Historical Events
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Aug 2 Lewis Carroll publishes "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
- Aug 2 Trans Atlantic Cable being laid by SS Great Eastern between Great Britain and America snaps and is lost
Event of Interest
Aug 12 Joseph Lister performs 1st antiseptic surgery
- Aug 15 Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri: fierce fighting between Union soldiers and Confederate forces prompted by bushwacker attacks destroys town of Lone Jack
- Aug 16 Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic regains its independence after 4 years of fighting against the Spanish Annexation.
Event of Interest
Aug 20 President Andrew Johnson proclaims an end to "insurrection" in Texas
- Aug 22 William Sheppard is issued the first US patent for liquid soap
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Frank Grant, American Baseball HOF 2nd baseman (International League; pioneer early Negro leagues; considered greatest African-American player of 19th century), born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (d. 1937)
- Aug 2 Irving Babbitt, American writer (Rousseau & Romanticism), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1933)
- Aug 2 John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist, born in Łódź, Poland (d. 1955)
- Aug 4 Gus Kempis, South African cricketer (South Africa's 1st Test), born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (d. 1890)
- Aug 7 Micha Josef Berdyczewski, Jewish writer, born in Medzhybizh, Russian Empire (d. 1921)
- Aug 10 Alexander Glazunov, Russian pianist, composer (Chopiniana; Stenka Razin), and educator (St Petersburg Conservatory, 1899-1930), born in St.Petersburg, Russia (d. 1936)
- Aug 14 Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician, born in Venice (d. 1952)
- Aug 15 Johan Bernard Schepers, Frisian writer (Braga), born in Heerenveen, Netherlands (d. 1937)
- Aug 15 Louisa Aldrich-Blake, British pioneering surgeon, born in Chingford, Essex (d. 1925)
- Aug 15 Mikao Usui, Japanese founder of Reiki (form of spiritual practice), born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan (d. 1926)
- Aug 16 Jón Friðfinnsson, Icelandic-Canadian composer (The Millennial Cantata), born in Breiðdal, Iceland (d. 1936)
- Aug 20 Bernard Tancred, South African cricket batsman (2 Tests; Northern Cape), born in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province (d. 1911)
- Aug 22 Pieter Hopmans Dutch Bishop of Breda (Eucharistic Crusade) (d. 1951)
- Aug 24 Ferdinand I [Meinrad], King of Romania (1914-27), born in Sigmaringen, German Confederation (d. 1927)
- Aug 27 Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States, banker and 1925 Nobel Peace Prize winner, born in Marietta, Ohio (d. 1951)
- Aug 27 James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist and anthropologist, born in Rockford, Illinois (d. 1935)
Famous Deaths
- Aug 12 William Jackson Hooker, English botanist and director (Kew Gardens), dies at 80
- Aug 13 Ignaz Semmelweis, Hungarian physician who discovered the cause of puerperal (childbed) fever and introduced antisepsis into medical practice, dies at 47
- Aug 17 Johann Nepomuk Poissl, Bavarian composer, dies at 82
- Aug 17 Mosby Munroe Parsons, United States officer in the Mexican–American War and brigadier general of the Confederate States Army, dies in battle at 42
- Aug 26 Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (Comet Encke), dies at 73
- Aug 26 Marcellus Monroe Crocker, US attorney/Union brigadier general, dies at 35
- Aug 27 Józef Nowakowski, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 64
- Aug 27 Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (The Clockmaker; or, The Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick of Slickville), dies at 68
- Aug 29 John Brough, US publisher/(gov-R-Ohio), dies at about 54
