Events
1328
– The House of Gonzaga seizes power in the Duchy
of Mantua, and will rule until 1708.
1513 – Battle of Guinegate (Battle of the Spurs)
– King Henry VIII of England defeats French
Forces who are then forced to retreat.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans
led by General John Stark rout British and Brunswick
troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of
Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.
1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of
Camden – The British defeat the Americans near
Camden, South Carolina.
1792 – Maximilien Robespierre presents the petition
of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly,
which demanded the formation of a revolutionary
tribunal.
1793 – French Revolution: a levée en masse is
decreed by the National Convention.
1812 – War of 1812: American General William
Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight
to the British Army.
1819 – Seventeen people die and over 600 are
injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting
at St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England.
1841 – U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill
which called for the re-establishment of the
Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig
Party members riot outside the White House in
the most violent demonstration on White House
grounds in U.S. history.
1858 – U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates
the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging
greetings with Queen Victoria of the United
Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown
of the service in a few weeks.
1859 – The Tuscan National Assembly formally
deposes the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
1863 – The Dominican Restoration War begins
when Gregorio Luperón raises the Dominican flag
in Santo Domingo after Spain had recolonized
the country.
1869 – Battle of Acosta Ñu: A Paraguayan battalion
made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian
Army during the Paraguayan War.
1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-La-Tour
is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
1891 – The Basilica of San Sebastian in Manila,
the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially
inaugurated and blessed.
1896 – Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and
Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary
of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off
the Klondike Gold Rush.
1900 – the Battle of Elands River during the
Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is
lifted by the British. The battle had begun
when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers
had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians,
Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump
at Brakfontein Drift.
1906 – An estimated 8.2 MW earthquake hits Valparaíso,
Chile, killing 3,886 people.
1913 – Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern
day Tōhoku University) becomes the first university
in Japan to admit female students.
1913 – Completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser
HMS Queen Mary.
1914 – World War I: Battle of Cer begins.
1920 – Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians
is hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl
Mays of the New York Yankees, and dies early
the next day. Chapman was the second player
to die from injuries sustained in a Major League
Baseball game, the first being Doc Powers in
1909.
1920 – The congress of the Communist Party of
Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed
revolution.
1927 – The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland,
California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which
six out of the eight participating planes crash
or disappear.
1929 – The 1929 Palestine riots break out in
the British Mandate of Palestine between Arabs
and Jews and continue until the end of the month.
In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed.
1930 – The first color sound cartoon, called
Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks.
1942 – World War II: The two-person crew of
the U.S. naval blimp L-8 disappears without
a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over
the Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifts without
her crew and crash-lands in Daly City, California.
1944 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 287.
1945 – An assassination attempt is made on Japan's
prime minister, Kantaro Suzuki.
1945 – Puyi, the last Chinese emperor and ruler
of Manchukuo, is captured by Soviet troops.
1946 – Mass riots in Kolkata begin, in which
more than 4,000 would be killed in 72 hours.
1960 – Cyprus gains its independence from the
United Kingdom.
1960 – Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon
over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m),
setting three records that still stand today:
High-altitude jump, free-fall, and highest speed
by a human without an aircraft.
1962 – Eight years after the remaining French
India territories were handed to India, the
ratifications of the treaty are exchanged to
make the transfer official.
1964 – Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Duong
Van Minh with General Nguyen Khanh as President
of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established
with aid from the U.S. Embassy.
1966 – Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities
Committee begins investigations of Americans
who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee
intends to introduce legislation making these
activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt
the meeting and 50 people are arrested.
1972 – In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt,
the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan
II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling
back to Rabat.
1987 – Northwest Airlines Flight 255 a McDonnell
Douglas MD-82 crashes after take off in Detroit,
killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus 2 people
on the ground.
1989 – A solar flare from the Sun creates a
geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips,
leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's
stock market
Holidays
and observances
Children's
Day (Paraguay)
Christian Feast Day:
Roch
Simplician
Stephen I of Hungary
Translation of the Acheiropoietos icon from
Edessa to Constantinople. (Eastern Orthodox
Church)
August 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Gozan no Okuribi (Kyoto, Japan)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence
of Gabon from France in 1960.
Restoration Day (Dominican Republic)
Xicolatada (Palau-de-Cerdagne, France)
For details, contact Datacentre
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