1485 – The War of the Roses ended with the death of England’s King Richard III. He was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field. His successor was Henry V II.

1567 – The “Council of Blood” was established by the Duke of Alba. This was the beginning of his reign of terror in the Netherlands.

1642 – The English Civil War began when Charles I called Parliament and its soldiers traitors.

1762 – Ann Franklin became the editor of the Mercury of Newport in Rhode Island. She was the first female editor of an American newspaper.

1770 – Australia was claimed under the British crown when Captain James Cook landed there.

1775 – The American colonies were proclaimed to be in a state of open rebellion by England’s King George III.

1846 – The U.S. annexed New Mexico.

1851 – The schooner America outraced the Aurora off the English coast to win a trophy that became known as the America’s Cup.

1865 – A patent for liquid soap was issued to William Sheppard.

1902 – In Hartford, CT, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt became the first president of the United States to ride in an automobile.

1906 – The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, NJ began to manufacture the Victrola. The hand-cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sold for $200.

1910 – Japan formally annexed Korea.

1911 – It was announced that Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” had been stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The painting reappeared two years later in Italy.

1932 – The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) began its first TV broadcast in England.

1941 – Nazi troops reached the outskirts of Leningrad during World War II.

1950 – Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to be accepted into a national competition.

1951 – 75,052 people watched the Harlem Globetrotters perform. It was the largest crowd to see a basketball game. 

1959 – Stephen Rockefeller married Anne Marie Rasmussen. Anne had once been a maid for the powerful and wealthy Rockefeller family.

1968 – Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to Latin America.

1972 – Due to its racial policies, Rhodesia was asked to withdraw from the 20th Olympic Summer Games. 

1973 – Henry Kissinger was named Secretary of State by U.S. President Nixon. Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year.

1984 – The last Volkswagen Rabbit rolled off the assembly line in New Stanton, PA.

1986 – Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million to settle a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit.

1989 – Nolan Ryan became the first major league pitcher to strike out 5000 batters. (MLB)

1990 – U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed an order for calling reservists to aid in the build up of troops in the Persian Gulf.

1990 – The U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait would not be closed under President Saddam Hussein’s demand.

1990 – Angry smokers blocked a street in Moscow to protest the summer-long cigarette shortage.

1991 – It was announced by Yugoslavia that a truce ordered on August 7th with Croatia had collapsed.

1991 – Mikhail S. Gorbachev returned to Moscow after the collapse of the hard-liners’ coup. On the same day he purged the men that had tried to oust him.

1992 – In Rostock, Germany, neo-Nazi violence broke out against foreigners.

1996 – U.S. President Clinton signed legislation that ended guaranteed cash payments to the poor and demanded work from recipients.

2004 – In Oslo, Norway, a version of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and his work “Madonna” were stolen from the Munch Museum. This version of “The Scream,” one of four different versions, was a tempera painting on board.

1680 – The Pueblo Indians drove the Spanish out and took possession of Santa Fe, NM.

1831 – Nat Turner, a former slave, led a violent insurrection in Virginia. He was later executed. 

1841 – A patent for venetian blinds was issued to John Hampton.

1878 – The American Bar Association was formed by a group of lawyers, judges and law professors in Saratoga, NY.

1888 – The adding machine was patented by William Burroughs.

1912 – Arthur R. Eldred became the first American boy to become an Eagle Scout. It is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America.

1923 – In Kalamazoo, Michigan, an ordinance was passed forbidding dancers from gazing into the eyes of their partner. 

1943 – Japan evacuated the Aleutian island of Kiaska. Kiaska had been the last North American foothold held by the Japanese.

1945 – U.S. President Truman ended the Lend-Lease program that had shipped about $50 billion in aid to America’s Allies during World War II. 

1959 – Hawaii became the 50th state. U.S. President Eisenhower also issued the order for the 50 star flag.

1963 – In South Vietnam, martial law was declared. Army troops and police began to crackdown on the Buddhist anti-government protesters.

1971 – Laura Baugh, at the age of 16, won the United States Women’s Amateur Golf tournament. She was the youngest winner in the history of the tournament.

1984 – Victoria Roche, a reserve outfielder, became the first girl to ever compete in a Little League World Series game.

1989 – Voyager 2, a U.S. space probe, got close to the Neptune moon called Triton.

1991 – The hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev ended. The uprising that led to the collapse was led by Russian federation President Boris Yeltsin.

1992 – NBC News fired Authur Kent two weeks after he refused an assignment to war-torn Croatia.

1993 – NASA lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft. The fate of the spacecraft was unknown. The mission cost $980 million. 

1994 – Ernesto Zedillo won the Mexican presidential election.

1996 – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was signed by U.S. President Clinton. The act made it easier to obtain and keep health insurance. 

1997 – Hudson Foods Inc. closed a plant in Nebraska after it had recalled 25 million pounds of ground beef that was potentially contaminated with E. coli 01557:H7. It was the largest food recall in U.S. history.

1997 – Afghanistan suspended its embassy operations in the United States.

1997 – Cicely Tyson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 – Wesley Snipes received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2002 – In Pakistan, President General Pervez Musharraf unilaterally amended the Pakistani constitution. He extended his term in office and granted himself powers that included the right to dissolve parliament.

2003 – In Ghana, businessman Gyude Bryant was selected to oversee the two-year power-sharing accord between Liberia’s rebels and the government. The accord was planned to guide the country out of 14 years of civil war.

• August 1 – Clergy Sexual Abuse US and International
• August 6 – National Fresh Breath Day
• August 6 – National Wiggle Your Toes Day
• August 7 – Purple Heart Day
• August 8 – Happiness Happens Day
• August 8 – Severe ME Awareness Day (Severe & Very Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis).
• August 9 – International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
• August 12 – International Youth Day
• August 13 – International Left-handers Day
• August 19 – World Humanitarian Day
• August 20 – National Honey Bee Day
• August 21 – National Senior Citizens Day
• August 30 – International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
• August 31 – International Overdose