Historybook
On this day
Every edition looks back before it looks forward: the events that share today's date, from moonshots to misadventures.
September 8
- 1504Michelangelo's statue of David is unveiled in Florence
- 1900A hurricane devastates Galveston, Texas, becoming the deadliest natural disaster in US history
- 1941German forces begin the nearly 900-day Siege of Leningrad
- 1966'Star Trek' premieres on NBC, launching a six-decade science fiction franchise
- 1974President Gerald Ford pardons Richard Nixon for any crimes committed during Watergate
September 7
- 1822Brazil declares its independence from Portugal
- 1936The last known thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, dies at Hobart Zoo
- 1940Germany begins the Blitz, bombing London for 57 consecutive nights
- 1979ESPN launches, bringing 24-hour sports coverage to American television
September 6
- 1522Magellan's ship Victoria completes the first circumnavigation of the globe
- 1620The Mayflower departs Plymouth, England, carrying the Pilgrims toward the New World
- 1901President William McKinley is shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, New York
- 1995Cal Ripken Jr. breaks Lou Gehrig's record by playing his 2,131st consecutive game
- 1997Princess Diana's funeral in London draws billions of television viewers worldwide
September 5
- 1774The First Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia
- 1882The first Labor Day parade is held in New York City
- 1972Palestinian militants attack Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, beginning the Munich massacre
- 1977NASA launches Voyager 1, now the most distant human-made object in space
- 1997Mother Teresa dies in Calcutta at age 87
September 4
- 1781Spanish settlers found El Pueblo de Los Angeles, the future city of Los Angeles
- 1888George Eastman patents his roll-film camera and trademarks the name 'Kodak'
- 1957Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus blocks nine Black students from Little Rock Central High
- 1972Mark Spitz wins a record seventh gold medal at the Munich Olympics
- 1998Larry Page and Sergey Brin found Google in Menlo Park, California
September 3
- 1783The Treaty of Paris is signed, formally ending the American Revolutionary War
- 1939Britain and France declare war on Germany, beginning World War II in Europe
- 1967Sweden switches from driving on the left side of the road to the right
- 1976NASA's Viking 2 spacecraft lands on Mars and begins sending back photographs
September 2
- 1666The Great Fire of London breaks out in a bakery on Pudding Lane
- 1901Theodore Roosevelt urges 'speak softly and carry a big stick' at the Minnesota State Fair
- 1945Japan formally surrenders aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II
- 1969America's first ATM begins dispensing cash in Rockville Centre, New York
September 1
- 1897The Tremont Street subway opens in Boston, the first in North America
- 1914Martha, the world's last passenger pigeon, dies at the Cincinnati Zoo
- 1939Nazi Germany invades Poland, igniting World War II in Europe
- 1972Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in Reykjavik to become world chess champion
- 1985A joint US-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic
August 31
- 1888Mary Ann Nichols is found murdered in London, the first canonical Jack the Ripper victim
- 1897Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, an early motion picture device
- 1980Polish workers led by Lech Walesa sign the Gdansk Agreement, giving rise to Solidarity
- 1997Princess Diana dies in a car crash in a Paris tunnel at age 36
August 30
- 1901Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner in Britain
- 1963The Washington-Moscow 'hotline' goes into operation between the White House and the Kremlin
- 1967The Senate confirms Thurgood Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice
- 1984Space Shuttle Discovery launches on its maiden voyage
- 1993'The Late Show with David Letterman' premieres on CBS
August 29
- 1949The Soviet Union secretly tests its first atomic bomb, ending the US nuclear monopoly
- 1958Michael Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana
- 1966The Beatles play their final full concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park
- 2005Hurricane Katrina makes landfall near New Orleans, devastating the Gulf Coast
August 28
- 1845Scientific American, the longest-running US magazine, publishes its first issue
- 1867The United States takes possession of the Midway Islands in the Pacific
- 1955Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till is abducted and murdered in Mississippi, galvanizing the civil rights movement
- 1963Martin Luther King Jr. delivers 'I Have a Dream' at the March on Washington
- 1996Prince Charles and Princess Diana finalize their divorce after 15 years of marriage
August 27
- 1859Edwin Drake drills the first successful US oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania
- 1883Krakatoa erupts in one of history's most violent volcanic explosions, heard thousands of miles away
- 1928The Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of policy, is signed in Paris
- 1955The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records is published
- 2003Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years
August 26
- 1883The Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupts in one of history's deadliest volcanic events
- 1920The 19th Amendment is certified, guaranteeing American women the right to vote
- 1939The first televised Major League Baseball game airs, Reds vs. Dodgers on NBC
- 1978Cardinal Albino Luciani is elected Pope John Paul I in Rome
August 25
- 1609Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to lawmakers in Venice
- 1916The US National Park Service is established under President Woodrow Wilson
- 1944Paris is liberated from Nazi occupation after four years of German rule
- 1989Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune, the first spacecraft to visit the planet
August 24
- 79Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum
- 1814British forces burn Washington, D.C., setting fire to the White House and Capitol
- 1989Pete Rose accepts a lifetime ban from baseball over gambling allegations
- 2006The International Astronomical Union demotes Pluto to dwarf planet status
August 23
- 1926Silent film star Rudolph Valentino dies at 31, sparking mass public mourning
- 1927Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are executed in Massachusetts after a disputed trial
- 1939Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop nonaggression pact
- 1966Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from the moon's orbit
- 1989Two million people form a 400-mile human chain across the Baltic states demanding independence
August 22
- 1485Richard III is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, ending the Wars of the Roses
- 1642The English Civil War begins as Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham
- 1902Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first sitting US president to ride publicly in an automobile
- 1911The Louvre discovers the Mona Lisa has been stolen, a day after the theft
- 1989Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to record 5,000 career strikeouts
August 21
- 1911The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Peruggia
- 1959Hawaii is admitted to the Union as the 50th US state
- 1983Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. is assassinated at Manila's airport
- 1986A deadly gas eruption at Cameroon's Lake Nyos kills roughly 1,700 people
- 2017A total solar eclipse crosses the United States from coast to coast
August 20
- 1911The New York Times sends the first telegram to circle the globe
- 1920Detroit's 8MK, forerunner of WWJ, begins broadcasting as a pioneering commercial radio station
- 1968Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring reform movement
- 1977NASA launches Voyager 2, beginning its grand tour of the outer planets
August 19
- 1839France presents the daguerreotype photography process as a gift 'free to the world'
- 1871Aviation pioneer Orville Wright is born in Dayton, Ohio
- 1909The first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- 1960Soviet dogs Belka and Strelka become the first animals to orbit Earth and return safely
- 1991Hardline communists launch a failed coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
August 18
- 1587Virginia Dare becomes the first English child born in the Americas, on Roanoke Island
- 1920The 19th Amendment is ratified, guaranteeing American women the right to vote
- 1958Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel 'Lolita' is published in the United States
- 1963James Meredith becomes the first Black graduate of the University of Mississippi
August 17
- 1807Robert Fulton's steamboat begins its first voyage up the Hudson River
- 1908'Fantasmagorie,' widely considered the first animated cartoon, premieres in Paris
- 1945Indonesia proclaims its independence from Dutch colonial rule
- 1978Double Eagle II completes the first transatlantic crossing by balloon
- 1998President Bill Clinton admits to an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky in grand jury testimony
August 16
- 1858Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan exchanged the first official telegraph messages across the new transatlantic cable.
- 1896Gold was discovered at Bonanza Creek in Canada's Yukon territory, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
- 1948Baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53; tens of thousands of fans filed past his casket at Yankee Stadium.
- 1960Air Force Capt. Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon at 102,800 feet, setting a skydiving record that stood for more than half a century.
- 1977Elvis Presley, the 'King of Rock 'n' Roll,' died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis at age 42.
August 15
- 1914The Panama Canal officially opens to ship traffic
- 1945Japan announces its surrender, effectively ending World War II (V-J Day)
- 1947India gains independence from British rule after nearly two centuries
- 1969The Woodstock music festival opens on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York
August 14
- 1935President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law
- 1945Japan accepts Allied surrender terms, effectively ending World War II
- 1947Pakistan gains independence from British rule
- 2003A massive blackout leaves roughly 50 million people without power in the northeastern US and Canada
August 13
- 1521Tenochtitlán falls to Hernán Cortés, ending the Aztec Empire
- 1899Film director Alfred Hitchcock is born in London
- 1913Harry Brearley produces the first stainless steel in Sheffield, England
- 1961East Germany seals the Berlin border and begins building the Berlin Wall
- 2004The Summer Olympics open in Athens, returning the Games to their birthplace
August 12
- 1851Isaac Singer is granted a US patent for his sewing machine
- 1898Hawaii is formally annexed to the United States in a Honolulu ceremony
- 1960NASA launches Echo 1, the first communications satellite, into orbit
- 1981IBM introduces its first Personal Computer, launching the PC era
- 1990Fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson discovers the largest known T. rex skeleton in South Dakota
August 11
- 1934The first federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay
- 1965The Watts riots begin in Los Angeles, lasting six days
- 1984President Reagan jokes 'we begin bombing in five minutes' during a mic check
- 1992The Mall of America, the largest US shopping mall, opens in Minnesota
August 10
- 1519Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville on the first circumnavigation of the globe
- 1793The Louvre officially opens as a public museum in Paris
- 1821Missouri is admitted to the Union as the 24th state
- 1846Congress charters the Smithsonian Institution with funds from James Smithson's bequest
- 1990NASA's Magellan spacecraft arrives at Venus to begin mapping its surface
August 9
- 1854Henry David Thoreau's 'Walden,' his account of two years of simple living at Walden Pond, was published.
- 1936Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics, delivering a historic rebuke to Nazi racial ideology.
- 1945The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, three days after Hiroshima, killing tens of thousands and hastening the end of World War II.
- 1965Singapore separated from Malaysia and became an independent republic.
- 1974Richard Nixon's resignation took effect and Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States, declaring 'our long national nightmare is over.'
August 8
- 1945The Soviet Union declares war on Japan in the final days of World War II
- 1963Robbers make off with £2.6 million from a mail train in Britain's Great Train Robbery
- 1974President Richard Nixon announces his resignation in a televised address to the nation
- 1988Burma's 8888 pro-democracy uprising begins with nationwide protests against military rule
- 2008The Beijing Summer Olympics open at 8:08 p.m. on 8/8/08
August 7
- 1782George Washington creates the Badge of Military Merit, forerunner of the Purple Heart
- 1947Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki raft reaches Polynesia after 101 days crossing the Pacific
- 1959Explorer 6 transmits the first satellite photograph of Earth from orbit
- 1974Philippe Petit walks a tightrope between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers
- 1998Bombings at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania kill more than 200 people
August 6
- 1926Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel
- 1945The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
- 1965President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law
- 1991Tim Berners-Lee publicly announces the World Wide Web project, opening the first website
- 2012NASA's Curiosity rover lands on Mars to explore Gale Crater
August 5
- 1861President Abraham Lincoln signs the first federal income tax into law
- 1914The first electric traffic signal is installed in Cleveland, Ohio
- 1962Marilyn Monroe is found dead at her Los Angeles home at age 36
- 1963The US, UK, and Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
- 2010A mine collapse in Chile traps 33 miners, all rescued 69 days later
August 4
- 1901Jazz legend Louis Armstrong is born in New Orleans
- 1914Britain declares war on Germany, entering World War I
- 1936Jesse Owens wins the long jump gold medal at the Berlin Olympics
- 1944Anne Frank and her family are arrested in their Amsterdam hiding place
- 1964The bodies of three murdered civil rights workers are found in Mississippi
August 3
- 1492Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos, Spain, on his first voyage west
- 1914Germany declares war on France as World War I engulfs Europe
- 1936Jesse Owens wins the 100-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics
- 1958USS Nautilus becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater
August 2
- 1776Members of the Continental Congress began formally signing the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
- 1876Frontier legend 'Wild Bill' Hickok was shot dead while playing poker in Deadwood, Dakota Territory -- holding the 'dead man's hand' of aces and eights.
- 1934Adolf Hitler merged the offices of chancellor and president to become Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg.
- 1939Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning that Nazi Germany might develop an atomic bomb, helping spur the creation of the Manhattan Project.
- 1990Iraq invaded Kuwait, setting off the crisis that led to the Persian Gulf War.
August 1
- 1774Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen, isolating the gas in its pure form
- 1876Colorado is admitted to the Union as the 38th US state
- 1936The Summer Olympics open in Berlin under Nazi Germany's rule
- 1944The Warsaw Uprising begins as Polish resistance fights German occupation
- 1981MTV launches, airing 'Video Killed the Radio Star' as its first video
July 31
- 1790Samuel Hopkins receives the first US patent, for a potash-making process
- 1954An Italian expedition completes the first ascent of K2, the world's second-highest peak
- 1964NASA's Ranger 7 transmits the first close-up photographs of the Moon
- 1971Apollo 15 astronauts take the first drive on the Moon in a lunar rover
July 30
- 1930Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup, beating Argentina 4-2 in Montevideo
- 1965President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Medicare and Medicaid into law
- 1966England wins the World Cup, beating West Germany 4-2 at Wembley
- 1975Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa disappears from a Detroit-area restaurant parking lot
- 2003The last classic Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line in Mexico
July 29
- 1836The Arc de Triomphe is inaugurated in Paris after 30 years of construction
- 1890Painter Vincent van Gogh dies of a gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise, France
- 1958President Eisenhower signs the act creating NASA, the US space agency
- 1981Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London
July 28
- 1794Maximilien Robespierre is executed by guillotine in Paris, ending the Reign of Terror
- 1868The 14th Amendment, guaranteeing citizenship and equal protection, is certified as adopted
- 1914Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, setting World War I in motion
- 1932US Army troops disperse the Bonus Army veterans' encampment in Washington, DC
- 1945A B-25 bomber crashes into the Empire State Building in dense fog, killing 14
July 27
- 1940Bugs Bunny makes his official debut in the cartoon 'A Wild Hare'
- 1953The Korean War armistice is signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting
- 1974The House Judiciary Committee approves its first article of impeachment against President Nixon
- 1996A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the Atlanta Summer Games
July 26
- 1775The Second Continental Congress established the U.S. postal system, naming Benjamin Franklin the first postmaster general.
- 1908The forerunner of the FBI was created when Attorney General Charles Bonaparte ordered a force of special agents within the Justice Department.
- 1948President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, desegregating the U.S. armed forces.
- 1956Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, triggering an international crisis.
- 1990President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, landmark civil rights legislation for people with disabilities.
July 25
- 1909Louis Blériot makes the first airplane flight across the English Channel
- 1946The US detonates its first underwater nuclear test at Bikini Atoll
- 1965Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival, dividing folk fans
- 1976NASA's Viking 1 photographs the famous 'Face on Mars' formation
- 1978Louise Brown, the world's first baby conceived by IVF, is born in England
July 24
- 1847Brigham Young and Mormon pioneers arrive in Utah's Salt Lake Valley
- 1911Explorer Hiram Bingham reaches the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru
- 1969Apollo 11 splashes down in the Pacific, completing the first moon landing mission
- 1974The Supreme Court unanimously orders President Nixon to surrender the Watergate tapes
July 23
- 1903Ford Motor Company sells its first car, a Model A, in Detroit
- 1962Telstar relays the first live transatlantic television broadcast between the US and Europe
- 1967The 12th Street Riot begins in Detroit, one of the deadliest in US history
- 1996The 'Magnificent Seven' win the first US women's team gymnastics Olympic gold in Atlanta
July 22
- 1933Wiley Post completes the first solo airplane flight around the world
- 1934Bank robber John Dillinger is shot by FBI agents outside Chicago's Biograph Theater
- 2011Anders Breivik kills 77 people in bombing and shooting attacks across Norway
- 2013Prince George, first child of Prince William and Catherine, is born in London
July 21
- 1861The First Battle of Bull Run, the Civil War's first major battle, is fought
- 1899Ernest Hemingway is born in Oak Park, Illinois
- 1925John Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in the 'Monkey Trial'
- 1969Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the moon (2:56 UTC)
- 2011Space Shuttle Atlantis lands, ending NASA's 30-year shuttle program
July 20
- 1944Claus von Stauffenberg's briefcase bomb fails to kill Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair
- 1969Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon
- 1976NASA's Viking 1 becomes the first US spacecraft to land successfully on Mars
- 2015The United States and Cuba restore full diplomatic relations after 54 years
July 19
- 64The Great Fire of Rome broke out, burning for days and destroying much of the city during the reign of Emperor Nero.
- 1799French soldiers in Egypt discovered the Rosetta Stone, the inscribed slab that ultimately unlocked the mystery of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
- 1848The Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention in the United States, opened in upstate New York.
- 1969Apollo 11 entered lunar orbit, setting the stage for the first crewed Moon landing the following day.
- 1989United Airlines Flight 232 crash-landed in Sioux City, Iowa, after a catastrophic engine failure; the crew's heroics helped 184 of the 296 people aboard survive.
July 18
- 64The Great Fire of Rome breaks out, burning much of the city
- 1918Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid leader and future South African president, is born
- 1969Ted Kennedy's car plunges off a Chappaquiddick bridge, killing Mary Jo Kopechne
- 1976Nadia Comaneci earns the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history
July 17
- 1918Tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by Bolshevik forces in Yekaterinburg
- 1945The Potsdam Conference of Allied leaders begins in postwar Germany
- 1955Disneyland opens its gates in Anaheim, California
- 1975American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock in orbit, a Cold War first
July 16
- 1945The first atomic bomb is detonated in the Trinity test in New Mexico
- 1951J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye' is published
- 1969Apollo 11 launches from Kennedy Space Center, bound for the Moon
- 1999John F. Kennedy Jr. dies when his plane crashes off Martha's Vineyard
July 15
- 1799French soldiers discover the Rosetta Stone in Egypt, unlocking ancient hieroglyphics
- 1834The Spanish Inquisition is officially abolished after more than 350 years
- 1918The Second Battle of the Marne begins, Germany's last major WWI offensive
- 1997Fashion designer Gianni Versace is murdered outside his Miami Beach mansion
- 2006Twitter launches publicly, reshaping how the world shares breaking news
July 14
- 1789Parisian revolutionaries storm the Bastille, igniting the French Revolution
- 1881Outlaw Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in New Mexico
- 1965NASA's Mariner 4 flies past Mars, returning the first close-up images of another planet
- 2015New Horizons completes its historic flyby of Pluto, three billion miles from Earth
July 13
- 1863Draft riots erupt in New York City during the Civil War
- 1930The first FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay
- 1977A massive blackout plunges New York City into darkness for 25 hours
- 1985Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia raise millions for famine relief
July 12
- 100 BCJulius Caesar, Roman general and statesman, is born (by traditional dating) in Rome.
- 1543King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr.
- 1862President Abraham Lincoln signs into law the measure creating the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration.
- 1962The Rolling Stones play their first-ever gig at the Marquee Club in London.
- 1984Walter Mondale names Rep. Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, making her the first woman on a major U.S. party's presidential ticket.
July 11
- 1804Aaron Burr fatally wounds Alexander Hamilton in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey
- 1859Big Ben chimes for the first time in London's clock tower
- 1960Harper Lee's novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is first published
- 1979Skylab, America's first space station, falls back to Earth over Australia
- 1995Bosnian Serb forces capture Srebrenica, beginning Europe's worst massacre since World War II