This Day in History
August 2

Copyright © 2006-2024 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: ken@kpolsson.com
URL: http://kpolsson.com/thisday/
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What happened in history on this day: August 2?

On August 2 in ...

  • 257 - Saint Stephen I ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
  • 640 - Severinus ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
  • 686 - John V ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
  • 1075 - John VIII Xiphilinus theologian/patriarch of Constantinople, dies.
  • 1375 - First roller skating rink opens (London).
  • 1492 - Jews are expelled from Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
  • 1696 - Birth of Mahmud I Ottoman sultan, fought Austrians and Russians.
  • 1754 - Birth of Pierre Charles L'Enfant France, architect laid out Washington DC.
  • 1776 - Formal signing of the American Declaration of Independence.
  • 1819 - First parachute jump in US.
  • 1832 - 1,300 Illinois militia defeat Sac and Fox Indians, ending Black Hawk War.
  • 1832 - Birth of Henry Steel Olcott; first president of Theosophical Society.
  • 1832 - Black Hawk is defeated (in Iowa).
  • 1832 - Whites decimate Indians in Battle of Bad Axe River, Wisconsin.
  • 1858 - First street mailboxes-Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • 1858 - British Parliament passes the Government of India Act, transferring the territorial assets of the British East India Company to direct British Crown control.
  • 1858 - British Columbia is founded as a crown colony.
  • 1864 - Second Saratoga Racetrack (New York) opens.
  • 1870 - French troops enter German territory.
  • 1876 - In Deadwood, South Dakota, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, playing poker in Carl Mann's saloon, is shot dead (from behind) by Jack "Crooked Nose" McCall, for no apparent reason. Hickok reportedly held a pair of Aces and a pair of eights, which becomes known as the Dead Man's Hand.
  • 1878 - Birth of Princess Ingeborg of Sweden.
  • 1884 - Birth of Rómulo Gallegos in Venezuela; novelist (Doña Bárbara), president (1948).
  • 1891 - Birth of Arthur Bliss AKA Edward Drummond in London, England; composer (Olympians).
  • 1892 - Birth of John Kieran in New York City, New York, USA; columnist/author (Natural History of New York City).
  • 1903 - Unsuccessful uprising of Macedonians against Turkey.
  • 1905 - Birth of Myrna Loy in Montana, USA; actress (Rebound, Emma).
  • 1909 - The US Mint releases the Lincoln cent to circulation.
  • 1909 - Army Air Corps formed as Army takes first delivery from Wright Brothers.
  • 1910 - Birth of Lou Zara in New York City, New York, USA; writer (Stump the Authors).
  • 1914 - Birth of Gary Merrill in Hartford, Connecticut, USA; actor (Young Dr Kildare, All About Eve).
  • 1916 - Birth of Beatrice Straight in Old Westbury, New York, USA; actress (Poltergeist, Nun's Story).
  • 1922 - Birth of Carroll O'Connor in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Archie Bunker - All in the Family, In the Heat of the Night).
  • 1922 - Birth of Paul Laxalt; American politician (Senator-Republican-Nevada).
  • 1923 - Former US President Warren Harding dies at Palace Hotel, San Francisco, California.
  • 1924 - Birth of James Baldwin; US writer (Another Country).
  • 1926 - Birth of Betsy Bloomingdale; American department store mogul (Bloomingdale's).
  • 1929 - Philadelphia Phillies' Don Hurst sets National League record of six consecutive games with a home run.
  • 1932 - Birth of Lamar Hunt; owns NFL Kansas City Chiefs.
  • 1932 - Birth of Peter O'Toole in Ireland; actor (Lord Jim, Beckett, Lawrence of Arabia).
  • 1932 - Charlie Grimm replaces Roger Hornsby as manager of Chicago Cubs.
  • 1932 - Carl Anderson of CalTech discovers the anti-electron, the positron.
  • 1932 - Death of Ignaz Seipel in Austria; Catholic priest, author (Nation und Staat), chancellor of Austria (1922-24, 1926-29).
  • 1934 - First airplane train, plane tows three mail gliders behind it.
  • 1934 - Birth of Albert W Hall; actor (Apocalypse Now).
  • 1934 - Birth of Valery Bykovsky; cosmonaut (Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, 31).
  • 1934 - In Germany, President Paul von Hindenburg dies at age 87.
  • 1934 - In Germany, following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler assumes the office of Reich President as well. The Wehrmacht oath of allegiance is changed to be directly to Adolf Hitler.
  • 1934 - William Franks twirls an indian club overhead 17,280 times in one hour.
  • 1937 - Birth of William Cannon; football player (Heisman-1959).
  • 1938 - First test of a yellow baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers versus Saint Louis Cardinals).
  • 1938 - Birth of Brunhilde Hendrix in Germany; relay runner (Olympic-silver-1960).
  • 1938 - Birth of Yvonne Rüegg in Switzerland; giant slalom (Olympic-gold-1960).
  • 1939 - Birth of John W. Snow; US Treasury Secretary.
  • 1939 - Birth of Edward Pattern in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; singer (Gladys Knight and the Pips).
  • 1939 - Hatch Act prohibits political activity by federal workers.
  • 1940 - Birth of Doris Kenner in Passaic, New Jersey, USA; singer (Shirelles - "Soldier Boy").
  • 1941 - Jews are expelled from Hungarian Ruthenia.
  • 1942 - Birth of Garth Hudson; keyboardist (The Band).
  • 1943 - (evening) British Bomber Command makes one last air raid on Hamburg, Germany, this time with 737 bombers. Over the four evening raids, 8500 tons of bombs were dropped, and 87 planes lost. 6200 acres of a total 8383 are made uninhabitable for months, half of the city's living areas destroyed, 900,000 people made homeless, over one million forced to leave the city, 186 of 574 large industrial works destroyed, 4118 of 9068 smaller factories destroyed, 180,000 tons of shipping sunk in the harbor or destroyed by fire, 26 or 27 submarines destroyed or delayed in construction.
  • 1944 - Birth of Joanna Cassidy [Caskey] in Haddonfield, New Jersey, USA; actress (240 Robert).
  • 1946 - Birth of Bob Beamon; long jumper (Olympic-gold-1968 29 feet 2.5 inches (8.9m)).
  • 1949 - Birth of Bertalan Farkas; first Hungarian space traveler (Soyuz 36).
  • 1950 - Birth of Kathryn Harrold in Tarzewell, Virginia, USA; actress (MacGruder and Loud).
  • 1951 - Birth of Andrew Gold in Burbank, California, USA; rocker (Lonely Boy).
  • 1952 - Birth of Paul David Crews in South Carolina, USA; murderer (FBI Most Wanted List).
  • 1955 - Birth of Roberta Wallach in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Civil Wars).
  • 1956 - Birth of Isabel Pantoja in Spain; spanish singer (Genio y Figura).
  • 1959 - Birth of Britt Helfer in Utah, USA; actress (Lily - Loving, Alley Cat).
  • 1959 - Milwaukee Braves' Bill Bruton hits two bases loaded triples.
  • 1960 - Birth of Apollonia [Patricia Kotero] in Santa Monica, California, USA; actress (Purple Rain).
  • 1960 - Birth of Linda Fratianne; American figure skater (Olympic-silver-1980).
  • 1961 - The Beatles' first gig as house band of Liverpool's Cavern Club.
  • 1961 - Saint Louis Cardinals (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League) 36-7 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  • 1964 - Jack Kirkwood, actor (Fibber McGee and Molly), dies at age 69.
  • 1964 - North Vietnam fires on a US destroyer in Gulf of Tonkin.
  • 1964 - Race riot in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.
  • 1965 - Morley Safer sends first Vietnam report indicating US is losing war.
  • 1967 - Birth of Aaron Krickstein in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; tennis player (Tel Aviv 1983).
  • 1967 - Birth of Derek Wells in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Fitzpatricks).
  • 1967 - Claude A Barnett, founded Associated Negro Press, dies at age 78.
  • 1967 - New Orleans Saints' first pre-season game, they lose to Los Angeles Rams 16-77.
  • 1967 - US's Lunar Orbiter 5 launched; enters lunar orbit August 5.
  • 1968 - In Oaxaca, Mexico, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs, causing 18 fatalities and extensive property damage in the State of Oaxaca and in Mexico City.
  • 1971 - In Havero, Finland, a building is hit by a falling meteorite.
  • 1972 - Brian Cole, rocker with The Association, dies of heroin overdose at age 28.
  • 1972 - Gold hits record US$70 an ounce in London, England.
  • 1972 - Death of Rudolph Ganz in Chicago, Illinois (born in Zürich, Switzerland); German/American composer/conductor.
  • 1973 - Birth of Kia Goodwin in Livingston, New Jersey, USA; actress (Tiffany Holloway-227).
  • 1974 - CBS resumes airing the Your Hit Parade 30-minute variety TV show.
  • 1976 - Death of Fritz Lang in Los Angeles, California (born in Vienna, Austria); German film maker der Spieler (1922), Die Nibelungen (1924), Metropolis (1926), Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1932), Fury (1936), Western Union (1941), and Hangmen also Die (1943).
  • 1977 - Birth of Edward Furlong in Pasedina, California; actor (John Connor - Terminator 2).
  • 1978 - Death of Totie Fields AKA Sophie Feldman at age 48 of a heart attack; comedienne (Ed Sullivan Show TV show 40 times, 125 appearances on The Mike Douglas Show TV show, Merv Griffin show TV show).
  • 1979 - Thurmon Munson, catcher for the New York Yankees, is killed in a plane crash at Akron, Ohio at age 32 (born 1947).
  • 1979 - Death of Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician, founder of the APRA Party (born 1895).
  • 1980 - A terrorist bombing at the railway station in Bologna, Italy kills 85 people and wounds more than 200.
  • 1980 - US swimmers set three world records at National championships.
  • 1982 - Cathleen Nesbitt, English actress (Seperate Tables), dies at age 93.
  • 1985 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes near Dallas, Texas, killing 137 people.
  • 1985 - Five die in a train crash in Westminster Colorado.
  • 1985 - Death of Frank Faylen of pneumonia at age 82; character actor (Lost Weekend film, It's a Wonderful Life film, Life and Loves of Dobie Gillis TV show, That Girl TV show).
  • 1985 - NASA launches space vehicle S-209.
  • 1985 - Chicago White Sox backstop Carlton Fisk tags out two New York Yankees' runners at home plate during the same play.
  • 1986 - Birth of Caitlin Murphy, Australian model and actress (Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive).
  • 1986 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US) sets record for heptathlon (7161 points).
  • 1986 - Death of Roy Cohn, American lawyer and anti-Communist (born 1927).
  • 1987 - Cincinnati Reds' Eric Davis becomes 7th and earliest 30 home run 30 steal man.
  • 1987 - Don Brown sets flight record for handbow (1,336 yards 1 foot 3 inches).
  • 1987 - Kevin Seitzer (Kansas City Royals), gets six hits in one baseball game.
  • 1987 - Michael Andretti runs fastest Indy car race in history (171.49 MPH).
  • 1988 - Raymond Carver, American poet/short story writer (Furious Season), dies at age 50 (born 1938).
  • 1989 - NASA confirms Voyager 2's discovery of three more moons of Neptune designated temporarily 1989 N2, 1989 N3 and 1989 N24.
  • 1990 - Iraq invades and occupies Kuwait.
  • 1991 - Space shuttle STS 43 (Atlantis 9) launched.
  • 1993 - A fishing net of the Mistake vessel snags on the underwater wreck of the El Cazador, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana in 300 feet of water. The ship sunk in 17984 carrying 450,000 pesos in coins.
  • 1997 - Australian ski instructor Stuart Diver is rescued as the sole survivor from the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, Australia, in which 18 lives were lost.
  • 1998 - Death of Shari Lewis, American ventriloquist (born 1933).
  • 2000 - Death of Ron Townson at age 59 of kidney disease; singer (The 5th Dimension - "Up Up and Away", "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "One Less Bell to Answer", "I Didn't Get to Sleep at All") (dies 2000).
  • 2001 - Robert Mueller is confirmed as the new FBI director.
  • 2002 - Buena Vista releases the film Signs to theaters.
  • 2003 - The United Nations authorizes an international peacekeeping force for Liberia.
  • 2005 - Air France Flight 358 bursts into flames after overshooting the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport; all aboard survive.
  • 2005 - The Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is signed into law in the United States.
  • 2009 - In Finland, round 9 of the FIA World Rally Championship is won by Mikko Hirvonen.
  • 2009 - In South Sudan, at least 185 members of the Lou Nuer community are killed in an ambush by ethnic Murle fighters.
  • 2018 - Apple Inc. becomes the world's first public company to achieve a market capitalization of $1 trillion.
  • 2019 - The United States officially withdraws from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty established with Russia in 1987.
  • 2019 - Japan announces the removal of South Korea from its list of most trusted trading partners, effective on August 28.
  • 2020 - In Guyana, the Elections Commission declares Irfaan Ali is the winner of the March 2 presidential election.
  • 2022 - Death of Vin Scully at age 94 at home in Los Angeles, California, USA; broadcaster (voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB baseball team for 67 years).

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