/year

August 24 in history

243 sourced entries recorded on August 24, from 49 BCE to 2021 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 79August 24 or c. October 24 – Eruption of Mount Vesuvius: Mount Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis. The Roman navy (based at Misenum), commanded by Pliny the Elder, evacuates refugees. Pliny dies after inhaling volcanic fumes.source
  • 358An earthquake destroys Nicomedia, and damages 150 cities in Macedonia, Asia and Pontus.source
  • 410The Visigoths under Alaric I sack Rome after a third siege. Slaves open the Salarian Gate and Goths loot the city for three days; according to Augustine in The City of God and others, comparatively few Roman men are killed and women raped. Only two churches are burned, and people who took refuge in churches are usually spared. Many Romans who survived the Sack flee to Africa, or to the Eastern Empire (see Saint Jerome). It is the first time since 390 BC that Rome has fallen to an enemy. This marks the decline of the Roman Empire. Only 45 years later, in 455 AD, Rome will again be sacked, this time by the Vandals who will kill, burn, and loot much more ferociously than the Visigoths in 410 AD.source
  • 1109Siege of Głogów: German forces led by King Henry V besiege Głogów. He is forced to abandon the siege – due to attacks of Polish guerilla warriors.source
  • 1109Battle of Hundsfeld: Bolesław III defeats the imperial forces under Henry V at Hundsfeld. The Germans are ambushed by the Polish forces.source
  • 1215Pope Innocent III annuls Magna Carta, freeing King John from its limitations. He annuls the charter on the grounds that John signed it because he is forced and that the document is illegal.source
  • 1217Battle of Sandwich: An English fleet under Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent defeats the French armada (10 large ships and 70 supply ships) in the English Channel, near Sandwich. The French fleet is commanded by Eustace the Monk, a mercenary and pirate, who fights for both the French and English when it suits his needs. The French fleet is bringing more men and supplies to assist Prince Louis, in his quest to take the English throne. The English capture Eustace's flagship, and Eustace himself is (while offering 10,000 marks for ransom) beheaded.source
  • 1217Battle of Sandwich: A Plantagenet English fleet commanded by Hubert de Burgh attacked and defeated a Capetian French fleet led by Eustace the Monk and Robert of Courtenay off Sandwich, Kent. The English captured the French flagship and most of the supply vessels, forcing the rest of the French fleet to return to Calais. When the news reached Louis, he entered into renewed peace negotiations.source
  • 1218After a fierce fight, the Crusaders manage to establish themselves on the ramparts of Damietta, and capture the fort.source
  • 1246Güyük Khan, eldest son of Ögedei Khan, is enthroned as the 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (which is witnessed by a papal mission under Giovanni da Pian del Carpine) at Karakorum. Güyük reverses several edicts of his mother, Töregene Khatun, and orders Eljigidei, Mongol viceroy of Persia, to advance into Syria and prepare an attack on Baghdad.source
  • 1266Battle of Mari: Mamluk forces (some 30,000 men) led by Baibars defeat the Armenian army in Cilicia, in retaliation for the support of the Mongol invasion in Syria. He expands his domain, capturing the city of Byblos (modern Lebanon) and the important castle of Toron from the Crusader States.source
  • 1346Battle of Blanchetaque: The English defeat the French.source
  • 1349The Black Death breaks out in Elbing (Poland).source
  • 1369Danish–Hanseatic War (1361–1370): After an 18-month siege by the armies of the Hanseatic League and the Kingdom of Sweden, Denmark recaptures Lindholmen Castle and forces a retreat by King Albert of Sweden along with the Hansa and Swedish forces.source
  • 1412The Battle of Motta is fought when the Republic of Venice is forced to defend an invasion by an invading army of Hungarians, Germans and Croats. The invading force suffers a heavy defeat, losing 1,300 killed and 400 captured.source
  • 1419King Henry V of England directs the members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords to assemble at Westminster by October 16.source
  • 1446After many years of fruitless negotiations between Christopher of Bavaria and Erik of Pomerania, a Swedish war march to Gotland is launched in the early summer of 1446. King Christopher comes with a force to the island and on an open field in Västergarn with crossbowmen at gunpoint behind each monarch's back; regular peace negotiations take place.source
  • 1453With 700 men in his command, Thomas Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, attacks the wedding party of Thomas Neville, son of the Earl of Salisbury, and Maud Stanhope at Heworth, York.source
  • 1459Morocco's Sultan Abd al-Haqq II ends his siege of the Portuguese fortress at Ksar es-Seghir.source
  • 1461The Angevins, led by Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo, lift their siege of Barletta in the Kingdom of Naples when Ivan Strez Balšić arrives with cavalry and infantry to rescue King Ferrante. Orsini's erroneous belief that Skanderbeg has accompanied the Neapolitan Army is enough to cause him to order a withdrawal.source
  • 1478In the Swiss canton of Lucerne, the Amstaldenhandel, a conspiracy by innkeeper Peter Amstalden of Schüpfheim to overthrow the canton government is foiled when Amstalden is arrested. After being interrogated and tortured, Amstalden is beheaded in November.source
  • 1482The Scots surrender the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, ending his campaign against Scotland.source
  • 1499Lake Maracaibo is discovered, by Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci.source
  • 1516Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17): The Ottoman Sultan Selim I defeats the Mamluk forces commanded by the sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri in the Battle of Marj Dabiq, bringing all of the Middle East. The Mamluk Sultan, Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, is killed while leading his troops in the battle, and Prime Minister Al-Ashraf Tuman Bay, who was left in charge in Cairo by the Sultan Qansuh, becomes the Sultan of Egypt, the last remaining part of the Mamluk Sultanate.source
  • 1520The French warrior René of Savoy departs from Marseille on his flagship, Sainte Marie de Bonaventure on a four-month mission to protect the Knights Hospitaller against an attack by the Ottoman Turks.source
  • 1524German Peasants' War: Hans Müller von Bulgenbach gathered peasants in Stühlingen and formed the "Evangelical Brotherhood", pledging to emancipate peasants across Germany. An revolt spread in southwestern Germany.source
  • 1542Battle of Haddon Rig: Scotland defeats England.source
  • 154224 August 1542 – A Scottish army led by George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly defeated English border raiders at the battle of Haddon Rig.source
  • 1546Mircea the Shepherd, ruler of the Principality of Wallachia (now Romania) stages a surprise attack in the Battle of Periș and decimates the members of the Wallachian nobility (boyars) who oppose his rule.source
  • 1553English explorer Richard Chancellor enters the White Sea and reaches Arkhangelsk. He goes on afterwards to the court of Ivan the Terrible of Russia, opening up trade between England and Russia.source
  • 1555England's Thomas Thirlby, the first and only Roman Catholic Archbishop of Norwich and Queen Mary's envoy to Pope Paul IV, returns to London from bearing a papal bull that confirms Queen Mary's jurisdiction over Ireland.source
  • 1562In the French city of Bar-sur-Seine, at least 300 Huguenots are massacred by Catholic soldiers after their success in reconquering the citadel there. The killing occurs nine days after the burning alive of 94 Huguenots at Lauzerte.source
  • 1564Lyckå taken by the Swedes.source
  • 1569Battle of Orthez: Huguenot forces under Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery defeat Royalist forces under General Terride, in French Navarre. Catholics surrender under the condition that their lives will be spared. Huguenots agree, but then massacre the Catholics anyway.source
  • 1572St. Bartholomew's Day massacre: Catholics in Paris murder thousands of Protestants, including Gaspard de Coligny and Petrus Ramus, at the order of King Charles IX, with Catherine de Medici's connivance. Henry of Navarre and the Prince of Condé barely escape the same fate. This brings about the Fourth War of Religion in France.source
  • 1574The Tunisian port of La Goulette falls to Ottoman troops after six weeks.source
  • 1593After losing the Battle of Sisak two months earlier, the Ottoman Empire attacks the Austrian fortress guarding the city and breaks through its walls with cannon fire, forcing its surrender on August 30.source
  • 1597Christian IV of Denmark-Norway refuses to let Tycho Brahe return to Denmark.source
  • 1608The first official English representative to India, Captain William Hawkins, lands at Surat.source
  • 1614The Siege of Aachen begins as the Spanish Army of Flanders, commanded by Amrogio Spinola, attacks with 15,000 troops. The 600-man defense force from Brandenburg surrenders a few days later.source
  • 1617The "Fruitbearing Society" (Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) of German scholars is founded in Weimar.source
  • 1624Jasper Vinall becomes the first person to die while playing the sport of cricket, after being struck on the head with a bat during a game at Horsted Keynes in England.source
  • 1643Dutch expedition to Valdivia: A Dutch fleet establishes a new colony in the ruins of Valdivia in southern Chile.source
  • 1662The Act of Uniformity goes into effect on St Bartholomew's Day, making mandatory in the Church of England the forms of worship prescribed in the new edition of the Book of Common Prayer the deadline having been set for "every clergyman and every schoolmaster... to express, by August 24, his unfeigned consent to everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer. This is followed by the resignation of over 2,000 clergy who resign "for conscience sake". Those who refuse to take the required oath of conformity to the established church are subject to the Great Ejection from their jobs.source
  • 1662the Act of Uniformity is implemented, making mandatory in the Church of England the forms of worship prescribed in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. This is followed by the Great Ejection of over 2000 clergy who refuse to take the required oath of conformity to the established church.source
  • 1667The Treaty of Breda goes into effect after having been signed on July 31, bringing an end to hostilities between England and its three opponents.source
  • 1669"The Man in the Iron Mask", a prisoner identified as "Eustache Dauger", arrives at the French fortress of Pignerol, with Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars in charge of his incarceration. The identity of the prisoner is kept secret with a mask – actually of velvet – over his face, so legends as to his true identity grow.source
  • 1677James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, is again sworn in as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.source
  • 1680Comédie-Française is founded by decree of Louis XIV as La maison de Molière in Paris.source
  • 1688James II orders the issue of a writ of election, withdrawn in September.source
  • 1690In India, the fort and trading settlement of Sutanuti is founded on the Hooghly River by the English East India Company, following the signing of an Anglo-Mughal treaty.source
  • 1690In India, Sutanuti – which later becomes Kolkata – is founded by Job Charnock of the English East India Company.source
  • 1694The Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, the first official dictionary of the French language, is presented by Jacques de Tourreil and Academy members on behalf of the Académie française to King Louis XIV.source
  • 1698King William III opens the newly elected House of Commons at Westminster.source
  • 1704August 24 (August 13 OS) – War of the Spanish Succession – The French and Anglo-Dutch fleets clash off Málaga, causing heavy casualties on both sides, but without sinking any ships.source
  • 1716Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, returns from Italy.source
  • 1722Francis Atterbury, Anglican Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, is arrested in his deanery and confined in the Tower of London for treason, accused of leading the Jacobite "Atterbury Plot" in support of the pretender James Francis Edward Stuart with the aim of overthrowing the House of Hanover and King George I of Great Britain and restoring the House of Stuart by installing Prince James as "King James III".source
  • 1722Francis Atterbury, Anglican Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, is arrested in his deanery and confined in the Tower of London for treason, accused of leading the Jacobite "Atterbury Plot" in support of the pretender James Francis Edward Stuart.source
  • 1743The War of the Hats: The Swedish army surrendered to the Russians in Helsinki, ending the war and starting Lesser Wrath.source
  • 1747Seyyid Abdullah Pasha, the Turkish Governor of Cyprus, becomes the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and serves until 1750.source
  • 1768A seminary is founded at Trefeca-isaf for the training of evangelical preachers, with financial assistance from Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.source
  • 1776Herbert Mackworth is created a baronet.source
  • 1780King Louis XVI abolishes the use of torture in extracting confessions in French law courts.source
  • 1789The first naval battle of the Svensksund begins in the Gulf of Finland.source
  • 1789Battle of Svensksund (1789)source
  • 1791Spain bombards Tangier in a response to Moroccan Sultan Moulay Yazid’s declaration of war and siege of Ceuta.source
  • 1793Thomas Muir arrested at Portpatrick on his return from France.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
  • 1812Siege of Cádiz: Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult abandons the two-and-a-half-year siege at Cádiz. He withdraws eastward with his forces to join King Joseph Bonaparte and Louis-Gabriel Suchet in Valencia.source
  • 1814War of 1812 – Burning of Washington: British troops, after defeating American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg, occupy Washington, D.C., setting numerous buildings on fire, including the Capitol and Presidential Mansion.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
  • 1820A Constitutionalist insurrection breaks out at Oporto, Portugal.source
  • 1820Military revolt in Portosource
  • 1821The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico, ratifying the Plan of Iguala of February 24 for Mexico's independence from Spain and, although not recognised by the latter, effectively concludes the Mexican War of Independence.source
  • 1822The Victorine a schooner under command of Captain William Risk, left Sydney bound for Mauritius. Carrying a crew of seven or eight the ship disappeared en route and was presumed lost.source
  • 1823Hugh Glass gets mauled by a sow grizzly while on a fur trapping expedition in the Missouri Territory and has to crawl 200 miles for help.source
  • 1837Battle of Villar de los Navarrossource
  • 1848The U.S. barque Ocean Monarch is burnt out off the Great Orme, North Wales, with the loss of 178, chiefly emigrants.source
  • 1848The U.S. barque Ocean Monarch is burnt out off the Great Orme, North Wales, with the loss of 178, chiefly emigrants.source
  • 1848The American barque Ocean Monarch, loaded with would-be immigrants, catches fire off Colwyn Bay, with the loss of 178 lives.source
  • 1853Potato chips are first prepared, by George Crum at Saratoga Springs, New York, according to popular accounts.source
  • 1853Potato chips are traditionally said to have been invented on this date by George Crum in Saratoga Springs, New York.source
  • 1853The Royal Norwegian Navy Museum is founded at Karljohansvern in Horten, perhaps the world's first naval museum.source
  • 1857Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company suspends payments, leading to the Panic of 1857.source
  • 1861Mater Misericordiae Hospital is opened in Dublin by the Sisters of Mercy (architect: John Bourke).source
  • 1870The Red River Rebellion in Canada ends with the arrival of the Wolseley Expedition and the flight of Louis Riel.source
  • 1870The Wolseley expedition arrives at Upper Fort Garry, Manitobasource
  • 1874William Basil Jones is consecrated Bishop of St David's.source
  • 1879Victor Joseph Doutreloux succeeds Théodore de Montpellier as bishop of Liègesource
  • 1880The SS Columbia completes her maiden voyage, arriving without incident in Portland, Oregon, after a stopover in San Francisco.source
  • 1887Soldiers fire upon Ostend trawlermen protesting the favouritism shown to British trawlermensource
  • 1887Roath Dock opened in Cardiff Docks; the first sod of Roath Park is dug.source
  • 1888The first trams in Tallinn (Reval), horsecars, begin operation.source
  • 1898Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes sign the Atoka Agreement, a requirement of the Curtis Act of 1898.source
  • 1902A statue of Joan of Arc is unveiled in Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier, the French town which she stormed in 1429.source
  • 1902A statue of Joan of Arc is unveiled in Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier, the town which she stormed in 1429.source
  • 1904Faroese Association football club Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag is established.source
  • 1907August 24–31 – The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam meets in the Netherlands.source
  • 1907Part of the under-construction Quebec Bridge collapses in Quebec City killing 75 construction workers and injuring 11.source
  • 1908After an intense power struggle, Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco is deposed and is succeeded by his brother Abd al-Hafid.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
  • 1921R38-class airship ZR-2 explodes on her fourth test flight near Kingston upon Hull, England, killing 44 of the 49 Anglo-American crew on board.source
  • 1927Mihonoseki Incident: The light cruiser Jintsuu and the Momi-class destroyer Warabi, both ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, collided at the mouth of Miho Bay. There were 92 naval personnel who were killed when the Warabi sunk, and 28 were killed aboard the Jintsuu. Captain Keiji Mizushiro (1883–1927) was questioned, but committed suicide before the beginning of the trial.source
  • 1927August 24–25 – The 1927 Nova Scotia hurricane hits the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, causing massive damage and at least 56 deaths.source
  • 1931The Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald resigns in Britain, replaced by a National Government of people drawn from all parties, also under MacDonald.source
  • 1936August 19–24 – Trial of the Sixteensource
  • 1937Spanish Civil War: The government of the autonomous Basque Country agrees to surrender to the nationalists.source
  • 1939As details of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact become public, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain recalls the Parliament of the United Kingdom several weeks early. In a burst of legislation, the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 gives full authority to defence regulations, the British Royal Navy is to be put on a war footing, all military leave is to be cancelled, military reserve forces are to be called up, especially coast defence, radar and anti-aircraft units, and Civil Defence workers are placed on alert. In addition, the last British and French private citizens in Germany are advised to return home by their respective Governments.source
  • 1940Howard Florey and a team including Ernst Chain and Norman Heatley at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, publish their laboratory results showing the in vivo bactericidal action of penicillin. They have also purified the drug.source
  • 1940Yaron London, Israeli media personality, journalist, actor and songwritersource
  • 1943Heinrich Himmler is named Reichsminister of the Interior in Germany.source
  • 1948Dov Lupi, Israeli-American gymnast.source
  • 1949The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is established.source
  • 1950August 22 – August 30 - Rail workers strike shuts down much of the Canadian economysource
  • 1954The military do not accept Vargas' agreement and demand for his resignation. At the Catete Palace, President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas commits suicide by shooting himself in the heart. Vice President Café Filho becomes the 18th President of Brazil.source
  • 1962A group of armed Cuban exile terrorists fire at a hotel in Havana from a speedboat.source
  • 1962Indonesia officially launches television with the establishment of TVRI television network or Televisi Republik Indonesia (Indonesian National Channel), broadcasting the opening of the 1962 Asian Games.source
  • 196224 August – 4 September – Malaya competed at the 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia and ranked eighth overall with two gold medals, four silver medals and nine bronze medals.source
  • 1963First games played in the Bundesliga, the primary professional Association football league in West Germany, replacing the Oberliga.source
  • 1964August 24–27 – The Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City nominates incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson for a full term, and U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as his running mate.source
  • 1966The National Pledge is recited for the first time, which is written by S. Rajaratnam.source
  • 1968August 22–30 – 1968 Democratic National Convention protests: Police clash with anti-Vietnam War protesters in Chicago outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which nominates Hubert Humphrey for U.S. president and Edmund Muskie for vice president. The riots and subsequent trials are an essential part of the activism of the Youth International Party.source
  • 1974The 1974 Malaysian General Elections.source
  • 1975Officers responsible for the military coup in Greece in 1967 are sentenced to death in Athens. The sentences are later commuted to life imprisonment.source
  • 1976In Uruguay, the army captures Marcelo Gelman and his pregnant wife. Gelman is later killed and his wife disappears.source
  • 1977Australia's first 7-Eleven convenience store opens in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh.source
  • 1981Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering John Lennon in Manhattan eight months earlier.source
  • 1983South Africa announces "all outstanding issues" preventing independence for South West Africa (present-day Namibia) have been resolved, except for the continuing presence of 23,000 Cuban troops in neighboring Angola.source
  • 1983August 23–29: Hurricane Barry.source
  • 1987Mozert v. Hawkins decision: The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the class readings assigned by public schools in Hawkins County, Tennessee do not violate Christian students' First Amendment rights.source
  • 1989Indonesia's first commercial television network, RCTI (stands for Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia), is established, and went on air for the first time.source
  • 1990The Armenian SSR declares its independence from the Soviet Union.source
  • 1990Indonesian commercial television network SCTV was established as the nation's third television station after RCTI, and also debuted as local television channel in Surabaya. During its earlier days, SCTV was the rival for RCTI, the first commercial television network. SCTV began broadcasting nationwide from Jakarta by January 29, 1991.source
  • 1992China and South Korea establish diplomatic relations.source
  • 1992Concordia University massacre: Valery Fabrikant murders four colleagues and seriously wounds another in a shooting at Concordia University, in Montreal, Quebec.source
  • 1995Microsoft releases Windows 95 to the public.source
  • 1995Rape and murder of 14-year-old Yasmin Akhter by members of Bangladesh Police resulted in mass protests in Dinajpur.source
  • 1996August 16–25: Five athletes from Armenia competed at the 1996 Summer Paralympics.source
  • 2001Heino murders: Four teenagers murdered businessman Martti Heino and his wife Elise Heino in Loppi.source
  • 2002August 22–September 4 – Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, makes landfall, killing at least 236 people.source
  • 2004Two Russian passenger jets are downed by suicide bombers during the Second Chechen War.source
  • 2006The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, removing Pluto's status as a planet and reclassifying it as a dwarf planet 76 years after its discovery. Ironically, this was in the same year when NASA sent its first probe to the celestial body.source
  • 2009Long-distance buses and matatus are banned for entering the Nairobi CBD, in order to reduce traffic congestionssource
  • 2010Cairn Energy discovers gas off the coast of Greenland, amid protests from Greenpeace demanding it halt its oil operations.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
  • 2012The House of Representatives of Japan passes a resolution criticizing the President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak's visit to the disputed Liancourt Rocks.source
  • 2016An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 hits central Italy, killing 299 people.source
  • 2018Scott Morrison succeeds Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister of Australia following a Liberal Party leadership ballot. Morrison is sworn in as Prime Minister later that evening.source
  • 2021Hakainde Hichilema is sworn in as the 7th Republican President of Zambiasource
  • 2021August 24–September 5 – The 2020 Summer Paralympics were held in Tokyo, Japan. They were originally scheduled for 25 August–6 September 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.source

Births

  • 1016Fujiwara no Genshi, Japanese empress (died 1039)source
  • 1113Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou ("the Fair") (died 1151)source
  • 1198Alexander II, king of Scotland (died 1249)source
  • 1358King John I of Castile (died 1390)source
  • 1393Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (died 1458)source
  • 1423Thomas Rotherham, English cleric (died 1500)source
  • 1498John, Hereditary Prince of Saxony, German prince (died 1537)source
  • 1510Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen (1525–1540) (died 1558)source
  • 1511Jean Bauhin, French physician (died 1582)source
  • 1536Matthäus Dresser, German humanist, philosopher and historian (died 1607)source
  • 1552Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (died 1614)source
  • 1559August 24 or September 1556 – Sophia Brahe, Danish astronomer, horticulturalist (died 1643)source
  • 1561Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (died 1626)source
  • 1575William Burton, British antiquarian (died 1645)source
  • 1578John Taylor, English poet who dubbed himself The Water Poet (died 1653)source
  • 1588Laurentius Olai Wallius, Rector of Uppsala University, bishop and court chaplin for the Queen Dowager. (died. 1637)source
  • 1591Robert Herrick, English poet (died 1674)source
  • 1603Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur, Khan of Khiva, historian (died 1663)source
  • 1622Samuel Lincoln, American colonial ancestor of Abraham Lincoln (died 1690)source
  • 1631Philip Henry, English minister (died 1696)source
  • 1632Peder Griffenfeld, statesman and royal favourite (died 1699)source
  • 1634Mary Eastey, American witch (died 1692)source
  • 1635Peder Griffenfeld, Danish statesman and royal favourite (died 1699)source
  • 1635Peder Griffenfeld, statesman and royal favourite (died 1699)source
  • 1684Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet, British politician (died 1746)source
  • 1698Erik Pontoppidan, author, bishop, historian and antiquary (died 1764)source
  • 1707Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, English Methodist leader (died 1791)source
  • 1749Madame Mère (Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte) mother of Napoleon I (died 1836)source
  • 1754Stefán Þórarinsson, magistrate and politician.source
  • 1758Thomas Picton, British soldier, colonial governor (k. 1815)source
  • 1759William Wilberforce, British abolitionist (died 1833)source
  • 1765Thomas Muir, Scottish advocate, revolutionary (died 1799)source
  • 1772King William I of the Netherlands (died 1843)source
  • 1787James Weddell, British sailor known for discovering the Weddell Sea (died 1834)source
  • 1810Theodore Parker, American preacher, Transcendentalist, and abolitionist (died 1860)source
  • 1817Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian writer (died 1875)source
  • 1899Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer (died 1986)source
  • 1929Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader, Nobel laureate (died 2004)source
  • 1945Vincent K. "Vince" McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter, chairman and CEO of WWEsource
  • 1957Stephen Fry, British comedian, author and actorsource
  • 1977John Green, American author, vlogger, and editorsource

Deaths

  • 49 BCECaesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in North Africa by the Pompeians under Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia (whom he defeated earlier in the Battle of Utica) in the Battle of the Bagradas, after which he commits suicide.source
  • 684Audoin, bishop of Rouen (born 609)source
  • 691Fu Youyi, official of the Tang dynastysource
  • 842Saga, emperor of Japan (born 786)source
  • 895Guthred, king of Northumbriasource
  • 927Doulu Ge, chancellor of Later Tangsource
  • 942Liu, empress dowager of Later Jinsource
  • 948Zhang Ye, Chinese general and chancellorsource
  • 998Sisinnius II, patriarch of Constantinoplesource
  • 1042Michael V Kalaphates, Byzantine emperorsource
  • 1093Geoffrey Boterel, Breton nobleman, eldest brother of Alan Rufussource
  • 1101Su Shi, Chinese statesman and poet (born 1037)source
  • 1103King Magnus III is killed in battle with the Ulaid in Ulster. Sigurd Jorsalfare, Øystein Magnusson and Olaf Magnusson succeed him as joint kings of Norway.source
  • 1103Magnus III, king of Norway (born 1073)source
  • 1217Eustace the Monk, French mercenarysource
  • 1217Eustace the Monk, French mercenary and pirate (c. 1170)source
  • 1232Ralph of Bristol, English cleric and bishopsource
  • 1261Ela of Salisbury, English noblewoman (born 1187)source
  • 1262Robert de Mariscis, English priest and archdeaconsource
  • 1289Patrick III, Scottish nobleman and regent (born 1213)source
  • 1313A week after contracting malaria during the siege of the Tuscan city of Siena, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII dies of malaria at Buonconvento. His 17-year-old son, John of Bohemia, will succeed him and will become one of the seven prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Upon learning of the Henry's death, Louis, Duke of Bavaria goes to war against his cousin, Frederick the Fair, Duke of Austria and Styria, as both compete to be elected the new Emperor, a competition which will eventually be resolved in favour of Louis.source
  • 1313Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1273)source
  • 1372Casimir III, Duke of Pomerania (born 1348)source
  • 1389Qutbu'd-Din Shah, the Sultan of Kashmir, dies after a reign of 16 years and is succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Sikandar Shah Miri. Sikandar's mother, Queen Subhata, serves as the regent of Kashmir during his minority.source
  • 1497Sophie of Pomerania, Duchess of Pomerania (born 1435)source
  • 1507Cecily of York, English princess (born 1469)source
  • 1507Cecily of York, princess (born 1469)source
  • 1516Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, Mamluk sultan (born c. 1441)source
  • 1540Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (Parmigianino), Italian artist (born 1503)source
  • 1542Gasparo Contarini, Italian diplomat and cardinal (born 1483)source
  • 1572Gaspard de Coligny, French Protestant leader (born 1519)source
  • 1572August 24 through August 31 – Victims of the 'St. Bartholomew's Day massacre'-source
  • 1617Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (born 1586)source
  • 1647Nicholas Stone, English sculptor and architect (born 1586)source
  • 1664Maria Cunitz, Silesian astronomer (born 1610)source
  • 1682John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale (born 1616)source
  • 1683John Owen, English non-conformist theologian (born 1616)source
  • 1699Lucrezia Barberini, Italian noblewoman and (born 1628)source
  • 1733Pierre-Étienne Monnot, French artist (born 1657)source
  • 1770Thomas Chatterton, English poet (born 1752)source
  • 1821John William Polidori, English physician, writer (born 1795) (suicide)source
  • 1832Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French military engineer and physicist (born 1796)source
  • 1880Chief Ouray, Native American leader (born c. 1833)source
  • 1899Jorge Luis Borges, short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator (died 1986)source
  • 1929August 23–24 – The 1929 Hebron massacre: 65–68 Jews are killed by Palestinians and the remaining Jews are forced to leave Hebron.source
  • 1943Simone Weil, French philosopher (born 1909)source
  • 1954Getúlio Vargas, 14th and 17th President of Brazil (born 1882)source
  • 1987Bayard Rustin, 75, American civil and gay rights activist, perforated appendix.source
  • 1992August 24–28 – Hurricane Andrew hits south Florida and Louisiana and dissipates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm system; 23 are killed.source
  • 2015Justin Wilson, 37, British IndyCar Series driver, head injuries from race collision.source