29 August encyclopedia topics

Events

708 - Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).
1350 - Battle of Winchelsea (or Les Espagnols sur Mer): The English naval fleet under King Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet of 40 ships.
1475 - The Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England.
1498 - Vasco da Gama decides to depart Calicut and return to Portugal.
1521 - The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár, now known as Belgrade.
1526 - Battle of Mohács: The Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent defeat and kill the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia.
1541 - The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom.
1655 - Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under the command of Charles X Gustav of Sweden during The Deluge.
1756 - Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War.
1786 - Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, begins in response to high debt and tax burdens.
1825 - Portugal recognizes the Independence of Brazil.
1831 - Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
1833 - The United Kingdom legislates the abolition of slavery in its empire.
1842 - Treaty of Nanking signing ends the First Opium War.
1861 - American Civil War: US Navy squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.
1862 - Second Battle of Bull Run
1869 - The Mount Washington Cog Railway opens, making it the world's first rack railway.
1871 - Emperor Meiji orders the Abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of administration. (Traditional Japanese date: July 14, 1871).
1882 - The date attributed to the death of English Cricket and the origin of the legend of The Ashes. This is the date according to the mock obituary in The Sporting Times.
1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle.
1895 - The formation of the Northern Rugby Union at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, England.
1898 - The Goodyear tire company is founded.
1907 - The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers.
1910 - Japan changes Korea's name to Chōsen and appoints a governor-general to rule its new colony.
1911 - Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.
1915 - US Navy salvage divers raise F-4, the first U.S. submarine sunk in accident.
1918 - Bapaume taken by Australian Corps and Canadian Corps in the Hundred Days Offensive
1922 - Turkish forces set fire to Smyrna in Asia Minor.
1930 - The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland.
1943 - German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy;Germany dissolves the Danish government.
1944 - Slovak National Uprising takes place as 60,000 Slovak troops turn against the Nazis.
1949 - Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
1958 - United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1966 - The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
1970 - Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War, East Los Angeles, California. Police riot kills three people, including journalist Ruben Salazar.
1982 - The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.
1991 - Supreme Soviet suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party.
1995 - NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
1996 - Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
1997 - At least 98 villagers are killed by the GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria.
2003 - Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.
2005 - Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing more than 1,836 and causing over $115 billion in damage.
2007 - A United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident takes place at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base.

Births

1619 - Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French minister of finance (d. 1683)
1628 - John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English royalist statesman (d. 1701)
1632 - John Locke, English philosopher (d. 1704)
1694 - Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1715)
1725 - Charles Townshend, English politician (d. 1767)
1728 - Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, Electress of Bavaria (d. 1797)
1756 - Heinrich Graf von Bellegarde, Austrian field marshal and statesman (d. 1845)
1756 - Jan Śniadecki, Polish mathematician (d. 1830)
1777 - Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin, founder of Sinology (d. 1853)
1780 - Jean Ingres, French painter (d. 1867)
1805 - Frederick Maurice, English theologian (d. 1872)
1809 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician (d. 1894)
1810 - Juan Bautista Alberdi, founding father of the Argentine Republic (d. 1884)
1811 - Henry Bergh, founder of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (d. 1888)
1842 - Alfred Shaw, English cricketer (d. 1907)
1843 - David B. Hill, Governor of New York (d. 1910)
1844 - Edward Carpenter, English poet (d. 1929)
1857 - Sandford Schultz, English cricketer (d. 1937)
1862 - Andrew Fisher, 5th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1928)
1862 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian poet Nobel laureate (d. 1949)
1871 - Albert Lebrun, French politician (d. 1950)
1876 - Charles F. Kettering, American inventor (d. 1958)
1876 - Kim Gu, President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (d. 1949)
1898 - Preston Sturges, American filmmaker (d. 1959)
1901 - Aurel Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
1904 - Werner Forssmann, German physician Nobel laureate (d. 1979)
1905 - Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player (d. 1979)
1912 - Wolfgang Suschitzky, Austrian/Polish cinematographer
1912 - Barry Sullivan, American actor (d. 1994)
1912 - Sohn Kee-chung, Korean runner (d. 2002)
1913 - Len Butterfield, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1999)
1915 - Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (d. 1982)
1915 - Nathan Pritikin, American nutritionist (d. 1985)
1916 - Luther Davis, American playwright (d. 2008)
1916 - George Montgomery, American actor (d. 2000)
1917 - Isabel Sanford, American actress (d. 2004)
1920 - Charlie Parker, American musician (d. 1955)
1922 - Mr. Blackwell, American fashion critic
1923 - Richard Attenborough, English film director
1923 - Marmaduke Hussey, BBC Chairman (d. 2006)
1923 - Hiralal Gaekwad, Indian cricketer
1924 - Consuelo Velázquez, Mexican songwriter (d. 2005)
1924 - Dinah Washington, American singer (d. 1963)
1926 - Betty Lynn, American actress
1926 - María Dolores Pradera, Spanish melodic singer
1928 - Charles Gray, English actor (d. 2000)
1929 - Thom Gunn, British poet (d. 2004)
1930 - Jacques Bouchard, Canadian advertising executive (d. 2006)
1931 - Stelios Kazantzidis, Greek singer (d. 2001)
1931 - Lise Payette, Quebec politician, writer and columnist
1933 - Arnold Koller, Swiss Federal Councilor
1934 - John Guy, New Zealand cricketer
1935 - William Friedkin, American film director
1936 - John McCain, American politician
1937 - James Florio, American politician
1938 - Elliott Gould, American actor
1938 - Robert Rubin, United States Secretary of the Treasury
1939 - Joel Schumacher, American film director
1940 - James Brady, American White House Press Secretary and gun control activist
1940 - Gary Gabelich, American race car driver (d. 1984)
1941 - Robin Leach, English television host
1942 - James Glennon, American cinematographer (d. 2006)
1942 - John Heuser, Electron microscopist
1943 - Mohamed Amin, Kenyan photojournalist (d. 1996)
1945 - Wyomia Tyus, American athlete
1946 - Bob Beamon, American long jumper
1947 - Temple Grandin, American animal welfare and autism expert
1947 - James Hunt, English race car driver (d. 1993)
1950 - Doug DeCinces, American baseball player
1950 - Dave Reichert, American politician and sheriff
1952 - Karen Hesse, American children's writer
1952 - Dave Malone, American rock guitarist
1952 - Deborah Van Valkenburgh, American actress
1953 - James Quesada, Nicaraguan/American anthropologist
1954 - Michael P. Kube-McDowell, American science fiction novelist
1955 - Frank Hoste, Belgian cyclist
1956 - GG Allin, American rock singer (d. 1993)
1957 - Jerry D. Bailey, American racing jockey
1958 - Lenny Henry, British writer, comedian and actor
1958 - Michael Jackson, American singer, dancer and composer
1959 - Ernesto Rodrigues, Portuguese composer
1959 - Akkineni Nagarjuna, Indian Telugu actor
1959 - Timothy Perry Shriver, member of the Kennedy Family
1959 - Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut
1959 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
1960 - Tony MacAlpine, American guitarist
1961 - Rodney McCray, American basketball player
1961 - Carsten Fischer, German field-hockey player
1962 - Hiroki Kikuta, Japanese composer
1962 - Carl Banks, American football player
1963 - Elizabeth Fraser, Scottish singer
1965 - Dina Spybey, American actress
1965 - Will Perdue, American basketball player
1967 - Anton Newcombe, American musician (The Brian Jonestown Massacre)
1969 - Me'Shell NdegéOcello, American singer
1969 - Joe Swail, Northern Irish snooker player
1971 - Henry Blanco, Venezuelan baseball player
1971 - Carla Gugino, American actress
1972 - Bae Yong Joon, South Korean actor
1973 - Adam Sessler, American TV show host
1973 - Olivier Jacque, motorcyclist
1974 - Kumi Tanioka, Japanese composer
1975 - Dante Basco, Filipino/American actor
1976 - Stephen Carr, Irish footballer
1976 - Kevin Kaesviharn, American football player
1976 - Pablo Mastroeni, American soccer player
1976 - Jon Dahl Tomasson, Danish footballer
1977 - John Patrick O'Brien, American footballer
1977 - Aaron Rowand, American baseball player
1977 - Devean George, American basketball player
1977 - Roy Oswalt, American baseball player
1977 - Charlie Pickering, Australian comedian
1977 - Jo Weil, German actor
1978 - Celestine Babayaro, Nigerian footballer
1979 - Chieu Luu, Canadian journalist
1979 - Ryan Shealy, American baseball player
1980 - David Desrosiers, Canadian musician(Simple Plan)
1980 - Chris Simms, American football player
1980 - David West, American basketball player
1980 - Nicholas Tse, Hong Kong singer and actor
1980 - Mohammad Sheikh, Kenyan cricketer
1981 - Lanny Barbie, Canadian pornographic actress
1981 - Geneviève Jeanson, French Canadian cyclist
1981 - Jay Ryan (Jay Bunyan), Australian actor
1982 - A+, American rapper
1982 - Carlos Delfino, Argentine basketball player
1985 - Jeffrey Licon, American actor
1986 - Lauren Collins, Canadian actress
1987 - Tony Kane, Irish footballer
1990 - Sam Stern, British chef and author
1992 - Mallu Magalhães, Brazilian singer-songwriter