August 2Birthdays & History

On this day: August 2 in history

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

1. 338 BCA Macedonian army led by Philip II defeats the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.Europe
2. 216 BCThe Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae.AfricaEurope
3. 49 BCCaesar, who marched to Spain earlier in the year, leaving Marcus Antonius in charge of Italy, defeats Pompey's general Afranius and Petreius in Ilerda (Lerida) north of the Ebro river.Europe
4. 47 BCJulius Caesar defeats Pharnaces II of Pontus in the battle of Zela.Middle EastEurope
5. 461Western Roman Emperor Majorian is arrested near Tortona (northern Italy) and deposed by the Suebian general Ricimer.Europe
6. 932After a two-year siege, the city of Toledo, in Spain, surrenders to the forces of the Caliph of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III, assuming an important victory in his campaign to subjugate the Central March.EuropeMiddle East
7. 1274Edward I of England returns from the Ninth Crusade and is crowned King seventeen days later.Europe
8. 1343After the execution of her husband, Jeanne de Clisson sells her estates and raises a force of men with which to attack French shipping and ports.Europe
9. 1377Russian troops are defeated by forces of the Blue Horde Khan Arapsha in the Battle on Pyana River.Europe
10. 1415Thomas Grey is executed for participating in the Southampton Plot.Europe
11. 1492The Jews are expelled from Spain: 40,000–200,000 leave. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning of this, dispatches the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Thessaloniki (in modern-day Greece) and İzmir (in modern-day Turkey).EuropeMiddle East
12. 1610During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay.North America
13. 1776American Revolution: The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress takes place.North America
14. 1784The first British mail coach service runs from Bristol to London.Europe
15. 1790The first United States Census is conducted.North America
16. 1798French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.EuropeMiddle East
17. 1830July Revolution: Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri.Europe
18. 1858The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj.AsiaEurope
19. 1869Japan's Edo society class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms.Asia
20. 1870Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom.Europe
21. 1873The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system.North America
22. 1897Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states.AsiaEurope
23. 1903The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins.Middle East
24. 1909End of the Tragic Week in Barcelona, a series of antiwar and antigovernment protests in Spain and especially in Barcelona.Europe
25. 1914World War I: The German occupation of Luxembourg begins.Europe
26. 1916World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto.Europe
27. 1918The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver.North America
28. 1922A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China, killing more than 50,000 people.Asia
29. 1923U.S. Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of President Warren G. Harding.North America
30. 1932The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.North America
31. 1934Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg.Europe
32. 1937The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal.North America
33. 1939Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.North America
34. 1943World War II: After the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. president, saves all but two of his crew.AsiaNorth America
35. 1943The Holocaust: Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months.Europe
36. 1944ASNOM: Birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in North Macedonia.Europe
37. 1944World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches.Europe
38. 1945World War II: The Potsdam Conference ends.Europe
39. 1947A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. The wreckage would not be found until 1998.EuropeLatin AmericaNorth America
40. 1968An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.Asia
41. 1973A flash fire kills 50 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.Europe
42. 1980A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.Europe
43. 1982The Helsinki Metro, the first rapid transit system of Finland, is opened to the general public.Europe
44. 1985Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.North America
45. 1989Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972.Asia
46. 1989A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.Asia
47. 1990Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: Iraq invades Kuwait and temporarily establishes the Republic of Kuwait puppet state on the orders of Saddam Hussein, eventually leading to the Gulf War.Middle East
48. 1991Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-43 to deploy the TDRS-5 satellite.World
49. 1999The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India.Asia
50. 2005Air France Flight 358 lands at Toronto Pearson International Airport and runs off the runway, causing the plane to burst into flames, leaving 12 injuries and no fatalities.EuropeNorth America
51. 2014At least 146 people are killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "August 2" / CC BY-SA 4.0