 Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player (b. 1960)
- Aug 24 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-born psychiatrist (b. 1926)
- Aug 24 Kees [Cornelis Johannes] Ouwens, Dutch writer and poet (Intimate Acts), dies at 60
- Aug 25 Helen Copley, American newspaper publisher (The San Diego Union-Tribune), dies at 81
- Aug 26 Laura Branigan, American singer-songwriter (Gloria), dies of a brain aneurysm at 52 [1]
- Aug 27 Willie Crawford, American baseball player (Los Angeles Dodgers), dies at 57
- Aug 29 Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (The Hague Philharmonic, 1980-1991; St. Louis Symphony, 1996-2002), dies from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease) at 62
- Aug 30 Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer (dirty-snowball theory), dies at 97
- Aug 30 Indian Larry, American motorcycle builder and stuntman (b. 1949)
- Aug 31 Carl Wayne [Colin Tooley], British rock singer (The Move), and actor, dies of esophageal cancer at 61
