Historical Events
- Aug 2 Jeff Blatnick becomes first American to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Los Angeles Olympics, Blatnick was in remission for Hodgkin’s disease
- Aug 2 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Aug 3 17-year-old Australian swimmer Jon Sieben stages a withering finish to upset hot favourite Michael Gross of West Germany in 200m butterfly at Los Angeles Olympics, world record (1:57.04)
- Aug 3 365.7 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange
- Aug 3 Bomb attack on Madras India airport, 32 killed
- Aug 3 Mary Lou Retton scores 10 for final vault to win the individual all-round competition in Los Angeles and become first American woman to win an Olympic gymnastics medal
- Aug 3 Mexicans Ernesto Canto and Raúl González take the gold and silver medals in the 20k walk at the Los Angeles Olympics
Olympic Gold
Aug 4 American athlete Carl Lewis wins the 100m in 9.9 seconds in Los Angeles, first of 9 Olympic gold medals over 3 Games
- Aug 4 Americans Al Joyner and Mike Conley take the gold and silver medals in the men's triple jump at the Los Angeles Olympics
#1 in the Charts
Aug 4 Prince's "Purple Rain" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 24 weeks
- Aug 4 Republic of Upper Volta becomes Burkina Faso (National Day)
Sports History
Aug 5 American Joan Benoit wins first Olympic marathon for women (2:24:52) ahead of Grete Waitz of Norway at the Los Angeles Games
- Aug 5 American super-hurdler Edwin Moses wins the 400m hurdles gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, his 105th consecutive race victory
- Aug 5 Evelyn Ashford runs an Olympic 100m record time of 10.97 to beat American teammate Alice Brown in the LA Games final
- Aug 5 The rowing competition at the LA Olympics concludes with Romania dominant in the women's section winning 5 of 6 gold medals; US wins the eights from Romania
- Aug 5 Toronto designated hitter Cliff Johnson hits MLB record 19th career pinch-hit HR in Blue Jays 4-3 win over Baltimore Orioles
- Aug 6 203.05 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange
- Aug 6 After Americans Roger Kingdom & Greg Foster both equal the Olympic record in 110m hurdles semi's in Los Angeles, Kingdom beats Foster in the final in a new Games record 13.20 seconds
- Aug 6 American athlete Carl Lewis wins long jump (8.54m), his second of 4 gold medals at Los Angeles Olympics
- Aug 7 David Rabe's "Hurlyburly" premieres in NYC
- Aug 7 Harmonica Frank [Floyd], American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player dies of lung cancer and diabetes complications at 75
- Aug 7 Japan beats US, 6-3 in the final of the Los Angeles Olympic baseball demonstration event
- Aug 7 The US collects its first Olympic gold medal in women's basketball history with a 85-55 win over South Korea in the final at the LA Games
- Aug 8 Carl Lewis wins 3rd gold medal of the Los Angeles Olympics joining Kirk Baptiste and Thomas Jefferson in an American sweep of the 200m
Olympic Gold
Aug 8 Future 5-time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts of New Zealand wins the Finn Class sailing gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics
Music History
Aug 8 John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical "The Rink", based on Terrence McNally's novel, and starring Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera, closes at Martin Beck Theater, NYC, after 204 performances and a Tony Award for Rivera,
- Aug 8 Milwaukee 10-game losing streak ends
- Aug 8 Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco becomes the first female Olympic champion of a Muslim nation, and the first of her country in the 400m hurdles at the Los Angeles Olympics
- Aug 9 Daley Thompson of Great Britain scores 8,797 points to win the Olympic decathlon in Los Angeles; later recognised as a world record
- Aug 9 STS 41-D vehicle again moves out to launch pad
- Aug 9 Valerie Brisco-Hooks beats fellow American Florence Griffith to win the 200m gold at the LA Olympics; completes the 200-400m double
- Aug 10 Famous Mary Decker-Zola Budd collision during 3,000m at the LA Olympics; Decker falls, Budd finishes 7th; Maricica Puică of Romania wins
- Aug 10 Ian Ferguson of New Zealand wins 2 canoeing gold medals in the one day taking the K-1 500 and K-2 500 (with Paul MacDonald) at the LA Olympics; wins K-4 1000 the next day
- Aug 10 Sweden's Agneta Andersson takes out the women's canoeing 500m double at the Los Angeles Olympics with wins in the K-1 and K-2 (with Anna Olsson) events
Olympic Gold
Aug 10 The US beats Spain 96-65 to win the men's basketball gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics; future 'dream team' members Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin feature
- Aug 11 101,799 fans at soccer match Brazil vs France
Olympic Games
Aug 11 A British 1-2 in the 1,500m at the Los Angeles Olympics with Sebastian Coe edging teammate Steve Cram to become the only man to successfully defend his Olympic 1,500m title
- Aug 11 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, winning his 4th Olympic gold medal as part of the US 4 x 100m relay team; world record (37.83)
Sports History
Aug 11 Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench's #5 uniform
Event of Interest
Aug 11 During a radio voice test, US President Reagan jokes he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes."
- Aug 11 Future 4-weight world boxing champion Pernell Whitaker wins the lightweight gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics
- Aug 11 Ian Ferguson of New Zealand wins his 3rd canoeing gold medal of the LA Olympics taking out the K-4 1000 a day after victories in the K-1 500 & K-2 500
- Aug 11 Men's choir Maranatha Netherlands forms
- Aug 11 USSR performs (underground) nuclear test
- Aug 12 Braves beat Padres 5-3, features 2 brawls & 19 ejections
- Aug 12 Carlos Lopes of Portugal wins the men's marathon at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2:09:21, an Olympic record that stands for 24 years
Baseball Hall of Fame
Aug 12 Harmon Killebrew, Rick Ferrell, Don Drysdale, Pee Wee Reese, & Luis Aparicio are inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY
- Aug 13 Morocco & Libya sign "Arabic-African Union" treaty
- Aug 14 IBM releases PC DOS version 3.0
- Aug 14 West Indies complete 5-0 series annihilation of England
- Aug 15 The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military
- Aug 16 LA federal jury acquits auto maker John Z DeLorean on cocaine charges
- Aug 16 Largest harness racing purse ($2,161,000-Nihilator wins $1,080,500)
- Aug 16 NASA launches Ampte
- Aug 16 Sunken liner Andrea Doria's safe opened
- Aug 18 Triangle Oil Corp, above-ground storage tank at Jacksonville Fla, spills 2.5 m gallons of oil burned after lightning sparked a fire
PGA Championship
Aug 19 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Shoal Creek: Lee Trevino wins his 2nd PGA C'ship by 4 shots from Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins
- Aug 19 Republican convention in Dallas, Texas nominates incumbent Ronald Reagan for President
- Aug 22 Evelyn Ashford of US ties world women's mark for 100 m, 10.76 sec
- Aug 22 Last Volkswagen Rabbit produced
Baseball Record
Aug 22 Met pitcher Dwight Gooden becomes 11th rookie to strikeout 200
- Aug 22 Republican convention in Dallas renominates President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush
- Aug 22 The United Democratic Front, an internal coalition of anti-apartheid groups in South Africa, organizes a highly successful boycotts of the Colored and Indian elections to parliament
Golf Record
Aug 24 Pat Bradley sets LPGA record for 9 holes with a 28 during 2nd round of Columbia Savings National at Green Gables CC, Denver, CO
- Aug 25 French airship capsizes
- Aug 25 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- Aug 26 Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 3k woman record (8:22.62) in Leningrad
- Aug 26 Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women's world record)
- Aug 27 US President Ronald Reagan announces 'Teacher in Space' project
- Aug 27 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- Aug 27 War Against Indiscipline is launched by the Buhari regime in Nigeria
- Aug 28 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- Aug 30 12th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (41D): Discovery 1 launches for a 6-day excursion
- Aug 30 Red Sox Jim Rice grounds into record 33rd double play en route to 36
- Aug 30 Sotheby's in London begins 2 day auction of rock memorabilla
- Aug 31 Pinklon Thomas beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Bastian Schweinsteiger, German soccer midfielder (121 caps; Bayern Munich 342 games; Chicago Fire), born in Kolbermoor, Germany
- Aug 1 Valery Ortiz, Puerto Rican actress (Hit the Floor), born in San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Aug 2 Chiara Mastalli, Italian actress, born in Rome, Italy
- Aug 2 Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer, born in Pescia, Italy
- Aug 3 Amanda Kimmel, American actress and beauty queen, born in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 3 Jon Foster, American actor (Stay Alive), born in Boston, Massachusetts
Ryan Lochte (39 years old)
Aug 3 American swimmer (12-time Olympic medalist), born in Rochester, New York
- Aug 3 Sunil Chetri, Indian footballer (Bengaluru FC), born in Secunderabad, India
- Aug 3 Yasin Avci, Danish footballer, born in Tire, Turkey
- Aug 4 Helene Fischer, Russian-German pop singer (Farbenspiel), born in Krasnoyarsk, Soviet Union
- Aug 8 Martrez Milner, American football player
- Aug 9 Saori Horii, Japanese gravure idol, born in Tokyo, Japan
- Aug 10 Cyrille Aimée, French jazz singer ("Let's Get Lost"), born in Samois-sur-Seine, Fontainebleau
- Aug 10 Fridolijn [von Poll], Dutch pop singer-songwriter (Finn Silver - "Crossing the Rubicon"), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Aug 10 Mariel Rodriguez [Maria Padilla], Filipina-American TV host, born in the Philippines
- Aug 10 Ryan Eggold, American actor (New Amsterdam), born in Lakewood, California
- Aug 11 Katie Rees, American beauty pageant contestant
- Aug 11 Lucas Di Grassi, Brazilian racing driver
- Aug 11 Markis Kido, Indonesian badminton player (Olympic gold men's doubles 2008 [with Hendra Setiawan]; World Championships gold 2007; World Cup gold 2006), born in Jakarta, Indonesia (d. 2021)
- Aug 11 Melky Cabrera, Dominican baseball player
- Aug 12 Marian Rivera, Philippine actress
- Aug 13 Baby Blue [Diamond Blue Smith], American rapper (Pretty Ricky - "Grind With Me"), born in Miami, Florida
- Aug 13 Boone Logan, American baseball player, born in San Antonio, Texas
- Aug 13 Heath Pearce, American soccer defender (35 caps; FC Nordsjælland, NY Red Bulls), born in Modesto, California
- Aug 13 James Morrison [Catchpole], British singer, songwriter and guitarist ("You Give Me Something"; "Broken Strings"), born in Rugby, Warwickshire, England
- Aug 13 Niko Kranjčar, Croatian soccer midfielder (81 caps; Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, QPR), born in Zagreb, Croatia
- Aug 14 Clay Buchholz, American baseball player, born in Nederland, Texas
- Aug 14 Josh Gorges, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Kelowna, Canada
- Aug 14 Nick Grimshaw, English DJ and television presenter, born in England, United Kingdom
- Aug 15 Ayọ Tometi, Nigerian-American civil rights activist and co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter, born in Phoenix, Arizona
- Aug 15 Edward "Ted" Dwane, British folk-rock double bassist (Mumford & Sons), born in London
- Aug 17 Dee Brown, American basketball player (2005 Sporting News National Player of the Year), born in Jackson, Mississippi
- Aug 17 Garrett Wolfe, American professional footbal player, born in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 18 Robert Huth, German footballer, born in Biesdorf, Berlin, Germany
- Aug 19 Alessandro Matri, Italian footballer, born in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy
- Aug 19 Simon Bird, British comic actor (The Inbetweeners -"Will"; Friday Night Dinner - "Adam"), born in Guildford, Surrey, England
- Aug 20 Golan Yosef, Dutch actor and dancer, born in Gouda, Netherlands
- Aug 20 Mirai Moriyama, Japanese actor (Crying Out Love in the Center of the World), born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
- Aug 21 Alizée Jacotey, French pop singer ("Moi... Lolita"), born in Ajaccio, France
- Aug 21 B. J. Upton, American baseball player, born in Norfolk, Virginia
- Aug 21 Eve Torres, American professional wrestler and actor (WWE), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Aug 21 Melissa Schuman, American actress (Love Don't Cost a Thing), born in San Clemente, California
- Aug 21 Neil Dexter, South African-born English cricketer, born in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Aug 21 Vestards Šimkus, Latvian concert pianist, improviser, and composer, born in Jūrmala, Latvia
- Aug 22 Lee Camp, English soccer goalkeeper (9 caps Northern Ireland; Nottingham Forest, QPR, Rotherham United, Birmingham City), born in Derby, England
- Aug 23 Glen Johnson, English soccer right-back (54 caps; Liverpool, Chelsea, Portsmouth, Stoke City), born in London, England
- Aug 23 Joe Talbot, Welsh punk-rock singer-songwriter (Ides), born in Newport, Wales
- Aug 24 Kyle Schmid, Canadian actor, born in Mississauga, Canada
- Aug 25 Linda May Han Oh, Australian jazz bassist, composer, and educator, born in Malaysia
- Aug 27 David Bentley, English footballer, born in Peterborough, England
- Aug 27 Sulley Muntari, Ghanaian footballer
- Aug 28 Denmark Vessey, American rapper and record producer (Martin Lucid Dream), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Aug 30 Anthony Ireland, Zimbabwean cricketer, born in Masvingo, Zimbabwe
- Aug 31 Charl Schwartzel, South African golfer (US Masters 2011), born in Johannesburg, Gauteng
- Aug 31 Matti Breschel, Danish road cyclist
- Aug 31 Rajkummar Rao, Indian film actor (Shahid), born in Gurgaon, India
- Aug 31 Ted Ligety, American alpine skier (2x Olympic Golds), born in Salt Lake City, Utah
Famous Weddings
- Aug 18 Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes (22) weds Des Moines department store heiress Julie Anne Friedman (25) at London registrar's office
Famous Deaths
- Aug 3 Vladimir Tendryakov, Russian writer (Three, Seven, Ace), dies at 60
- Aug 4 Edmond Ryan, actor (Human Monster), dies at 79 of a heart attack
- Aug 4 Howard Culver, actor (Howie-Gunsmoke), dies at 66
- Aug 4 Mary Miles Minter, actress (Drums of Fate), die at 82 of heart failure
- Aug 4 Walter Burke, American actor (Jack the Giant Killer), dies at 75 of emphysema
Richard Burton (1925-1984)
Aug 5 Welsh Tony and BAFTA Award-winning stage and screen actor (Cleopatra: Camelot; Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), and fifth and sixth husband of Elizabeth Taylor (1964-74, 1975-76), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 58
- Aug 5 Rudolf Hagelstange, German writer, dies at 72
- Aug 7 Esther Phillips, American singer (What a Difference a Day Makes), dies at 48
- Aug 8 Ellen Raskin, American author (b.1928)
- Aug 8 Richard Deacon, American actor (The Dick Van Dyke Show - "Mel Cooley"), dies of cardiovascular disease at 62
- Aug 11 Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (1966 Alexander Hamilton Medal), dies at 91
- Aug 11 Pat McCauley, Northern Irish rock keyboardist and drummer (Them. 1964-65 - "Here Comes The Night"; The Other Them, 1965-67), dies at 40
- Aug 11 Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian-German chess player, dies at 67
- Aug 11 Percy Mayfield, American singer (Hit the Road Jack), dies at 63
- Aug 13 Clyde Cook, actor (Dawn Patrol, Jazz Heaven), dies in his sleep at 92
- Aug 13 Tigran Petrosian, Soviet Armenian World Chess Champion (1963-69), dies of stomach cancer at 55
- Aug 14 (John) "Bobo" Jenkins, American blues singer-songwriter (Democrat Blues), dies at 68
- Aug 14 J. B. Priestly, English novelist and scriptwriter (The Good Companions, An Inspector Calls), dies at 89
- Aug 14 John Boynton Priestley, English, stagewriter (Magicians), dies at 89
- Aug 14 Peter Wishart, English composer, dies at 63
- Aug 16 György Kósa, Hungarian composer, dies at 87
- Aug 17 Hammie Nixon [Nickerson], American blues harmonica player (Sleepy John Estes), dies at 76
- Aug 17 Hollie Roffey, British youngest ever heart transplant, dies at 28 days
- Aug 22 Charles Whittenberg, American composer, dies at 57
- Aug 25 Andy Varipapa, American ten-pin bowler (BPAA All-Star champion 1947-48), dies at 93
Truman Capote (1924-1984)
Aug 25 American author (Breakfast At Tiffany's; In Cold Blood), dies of liver cancer at 59
- Aug 25 Viktor Chukarin, Soviet gymnast (Olympic gold 1952, 56), dies at 62
- Aug 25 Waite Hoyt, American MLB baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1923, 27, 28; AL wins leader 1927; NY Yankees), dies from heart failure at 84
- Aug 26 Julie Stevens, actress (Lorelei-Big Town), dies at 67
- Aug 27 Bernard Youens [Popley], British actor (Coronation Street, Somewhere in Politics), dies from a heart attack at 69
- Aug 27 Billy Sands, American actor (Phil Silvers Show, McHale's Navy), dies at 73
- Aug 28 Mohamed Naguib, Egyptian general and revolutionary (one of the leaders of Egyptian Revolution, 1st President of Egypt 1952-54), dies at 83
- Aug 29 Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian statesman (b. 1901)
- Aug 30 Wesley Lau, American actor (Lt Anderson-Perry Mason), dies at 63
