/year

August 20 in history

218 sourced entries recorded on August 20, from 480 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 480 BCEAugust 20 or September 8-10 – The Battle of Thermopylae ends in victory for the Persians under Xerxes. His army engulfs a force of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespiae under the Spartan King, Leonidas I. The Greeks under Leonidas resist the advance through Thermopylae of Xerxes' vast army. For two days Leonidas and his troops withstand the Persian attacks; he then orders most of his troops to retreat, and he and his 300-member royal guard fight to the last man.source
  • 636August 15–20 – Battle of Yarmouk: In engagements along the Yarmouk River, Muslim forces (25,000 men) of the Rashidun Caliphate, led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, decisively defeat the armies of the Byzantine Empire, effectively completing the Muslim conquest of Syria. It will be regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests, after the death of Muhammad.source
  • 917Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary force (62,000 men) under General Leo Phokas (the Elder) is routed by the Bulgarians at the Achelous River near the fortress of Anchialos (modern Pomorie) on the Black Sea coast. Phokas flees to Mesembria (modern Nesebar) and escapes by boarding a ship. Tsar Simeon I (the Great) becomes de facto ruler of the whole Balkan Peninsula, except the well-protected Byzantine capital of Constantinople and the Peloponnese.source
  • 1057Battle of Hades: Rebel forces under Isaac Komnenos defeat the Byzantines on the plains of Hades (near Nicaea). General Katakalon Kekaumenos routs the imperial right flank, and reaches the enemy's camp. He destroys the tents and supplies, which leaves the way open to Constantinople.source
  • 1100With the support of a Venetian fleet, the Crusaders under Tancred capture the coastal city of Haifa.source
  • 1119Battle of Brémule: King Henry I of England defeats King Louis VI ("the Fat") of France and his 400 knights in Normandy. A skirmish that begins with the French launching a fierce but disordered attack, and ends with the French turning tail. Louis agrees to make peace and formally recognizes William Adelin as duke of Normandy.source
  • 1191Massacre of Ayyadieh: Richard I orders the execution of some 3,000 Muslim prisoners (captured after the siege of Acre), including women and children. The bound prisoners are mercilessly beheaded or cut down using swords and lances. A small group of Saladin's forces (located on Mount Tabor) tries to intervene in order to stop the massacre – but they are repelled. In response, Saladin executes all the Latin prisoners he himself has taken. In the Ayyubid Sultanate, Latin prisoners are tortured and murdered in reprisal for their infamy.source
  • 1233Oath of Bereg: King Andrew II of Hungary vows to the Holy See that he will not employ Jews and Muslims to administer royal revenues, which causes diplomatic complaints and ecclesiastical censures.source
  • 1297Battle of Furnes: French forces under Robert II defeat the Flemings at Veurne. During the battle, Robert's son Philip of Artois is gravely wounded and dies a year later of his wounds.source
  • 1307John de Benstede, the English Chancellor of the Exchequer since 1305 when he was appointed by the late King Edward I, is dismissed as by the new and replaced by John Sandale.source
  • 1308The Chinon Parchment is written by French Cardinal Berengar Fredol the Elder, summarizing the results of the investigations of Fredol and the two other Cardinals of their disposition of the Knights Templar charges. The parchment is then put in the Vatican Apostolic Archive and will remain undiscovered for almost seven centuries before being rediscovered by Barbara Frale.source
  • 1372Peace is declared between the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples with the signing of the Treaty of Villeneuve between Joanna of Anjou (ruler of Naples) and King Frederick IV of Aragon (ruler of Sicily).source
  • 1383King Richard II summons the English Parliament five months after the adjournment of the last session, and directs the members to assemble at Westminster on October 26.source
  • 1400Meeting at the Lahneck Castle in what is now the German state Rhineland-Palatinate, the princes of the German states vote to depose the Holy Roman Emperor, Wenceslaus, due to his weak leadership and mental illnesses.source
  • 1408Abdul Majid Hassan, the Sultan of Brunei, sets off on a voyage to China at the invitation of the Emperor Cheng Zu and arrives in the capital, Nanjing, by September, becoming the first foreign monarch to make a peaceful visit to the Chinese Empire. While visiting, the Sultan becomes ill and dies on October 19.source
  • 1438The reign of Friedrich I von Helfenstein as Count of Helfenstein (in the modern-day German state of Baden-Württemberg) ends after 66 years. Friedrich and his brothers Conrad and Ulrich had become joint rulers in 1372 on the death of their father, Ulrich XIII, but Ulrich IX and Conrad I had died in 1375 and 1402, respectively. Friedrich's three sons become the joint rulers.source
  • 1451The French capture Bayonne, the last English stronghold in Guyenne.source
  • 1451French forces take Bayonne the last remaining English stronghold in the region.source
  • 1462On the Saint Bernard's Day, the Spanish army of the Kingdom of Castile, led by Enrique Pérez de Guzmán y Fonseca, captures Gibraltar, which has been under the rule of the Sultanate of Morocco for almost 130 years since its capture in 1333 AD. King Enrique IV declares himself "King of Gibraltar" in addition to his other titles.source
  • 1463The Republic of Venice renews its 1448 peace treaty with Albania, pledging that any treaty between Venice and the Ottoman Empire will include a guarantee of Albanian independence. The amended treaty also guarantees the presence of Venetian Navy ships in the Adriatic Sea to protect Albania, as well as the right to asylum in Venice for Albanians.source
  • 1467As the War of the Castilian Succession continues, an attempt by Alfonso, Prince of Asturias to defeat his half-brother, King Enrique IV of Castile, in the Second Battle of Olmedo.source
  • 1470Battle of Lipnic: Stephen the Great defeats the Volga Tatars of the Golden Horde, led by Ahmed Khan.source
  • 1488The Treaty of Sablé is signed in Sablé-sur-Sarthe by Francois, Duke of Brittany and Charles VIII, King of France, ending the "Mad War". Under the terms of the treaty, Francois agrees for the Duchy of Brittany to be a vassal of King Charles, and cedes the Duchy's territories of Saint Malo, Dinan, Fougères and Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier to the French crown. Francois also agrees that before arranging his daughter, Anne of Brittany, to be married, he will seek the King's consent. In return, Charles removes the French Army troops from Brittany.source
  • 1488The Treaty of Sablé, also known as the "Treaty of le Verger" or "Treaty of the Orchard", is signed between Francis II of Brittany and King Charles VIII of France.source
  • 1503A previous treaty between Vladislaus II of Hungary and Bayezid II, which was finalized on June 11, goes into effect. The treaty suppresses warfare along the Hungarian-Ottoman border. Stephen III of Moldavia is also included in this treaty, but it preserves his nation's independence on the condition Moldavia pays an annual tribute to the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1519Ming Dynasty Chinese philosopher and general Wang Yangming, governor of Jiangxi, defeats Zhu Chenhao, ending the Prince of Ning rebellion. Wang has expressed the intention of using fo–lang–ji cannons in suppressing the rebellion, probably the earliest reference in China to the breech-loading Frankish culverin.source
  • 1521The Italian War of 1521–1526 breaks out between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I of France as Henry III of Nassau-Breda leads Imperial troops on an invasion of northeastern France.source
  • 1521Siege of Mézières Armies of the Holy Roman Empire besiege the French town of Mézières for 3 weeks.source
  • 1524The French city of Marseille is besieged by Holy Roman Empire forces commanded by the Charles III, Duke of Bourbon and lasts until September 26.source
  • 1527Diet of Odense (Denmark): King Frederick I declares religious tolerance for Lutherans, permits marriage of priests and forbids seeking papal pallium (approval) for royal appointments of Church officials.source
  • 1527Sixty Anabaptists meet at the Martyrs' Synod in Augsburg.source
  • 1546Claude d'Annebault, Admiral of France, arrives in England to negotiate English approval of the Treaty of Ardres to end the Italian War of 1542–1546. Starkey, David, ed., Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1, Society of Antiquaries (1998), p. 108, no. 4132:, Letters & Papers Henry VIII, vol. 21, part 1, (1908), no. 1384, no. 1530.source
  • 1561English merchant Anthony Jenkinson arrives in Moscow on his second expedition to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.source
  • 1578September 6 – After renaming this flagship, Pelican to the Golden Hind, Francis Drake and his fleet begin their passage through the Strait of Magellan.source
  • 1585The Treaty of Nonsuch is signed, committing England to support the Dutch Revolt, thus entering the Eighty Years' War.source
  • 1589King James VI of Scotland, the future James I of England, contracts a proxy marriage with the 14-year-old Anne of Denmark at Kronborg. The formal ceremony takes place on November 23 at the Old Bishop's Palace in Oslo.source
  • 1589Anne of Denmark marries James VI by proxy at Kronborg Castle. James's proxy George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal made speeches and gave her a jewel.source
  • 1612Ten Pendle witches are hanged, having been found guilty of practising witchcraft in Lancashire in England.source
  • 1615Alvaro III Nimi a Mpanzu becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo (located in southwestern Africa in what is now Angola) upon the death of his brother, Bernardo II Nimi a Nkanga.source
  • 1619A group of "twenty and odd" enslaved Africans, onboard the privateer ship White Lion (the first in the state of Virginia), are landed at Point Comfort in colonial Virginia.source
  • 1640Second Bishops' War: A Scottish Covenanter army invades Northumberland in England.source
  • 1640a Scottish Covenanter army invades Northumberland.source
  • 1647Parliament passes the Null and Void Ordinance.source
  • 1648The French Army, under the command of the Prince of Condé, defeats the Spaniards at the Battle of Lens. Upon learning of the victory, Cardinal Mazarin orders the arrest of the members of the Fronde Parlementaire, leading to an insurrection in Paris.source
  • 1657The ship Les Armes d'Amsterdam arrives at Quebec, New France. Among the passengers is Michel Mathieu Brunet dit Lestang (1638–1708), colonist, explorer and co-discoverer of modern-day Green Bay, Wisconsin, and ancestor of the Brunet, Lestang and Carisse families of North America.source
  • 1662Ignatius Andrew Akijan is installed as the new Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church for Christians within the Muslim-ruled Ottoman Empire after his appointment is confirmed by the Sultan Mehmed IV.source
  • 1663James Margetson is translated from Archbishop of Dublin to Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) and Primate of All Ireland.source
  • 1680August 20 (August 10 Old Style) – The settlement of Karlskrona in Sweden is founded, as the Royal Swedish Navy relocates there.source
  • 1683Bahadur, son of the Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire in India, is dispatched along with other Mughal nobles on an invasion of Konkan, the area on the southwestern Indian coast under the control of the Maratha Empire.source
  • 1689A large Williamite force under Marshal Schomberg begins the siege of Carrickfergus in the north of Ireland, which surrenders on August 27.source
  • 1710War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Saragossa: The Spanish-Bourbon army, commanded by the Marquis de Bay, is soundly defeated by the forces of the Habsburg monarchy, under Guido Starhemberg and their allies.source
  • 1715The Duke of Ormonde who has fled to join the Jacobites is attainted and his estates confiscated.source
  • 1719Princess Maria Josepha of Austria, at one time the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria's Habsburg Empire, marries Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony ten days after renouncing any claim to the Austrian throne.source
  • 1739The Viceroyalty of New Granada, incorporating modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela is re-established by the royal cedula of King Philip V of Spain, 16 years after it had been dissolved, and adds the territory of Panama as well.source
  • 1742The Swedish-Russian War effectively ends as 17,000 Swedish troops surrender in Finland at Helsingfors (Helsinki).source
  • 1750French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, by way of the Foreign Minister, the Marquis de Puisieulx and Netherlands ambassador to Paris Mattheus Lestevenon, sends a letter that ultimately persuades the States-General of the Dutch Republic to allow and partially finance Lacaille's stellar trigonometry mission to the Cape of Good Hope. The expedition departs Lorient on October 21.source
  • 1750French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, by way of the Foreign Minister, the Marquis de Puisieulx and Netherlands ambassador to Paris Mattheus Lestevenon, sends a letter that ultimately persuades the States-General of the Dutch Republic to allow and partially finance Lacaille's stellar trigonometry mission to the Cape of Good Hope. The expedition departs Lorient on 21 October.source
  • 1783Thomas Charles marries Sally Jones and settles in Bala.source
  • 1794Battle of Fallen Timbers in Northwestern Ohio: American troops under the command of General Anthony Wayne (nicknamed "Mad Anthony") defeat Native American tribes of the Western Confederacy.source
  • 1794A third attempt to cross the Blue Mountains is made, this time led by Henry Hacking; they return on 27th – unsuccessful.source
  • 1796a meeting intended to be addressed by radical John Thelwall at Great Yarmouth is violently broken up by Royal Navy sailors.source
  • 1810August 20–27 – Battle of Grand Port: The French defeat a Royal Navy frigate squadron attempting to blockade a harbour on Isle de France (Mauritius).source
  • 1811Thomas Sheasby resigns as engineer of the Aberdare Canal, to be replaced by George Overton. As part of the canal works, a free-standing metal rail bridge is built at Robertstown, Aberdare - the first of its kind in the world.source
  • 1812Launch of John Molson's second steamboat, the Swiftsure, at Montreal.source
  • 1816August 12–24 – The Treaty of St. Louis, between the United States and the Council of Three Fires tribes, is signed in St. Louis.source
  • 1820The Freedom Expedition of Perú sails for Paracas.source
  • 1829August 15–22 – Cincinnati riots of 1829.source
  • 1833Future United States President Benjamin Harrison is born in Ohio. From this date until the death of Former U.S. President James Madison on June 28 1836, a total of 18 Presidents of the United States (2 former, 1 current, and 15 future) are living; which is more than any other time period in U.S. history.source
  • 1836An Act for enabling Persons indicted of Felony to make their Defence by Counsel or Attorney ("Prisoner's Counsel" or "Trial for Felonies" Act) requires provision of defence counsel for those charged with serious crimes (coming into force 1 October); also passing of an Act to prevent the Fact of a previous Conviction being given in Evidence to the Jury on the Case before them.source
  • 1841October 16 – The Niger expedition of 1841 begins sailing up the Niger River by paddle steamers, under the auspices of the British Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade and the Civilisation of Africa; it is largely abortive, due to the high incidence of disease among the crews.source
  • 1847Mexican–American War – Battle of Churubusco: U.S. troops defeat Mexican forces.source
  • 1853Betting Act (An Act for the Suppression of Betting Houses) prohibits betting shops, restricting legal betting on horse racing to racecourses.source
  • 1853Penal Servitude Act provides for convicted criminals to serve their entire sentence in prison, rather than suffer transportation, and also to be freed on licence.source
  • 1857The Dunbar wrecks near the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Australia, with the loss of 121 lives.source
  • 1857The Dunbar is wrecked at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, killing 121 passengers.source
  • 1860Burke and Wills expedition sets off from Royal Park, Melbourne at about 4 p.m. watched by around 15,000 spectators.source
  • 1861August 20–22 – The first modern Welsh National Eisteddfod takes place in Aberdare.source
  • 1868Abergele train disaster kills 32 passengers and a fireman.source
  • 1868Abergele rail disaster: 33 people die in a fire resulting from a collision between a mail train and a set of trucks at Llandulas station near Abergele, the greatest loss of life in a railway accident in Wales.source
  • 1869Kunsthalle Hamburg opened.source
  • 1873Prime Minister John Molteno authorises construction of the new Cape Eastern railway line from East London.source
  • 1882Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture debuts in Moscow.source
  • 1886A massive hurricane demolishes the town of Indianola, Texas.source
  • 1888A mutiny at Dufile, Equatoria, results in the imprisonment of the Emin Pasha.source
  • 1890Treaty of London: Portugal and the United Kingdom define the borders of the Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola.source
  • 1892The Johannesburg Reform Committee is established by prominent Johannesburg citizens.source
  • 1897Ronald Ross, who is to become the first Scot to win a Nobel prize (in 1902), discovers the malaria Plasmodium in dissecting an Anopheles mosquito, demonstrating the transmission mechanism for the disease.source
  • 1898The Gornergrat railway opens, connecting Zermatt to the Gornergrat in Switzerland.source
  • 1899The Kiram–Bates Treaty is signed in the Philippines, with U.S. forces recognizing the autonomy of local governments in the Sulu Archipelago (within the Mindanao island group) in return for the Sultan's assistance in suppressing attacks on U.S. forces.source
  • 1905Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen forms the first chapter of Tongmenghui, a union of all secret societies determined to bringing down the Manchu dynasty.source
  • 1905Tongmenghui, a secret society and underground resistance movement, is founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Japansource
  • 1910Crime of Cuenca: The disappearance of José María Grimaldos López leads to the arrest and imprisonment of two men. Grimaldos turns up, alive, in 1926.source
  • 1910The Great Fire of 1910 ("Big Blowup"), a wildfire that burns 4,700 square miles in the Inland Northwest of the United States, due to dry weather.source
  • 1910August 20–21 – The Great Fire of 1910 wildfire burns about 3 e6acre in northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana over 2 days and kills 86 people (believed to be the largest fire in recorded United States history).source
  • 1911August 17–20 – Britain's National Railway strike of 1911, its first national strike of railway workers; on August 19 it leads to the Llanelli riots in Wales which result in 6 deaths.source
  • 1913After his airplane fails at an altitude of 900 ft, aviator Adolphe Pégoud becomes the first person to bail out from an airplane and land safely.source
  • 1915An auto parts, electronics and other manufacturing brand, ZF Friedrichshafen was founded, as predecessor name was Zepernicker Zahnradfabrik.source
  • 1919The Taiwan Army of Japan was established.source
  • 1920August 13–25 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw – The Red Army is defeated.source
  • 1920August 19–25 – Second Silesian Uprising: The Poles in Upper Silesia rise up against the Germans.source
  • 1920The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit. It is owned by the Detroit News, the first U.S. radio station owned by a newspaper.source
  • 1929John Logie Baird's experimental 30-line television system is first transmitted, by the British Broadcasting Corporation in London.source
  • 1932The Ottawa conference ends with the adoption of Imperial Preference tariff, turning the British Empire into one economic zone with a series of tariffs meant to exclude non-empire states from competing within the markets of Britain; the Dominions; and the rest of the empire.source
  • 1936August 19–24 – Trial of the Sixteensource
  • 1939Armored forces under the command of Soviet General Georgy Zhukov deliver a decisive defeat to Imperial Japanese Army forces in the Japanese-Soviet border war in Inner Mongolia.source
  • 1940Leon Trotsky is attacked with an ice axe in his Mexico home by NKVD agent Ramón Mercader.source
  • 1940The Deportes Luis Matte Larraín football club is founded.source
  • 1942Plutonium is isolated for the first time, at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago.source
  • 1945C.D. Once Municipal, a Salvadoran soccer team, was established.source
  • 1946Serial killer Yoshio Kodaira is arrested.source
  • 1948August 10–23 – The Herrenchiemsee convention prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.source
  • 1948Lee Pressman, Nathan Witt and John Abt, represented by Harold I. Cammer, plead the Fifth Amendment, in response to allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers before the HUAC.source
  • 1953The French government ousts King Mohammed V of Morocco, and exiles him to Corsica.source
  • 1955The Paya Lebar Airport is officially opened, replacing the Kallang Airport which opened on 12 June 1937.source
  • 1960Senegal breaks away from the Mali Federation, declaring its independence.source
  • 19611960-61 Balkans Cup: Albania is defeated 1-0 by Turkey at Şükrü Saracoğlu, Istanbulsource
  • 1963Mauritius bars South Africa and Portugal from her sea- and airports.source
  • 1964Avraham Drori (born 1919), Polish-born Israeli politician.source
  • 1964The International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium (Intelsat) began to work.source
  • 1968August 20–21 – Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia: The 'Prague Spring' of political liberalization ends, as 750,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 6,500 tanks with 800 aircraft invade Czechoslovakia, the largest military operation in Europe since the end of World War II.source
  • 1968Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to end the "Prague Spring" of political liberalization. Thousands of refugees flee to Canada.source
  • 1971The USS Manatee spills 1,000 US gallons of fuel oil on President Nixon's Western White House beach in San Clemente, California.source
  • 1971A partial solar eclipse is visible from Southern Ocean, and is the 4th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 154.source
  • 1971Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman attempts to defect after hijacking a fighter plane.source
  • 1975Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.source
  • 1977Voyager program: The United States launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.source
  • 1982Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon.source
  • 1985Iran–Contra affair: The first arms, 96 BGM-71 TOWs, are sent to Iran in exchange for hostages in Lebanon and profits for the Nicaraguan Contras without public knowledge.source
  • 1986In Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his coworkers before committing suicide.source
  • 1988A ceasefire effectively ends the Iran–Iraq War, with an estimated one million lives lost.source
  • 1989August 19–21 – In response to the murder of a judge, a provincial police chief, and presidential candidate Galán, the authorities of Colombia arrest 11,000 suspected Colombian drug traffickers.source
  • 1989In Beverly Hills, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez shoot their wealthy parents to death in the family's den.source
  • 1989Marchioness disaster: Fifty-one people die when a pleasure boat collides with a dredger on the River Thames adjacent to Southwark Bridge in London.source
  • 1991August 17–20 – Hurricane Bob hits North Carolina and New England, killing 17 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage.source
  • 1993The first agreement in the Oslo Accords is signed in Oslo, between by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres for Israel, Mahmoud Abbas for the Palestine Liberation Organization and Secretary of State Warren Christopher for the United States.source
  • 1994Tyke, a female African bush elephant, injures her groomer and kills her trainer at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. She then escapes the arena, and runs amok in the streets for half an hour, before police officers shoot her 86 times. She eventually collapses from her wounds and dies.source
  • 1995The Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) was announced to unlock economic value for residential buildings. On the same day, the Executive Condominium scheme was introduced to meet Singaporeans' aspirations for condominium living, which may be too expensive for some.source
  • 1996August 16–25: Five athletes from Armenia competed at the 1996 Summer Paralympics.source
  • 2003The G21 (later called the G20 developing nations) forms in response to disputes around the upcoming World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2003.source
  • 2008Spanair Flight 5022 crashes at Madrid–Barajas Airport, killing 154 people on board.source
  • 2010August 14–26 – Lithuania achieved 19th place in 2010 Summer Youth Olympics with 5 medal (3 golden and 2 bronze)source
  • 2011August 20–28 – Libyan rebels take control of the capital Tripoli, effectively overthrowing the government of Muammar Gaddafi.source
  • 2011First Air Flight 6560, a Boeing 737-210C, crashed on approach to Resolute Bay Airport, Nunavut, Canada, killing 12 out of the 15 occupants onboard.source
  • 201815 year old Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg starts to stay out of school in an attempt to give attention to the climate change issue.source
  • 2018August 10–20 – Heavy rainfall causes severe floods in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the worst flood to hit the state in a century.source
  • 2023August 16–21 – Hurricane Hilary, a Category 4 Pacific Hurricane, strikes the Baja California peninsula and later causes record flooding in Southern California.source
  • 2025China and India agree to resume direct flights suspended since 2020, reopen designated border trade points and boost investment in their economies following talks in New Delhi between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Indian officials including Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.source

Births

  • 1086Bolesław III Wrymouth, duke of Poland (died 1138)source
  • 1377Shahrukh Mirza, ruler of Persia and Transoxiania (died 1447)source
  • 1457Seongjong of Joseon, King of Joseon (died 1494)source
  • 1517Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, statesman, French Catholic cardinal (died 1586)source
  • 1625Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (died 1709)source
  • 1630August 20 or August 27 – Maria van Oosterwijck, Dutch Golden Age painter (died 1693)source
  • 1659Henry Every, English pirate (died after 1696)source
  • 1664János Pálffy, Hungarian field marshal, Palatine (died 1751)source
  • 1695Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, French princess (died 1719)source
  • 1745Francis Asbury, American Methodist Bishop (died 1816)source
  • 1775George Tucker, American politician (died 1861)source
  • 1778Bernardo O'Higgins, Supreme Director of Chile (died 1842)source
  • 1779Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (died 1848)source
  • 1833Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (died 1901)source
  • 1860Raymond Poincaré, French president (died 1934)source
  • 1886Paul Tillich, German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, theologian (died 1965)source
  • 1890H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (died 1937)source
  • 1914Shoki Coe, Presbyterian minister (d.1988).source
  • 1935Ron Paul, American author, physician, and politiciansource
  • 1941Slobodan Milošević, 3rd President of Yugoslavia and 1st President of Serbia (died 2006)source
  • 1944Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (died 1991)source

Deaths

  • 14Agrippa Postumus, grandson of Augustus and former heir to the Empire (born 12 BC)source
  • 344Heliodorus of Bet Zabdai, bishop and martyrsource
  • 651Oswine, king of Deira (England)source
  • 693Paul III, patriarch of Constantinoplesource
  • 768Eadberht, king of Northumbriasource
  • 917Constantine Lips, Byzantine admiralsource
  • 984John XIV, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 984Pope John XIV dies a prisoner in the Castel Sant'Angelo at Rome after a 1-year reign, having either been murdered or starved to death.source
  • 997Conrad I, duke of Swabiasource
  • 1031Burchard, French archbishop and countsource
  • 1097Albert Azzo II, margrave of Milan and Liguriasource
  • 1153Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot (born 1090)source
  • 1158Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, Earl of Orkneysource
  • 1179William le Gros (la Gras), English noblemansource
  • 1189August 20 or 21 – Geoffrey Ridel, English bishop and Lord Chancellorsource
  • 1206Henry of Flanders is crowned as the second emperor of the Latin Empire, in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, after hearing of the death of his brother, Emperor Baldwin I, who has died in prison at Baldwin's Tower in Tsarevets Castle, in Veliko Tarnovo (after being captured by the Bulgarians in 1205). Upon Henry's ascension as Latin emperor, the Lombard nobles of the Kingdom of Thessalonica refuse to give him allegiance.source
  • 1272Battle of Heiloo: Floris V, count of Holland, makes an unsuccessful attack on Frisia in an attempt to recover the body of his father, William II, who was killed (16 years ago) by the Frisians near Hoogwoud (modern Netherlands).source
  • 1318Cassone della Torre, Italian nobleman and patriarchsource
  • 1348Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke, English noble (born 1319)source
  • 1384Geert Groote, Dutch founder of the Brethren of the Common Life (born 1340)source
  • 1386Bo Jonsson (Grip), royal marshal of Swedensource
  • 1456Vladislav II of Wallachiasource
  • 1456Vladislav II, reigning Prince of Wallachia, is killed in hand-to-hand combat by the former Prince, Vlad the Impaler, who succeeds him.source
  • 1484Ippolita Maria Sforza, Italian noble (born 1446)source
  • 1484Giolla Pádraig (son of Éamonn mac Thomáis Óig, Mág Uidhir), tánaiste of Fir Manach, is killed by his five brothers, leading to dynastic tension.source
  • 1528Georg von Frundsberg, German knight and landowner (born 1473)source
  • 1572Miguel López de Legazpi, Spanish conquistador (born 1502)source
  • 1580Jerónimo Osório, Portuguese historian (born 1506)source
  • 1628Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet, Member of the Parliament of England (born 1587)source
  • 1643Anne Hutchinson, Puritan preacher (born 1591)source
  • 1648Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (born 1583)source
  • 1648Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, diplomat, poet, and philosopher (born 1583)source
  • 1651Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, Polish nobleman (born 1612)source
  • 1672Johan de Witt, Dutch politician (born 1625)source
  • 1672Johan de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland and his brother Cornelis de Witt are killed by an Orangist mob in The Hague.source
  • 1672Johan de Witt, politician (born 1625)source
  • 1695Giuseppe Francesco Borri, Italian alchemist, prophet and doctor (born 1627)source
  • 1701Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, English playwright (born 1639)source
  • 1740François-Louis de Pourroy de Lauberivière, bishop of Quebec (born 1711).source
  • 1762Shah Waliullah, Islamic reformer (born 1703)source
  • 1804Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery, whose purpose is to explore the Louisiana Purchase, suffers its only death when Sergeant Charles Floyd dies, apparently from acute appendicitis.source
  • 1823Pope Pius VII, Italian Benedictine (born 1742)source
  • 1823Pope Pius VII dies after a reign of more than 23 years that began on March 14, 1800; he is remembered for crowning Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of France.source
  • 1824João José da Cunha Fidié, a Portuguese general who led the Portuguese forces in the province of Piauí and was killed in the Battle of Jenipaposource
  • 1854Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, German philosopher (born 1775)source
  • 1862Javiera Carrera (born 1781)source
  • 1868Abergele rail disaster in Wales: An Irish Mail passenger train collides with 4 cargo trucks loaded with paraffin oil (more akin to modern kerosine); 33 are killed (the first major train disaster in Britain).source
  • 1912Walter Goodman, English painter, illustrator and author (born 1838)source
  • 1914Pope Pius X (born 1835)source
  • 2017Jerry Lewis, 91, American comedian (Martin and Lewis), actor (The Nutty Professor) and humanitarian (The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon), cardiomyopathy.source