Historical Events
- Aug 4 Mark Duggan is shot by police in London at 29, sparking widespread riots that cost an estimated £200 million worth of property damage
- Aug 5 NASA launches its Juno space probe from Cape Canaveral to orbit and study Jupiter
- Aug 5 Svalbard Polar Bear Attack - a rogue Polar Bear attacks and kills a British schoolboy
Farm Aid Concert
Aug 13 Farm Aid (25th Anniversary) held in Kansas City, Kansas; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, Jamey Johnson, Jakob Dylan, and Billy Joe Shaver [1]
- Aug 14 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Atlanta Athletic Club: Keegan Bradley wins first major title by 1 stroke in 3-hole aggregate playoff with fellow American Jason Dufner
- Aug 16 World Youth Day 2011, organised by the Catholic church, begins in Madrid
- Aug 18 The "West Memphis Three" are released from prison after 18 years in imprisonment
Senior Players Championship
Aug 20 Senior Players Championship Men's Golf, Westchester CC: Fred Couples wins first of 2 Champions Tour major titles with birdie on 3rd playoff hole against John Cook
- Aug 23 5.8 earthquake occurs in Mineral, Virginia felt as far north as Ontario and as far south as Atlanta, Georgia
Event of Interest
Aug 23 Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the 2011 Libyan Civil War.
Steve Jobs Resigns
Aug 24 Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple Inc., and is succeeded by Tim Cook, as a result of his illness
- Aug 26 The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA
- Aug 27 13th Athletics World Championships open at Daegu, South Korea
- Aug 27 Australia claims final Tri Nations Rugby Series with 25-20 win over New Zealand in Brisbane; Argentina's Pumas join competition the following year; series rebranded The Rugby Championship
Video Music Awards
Aug 28 28th MTV Video Music Awards: Katy Perry, Lady Gaga & Justin Bieber win
Canadian Women's Open
Aug 28 Canadian Open Women's Golf, Hillsdale CC: Brittany Lincicome wins by 1 stroke from Michelle Wie and Stacy Lewis
- Aug 31 68th Venice Film Festival: "Faust" directed by Alexander Sokurov wins Golden Lion
Famous Weddings
- Aug 12 Actress and model Brooke Burke (40) weds singer/actor David Charvet (39) in St. Barthelemy, Guadeloupe
- Aug 13 "The View" co-host Sherri Shepherd (44) weds TV writer Lamar Sally at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 16 Fashion designer Michael Kors (51) weds Lance LePere in Southampton, New York
- Aug 18 American Idol's first-ever blind finalist Scott MacIntyre (26) weds Christina Teich in Scottsdale, Arizona
Kim Kardashian
Aug 20 Socialite and model Kim Kardashian (30) weds basketball player Kris Humphries (26) at a private estate in Montecito, California
- Aug 27 American Oscar winning filmmaker Sofia Coppola (41) weds vocalist of French indie rock band "Phoenix" Thomas Mars (34) at her family's villa, Palazzo Margherita in Bernalda, Italy
- Aug 27 British heiress Petra Ecclestone (22) weds entrepreneur James Stunt at Orsini Odescalchi Castle near City of Rome
- Aug 27 Lisa Vanderpump's daughter Pandora Vanderpump (24) weds Jason Sabo in Beverly Hills
Famous Divorces
John Mellencamp
Aug 12 American rock singer-songwriter John Mellencamp (59) divorces model Elaine Irwin (41) after 18 years of marriage
- Aug 19 "My Fair Brady" actress Adrianne Curry (28) divorces "The Brady Bunch" actor Christopher Knight (53) due to irreconcilable differences after 5 years of marriage
- Aug 22 Actress Melissa Gilbert (47) divorces actor Bruce Boxleitner (61) due to irreconcilable differences after 16 long years of marriage
Famous Deaths
- Aug 2 Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-American immunologist (Nobel 1980 - discovery of genes that regulate immune responses and of the role that some of these genes play in autoimmune diseases), dies at 90
- Aug 2 Clarence E. Miller, American politician (Rep-R-OH, 1967-93), dies at 93
- Aug 2 DeLois Barrett Campbell, American gospel singer (Barrett Sisters), dies at 85
- Aug 3 Allan Watkins, Welsh cricket all-rounder, (15 Tests, England @ 40.15, 11 wickets; Glamorgan), dies at 89
- Aug 3 Bubba Smith, American College Football Hall of Fame defensive end (Michigan State; Pro Bowl 1970, 71; First Team All Pro 1971; Super Bowl 1971; Baltimore Colts) and actor (Police Academy), dies of acute drug intoxication and heart disease at 66
- Aug 4 Mark Duggan is shot by police in London at 29, sparking widespread riots
- Aug 4 Naoki Matsuda, Japanese Soccer player (b. 1977)
- Aug 5 Andrzej Lepper, Polish politician (Deputy Prime Minister of Poland), dies at 57
- Aug 5 Zyzz [Aziz Shavershian], Kurdish-Russian-Australian bodybuilder and model, dies of heart attack in a sauna at 22
- Aug 6 Fe del Mundo, Filipino pediatrician and National Scientist of the Philippines, dies at 99
- Aug 6 Mark Hatfield, American politician (29th Governor of Oregon), dies at 89
- Aug 7 Hugh Carey, American politician and attorney (Gov-D-NY), dies at 92
- Aug 7 Marshall Grant, American bassist (Johnny Cash's Tennessee Two), dies at 83
- Aug 7 Nancy Wake, New Zealand-born World War II secret agent (Special Operations Executive), dies at 98
- Aug 11 Jani Lane [John Oswald], American heavy metal rock songwriter, and singer (Warrant - "Cherry Pie"), dies of acute alcohol poisoning at 47
- Aug 12 Robert Robinson, British radio and television presenter, and game show host (Ask the Family; Call My Bluff), dies at 83
- Aug 13 Topi Sorsakoski [Pekka Tammilehto], Finnish blues singer, and guitarist, dies of lung cancer at 58
- Aug 14 Shammi Kapoor, Indian actor and director known as the "Elvis Presley of India" (Amaran, Brahmachari, Vidhaata), dies of chronic renal failure at 79
- Aug 15 Betty Thatcher [Newsinger], English progressive rock lyricist (Renaissance - "Carpet of the Sun"; "Mother Russia"), dies of cancer at 67
- Aug 15 Eric Dempster, New Zealand cricket spin bowler (5 Tests, TS 47, 2 wickets; Wellington CA), dies at 86
- Aug 15 Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player, dies at 27
- Aug 16 Pete Pihos, American Pro/College Football HOF end (Indiana University; 6 x Pro Bowl; 6 × First-team All-Pro; Philadelphia Eagles), dies at 87
- Aug 19 Gun Hägglund, Swedish news presenter (b. 1932)
- Aug 19 Raúl Ruiz, Chilean filmmaker (Three Sad Tigers), dies at 70
- Aug 22 Jack Layton, Canadian politician, dies at 61
- Aug 22 Jean-Charles Capon, French jazz cellist and composer (Confluence; Baroque Jazz Trio), dies at 75
- Aug 22 Jerry Leiber, American songwriter (Leiber & Stoller - "Hound Dog"; "Jailhouse Rock"; "Is That All There Is?"), dies at 78
- Aug 22 Nickolas "Nick" Ashford, American songwriter, record producer ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough"; "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)"), and singer (Ashford & Simpson - "Solid"), dies of throat cancer at 70
- Aug 22 Vicco von Bülow [Loriot], German comedian, cartoonist and film director (Unsere Besten), dies at 87
- Aug 23 John Howard Davies, British child actor (Oliver Twist), and television comedy producer and director (Monty Python's Flying Circus; Fawlty Towers; The Good Life), dies of cancer at 72
- Aug 23 June Wayne, American artist and lithographer (Tamarind Lithography Workshop), dies at 93
- Aug 24 Mike Flanagan, American baseball pitcher (b. 1951)
- Aug 26 George Band, English mountaineer (1st to climb Kangchenjunga, world's 3rd highest mountain), dies at 82
- Aug 26 John McAleese, British SAS Trooper, Team leader during 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege (b. 1949)
- Aug 27 Nico Minardos, Greek-American actor (The Twilight Zone; Twelve Hours to Kill), dies at 81
- Aug 27 Norman Frederick Simpson, British playwright (One Way Pendulum), dies at 92
- Aug 28 George Green, American songwriter ("Hurts So Good", "Rain On The Scarecrow"), dies of lung cancer at 59
- Aug 29 David "Honeyboy" Edwards, American delta blues guitarist, dies at 96
- Aug 31 Peter Twiss, British test pilot (breaking the World Air Speed Record and being the first person to exceed 1,000 mph in flight), dies at 90
- Aug 31 Valery Rozhdestvensky, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 23), dies at 72