August 1Birthdays & History

On this day: August 1 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 30 BCOctavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, executes Marcus Antonius Antyllus, and brings the city under the control of the Roman Republic. (date is O.S.)Middle EastEurope
2. 69Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under the leadership of Gaius Julius Civilis.Europe
3. 314The first synod of Arles is opened by bishop Marinus of Arles.Europe
4. 527Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.Europe
5. 607Ono no Imoko is dispatched as envoy to the Sui court in China (Traditional Japanese date: July 3, 607).AsiaAsia
6. 902Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army, concluding the Muslim conquest of Sicily.Europe
7. 1203Alexios IV Angelos is crowned Byzantine co-emperor after his father Isaac II Angelos is pressured to do so by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade.Europe
8. 1291The Old Swiss Confederacy is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter.EuropeNorth America
9. 1469Louis XI of France founds the chivalric order called the Order of Saint Michael in Amboise.Europe
10. 1498Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela.EuropeLatin America
11. 1571The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus is concluded, by the surrender of Famagusta.Middle East
12. 1620Speedwell leaves Delfshaven to bring pilgrims to America by way of England.North AmericaEurope
13. 1664Ottoman forces are defeated in the battle of Saint Gotthard by an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, resulting in the Peace of Vasvár.Middle EastEurope
14. 1714George, Elector of Hanover, becomes King George I of Great Britain, marking the beginning of the Georgian era of British history.Europe
15. 1759Seven Years' War: The Battle of Minden, an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French. In Britain this was one of a number of events that constituted the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 and is celebrated as Minden Day by certain British Army regiments.Europe
16. 1774British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen gas, corroborating the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.Europe
17. 1798French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay): Battle begins when a British fleet engages the French Revolutionary Navy fleet in an unusual night action.EuropeMiddle East
18. 1800The Acts of Union 1800 are passed which merge the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.Europe
19. 1801First Barbary War: The American schooner USS Enterprise captures the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of modern-day Libya.North AmericaAfrica
20. 1834Construction begins on the Wilberforce Monument in Kingston Upon Hull.Europe
21. 1834Slavery is abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force, although it remains legal in the possessions of the East India Company until the passage of the Indian Slavery Act, 1843.EuropeAsia
22. 1842The Lombard Street riot erupts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.North America
23. 1849Joven Daniel wrecks at the coast of Araucanía, Chile, leading to allegations that local Mapuche tribes murdered survivors and kidnapped Elisa Bravo.Latin America
24. 1855The first ascent of Monte Rosa, the second highest summit in the Alps.Europe
25. 1863At the suggestion of Senator J. V. Snellman and the order of Emperor Alexander II, full rights are promised to the Finnish language by a language regulation in the Grand Duchy of Finland.Europe
26. 1876Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state.North America
27. 1893Henry Perky patents shredded wheat.North America
28. 1894The Empire of Japan and Qing China declare war on each other after a week of fighting over Korea, formally inaugurating the First Sino-Japanese War.AsiaAsia
29. 1907The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement.Europe
30. 1911Harriet Quimby takes her pilot's test and becomes the first U.S. woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator's certificate.North America
31. 1914World War I: The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire.Europe
32. 1914World War I: The Swiss Army mobilizes because of World War I.Europe
33. 1915Patrick Pearse gives his famous speech "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace" at O'Donovan Rossa's funeral in Dublin.Europe
34. 1927The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.Asia
35. 1933Anti-Fascist activists Bruno Tesch, Walter Möller, Karl Wolff and August Lütgens are executed by the Nazi regime in Altona.Europe
36. 1936The Olympics open in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.Europe
37. 1937Josip Broz Tito reads the resolution "Manifesto of constitutional congress of KPH" to the constitutive congress of KPH (Croatian Communist Party) in woods near Samobor.Europe
38. 1943World War II: Operation Tidal Wave, also known as "Black Sunday", is a failed American attempt to destroy Romanian oil fields.North AmericaEurope
39. 1944World War II: The Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupation breaks out in Warsaw, Poland.Europe
40. 1946Leaders of the Russian Liberation Army, a force of Russian prisoners of war that collaborated with Nazi Germany, are executed in Moscow, Soviet Union for treason.Europe
41. 1950Guam is organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States as the President Harry S. Truman signs the Guam Organic Act.OceaniaNorth America
42. 1957The United States and Canada form the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).North America
43. 1960Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan.Asia
44. 1960Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France.AfricaEurope
45. 1961U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization.North America
46. 1964The former Belgian Congo is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.EuropeAfrica
47. 1965Frank Herbert's novel, Dune, is published for the first time. It was named as the world's best-selling science fiction novel in 2003.North America
48. 1966Charles Whitman kills 15 people at the University of Texas at Austin before being killed by the police.North America
49. 1966Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.Asia
50. 1968The coronation of Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, is held.Asia
51. 1971The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by former Beatle George Harrison, is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.AsiaNorth America
52. 1974Cyprus dispute: The United Nations Security Council authorizes the UNFICYP to create the "Green Line", dividing Cyprus into two zones.Middle East
53. 1975The final act of the CSCE meeting is signed in Helsinki, Finland.Europe
54. 1976Trinidad and Tobago officially became a republic.Latin America
55. 1976Niki Lauda has a severe accident that almost claims his life at the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring.Europe
56. 1980A train crash kills 18 people and injures over 170 more in County Cork, Ireland.Europe
57. 1980Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state.Europe
58. 1981MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.North America
59. 1984Commercial peat-cutters discover the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England.Europe
60. 1988A British soldier is killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England.Europe
61. 1990A plane crash in the Karabakh Range kills 46 people.Europe
62. 1993The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 comes to a peak.North America
63. 1998Puntland, an autonomous state in northeastern Somalia, is officially established following a constitutional conference in Garowe. Issims and tribal chiefs agreed to create a self-declared government until Somalia recovered.Africa
64. 2004A supermarket fire kills 424 people and injures 360 others in Asunción, Paraguay.Latin America
65. 2007The I-35W Mississippi River bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.North America
66. 2008The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway begins operation as the fastest commuter rail system in the world.Asia
67. 2008Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions die on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth, in the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering.Asia
68. 2017A suicide attack on a mosque in Herat, Afghanistan kills 20 people.Asia
69. 2023Former US President Donald Trump is indicted for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his third indictment in 2023.North America

Source: Wikipedia "August 1" / CC BY-SA 4.0