Historical Events on Friday, 8th August

08/08/2024

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus takes oath as Chief Adviser to form an interim government in Bangladesh.

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and statesman. Yunus pioneered the modern concept of microcredit and microfinance, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He is the founder of Grameen Bank and the first Bangladeshi to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Following the July Uprising, he was appointed as the 5th chief adviser of Bangladesh, the head of the interim government, serving from 2024 to 2026.

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08/08/2023

Hawaii wildfires: Seventeen thousand acres of land are burned and at least 101 people are killed, with two others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

The 2023 Hawaii wildfires were a series of wildfires that broke out in early August 2023 in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations and caused widespread damage, killing at least 102 people and leaving two people missing in the town of Lahaina on Maui's northwest coast. The proliferation of the wildfires was attributed to dry, gusty conditions created by a strong high-pressure area north of Hawaii and Hurricane Dora to the south.

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08/08/2022

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the attorney general and the director of national intelligence. A leading American counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes. The FBI maintains a list of its top 10 most wanted fugitives.

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08/08/2019

An explosion at the State Central Navy Testing Range in Nyonoksa, Russia, kills five people.

The Nyonoksa radiation accident, Arkhangelsk explosion or Nyonoksa explosion occurred on 8 August 2019 near Nyonoksa, a village under the administrative jurisdiction of Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Five military and civilian specialists were killed and three were injured.

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08/08/2016

Terrorists attack a government hospital in Quetta, Pakistan with a suicide blast and shooting, killing between 70 and 94 people, and injuring around 130 others.

On 8 August 2016, terrorists attacked the Government Hospital of Quetta in Pakistan with a suicide bombing and shooting. They killed more than 70 people, mainly lawyers, and injured more than 130 others. The fatalities were mainly advocates (lawyers) who had assembled at the hospital where the body of Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi, the president of the Balochistan Bar Association, was brought after he was shot dead by an unknown gunman. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by various Islamist groups like Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and the Islamic State. Between 70 and 94 people were killed and over 120 injured. 54 of those killed were lawyers.

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08/08/2015

Eight people are killed in a shooting in Harris County, Texas.

On August 8, 2015, a mass shooting occurred inside a home in northern Harris County, Texas, near Houston. David Ray Conley III, 48, broke into his former home and held hostage Valerie and Dwayne Jackson, Sr., along with six children, including his own 13-year-old son. Over the course of nine hours, he shot and killed the entire family. He then engaged in a shootout with responding police before surrendering.

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08/08/2013

A suicide bombing at a funeral in the Pakistani city of Quetta kills at least 31 people.

On 8 August 2013, a suicide attacker exploded a bomb at a funeral being held for a police officer in Quetta, Pakistan, and killed as many as thirty-seven people and injured over fifty people. No group has taken responsibility for the bombing, but it is believed that the Taliban were behind the bombing. A senior police officer, Fayaz Sumbal, noticed the suicide bomber before he blew himself up. As Fayaz began searching the suicide bomber's body, the bomber blew himself up. The bomber was wearing a jacket that had ball bearings and shrapnel inside.

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08/08/2010

China Floods: A mudslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu, China, kills more than 1,400 people.

The 2010 China floods began in early May 2010. Three hundred and ninety-two people died, and a further 232 people were reported missing as of June 30, 2010, including 57 people in a landslide in Guizhou. Fifty-three of the deaths occurred from the flooding and landslides between May 31 and June 3, and 266 deaths occurred between June 13 and June 29. Four hundred and twenty four people were killed by the end of June, including 42 from the Guizhou landslide; 277 more were killed and 147 were missing in the first two weeks of July, bringing the death toll as of August 5 to 1,072. A landslide in early August in Gansu killed at least 1,471 people and left 294 missing. In total, the flooding and landslides killed at least 3,185 people in China by August 31. More than 230 million people in 28 provinces, municipalities, and regions, especially the southern and central provinces and regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing Municipality, Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou, and the northeastern province of Jilin were affected, while at least 4.66 million people were evacuated because of the risk of flooding and landslides in the latter half of June. By early August, over 12 million people were evacuated, and that number rose to 15.2 million by August 31.

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08/08/2009

A Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil and Piper PA-32R collide over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

The Airbus Helicopters H125 Écureuil, or Squirrel, is a single-engine light utility helicopter designed and originally manufactured by the French corporation Aérospatiale, later by Eurocopter, which became Airbus Helicopters. In North America, the H125 is marketed as the AStar. The AS355 Ecureuil 2 is a twin-engine variant, marketed in North America as the TwinStar.

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08/08/2008

A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others.

EuroCity (EC) is an international train category and brand for European inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. Each EC train is operated by more than one European Union or Swiss rail company, under a multilateral co-operative arrangement, and all EC trains link important European cities with each other.

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The 29th modern summer Olympic Games took place in Beijing, China until August 24.

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and officially branded as Beijing 2008, were an international multi-sport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events, one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics. This was the first time China had hosted the Olympic Games, and the third time the Summer Olympic Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were also the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in a communist state, the first being the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union. The games were the first and only Olympics held in Beijing with spectators, as the 2022 Winter Games were held without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing became the first ever city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

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08/08/2007

An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.

The 2007 Brooklyn tornado, an EF2 tornado, was the strongest tornado on record to strike New York City since documentation began in 1950. It formed in the early morning hours of August 8, 2007, skipping along an approximately 9 miles (14 km)-long path, from Staten Island across The Narrows to Brooklyn. The worst damage was in and around Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, in Brooklyn. The U.S. National Weather Service estimated its strength there as an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

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Space Shuttle program: STS-118 Mission: Endeavour takes off on a mission to the International Space Station.

STS-118 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by the orbiter Endeavour. STS-118 lifted off on August 8, 2007, from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida and landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC on August 21, 2007.

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08/08/2004

A tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumps approximately 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat full of passengers.

Dave Matthews Band is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members are singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and backing vocalist Carter Beauford, violinist and backing vocalist Boyd Tinsley, and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. As of 2024, Matthews, Lessard, and Beauford are the only remaining founding members.

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08/08/2001

Albanian rebels ambush a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia near Tetovo, killing 10 soldiers.

The Karpalak ambush, referred to by Macedonians as the Karpalak massacre, was an attack carried out by the National Liberation Army (NLA) against a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM) near the village of Grupčin on 8 August 2001 during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia. Ten members of the ARM's Military Reserve Force, including two officers, were killed at Karpalak and three others were wounded. The ambush was the single deadliest incident of the conflict. It was speculated that the ambush was carried out in retaliation for a Macedonian police raid in Skopje, the day before in which five NLA insurgents were killed.

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08/08/2000

Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence.

H. L. Hunley, also known as the Hunley, CSS H. L. Hunley, or CSS Hunley, was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that fought in the American Civil War. Hunley demonstrated the advantages and dangers of undersea warfare. She was the first combat submarine to sink a warship (USS Housatonic), although Hunley was not completely submerged, and following her attack was lost along with her crew before she could return to base. She was named for her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, shortly after she was taken into government service under the control of the Confederate States Army at Charleston, South Carolina.

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08/08/1998

Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan is raided by Taliban leading to the deaths of ten Iranian diplomats and a journalist.

Mazar-i-Sharif or Mazar-e-Sharif is a city in northern Afghanistan, serving as the capital and largest city of Balkh Province. It has 12 city districts (nahias) and an estimated population of 568,013 people. Hafiz Abdul Rahman Himat is the current mayor of the city. His predecessor was Mohammad Kazim Tariq.

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08/08/1993

The 7.8 Mw  Guam earthquake shakes the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing around $250 million in damage and injuring up to 71 people.

The 1993 Guam earthquake occurred on August 8 at 6:34:26 pm local time with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The thrust earthquake generated a non-destructive tsunami.

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08/08/1991

The Warsaw radio mast, then the tallest construction ever built, collapses.

The Warsaw radio mast was a radio mast located near Gąbin, Poland, and was the world's tallest structure at 2,120 ft from 1974 until its collapse on 8 August 1991. The mast was designed for extreme height in order to broadcast Polish state media around the world, including to the remotest areas such as Antarctica. As of 2026, it was the third-tallest artificial structure ever built, after the Burj Khalifa tower in the United Arab Emirates in 2009, and Merdeka 118 tower in Malaysia in 2022.

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08/08/1990

Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. Located within the Middle East, it is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. The country covers an area of 438,317 square kilometres (169,235 sq mi) and has a population of over 46 million, making it the 58th largest country by area and the 31st most populous in the world. Baghdad, home to over 8 million people, is the capital city and the largest in the country.

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08/08/1989

Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission: Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was carried over from the 1969 plan for the Space Transportation System (STS) of reusable spacecraft. Only the shuttle and supporting rockets were funded for development; a proposed nuclear lunar shuttle in the plan was cancelled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.

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08/08/1988

The 8888 Uprising begins in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Led by students, hundreds of thousands join in nationwide protests against the one-party regime. On September 18, the demonstrations end in a military crackdown, killing thousands.

The 8888 Uprising, also known as the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma that peaked in August 1988. Key events occurred on 8 August 1988 and therefore it is commonly known as the "8888 Uprising". The protests began as a student movement and were organised largely by university students at the Rangoon Arts and Sciences University and the Rangoon Institute of Technology.

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The first night baseball game in the history of Chicago's Wrigley Field (game was rained out in the fourth inning).

The history of Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball's National League, begins well before the Cubs played their first game in that venue.

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08/08/1974

President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.

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08/08/1973

Kim Dae-jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.

Kim Dae-jung was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.

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08/08/1969

At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.

A zebra crossing or a marked crosswalk is a pedestrian crossing marked with white stripes. Normally, pedestrians are afforded precedence over vehicular traffic, although the significance of the markings may vary by jurisdiction.

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08/08/1967

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an intergovernmental forum of all 11 states in Southeast Asia. ASEAN primarily focuses on Southeast Asian economic development, peaceful coexistence and adherence to international norms. ASEAN operates on the principle of consensus and respecting national sovereignty, meaning that ASEAN as a whole cannot force another member state to change its domestic laws.

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08/08/1963

Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes.

The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million from a Royal Mail train travelling from Glasgow to London, on the West Coast Main Line, in the early hours of 8 August 1963. It took place at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore, in Buckinghamshire, England.

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The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the current ruling party of Zimbabwe, is formed by a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union.

The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant socialist organisation that fought against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963. ZANU split in 1975 into wings loyal to Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole, later respectively called ZANU–PF and ZANU–Ndonga. These two sub-divisions ran separately at the 1980 general election, where ZANU–PF has been in power ever since, and ZANU–Ndonga a minor opposition party.

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08/08/1956

Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium. 262 coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, were killed in one of the largest mining accidents in Belgian history.

The Marcinelle mining disaster occurred at the Bois du Cazier coal mine at Marcinelle, Hainaut Province, in Belgium on 8 August 1956. One of the largest and most notorious mining disasters in the country's history, it led to the deaths of 262 miners, many of whom were guest workers from Italy.

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08/08/1946

First flight of the nuclear capable Convair B-36, heaviest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft at the time.

The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber built by Convair that was operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1948 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built, although it was exceeded in span and weight by the one-off Hughes H-4 Hercules. It has the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft. The B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refueling.

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08/08/1945

The London Charter is signed by France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, establishing the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials.

The Nuremberg trials were international criminal trials held by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States against leaders of defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of several countries across Europe and committing atrocities against their citizens in the Second World War.

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World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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08/08/1942

Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for swaraj or complete independence.

The Quit India Movement was a political campaign launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in India. After Britain failed to secure Indian support for the British war effort with the Cripps Mission, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. Viceroy Linlithgow described the movement as "by far the most serious rebellion since 1857".

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08/08/1940

The "Aufbau Ost" directive for the mobilization of German forces for the invasion of the Soviet Union is signed by Wilhelm Keitel.

Aufbau Ost was the German operational code name for the mobilisation of forces before the start of Operation Barbarossa and the subsequent invasion of the Soviet Union.

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08/08/1929

The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. It offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service. The ship was named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a count in the German nobility. It was conceived and operated by Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.

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08/08/1919

The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 is signed. It establishes peaceful relations between Afghanistan and the UK, and confirms the Durand line as the mutual border. In return, the UK is no longer obligated to subsidize the Afghan government.

The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, also known as the Treaty of Rawalpindi, was a treaty which brought the Third Anglo-Afghan War to an end.

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08/08/1918

World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).

World War I, or the First World War, also known as The Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

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08/08/1908

Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight, at a racecourse at Le Mans, France.

The Wright brothers, Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright, were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now known as Kill Devil Hills. In 1904 the Wright brothers developed the Wright Flyer II, which made longer-duration flights including the first circle, followed in 1905 by the first truly practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III.

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08/08/1903

Black Saturday occurs, killing 12 in a stadium collapse in Philadelphia.

Black Saturday was a 1903 disaster which left 12 spectators dead and injured 232 when a section of balcony collapsed during a baseball game between the Boston Braves and Philadelphia Phillies. It was the worst disaster in the history of American sports spectating.

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08/08/1897

Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinates Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo

Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinated Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo on 8 August 1897, in Gipuzkoa. The head of government had been vacationing in the Santa Águeda spa. The assassin was immediately arrested, tried, and executed. He justified the murder as revenge for torture during the Montjuic trial.

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08/08/1876

Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.

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08/08/1870

The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.

The Republic of Ploiești was a revolt against the princely Romanian monarchy in the city of Ploiești, Romania, on 8 August, 1870.

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08/08/1863

American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

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Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee despite them being exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, now commemorated as Emancipation Day in the state.

Tennessee, officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. According to the United States Census Bureau, the state's estimated population as of 2024 is 7.22 million.

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08/08/1844

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve is one of the governing bodies of the church hierarchy organized by the movement's founder Joseph Smith and patterned after the Apostles of Jesus. Members are called Apostles, with a special calling to be evangelistic ambassadors to the world.

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08/08/1831

Four hundred Shawnee people agree to relinquish their lands in Ohio in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River in the Treaty of Wapakoneta.

The Shawnee are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language.

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08/08/1794

Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.

Joseph Whidbey FRS was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first European to discover and chart Admiralty Island in the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska in 1794.

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08/08/1786

Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.

Mont Blanc is a mountain in the Alps, rising 4,807.3 m above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, and the 11th most prominent mountain in the world.

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08/08/1709

Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the king of Portugal in Lisbon, Portugal.

Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão was a Catholic priest and naturalist born in colonial Brazil, who was a pioneer of lighter-than-air aerostat design, being among the first scholars at that time to understand the operational principles of the hot air balloon and to build a functional prototype of such a device. He is also one of the main characters in Nobel Prize-winning José Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda.

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08/08/1648

Mehmed IV (1648–1687) succeeds Ibrahim I (1640–1648) as Ottoman sultan.

Mehmed IV, nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to become the second-longest-reigning sultan in Ottoman history after Suleiman the Magnificent. While the initial and final years of his reign were characterized by military defeat and political instability, during his middle years he oversaw the revival of the empire's fortunes associated with the Köprülü era. Mehmed IV was known by contemporaries as a particularly pious ruler, and was referred to as gazi, or "holy warrior" for his role in the many conquests carried out during his long reign.

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08/08/1647

The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungan's Hill: English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.

The Irish Confederate Wars took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Ireland, England and Scotland, all then ruled by Charles I. The conflict caused an estimated 200,000 deaths from fighting, as well as war-related famine and disease.

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08/08/1588

Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England.

The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between Habsburg Spain and the Kingdom of England that was never formally declared. It began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in support of the Dutch rebellion against Spanish Habsburg rule.

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08/08/1585

John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage.

John Davis was an explorer, navigator and privateer. He led several voyages in search of the Northwest Passage and served as pilot and captain on both Dutch and English voyages to the East Indies. He discovered the Falkland Islands in August 1592.

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08/08/1576

The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on the island of Hven.

Tycho Brahe, generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations which helped to turn astronomy into the first modern science and launch the Scientific Revolution. He was known during his lifetime as an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist. He was the last major astronomer before the invention of the telescope and has been described as the greatest pre-telescopic astronomer.

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08/08/1509

Krishnadeva Raya is crowned Emperor of Vijayanagara at Chittoor.

Krishnadevaraya was emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529 and the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Indian history, he presided over the empire at its political and cultural zenith and is remembered as an iconic figure by many Indians. Following the decline of the Delhi Sultanate, he ruled the largest and most powerful empire in India during his time.

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08/08/1503

King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.

James IV was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchieburn, following a rebellion in which the younger James was the figurehead of the rebels. James IV is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland. He was responsible for a major expansion of the Scottish royal navy, which included the founding of two royal dockyards and the acquisition or construction of 38 ships, including the Great Michael, the largest warship of its time.

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08/08/1264

Mudéjar revolt: Muslim rebel forces took the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera after defeating the Castilian garrison.

The Mudéjar revolt of 1264–1266 was a rebellion by the Muslim populations (Mudéjares) in the Lower Andalusia and Murcia regions of the Crown of Castile. The rebellion was in response to Castile's policy of relocating Muslim populations from these regions and was partially instigated by Muhammad I of Granada. The rebels were aided by the independent Emirate of Granada, while the Castilians were allied with Aragon. Early in the uprising, the rebels managed to capture Murcia and Jerez, as well as several smaller towns, but were eventually defeated by the royal forces. Subsequently, Castile expelled the Muslim populations of the reconquered territories and encouraged Christians from elsewhere to settle their lands. Granada became a vassal of Castile and paid an annual tribute.

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08/08/1220

Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.

Estonians or Estonian people are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia.

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08/08/0870

Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald partition the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions.

The Treaty of Mersen or Meerssen, concluded on 8 August 870, was a treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as Lotharingia, by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of Emperor Louis I the Pious. The treaty followed an earlier Treaty of Prüm which had split Middle Francia between Lothair I's sons after his death in 855.

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10/08/2005

Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as the new Duke of Qi – but is defeated at Qianshi by Jiu's brother and rival claimant, the newly inaugurated Duke Huan of Qi.

The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou, characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy. The period's name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 481 BCE, which tradition associates with Confucius.

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