August in history
4,325 events, birthdays and special days across every day of August. Each day shows its top three stories — open a day to see them all.
-
Week 1
-
Week 2
-
Mon
2
Aug
- UK: 1971 The English rock band the Who released Who's Next, their only album to top the…
- UK: 1989 Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations
- UK: 1870 One of the world's earliest underground tube railways opened in the Tower…
-
Tue
3
Aug
- UK: 1347 Hundred Years' War: The French town of Calais capitulated to English forces
- UK: 1857 Indian Rebellion: An eight-day siege of a fortified outbuilding in Arrah…
- UK: 1940 World War II: Italian forces began a conquest of British Somaliland, capturing…
-
Wed
4
Aug
- UK: 1914 World War I: Adhering to the terms of the Treaty of London, the United Kingdom…
- UK: 1265 Second Barons' War: Royal troops led by Prince Edward defeated baronial forces…
- UK: 1792 Born: Percy Bysshe Shelley
-
Thu
5
Aug
- UK: 1100 Henry I was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey
- UK: 1963 Cold War: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign the…
- UK: 1916 First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine campaign began with…
-
Fri
6
Aug
- UK: 1991 British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee posted a public invitation to…
- UK: 1881 Born: Alexander Fleming
- UK: 1809 Born: Alfred
-
Sat
7
Aug
- UK: 1850 The first section of the Great Northern Railway, now the southern section of…
- UK: 1926 The first British Grand Prix was held at Brooklands
- UK: 1958 Born: Bruce Dickinson
-
Sun
8
Aug
- UK: 1919 The Third Anglo-Afghan War ended with the United Kingdom signing a treaty to…
- UK: 1914 The Endurance departed Plymouth, England, on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic…
- UK: 1969 At a zebra crossing on Abbey Road in London, Iain Macmillan took the…
-
Mon
2
Aug
-
Week 3
-
Mon
9
Aug
- UK: 1902 In a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, Edward VII and Alexandra were crowned King…
- UK: 1907 The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England
- UK: 1968 Born: Gillian Anderson
-
Tue
10
Aug
- UK: 1755 The first wave of the Expulsion of the Acadians from the present-day Canadian…
- UK: AD 991 Battle of Maldon: The English, led by Byrhtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex, are…
- UK: 1585 The Treaty of Nonsuch signed by Elizabeth I of England and the Dutch Rebels
-
Wed
11
Aug
- UK: 1309 Reconquista: Aragonese forces led by King James II landed on the coast of…
- UK: 1786 Francis Light founded George Town, the first British settlement in Southeast…
- UK: 1812 Peninsular War: French troops engage British-Portuguese forces in the Battle…
-
Thu
12
Aug
- UK: 1914 World War I: France, the United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on…
- UK: 1865 Joseph Lister, British surgeon and scientist, performs the first antiseptic…
- UK: 1762 Born: George IV
-
Fri
13
Aug
- UK: 1704 War of the Spanish Succession: The Duke of Marlborough led Allied forces to a…
- UK: 1650 General George Monck founded Monck's Regiment of Foot, the predecessor to the…
- UK: 1762 Anglo-Spanish War: The United Kingdom captured Havana
-
Sat
14
Aug
- UK: 1816 The United Kingdom formally annexed the Tristan da Cunha archipelago…
- UK: 1888 One of the first recordings of music, of Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord"…
- UK: 1941 After a secret meeting in Newfoundland, British prime minister Winston…
-
Sun
15
Aug
- UK: 1965 The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an…
- UK: 1070 The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of…
- UK: 1942 World War II: The tanker SS Ohio reached Malta as part of an operation to…
-
Mon
9
Aug
-
Week 4
-
Mon
16
Aug
- UK: 1962 The English rock band the Beatles fired their drummer Pete Best, replacing him…
- UK: 1777 American Revolutionary War: American forces routed British and German troops…
- UK: 1858 U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph…
-
Tue
17
Aug
- UK: 1943 Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met in a secret conference in Quebec
- UK: 1424 Hundred Years' War: Battle of Verneuil: An English force under John, Duke of…
- UK: 1560 The Scottish Reformation Parliament approved a Protestant confession of faith…
-
Wed
18
Aug
- UK: 1940 Second World War: During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe made an all-out…
- UK: 1612 The trials of the Pendle and Samlesbury witches, among the most famous of…
- UK: 1590 John White, governor of the Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in…
-
Thu
19
Aug
- UK: 1759 Seven Years' War: Having damaged several French vessels, British ships pursued…
- UK: 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan, Scotland, in…
- UK: 1561 Mary, Queen of Scots, aged 18, returns to Scotland
-
Fri
20
Aug
- UK: 1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural…
- UK: 1892 Celtic Park, the largest football stadium in Scotland and home of Celtic F.C.…
- UK: 1707 The first Siege of Pensacola came to an end with the British and Creek…
-
Sat
21
Aug
- UK: 1689 Jacobite clans clashed with a regiment of Covenanters in the streets of…
- UK: 1808 Peninsular War: British and Portuguese forces put an end to the first French…
- UK: 1778 American Revolutionary War: British forces begin besieging the French outpost…
-
Sun
22
Aug
- UK: 1642 King Charles I raised the royal standard at Nottingham, marking the beginning…
- UK: 1777 American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold used a ruse to convince the…
- UK: 1485 At the Battle of Bosworth Field, Lancastrian forces under Henry Tudor, Earl of…
-
Mon
16
Aug
-
Week 5
-
Mon
23
Aug
- UK: 1775 King George III issued a proclamation that declared elements of the American…
- UK: 1873 The Albert Bridge, spanning the River Thames in London, opened to traffic
- UK: 1898 The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of…
-
Tue
24
Aug
- UK: 1814 War of 1812: British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to various…
- UK: 1662 The 1662 Book of Common Prayer was legally enforced as the liturgy of the…
- UK: 1608 The first official English representative to India lands in Surat
-
Wed
25
Aug
- UK: 2012 The skeleton of King Richard III of England was discovered under a car park in…
- UK: 1537 The Honourable Artillery Company, now the oldest surviving regiment in the…
- UK: 1875 Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, doing…
-
Thu
26
Aug
- UK: 1968 The Beatles released "Hey Jude", which became the then-longest single to top…
- UK: 1346 Hundred Years' War: At the Battle of Crécy, English forces established the…
- UK: 1768 Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour, starting his…
-
Fri
27
Aug
- UK: 1955 The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was published
- UK: 1810 Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeated the Royal Navy, preventing them from…
- UK: 1896 In the shortest recorded war in history, the Sultanate of Zanzibar surrendered…
-
Sat
28
Aug
- UK: 1789 With the first use of his 1.2-metre (3.9 ft) telescope, then the largest in…
- UK: 1640 Bishops' Wars: Scottish Covenanter forces led by Alexander Leslie defeated the…
- UK: 1810 Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy accepts the surrender of a British Royal Navy…
-
Sun
29
Aug
- UK: 1831 Michael Faraday first experimentally demonstrated electromagnetic induction…
- UK: 1966 The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park…
- UK: 1950 Korean War: British Commonwealth Forces Korea arrives to bolster the US presence
-
Mon
23
Aug
-
Week 6
-
Mon
30
Aug
- UK: 1942 Second World War: German field marshal Erwin Rommel launched the last major…
- UK: 1594 King James VI of Scotland held a masque at the baptism of Prince Henry, his…
- UK: 1871 Born: Ernest Rutherford
-
Tue
31
Aug
- UK: 2010 The last episode of The Bill, the longest-running police drama in British…
- UK: 1795 War of the First Coalition: The British capture Trincomalee (present-day Sri…
- UK: 1907 Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Russian Convention, by which the…
-
Mon
30
Aug
Weekdays are shown as they fall in 2027.