This Day in History
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1st August 1914
World World I erupts
Four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Germany and Russia declare war against each other, France orders a general mobilization, and the first German army units cross into Luxembourg in preparation for the German invasion of France. During the next three days, Russia, France, Belgium, and Great Britain all lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and the German army invaded Belgium. The "Great War" that ensued was one of unprecedented destruction and loss of life, resulting in the deaths of some 20 million soldiers and civilians. -
2 August 1824
Singapore handed to the british
Singapore becomes a British possession as John Crawford concludes an agreement with Sultan Hussein of Johor, obtaining for the East India Comapny the complete secession of Singapore in return for cash payments and pensions. 2 August 1990
Iraq invades Kuwait
Saddam Hussein's Iraq army invades the oil rich state of Kuwait, taking the capital, Kuwait City. Iraq gained control of 20 percent of the world's oil reserves and, for the first time, a substantial coastline on the Persian Gulf. The occupation is short-lived as American and British troops liberate Kuwait in March 1991. -
3rd Auguest 1492
Columbus sets sail
From the Spanish port of Palos, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets sail in command of three ships--the Santa Marýa, the Pinta, and the Niýa--on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. -
4th August 1914
U.S. proclaims neutrality in World War I
As World War I erupts in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson formally proclaims the neutrality of the United States; a position a vast majority of Americans favored. However, Wilson's hope that America could be "impartial in thought as well as in action" was soon compromised by Germany's attempted quarantine of the British Isles. Britain was one of America's closest trading partners, and tension arose between the United States and Germany when several U.S. ships traveling to Britain were damaged or sunk by German mines. -
5th Auguest 1962
Marilyn Monroe is found died
On August 5, 1962, movie actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her home in Los Angeles. She was discovered lying nude on her bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand. Empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, were littered around the room. After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police concluded that her death was "caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs and that the mode of death is probable suicide." She was 36 years old. -
6th August 1945
Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima
On this day in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world's first atom bomb nicknamed 'Little Boy', over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.
Three days later in Nagasaki, "Fat Boy" became the second. The vast destruction wrought by these two bombs led the Japanese to surrender on 14 August 1945, thus ending the Second World War. -
7th August 1959
First photograph of Earth
From the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the U.S. unmanned spacecraft Explorer 6 is launched into an orbit around the earth. The spacecraft, commonly known as the "Paddlewheel" satellite, featured a photocell scanner that transmitted a crude picture of the earth's surface and cloud cover from a distance of 17,000 miles. The photo, received in Hawaii, took nearly 40 minutes to transmit.
Released by NASA in September, the first photograph ever taken of the earth by a U.S. satellite depicted a crescent shape of part of the planet in sunlight. It was Mexico, captured by Explorer 6 as it raced westward over the earth at speeds in excess of 20,000 miles an hour. -
8th August 1974
Nixon resigns
Richard Nixon announces that he will resign the office of the President at noon the next day, August 9. He had been engulfed by a major political scandal that began with the bungled burglary and wiretapping of the Democratic Party's campaign headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, D.C. -
9th August 1965
Singapore gains independence
On 9th August 1965, Lee Kuan Yew announced to the people that Singapore was no longer part of Malaysia. The leaders of the Alliance and the PAP signed the separation agreement. This agreement provided Singapore to leave Malaysia and become an independent nation. 9th August 1945
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
On this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan's unconditional surrender. -
10th August 1945
Japan accepts Potsdam terms, agrees to unconditional surrender
On this day in 1945, just a day after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan submits its acquiescence to the Potsdam Conference terms of unconditional surrender, as President Harry S. Truman orders a halt to atomic bombing. -
11th August 1967
U.S. pilots cleared to bomb Hanoi-Haiphong area
For the first time, U.S. pilots are authorized to bomb road and rail links in the Hanoi-Haiphong area, formerly on the prohibited target list. This permitted U.S. aircraft to bomb targets within 25 miles of the Chinese border and to engage other targets with rockets and cannon within 10 miles of the border. The original restrictions had been imposed because of Johnson's fear of a confrontation with China and a possible expansion of the war. -
12th August 1877
Edison develops the phonograph
Thomas Edison describes the fundamentals of the phonograph to an assistant and instructs him to construct one. Edison had discovered the principles behind the phonograph when trying to invent a telegraph repeater. In the process, he developed a cylinder covered with foil that made sounds when played by a needle. Edison patented the phonograph six months later. -
13th August 1899
Alfred Hitchcock is born
Alfred Hitchcock is born on this day, the son of a London poultry dealer and fruit importer. He became a highly influential director of suspense films in the 1940s and 1950s, known for sneaking his own cameo appearance into every film. -
this topic is interesting.....can post some singapore related one??? juz a suggestion
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i always try my best to post singapore related news. but it's not like everyday something interesting will happen.Originally posted by c0ol_blu3z:this topic is interesting.....can post some singapore related one??? juz a suggestion 
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14th August 1945
Steve Martin is born
On this day, comedian, actor, and writer Steve Martin is born in Waco, Texas. -
15th August 1947
India and Pakistan win independence
The Indian Independence Bill, which carves the independent nations of India and Pakistan out of the former Mogul Empire, comes into force at the stroke of midnight. The long-awaited agreement ended 200 years of British rule and was hailed by Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi as the "noblest act of the British nation."
However, religious strife between Hindus and Muslims, which had delayed Britain's granting of Indian independence after World War II, soon marred Gandhi's exhilaration. In the northern province of Punjab, which was sharply divided between Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan, hundreds of people were killed in the first few days after independence. -
16th August 1977
Elvis Presley dies
Popular music icon Elvis Presley dies in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42. The death of the "King of Rock and Roll" brought legions of mourning fans to Graceland, his mansion in Memphis. Doctors said he died of a heart attack, largely brought on by his addiction to prescription barbiturates, but some labeled it suicide. -
17th Auguest 1999
Deadly earthquake strikes Turkey
Just after 3 a.m., an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale strikes northwestern Turkey, home to one-third of the country's population and half its industry. The epicenter of the earthquake was Izmit, located 65 miles from Istanbul and on the North Anatolian fault line. The quake came at the worst possible time, when people were at home in their beds, and thousands were killed instantly as their homes collapsed on them.
Thousands more died of injuries, suffocation, dehydration, or exhaustion as rescue crews scrambled to pull them from the rubble. All told, more than 17,000 people were killed and damages totaled $6.5 billion, making it one of the most devastating earthquakes of the 20th century. -
18th August 1227
Genghis Khan dies
Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who forged an empire stretching from the east coast of China west to the Aral Sea, dies in camp during a campaign against the Chinese kingdom of Xi Xia. The great Khan, who was over 60 and in failing health, may have succumbed to injuries incurred during a fall from a horse in the previous year. -
19th August 1871
Orville Wright is born
Orville Wright, the younger brother of Wilbur Wright is born. Better known as the Wright brothers, both of them are famous as the world's first avaitors. 19th August 1946
Bill Clinton, Forty-second president of the US is born. -
20th August 1862
Birth of the Eight-Hour Workday
Today marks a birthday of sorts for the eight-hour workday. In the mid-1800s most people worked ten- or twelve-hour days, prompting the newly formed National Labor Union (NLU) to call on Congress to officially trim the workday. While Congress didn't heed the NLU's pleas, the union's efforts pushed the issue onto the national stage.
The public picked up the call for shorter hours, as did some legislators: Federal employees were the first to enjoy truncated days when Congress passed appropriate legislation in 1863. However, after a few fruitful decades, the drive for the eight-hour day hit a snag in 1886, when a strike by workers at the McCormick Reaper Manufacturing Company turned bloody.
Though the workers, who had hit the picket line to protest for shorter hours, were victims of violence, the ugly affair, along with the ensuing Haymarket Riot, branded the push for the eight-hour day as a radical movement. But, in 1923, the movement received support from an unlikely ally, as the Carnegie Steel Corporation granted shorter work hours to its employees.
Eventually, President Franklin Roosevelt made the eight-hour workday an official part of his New Deal legislation. -
21th August 1959
Hawaii becomes 50th state
The modern United States receives its crowning star when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the Union as the 50th state. The president also issued an order for an American flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows: five six-star rows and four five-star rows. The new flag became official July 4, 1960. 21th August 1911
The Mona Lisa is stolen
In perhaps the most brazen art theft of all time, Vincenzo Peruggia walks into the Louvre, in France, heads straight for the infamous Mona Lisa, removes it from the wall, hides it beneath his clothes, and escapes.
Then, in November 1913, Italian art dealer Alfredo Geri received a letter from a man calling himself Leonard. It indicated that the Mona Lisa was in Florence and would be returned for a hefty ransom. When Peruggia attempted to receive the ransom, he was captured.
Peruggia served seven months of a one-year sentence and later served in the Italian army during the First World War. The Mona Lisa is back in the Louvre, where better security measures now protect it. -
22th August 1864
International Red Cross founded
Jean-Henri Dunant
The Geneva Convention of 1864 for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick of Armies in the Field is adopted by 12 nations meeting in Geneva. The agreement, advocated by Swiss humanitarian Jean-Henri Dunant, called for nonpartisan care to the sick and wounded in times of war and provided for the neutrality of medical personnel. It also proposed the use of an international emblem to mark medical personnel and supplies. In honor of Dunant's nationality, a red cross on a white background--the Swiss flag in reverse--was chosen. In 1901, Dunant was awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize. -
23th August 1939
The Hitler-Stalin Pact
On this day in 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact, stunning the world, given their diametrically opposed ideologies. But the dictators were, despite appearances, both playing to their own political needs.