On this day in History - Aug. 31

• 0012 - Caius Cæsar Caligula was born (d. 0041). 3rd Roman Emperor (0037-0041).
• 0161 - Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus was born (d. 0192). Roman Emperor (0180-0192).
• 0651 - Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne dies. Irish bishop and missionary.
• 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora dies suddenly (b. 0981) without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty.
• 1057 - Leofric dies. Count of Mercia and husband of Lady Godiva.
• 1142 - With the aid of Hiawatha and Deganawidah, The Great Peacemaker, the Iroquois tribes establish the Confederation of the Haudenosaunee.
• 1158 - Sancho III dies. King of Castilia.
• 1218 - Al-Malik ab-Adil, Saphadin, Saif al-Din, brother of Saladin, dies.
• 1234 - Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan dies (b. 1212).
• 1290 - Edward I, King of England, expels the Jews from England.
• 1346 - Edward III, King of England, lays siege to Calais.
• 1372 - Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford dies (b. 1301). English soldier.
• 1422 - Henry VI, becomes King of England at the age of 9 months.
• 1422 - King Henry V of England dies (b. 1387) in Vincennes, near Paris.
• 1522 -Adrian VI (Netherlands) is crowned last non-Italian Pope until 1978.
• 1535 - Pope Paul II deposes and excommunicates England's King Henry VIII.
• 1569 - Jahangir was born (d. 1627). Mughal Emperor of India.
• 1602 – Amalia von Solms was born (d. 1675). Countess of Solms-Braunfels.
• 1615 - Etienne Pasquier dies. French jurist and historian.
• 1645 - Francesco Bracciolini dies (b. 1566). Italian poet.
• 1654 - Ole Worm dies (b. 1588). Danish physician.
• 1663 - Guillaume Amontons was born (d. 1705). French physicist and instrument maker.
• 1688 - John Bunyan dies (b. 1628). English writer (Pilgrim's Progress).
• 1721 - George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol was born (d. 1775). British statesman.
• 1730 - Gottfried Finger dies. Czech composer.
• 1741 - Husein Gradaščević was born (d. 1834). Bosniak general.
• 1741 – Jean Paul Egide Martini was born (d. 1816). French composer.
• 1741 - Johann Gottlieb Heineccius dies (b. 1681). German jurist.
• 1772 - William Borlase dies (b. 1695). English naturalist and antiquary.
• 1786 - Eugène Chevreul was born (d. 1889). French chemist.
• 1795 - Philidor (François-André Danican) dies (b. 1726). French chess player.
• 1797 - Ramón Castilla was born. Peruvian President.
• 1799 - Nicolas-Henri Jardin dies (b. 1720). French architect.
• 1803 - Lewis and Clark start their expedition to the west by leaving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 11 o clock in the morning.
• 1805 - Dr. James Currie dies. Biographer of Burns, 1805, Sidmouth.
• 1809 - Oswald Heer was born († 27 Sep 1883). Swiss geologist and naturalist.
• 1811 - Louis Antoine de Bougainville dies (b. 1729). French explorer.
• 1814 - Arthur Phillip dies (b. 1738). British admiral, first Governor of New South Wales.
• 1817 - Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1817, Devonport.
• 1821 - Hermann von Helmholtz was born (d. 1894). German physician.
• 1822 - Galusha A. Grow was birn (d. 1907). American politician.
• 1834 - Amilcare Ponchielli was born (d. 1886). Italian composer.
• 1834 - Karl Ludwig Harding dies (b. 1765). German astronomer.
• 1843 - Georg von Hertling was born (d. 1919). Chancellor of Germany.
• 1864 - During the American Civil War, Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1864 - Ferdinand Lasalle dies (b. 1825). German socialist political activist.
• 1867 - Charles Baudelaire dies (b. 1821). French poet.
• 1869 - Mary Ward dies (b. 1827). Irish scientist, first automobile accident victim.
• 1870 - Maria Montessori was born (d. 1952). Italian educator.
• 1871 - James E. Ferguson was born (d. 1944). American politician,Texan governor.
• 1875 - Jesse E. James «Tim» was born in Tennessee (d. 26 Mar 1951). American outlaw.
• 1876 - Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.
• 1878 - Frank Jarvis was born (d. 1933). American athlete.
• 1879 - Alma Mahler was born (d. 1964). Wife of Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel.
• 1880 - Queen Wilhelmina I of the Netherlands was born (d. 28 Nov 1962). She reigned from 1890-1947.
• 1885 - DuBose Heyward was born (d. 1940). American playwright.
• 1886 - Earthquake kills 100 in Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1888 - Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's known victims.
• 1890 - Começo da Construção do Santuário do Sameiro, nos arredores de Braga.
• 1893 - Lily Laskine was born (d. 1988). French harpist.
• 1894 - Albert Facey was born (d. 1982). Australian writer.
• 1895 - John Brallier is paid US$10 plus expenses to play football for the Latrobe, Pennsylvania YMCA, making him the first professional football player.
• 1896 - Félix-Antoine Savard was born (d. 1982). French-Canadian priest and novelist.
• 1897 - Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
• 1897 - Fredric March was born (d. 1975). American actor.
• 1899 - Lynn Riggs was born. American author and playwright. Her book “Green Grow the Lilacs” was adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein to become “Oklahoma”.
• 1900 - Gino Lucetti was born (d. 1943). Italian anarchist.
• 1901 - Começam a circular os primeiros carros eléctricos em Lisboa.
• 1903 - Arthur Godfrey was born (d. 1983). American television host.
• 1903 - Vladimir Jankélévitch was born († 10 Apr 1985). French philosopher.
• 1905 - Sanford Meisner was born (d. 1997). American actor and teacher.
• 1907 - Count Alexander Izvolsky and Sir Arthur Nicolson sign the St. Petersburg Convention, which results in the Triple Entente alliance.
• 1907 - England, Russia and France form the Triple Entente alliance.
• 1907 – Altiero Spinelli was born (d. 1986). Italian advocate of European federalism.
• 1907 - Augustus F. Hawkins was born (d. 2007). American politician.
• 1907 - Ramon Magsaysay was born (d. 1957). 7th President of the Philippines.
• 1907 - William Shawn was born (d. 1992). American editor.
• 1908 - William Saroyan was born in Fresco, California (d. 1981). American novelist and playwright (The Human Comedy; The Time of Your Life 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
• 1911 - Edward Brongersma was born (d. 1998). Dutch politician, writer and political activist.
• 1913 - Ambrós was born (d. 1992). Graphic creator (El Capitán Trueno).
• 1913 - Sir Bernard Lovell was born. British radio astronomer.
• 1913 - Helen Levitt was born (d. 2009). American photographer.
• 1914 - Richard Basehart was born (d. 1984). American actor.
• 1914 - Ecuador becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1915 - Brazil becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1915 - Jimmy Lavender of the Chicago Cubs pitches a no hitter against the New York Giants.
• 1916 - Daniel Schorr was born. American journalist.
• 1916 – Danny Litwhiler was born. American baseball player and coach.
• 1916 – John S. Wold was born. American politician.
• 1918 - Alan Jay Lerner was born (d. 1986). American lyricist.
• 1919 - Amrita Preetam was born (d. 2005). Indian poetess and author.
• 1920 - First news radio program broadcast in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1920 - Polish-Bolshevik War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.
• 1920 - Wilhelm Wundt dies (b. 1832). German philosopher and psycologist.
• 1921 - Emilinha Borba was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1921 -Raymond Williams, Welsh academic (d. 1988)
• 1924 - Buddy Hackett was born (d. 2003). American actor and comedian.
• 1927 - Bill Daily was born. American actor and comedian.
• 1928 - Turkey accepts to adopt latin alphabet instead arabic.
• 1928 - James Coburn was born ( † 18 Nov 2002). American actor.
• 1931 - Production of Ford Motor Company's Model A ends, with 4.3 million produced.
• 1931 - Jean Béliveau was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1931 - Noble Willingham was born (d. 2004). American actor.
• 1934 - Nikos Xanthopoulos was born. Greek actor.
• 1935 - Frank Robinson was born. American baseball player and manager.
• 1935 - Eldridge Cleaver was born (d. 1998). American political activist.
• 1936 - Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho was born in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo. Portuguese military officer who was the chief strategist of the 25 April Revolution, and politician.
• 1937 – Bobby Parker was born. American musician.
• 1937 - Warren Berlinger was born. American actor.
• 1937 - Albert Heim dies (b. 1849). Swiss geologist.
• 1938 - Martin Bell was born. British journalist and politician.
• 1937 – Bobby Parker was born. American musician.
• 1938 – Martin Bell was born. British journalist.
• 1938 – Murray Gleeson was born. Chief Justice of Australia.
• 1939 - Nazi Germany mounts a staged attack on Gleiwitz radio station, giving them an excuse to attack Poland the following day, starting World War II.
• 1939 - Jerry Allison was born. American drummer (The Crickets).
• 1940 - Georges Gauthier dies (b. 1871). French Canadian Roman Catholic archbishop of Montreal.
• 1941 - Ava Gardner signs a contrac with M.G.M for seven years.
• 1941 - William DeWitt, Jr. was born. American businessman.
• 1941 - Marina Tsvetaeva dies (b. 1892). Russian poet.
• 1942 - In Ternopil, western Ukraine, at 4.30 am, German SS organise the first deportation of Jews from Ternopil ghetto to death camp in Belzec, about 5,000 Jews were deported to face death in Belzec. When the Germans captured Ternopil, about 18,000 Jews lived in the city.
• 1943 - The USS Harmon the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for a black person, is commissioned.
• 1943 - António de Vasconcelos Xavier was born. Portuguese biochemist.
• 1943 - Leonid Ivashov was born. Russian general.
• 1944 – Clive Lloyd was born. Guyanese West Indies cricketer.
• 1944 - Jos LeDuc was born (d. 1999). Canadian professional wrestler.
• 1944 - Roger Dean was born. British artist.
• 1945 - The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies.
• 1945 - Itzhak Perlman was born. Israeli violinist.
• 1945 - Sérgio Godinho was born in Porto. Portuguese singer, composer and actor.
• 1945 - Van Morrison was born. Irish musician.
• 1946 - Jerome Corsi was born. American writer.
• 1947 - Communists win elections in Hungary.
• 1947 - Carlos Gregório was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian actor.
• 1947 – Luca di Montezemolo was born. Italian businessman
• 1947 - Mona Marshall was born. American voice actress.
• 1947 - Somchai Wongsawat was born. Thai 26th Prime Minister.
• 1947 – Yumiko Ōshima, Japanese manga artist
• 1948 - Actor Robert Mitchum was arrested in a Hollywood drug raid. He would later be found guilty of criminal conspiracy to possess marijuana and was sentenced to 60 days in prison.
• 1948 - Harald Ertl was born (d. 1982). Austrian racing driver.
• 1948 – Holger Osieck was born. German footballer and coach
• 1948 - Lowell Ganz was born. American screenwriter.
• 1948 – Rudolf Schenker was born. German guitarist (Scorpions)
• 1948 - Billy Laughlin dies (b. 1932). American actor.
• 1949 - Richard Gere was born. American actor (Breathless, Cotton Club).
• 1949 - H. David Politzer was born. American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1952 - Herbert Reul was born. German politician.
• 1952 - Henri Bourassa dies (b. 1868). French Canadian political leader.
• 1953 - György Károly was born. Hungarian author.
• 1953 - Miguel Ángel Guerra was born. Argentine racing driver.
• 1953 – Pavel Vinogradov was born. Russian cosmonaut.
• 1954 - Caroline Cossey was born. English model.
• 1954 - Julie Brown was born. American actress, singer-songwriter and screenwriter.
• 1955 - Edwin Moses was born. American athlete, gold medal in Olympics Montreal 76 and Los Ángeles 84.
• 1955 – Gary Webb was born (d. 2004). American journalist.
• 1956 - Maria Balazova was born. Slovak painter.
• 1956 - Masashi Tashiro was born. Japanese television performer.
• 1956 - Percy MacKaye dies in Cornish, New Hampshire. American writer: The Scarecrow (1908), a historical play; Caliban (1916), This Fine Pretty World (1923), The Mystery of Hamlet: King of Denmark (1945).
• 1957 - The Federation of Malaya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1957 - Colm O'Rourke was born. Irish footballer and commentator.
• 1957 - Gina Schock was born. American drummer (The Go-Go's).
• 1957 - Glenn Tilbrook was born. British musician (Squeeze).
• 1958 - Serge Blanco was born. French International rugby player.
• 1959 - Ralph Krueger was born. Canadian ice hockey coach.
• 1960 - Chris Whitley was born (d. 2005), American musician.
• 1960 - Hassan Nasrallah was born. Leader of Hizballah.
• 1960 - Vali Ionescu was born. Romanian long jumper.
• 1961 - Lass Spanish troops leave Morocoo.
• 1962 - Trinidad and Tobago become independent.
• 1962 - Dee Bradley Baker was born. American voice actor.
• 1963 - Walter Cronkite began his stint as anchor of the "CBS Evening News".
• 1963 - Reb Beach was born. American guitarist (Winger, Whitesnake).
• 1963 – Sonny Silooy was born. Dutch footballer.
• 1963 - Sonny Silooy was born. Dutch football player.
• 1963 - Georges Braque dies (b. 1882). French painter.
• 1964 - Raymond P. Hammond was born. American poet and editor.
• 1965 - The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aircraft makes its first flight.
• 1965 - Céline Bonnier was born. Quebec actress.
• 1965 - Daniel Bernhardt was born. Swiss actor.
• 1965 – Willie Watson was born. New Zealand cricketer.
• 1966 - Jan Einar Thorsen was born. Norwegian Alpine skier.
• 1967 – Anita Moen was born. Norwegian Cross-country skier.
• 1967 - Jonathan Cake was born. British actor.
• 1967 - Ilya Ehrenburg dies (b. 1891). Russian writer.
• 1968 - Garfield Sobers becomes the first cricketer to hit 6 sixes in one over.
• 1968 - Hideo Nomo was born. Baseball pitcher.
• 1968 - Todd Carty was born. British actor.
• 1968 – Valdon Dowiyogo was born. Nauruan politician and Australian football player.
• 1969 – Andrew Cunanan was born (d. 1997). American spree killer.
• 1969 – Javagal Srinath was born. Indian cricketer
• 1969 – Jonathan LaPaglia was born. Australian actor.
• 1969 – Nathalie Bouvier was born. French alpine skier.
• 1969 – Tore O. Sandvik was born. Norwegian politician.
• 1969 - Rocky Marciano dies (b. 1923). American boxer.
• 1970 – Amy Stein, American photographer
• 1970 – Arie van Lent was born. Dutch-German footballer.
• 1970 - Deborah Gibson was born. American singer.
• 1970 - Zack Ward was born. Canadian actor.
• 1970 - Queen Rania was born. Queen of Jordan.
• 1971 - Padraig Harrington was born. Irish professional golfer.
• 1972 - Chris Tucker was born. American actor.
• 1972 - Bobby Fischer se corona campeón mundial de Ajedrez ante el sovietico Boris Spassky.
• 1972 - At the Munich Summer Olympics American swimmer Mark Spitz won his fourth and fifth gold medals, in the 100-meter butterfly and 800-meter freestyle relay.
• 1972 - Olga Korbut, USSR, won Olympic gold medal in floor exercises and the balance beam.
• 1972 - Chris Tucker was born. American actor.
• 1973 - Mighty Taco was founded in Buffalo, NY.
• 1973 - Scott Niedermayer was born. Hockey player.
• 1973 - John Ford dies (b. 1894). American film director.
• 1974 - Andriy Medvedev was born. Ukrainian tennis player.
• 1974 - William Pershing Benedict dies. American pilot.
• 1974 - Norman Kirk dies (b. 1923). New Zealand prime minister.
• 1975 - Craig Cumming was born. New Zealand cricketer.
• 1975 - Daniel Harding was born. British conductor.
• 1975 - Gabe Kapler was born. American baseball player and manager.
• 1975 - John Grahame was born. American-born Canadian hockey player.
• 1975 – Sara Ramirez was born. American actress.
• 1975 – Takahiro Suwa was born. Japanese professional wrestler.
• 1975 – Yuvan Shankar Raja was born. Indian film music composer.
• 1976 - Radek Martinek was born. Czechoslovakian ice hockey player.
• 1976 – Roque Júnior was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1976 - Vincent Delerm was born. French singer-songwriter, pianist and composer
• 1977 - Craig Nicholls was born. Australian singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Vines).
• 1977 - Ian Harte was born. Irish footballer.
• 1977 - Jeff Hardy was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1978 -William and Emily Harris, founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army, plead guilty to the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.
• 1978 - Philippe Christanval was born. French footballer.
• 1978 - Phina Oruche was born. British actress.
• 1978 - Regiane Alves was born in Santo André, São Paulo. Brazilian actress.
• 1978 - John Wrathall dies (b. 1913).President of Rhodesia.
• 1979 - Clay Hensley was born. Professional baseball player.
• 1979 – Mark Johnston was born. Canadian swimmer.
• 1979 - Mickie James was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1979 – Ramón Santiago was born. Dominican baseball player.
• 1979 – Simon Neil was born. Scottish musician (Biffy Clyro).
• 1979 – Yuvan Shankar Raja was born. Indian film music composer.
• 1979 - Vanessa Gleason was born in San Diego, California, USA. Playboy Playmate of the Month September 1998.
• 1979 - Sally Rand dies (b. 1904). American dancer and actress.
• 1980 - Zimbabwe establishes diplomatic relations with Algeria.
• 1980 - The Solidarity trade union is formed in Poland.
• 1980 - Joe Budden was born. American rapper.
• 1981 - 40 Cal was born. American rapper.
• 1981 - 40 Cal was born. American rapper.
• 1981 - Dwayne Peel was born. Welsh International rugby player.
• 1981 – Joe Swanberg was born. American filmmaker
• 1981 – Steve Saviano was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1982 - Alexei Mikhnov was born. Ukrainian-born ice hockey player.
• 1982 – Chris Duhon was born. American basketball player.
• 1982 – G. Willow Wilson was born. American journalist and comic book writer.
• 1982 – José Reina was born. Spanish footballer.
• 1982 – Josh Kroeger was born. American baseball player.
• 1982 – Lien Huyghebaert was born. Belgian athlete.
• 1982 – Michele Rugolo was born. Italian racing driver.
• 1982 – Patrick Nuo was born. Swiss singer.
• 1983 - Larry Fitzgerald was born. American football player.
• 1983 - Fernanda Nobre was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1983 - Maria Flor was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1984 – Charl Schwartzel was born. South African golfer.
• 1984 - Matti Breschel was born. Danish road bicycle racer.
• 1984 – Ted Ligety was born. American alpine skier.
• 1985 - A atleta portuguesa Aurora Cunha ganha a meia maratona internacional de Oslo.
• 1985 - Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker" serial killer, is arrested in Los Angeles, California.
• 1985 - Andrew Foster was born. Australian rules footballer.
• 1985 - Frank Macfarlane Burnet dies (b. 1899). Australian biologist.
• 1986 - Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
• 1986 - The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 398.
• 1986 - Feng Tianwei was born. Singaporean table tennis player.
• 1986 - Henry Moore dies (b. 1898). English sculptor.
• 1986 - Urho Kekkonen dies (b. 1900). President of Finland.
• 1987 - Petros Kravaritis was born. Greek footballer.
• 1989 - Buckingham Palace officials confirm that Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips are to be separated.
• 1991 - Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1992 - Pascal Lissouba is inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo after a multiparty presidential election, ending a long history of one-party oppressive rule under the Congolese Workers Party.
• 1992 - Dr. Florencio Escardó morre em Buenos Aires. Decano da Faculdade de Medicina e Vice-reitor da Universidade de Buenos Aires.
• 1993 - Venezuela president Carlos Perez fled.
• 1993 - HMS Mercury closes after 52 years in commission.
• 1994 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.
• 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales dies in a car crash in Paris (b. 1961)
• 1997 - Dodi Fayed dies (car accident) (b. 1955). Egyptian-born film producer.
• 1997 - Guillermo Brizuela Méndez dies. Argentinian TV and radio presenter.
• 1998 - North Korea reportedly launchs Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite.
• 1999 - The first of a series of Russian Apartment Bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.
• 1999 - A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including 2 on the ground.
• 2002 - Lionel Hampton dies (b. 1908). American vibraphone player.
• 2002 - George Porter dies (b. 1920). English chemist, Nobel laureate.
• 2004 - Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is released on DVD and VHS in stores across the United States, selling approximately 4.1 million copies by the end of the day.
• 2004 - Carl Wayne dies (b. 1943). English singer.
• 2005 - A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.
• 2005 - Joseph Rotblat dies (b. 1908). Polish-British physicist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 2005 - Michael Sheard dies (b. 1940). British actor.
• 2006 - Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream was recovered from a raid by Norwegian police. The paintings were said to be in a better-than-expected condition.
• 2006 – Derrick Wayne Frazier dies (b. 1977). American convicted murderer.
• 2006 - Mohamed Abdelwahab dies (b. 1983). Egyptian footballer.
• 2006 – Tom Delaney dies (b. 1911). British racing driver.
• 2007 - Gay Brewer dies (b. 1932). American golfer.
• 2007 – Karloff Lagarde dies (b. 1928). Mexican professional wrestler.
• 2008 – Ike Pappas dies (b. 1933). American news correspondent.
• 2008 – Victor Yates dies (b. 1939). New Zealand rugby player.
• Blog Day : International Day of Blogs and Bloggers.
• Malaysia: Hari Merdeka, a National Day.
• Independence Day for Trinidad and Tobago (1962).
• Moldova: Day of Our Language (Limba Noastra).
• Roman Catholic Saints - Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Saint Abundius, Saint Raymond Nonnatus.
• Poland, Europe - Day of Solidarity and Freedom, on the anniversary of August Agreement from 1980.
• Kyrgyzstan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991).