August 2 Explained
Events
- 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.
- 216 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of Cannae - The Carthaginian army lead by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army under command of consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro.
- 1610 - Henry Hudson sails into what it is now known as Hudson Bay, thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean.
- 1776 - Delegates to the Continental Congress begin signing the United States Declaration of Independence.
- 1790 - The first US Census is conducted.
- 1798 - French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay) concludes in a British victory
- 1869 - Japan's samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system (Shinōkōshō) is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese date: June 25, 1869).
- 1870 - Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London.
- 1903 - Fall of the Ottoman Empire: Unsuccessful uprising led by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization against Ottoman Turkey, also known as the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising.
- 1916 - World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto.
- 1918 - Japan announces that it is deploying troops to Siberia in the aftermath of World War I.
- 1932 - The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
- 1934 - Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
- 1937 - The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, essentially rendering marijuana and all its by-products illegal.
- 1939 - Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan project to develop a nuclear weapon.
- 1943 - Rebellion in the Nazi death camp of Treblinka.
- 1943 - World War II: PT-109 rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and sinks. Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. President, saves all but two of his crew.
- 1945 - World War II: Potsdam Conference, in which the Allied Powers discuss the future of defeated Germany, concludes.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: Gulf of Tonkin Incident - North Vietnamese gunboats allegedly fires on U.S. destroyers, USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy.
- 1967 - The second Blackwall Tunnel opens in Greenwich, London.
- 1968 - The 1968 Casiguran Earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.
- 1973 - A flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.
- 1980- The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game ended with 5:24 left in the game when it was cancelled due to severe lightning. The game ended in a 0-0 tie.
- 1980 - A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
- 1985 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.
- 1989 - 1989 Valvettiturai massacre was carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.
- 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to conflict with coalition forces in the Gulf War.
Births
- 1533 - Theodor Zwinger, Swiss scholar (d. 1588)
- 1672 - Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss scholar (d. 1733)
- 1674 - Philip II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France (d. 1723)
- 1696 - Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1754)
- 1703 - Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (d. 1775)
- 1788 - Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (d. 1853)
- 1815 - Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German writer (d. 1894)
- 1828 - Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general (d. 1895)
- 1834 - Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor (d. 1904)
- 1835 - Elisha Gray, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1901)
- 1858 - Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, queen of the Netherlands (d. 1934)
- 1865 - Irving Babbitt, American literary critic (d. 1933)
- 1865 - John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (d. 1955)
- 1868 - King Constantine I of Greece (d. 1923)
- 1871 - John French Sloan, American artist (d. 1951)
- 1872 - George E. Stewart, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1946)
- 1875 - Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian artist (d. 1957)
- 1878 - Aino Kallas, Finnish - Estonian author (d. 1956)
- 1882 - Red Ames, baseball player (d. 1936)
- 1884 - Rómulo Gallegos, President of Venezuela (d. 1969)
- 1886 - John Alexander Douglas McCurdy Canadian Aviator (d. 1961)
- 1887 - Tommy Ward, Former South African cricketer (d. 1936)
- 1890 - Marin Sais, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1891 - Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian, linguist (d. 1971)
- 1892 - Jack Warner, Canadian film producer (d. 1978)
- 1895 - Matt Henderson, Former New Zealand cricketer (d. 1970)
- 1896 - Lorenzo Herrera, Venezuelan singer and composer (d. 1960)
- 1897 - Karl Otto Koch, German SS-officer (d. 1945)
- 1897 - Max Weber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1974)
- 1899 - Charles Bennett, British screenwriter (d. 1995)
- 1902 - Helen Morgan, American actress (d. 1941)
- 1905 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (d. 1963)
- 1905 - Myrna Loy, American actress (d. 1993)
- 1907 - Mary Hamman, American writer (d. 1984)
- 1910 - Roger MacDougall, writer (d. 1993)
- 1912 - Palle Huld, Danish actor
- 1912 - Ann Dvorak, American actress (d. 1979)
- 1912 - Vladimir Zerjavic, Croatian statistician (d. 2001)
- 1914 - Félix Leclerc, Quebec singer, songwriter and writer (d. 1988)
- 1914 - Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1915 - Gary Merrill, American actor (d. 1990)
- 1920 - Louis Pauwels, French journalist and writer (d. 1997)
- 1923 - Shimon Peres, Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel and the ninth President of the State of Israel
- 1924 - James Baldwin, American author (d. 1987)
- 1924 - Joe Harnell, American musician, composer and arranger (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Carroll O'Connor, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1925 - John Dexter, English stage and film director (d. 1990)
- 1925 - John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1925 - Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian dictator
- 1925 - Alan Whicker, British journalist and broadcaster
- 1926 - Betsy Bloomingdale, American socialite
- 1928 - Malcolm Hilton, Former England cricketer (d. 1990)
- 1930 - Vali Myers, Australian painter (d. 2003)
- 1931 - Pierre DuMaine, Catholic bishop
- 1931 - Viliam Schrojf, Slovak footballer (d. 2007)
- 1931 - Eddie Fuller, Former South African cricketer (d. 2008)
- 1932 - Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (d. 2006)
- 1932 - Peter O'Toole, Irish-born actor
- 1934 - Valery Bykovsky, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1935 - Hank Cochran, American country music singer and songwriter
- 1937 - Billy Cannon, American football player
- 1937 - Garth Hudson, Canadian musician (The Band)
- 1938 - Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
- 1938 - Pierre de Bané, French Canadian politician
- 1938 - Terry Peck, Falkland Islander-born British soldier (d. 2006)
- 1939 - Benjamin Barber, American political theorist
- 1939 - Wes Craven, American film director
- 1939 - John W. Snow, American 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1941 - Doris Coley, American singer (Shirelles) (d. 2000)
- 1942 - Isabel Allende, Chilean author
- 1943 - Tom Burgmeier, American baseball player
- 1943 - Max Wright, American actor
- 1944 - Jim Capaldi, British musician and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
- 1944 - Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian jazz musician
- 1945 - Joanna Cassidy, American actress
- 1945 - Alex Jesaulenko, Australian rules footballer
- 1947 - Massiel, Spanish singer
- 1948 - Andy Fairweather Low, British guitarist
- 1948 - Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author
- 1949 - James Fallows, American journalist
- 1950 - Lance Ito, American judge
- 1950 - Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate (d. 1994)
- 1951 - Andrew Gold, American musician and songwriter
- 1951 - Joe Lynn Turner, American singer (Deep Purple, Rainbow)
- 1951 - Freddie Wadling, Swedish actor and musician (The Leather Nun, Fleshquartet)
- 1951 - Per Westerberg, Swedish politician
- 1953 - Marjo, Quebec singer
- 1953 - Butch Patrick, American actor
- 1954 - James Charles Kopp, American citizen who murdered Barnett Slepian
- 1954 - Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1955 - Caleb Carr, American novelist and military historian
- 1955 - Tim Dunigan, American Actor
- 1956 - Fulvio Melia, Italian-American physicist/astrophysicist and author
- 1956 - Jim Neidhart, American professional wrestler
- 1956 - Isabel Pantoja, Spanish singer
- 1957 - Mojo Nixon, American musician and actor
- 1958 - Arshad Ayub, Former Indian cricketer
- 1959 - Victoria Jackson, American comedian
- 1959 - Apollonia Kotero, American singer and actress
- 1960 - Neal Morse, American musician (Spock's Beard, Transatlantic)
- 1960 - David Yow, American musician (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard)
- 1961 - Graham Dye, English singer/songwriter and guitarist (Scarlet Party; The Alan Parsons Project)
- 1961 - Linda Fratianne, American figure skater
- 1961 - Cold 187um, American rapper (Above the Law)
- 1963 - Daniel Pelosi, American convicted murderer
- 1963 - Laura Bennett, American architect and designer
- 1964 - Frank Biela, German race car driver
- 1964 - Mary-Louise Parker, American actress
- 1965 - Hisanobu Watanabe, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1966 - Takayuki Iizuka, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1966 - Tim Wakefield, American baseball player
- 1966 - M.V. Sridhar, Indian cricketer
- 1967 - Aaron Krickstein, American tennis player
- 1967 - Aline Brosh McKenna, American screenwriter
- 1968 - Stefan Effenberg, German footballer
- 1968 - John Stanier, American musician Helmet
- 1969 - Cedric Ceballos, American basketball player
- 1969 - Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer
- 1969 - Jan Axel Blomberg Norwegian musician (Dimmu Borgir, Winds, Mayhem)
- 1969 - Richard Hallebeek, Dutch guitarist
- 1970 - Tony Amonte, American ice hockey player
- 1970 - Kevin Smith, American director and screenwriter
- 1970 - Philo Wallace, West-Indian cricketer
- 1971 - Michael Hughes, Irish footballer
- 1972 - Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1972 - Jacinda Barrett, Australian model and actress
- 1972 - Daniele Nardello, Italian professional road racing cyclist
- 1972 - Jimmy Pop, American musician (The Bloodhound Gang)
- 1972 - Justyna Steczkowska, Polish singer
- 1973 - Hiroyuki Goto, Japanese game designer
- 1973 - Danie Keulder, Former Namibian cricketer
- 1974 - Angie Cepeda, Colombian actress
- 1975 - Mineiro, Brazilian footballer
- 1975 - Xu Huaiwen, Chinese-born badminton player
- 1975 - Ingrid Rubio, Spanish actress
- 1976 - Reyes Estévez, Spanish athlete
- 1976 - Sam Worthington, Australian actor
- 1976 - Jay Heaps, American soccer player
- 1976 - Michael Weiss, Olympic figure skater
- 1976 - Mohammad Zahid, Former Pakistani cricketer
- 1977 - Edward Furlong, American actor
- 1978 - Goran Gavrančić, Serbian footballer
- 1978 - Matt Guerrier, American baseball player
- 1979 - Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan athlete
- 1980 - Ivica Banović, Croatian footballer
- 1980 - Nadia Bjorlin, American actress
- 1982 - Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer
- 1982 - Grady Sizemore, American baseball player
- 1983 - Nick Diaz, American MMA fighter
- 1983 - Molly Bish, American Abductee
- 1984 - Chiara Mastalli, Italian actress
- 1984 - Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer
- 1985 - Harry Smith, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1986 - Mathieu Razanakolona, Malagasy skier
- 1988 - Brittany Hargest, American singer (Jump5)
- 1990 - Alice Connor, British actress
- 1992 - Hallie Kate Eisenberg, American actress
Deaths
- 686 - Pope John V
- 924 - Ælfweard of Wessex
- 1100 - King William II of England
- 1222 - Count Raymond VI of Toulouse (b. 1156)
- 1511 - Andrew Barton, Scottish naval leader
- 1589 - King Henry III of France (b. 1551)
- 1611 - Kato Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1562)
- 1696 - Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, Scottish military commander (b. 1630)
- 1769 - Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician (b. 1689)
- 1776 - Louis François I, Prince of Conti, French military leader (b. 1717)
- 1788 - Thomas Gainsborough, English artist (b. 1727)
- 1799 - Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor (b. 1745)
- 1815 - Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, French marshal (b. 1763)
- 1823 - Lazare Carnot, French general, politician, and mathematician (b. 1753)
- 1849 - Governor Muhammad Ali of Egypt (b. 1769)
- 1859 - Horace Mann, American educator and abolitionist (b. 1796)
- 1876 - James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, American gunfighter (b. 1837)
- 1889 - Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian author (b. 1851)
- 1890 - Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (b. 1813)
- 1903 - Edmond Nocard, French veterinarian (b. 1850)
- 1920 - Ormer Locklear, American stunt pilot (b. 1891)
- 1921 - Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor (b. 1873)
- 1922 - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born inventor, invented the telephone(b. 1847)
- 1923 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (b. 1865)
- 1929 - Mae Costello, American actress (b. 1882)
- 1934 - Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and President of Germany (b. 1847)
- 1936 - Louis Blériot, French aviation pioneer (b. 1872)
- 1939 - Harvey Spencer Lewis, American Rosicrucian mystic (b. 1883)
- 1945 - Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (b. 1863)
- 1955 - Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901)
- 1972 - Helen Hoyt, American poet (b. 1887)
- 1972 - Brian Cole, American bass player (The Association) (b. 1942)
- 1973 - Jean-Pierre Melville, French film director (b. 1917)
- 1974 - W. Douglas Hawkes, British racing driver (b. 1893)
- 1976 - Fritz Lang, Austrian film director (b. 1890)
- 1978 - Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899)
- 1979 - Thurman Munson, American baseball player (b. 1947)
- 1983 - James Jamerson, American musician (b. 1936)
- 1986 - Roy Cohn, American politician (b. 1927)
- 1988 - Raymond Carver, American writer (b. 1938)
- 1988 - Joe Carcione, American consumer advocate (b. 1914)
- 1990 - Norman Mclean, American writer (b. 1902)
- 1990 - Edwin Richfield, British actor (b. 1921)
- 1992 - Michel Berger, French singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
- 1996 - Michel Debré, French politician (b. 1912)
- 1996 - Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somalian Warlord (b. 1934)
- 1997 - William S. Burroughs, American writer (b. 1914)
- 1997 - Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Nigerian musician (b. 1938)
- 1998 - Shari Lewis, American puppeteer (b. 1933)
- 2001 - Ron Townson, American singer (The Fifth Dimension) (b. 1933)
- 2003 - Don Estelle, British actor (b. 1933)
- 2003 - Mike Levey, American television personality (b. 1948)
- 2003 - Peter Safar, Austrian physician (b. 1924)
- 2004 - Don Tosti, American musician (b. 1923)
- 2004 - François Craenhals, Belgian comics artist (b. 1926)
- 2005 - Steven Vincent, American journalist and writer (b. 1955)
- 2007 - Chauncey Bailey, American journalist and editor (b. 1950)
- 2007 - Holden Roberto, Angolan founder and leader of the FNLA (b. 1923)
- 2007 - Kay Dotrice, English repertory actress (b. 1929)
- 2008 - Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese cartoonist (b. 1935)
Holidays and observances
Roman Catholicism
External links
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