August 31

Template:Linked-title is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining.

Events

• 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora dies suddenly without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1876 - Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.
• 1886 - Earthquake kills 100 in Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1888 - Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's known victims.
• 1895 - John Brallier is paid US$10 plus expenses to play football for the Latrobe, Pennsylvania YMCA, making him the first professional football player.
• 1897 - Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
• 1907 - England, Russia and France form the Triple Entente alliance.
• 1914 - Ecuador becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1915 - Brazil becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1915 - Jimmy Lavender of the Chicago Cubs pitches a no hitter against the New York Giants.
• 1920 - Polish-Bolshevik War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.
• 1920 - First news radio program broadcast in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1939 - Nazi Germany mounts a staged attack on Gleiwitz radio station, giving them an excuse to attack Poland the following day, starting World War II in Europe.
• 1942 - in Ternopil, western Ukraine, at 4.30 am, German SS organise the first deportation of Jews from Ternopil ghetto to death camp in Belzec, about 5,000 Jews were deported to face death in Belzec. When the Germans captured Ternopil, about 18,000 Jews lived in the city.
• 1943 - The USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for a black person, is commissioned.
• 1945 - The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies.
• 1948 - Actor Robert Mitchum was arrested in a Hollywood drug raid. He would later be found guilty of criminal conspiracy to possess marijuana and was sentenced to 60 days in prison.
• 1957 - The Federation of Malaya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1962 - Trinidad and Tobago become independent.
• 1963 - Walter Cronkite began his stint as anchor of the "CBS Evening News."
• 1965 - The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aircraft makes its first flight.
• 1978 - William and Emily Harris, founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army, plead guilty to the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.
• 1980 - The Solidarity trade union is formed in Poland.
• 1986 - An Aeroméxico Douglas DC-9 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
• 1986 - The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 398.
• 1991 - Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1992 - Pascal Lissouba is inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo .
• 1994 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.
• 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.
• 1998 - North Korea reportedly launchs Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite.
• 1999 - The first of a series of Russian Apartment Bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.
• 2005 - A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.
• 2006 - Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream was recovered from a raid by Norwegian police. The paintings were said to be in a better-than-expected condition.

Births

• 12 - Gaius Caligula, Roman Emperor (d. 41)
• 161 - Commodus, Roman Emperor (d. 192)
• 1569 - Jahangir, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1627)
• 1663 - Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (d. 1705)
• 1721 - George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (d. 1775)
• 1811 - Theophile Gautier, French poet and novelist (d. 1872)
• 1821 - Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician (d. 1894)
• 1822 - Galusha A. Grow, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1907)
• 1834 - Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (d. 1886)
• 1843 - Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1919)
• 1870 - Maria Montessori, Italian educator (d. 1952)
• 1871 - James E. Ferguson, Texan governor (d. 1944)
• 1878 - Frank Jarvis, American athlete (d. 1933)
• 1879 - Alma Mahler, wife of Mahler, Gropius and Werfel (d. 1964)
• 1880 - Wilhelmina I of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
• 1885 - DuBose Heyward, American playwright (d. 1940)
• 1896 - Félix-Antoine Savard, French-Canadian priest and novelist (d. 1982)
• 1897 - Fredric March, American actor (d. 1975)
• 1903 - Arthur Godfrey, American television host (d. 1983)
• 1907 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (d. 1957)
• 1907 - William Shawn, American editor (d. 1992)
• 1908 - William Saroyan, American novelist (d. 1981)
• 1913 - Sir Bernard Lovell, British radio astronomer
• 1914 - Richard Basehart, American actor (d. 1984)
• 1916 - Daniel Schorr, American journalist
• 1918 - Alan Jay Lerner, American lyricist (d. 1986)
• 1919 - Amrita Preetam, Indian poetess and author (d. 2005)
• 1924 - Buddy Hackett, American actor and comedian (d. 2003)
• 1928 - James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002)
• 1931 - Noble Willingham, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1931 - Jean Béliveau, Canadian hockey player
• 1935 - Frank Robinson, baseball player and manager
• 1935 - Eldridge Cleaver, American political activist (d. 1998)
• 1937 - Warren Berlinger, American actor
• 1937 - Bobby Parker, American blues musician/guitarist
• 1938 - Martin Bell, British journalist
• 1939 - Jerry Allison, American drummer (The Crickets)
• 1944 - Roger Dean, British artist
• 1945 - Van Morrison, Irish musician
• 1945 - Itzhak Perlman, Israeli violinist
• 1948 - Lowell Ganz, American screenwriter
• 1948 - Rudolf Schenker, German guitarist (Scorpions)
• 1949 - Richard Gere, American actor
• 1949 - H. David Politzer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1953 - György Károly, Hungarian author
• 1954 - Caroline Cossey, English model
• 1955 - Edwin Moses, American athlete
• 1956 - Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer
• 1957 - Gina Schock, American drummer (The Go-Go's)
• 1957 - Glenn Tilbrook, British musician (Squeeze)
• 1960 - Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizballah
• 1960 - Chris Whitley, American musician (d. 2005)
• 1962 - Dee Bradley Baker, American voice actor
• 1963 - Sonny Silooy, Dutch football player
• 1963 - Reb Beach, American guitarist (Winger, Whitesnake)
• 1968 - Todd Carty, British actor
• 1968 - Hideo Nomo, baseball pitcher
• 1970 - Deborah Gibson, American singer
• 1970 - Rania, Queen of Jordan; wife of Abdullah II
• 1972 - Chris Tucker, American actor
• 1973 - Scott Niedermayer, hockey player
• 1975 - Daniel Harding, British conductor
• 1976 - Travis Christopher, American artist
• 1977 - Jeff Hardy, professional wrestler
• 1977 - Ian Harte, Irish footballer
• 1977 - Craig Nicholls, Australian musician (The Vines)
• 1978 - Phina Oruche, British actress
• 1979 - Clay Hensley, professional baseball player
• 1979 - Mickie James, American professonal wrestler
• 1980 - Joe Budden, American rapper
• 1981 - Joe Swanberg, American filmmaker
• 1981 - 40 Cal, American rapper
• 1982 - Ian Crocker, American swimmer
• 1982 - Chris Duhon, American basketball player
• 1982 - Alexei Mikhnov, Ukrainian-born ice hockey player
• 1982 - Jose Reina, Spanish footballer
• 1982 - Michele Rugolo, Italian racing driver
• 1983 - Larry Fitzgerald, American football player
• 1992 - Oliver Wang, Chinese basketball player

Deaths

• 651 - Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Irish bishop and missionary
• 1056 - Theodora, Byzantine Empress (b. 981)
• 1234 - Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (b. 1212)
• 1372 - Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (b. 1301)
• 1422 - King Henry V of England (b. 1387)
• 1645 - Francesco Bracciolini, Italian poet (b. 1566)
• 1654 - Ole Worm, Danish physician (b. 1588)
• 1688 - John Bunyan, English writer (b. 1628)
• 1730 - Gottfried Finger, Czech composer (b. 1660?)
• 1741 - Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, German jurist (b. 1681)
• 1772 - William Borlase, English naturalist (b. 1695)
• 1782 - George Croghan, American colonist
• 1795 - François-André Danican Philidor, French chess player (b. 1726)
• 1799 - Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect (b. 1720)
• 1814 - Arthur Phillip, British admiral, first Governor of New South Wales (b. 1738)
• 1867 - Charles Baudelaire, French poet (b. 1821)
• 1888 - Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, widely believed to be the first victim of Jack the Ripper (b. 1845)
• 1920 - Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist (b. 1832)
• 1941 - Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet (b. 1892)
• 1952 - Henri Bourassa, French Canadian political leader (b. 1868)
• 1963 - Georges Braque, French painter (b. 1882)
• 1967 - Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian writer (b. 1891)
• 1969 - Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923)
• 1973 - John Ford, American film director (b. 1894)
• 1974 - William Pershing Benedict, American pilot
• 1974 - Norman Kirk, New Zealand prime minister (b. 1923)
• 1978 - John Wrathall, President of Rhodesia (b. 1913)
• 1979 - Sally Rand, American dancer and actress (b. 1904)
• 1985 - Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
• 1986 - Henry Moore, English sculptor (b. 1898)
• 1986 - Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (b. 1900)
• 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1961)
• 1997 - Dodi Fayed, Egyptian-born film producer (b. 1955)
• 2002 - Lionel Hampton, American vibraphone player (b. 1908)
• 2002 - George Porter, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
• 2004 - Carl Wayne, English singer (b. 1943)
• 2005 - Joseph Rotblat, Polish-British physicist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1908)
• 2005 - Michael Sheard, British actor (b. 1940)
• 2006 - Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian soccer player (b. 1983)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Catholic Saints - Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Saint San Abbondio, Saint Raymond Nonnatus
• Moldova: Day of Our Language (Limba Noastra).
• Malaysia - Hari Merdeka, a National Day (independence within the Commonwealth, 1957).
• Kyrgyzstan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991).
• Trinidad and Tobago - Independence Day (from United Kingdom, 1962).

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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