Historical Events
- Aug 1 Burials within San Francisco City limits prohibited
- Aug 5 Peter O'Connor of Ireland, sets the first officially recognised world long jump record at 24' 11 3/4" in Dublin, Ireland
- Aug 6 Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation
- Aug 9 34-35°N/98-99°W open for US colonization
- Aug 10 Chicago White Sox Frank Isbell strands record 11 teammate base runners
- Aug 12 Boer General Kritzinger driven out of Cape colony
- Aug 14 SS Islander hits iceberg near Alaska & sinks killing 70
- Aug 14 The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21
- Aug 15 Arch Rock, a danger to San Francisco Bay shipping, blasted with 30 tons of nitro
- Aug 15 Great Britain issues a proclamation calling on the Boers to surrender by 15 September or face banishment and confiscation of their property
- Aug 17 The Royal Titles Act adds the words 'and the British Dominions beyond the Seas' to the monarch's style
- Aug 20 The Fawcett Commission visits Mafeking concentration camp in Cape Colony
- Aug 21 Baltimore Orioles pitcher Joe McGinnity is suspended from MLB for punching & spitting on umpire Tom Connolly in previous day's 5-2 loss to Detroit Tigers; lifetime suspension reduced to 12 days
- Aug 22 Cadillac Motor Company is founded
US Men's Tennis Open
Aug 27 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: William Larned beats Beals Wright 6-2, 6-8, 6-4, 6-4 for the first of 7 US singles titles
- Aug 30 English engineer Hubert Cecil Booth patents the powered vacuum cleaner
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Pancho Villa [Francisco Guilledo], Filipino world boxing champion, born in Ilog, Negros Occidental, Philippine Islands (d. 1925)
- Aug 2 Charlie Caldwell, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Williams, Princeton), born in Bristol, Virginia (d. 1957)
- Aug 3 Bernard Reichel, Swiss composer, born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland (d. 1992)
- Aug 3 John Stennis, American politician, Mississippi Senator, born in Kemper County, Mississippi (d. 1995)
- Aug 3 Stefan Wyszyński, Polish Cardinal, born in Zuzela, Congress Poland, Russian Empire (d. 1981)
- Aug 4 Clarence Passailaigue, Jamaican cricketer (487 for 6th wkt for Jamaica), born in Kingston, Jamaica (d. 1972)
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
Aug 4 American jazz trumpeter and singer ("Hello, Dolly!"; "What A Wonderful World"), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Aug 5 Claude Autant-Lara, French film director (Four Bags Full, Rouge et noir), born in Luzarches, Val-d'Oise, France (d. 2000)
- Aug 5 Juan Carlos Paz, Argentine composer, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 1972)
- Aug 8 Ernest Lawrence, American nuclear scientist and inventor (Cyclotron - Nobel 1939), born in Canton, South Dakota (d. 1958)
- Aug 9 Charles Farrell, American actor (7th Heaven, My Little Margie), born in Onset Bay, Massachusetts (d. 1990)
- Aug 13 Ian Whyte, Scottish composer and conductor (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), born in Dunfermline, Scotland (d. 1960)
- Aug 14 James Pitman, British educator and spelling reformer (Alphabets and Reading: The Initial Teaching Alphabet) (d. 1985)
- Aug 15 Arias Arnulfo, 3 time president of Panama (1940-41, 49-51, 68), born in Penonomé, Coclé, Panama (d. 1988)
- Aug 15 Byron Arnold, American composer, born in Vancouver, Washington (d. 1971)
- Aug 15 Hans Lorbeer, German writer and politician, born in Lutherstadt, Wittenberg, Germany (d. 1973)
- Aug 15 Pyotr Sergeyevich Novikov, Russian mathematician (group theory), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1975)
- Aug 15 Sulho Ranta, Finnish composer, born in Peräseinäjoki, Finland (d. 1960)
- Aug 17 Henri Tomasi, French classical and film music composer (Requiem for Peace; The Silence of the Sea), born in Marseille, France (d. 1971)
Salvatore Quasimodo (1901-1968)
Aug 20 Italian poet, critic and translator (Nobel 1959), born in Modica, Italy
- Aug 23 Cecil Rolph Hewitt, English journalist and policeman, born in London (d. 1994)
- Aug 23 John Sherman Cooper, American politician and U.S. Ambassador to East Germany, born in Somerset, Kentucky (d. 1991)
- Aug 25 Kjeld Abell, Danish playwright and director (Tivoli), born in Ribe, Denmark (d. 1961)
- Aug 26 Chen Yi, Chinese communist military commander and politician (d. 1972)
- Aug 26 Frankie Genaro, American boxer (World flyweight champion 1928-31; Olympic gold flyweight 1920), born in New York City (d. 1966)
- Aug 26 Jan de Quay, Dutch politician (KVP party, Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1959-63), born in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (d. 1985)
- Aug 26 Jimmy Rushing, American jump blues singer, known as "Mr. Five By Five" (Count Basie Orchestra, 1935-48), and pianist, born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 1972)
- Aug 26 Maxwell D. Taylor, American general (commander of WWII 101 Airborne Division) US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1962-64), born in Keytesville, Missouri (d. 1987)
- Aug 26 Tullio Campagnolo, Italian racing cyclist and inventor (quick release skewer patent; founder bicycle component company Campagnolo), born in Vicenza, Italy (d. 1983)
- Aug 27 Al Ritz [Albert Joachim], American vaudevillian (The Ritz Brothers), dancer and actor (The Gorilla;, Hi'ya, Chum; Straight, Place and Show), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1965)
- Aug 27 Roger Pryor, American actor (Lady by Choice, Belle of the Nineties, Identity Unknown), born in New York City (d. 1974)
- Aug 28 Cees Kelk, Dutch writer (Dance of Young Feet), born in Amsterdam (d. 1981)
- Aug 28 Paul Henry Lang, Hungarian-American critic and musicologist (NY Herald Tribune), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1991)
- Aug 29 Aurel Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Ottawa, Canada (d. 1986)
Sherwin Badger (1901-1972)
Aug 29 American figure skater (US singles championship 1920-24; Olympic silver pairs [with Beatrix Loughran] 1932), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Aug 30 John Gunther, American author and host (John Gunther's High Road), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1970)
- Aug 30 Roy Wilkins, American civil rights activist and longtime executive director of NAACP, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1981)
Famous Deaths
- Aug 5 Victoria, Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III, dies at 60
- Aug 11 Francesco Crispi, Italian statesman, dies at 82
- Aug 12 Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer and mineralogist (Vega Expedition), dies at 68
- Aug 15 Karl Weinhold, German sociologist (founder of Journal of the Association of Folklore), dies at 77
- Aug 17 Edmond Audran, French composer, dies at 61
- Aug 18 Richard Kleinmichel, composer, dies at 54
- Aug 22 Gunnar Wennerberg, Swedish poet and composer, dies at 83
- Aug 24 Clara Maass, American army nurse who sacrificed her life at 25 to prove that mosquitoes carry yellow fever. Her death put an end to yellow fever experiments on human beings.
