August 1

Historic Events

2023

Former US President Donald Trump is indicted for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his third indictment in 2023. ›

2017

A suicide attack on a mosque in Herat, Afghanistan kills 20 people. ›

2008

The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway begins operation as the fastest commuter rail system in the world. ›

2008

Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions die on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth, in the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering. ›

2007

The I-35W Mississippi River bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145. ›

2004

A supermarket fire kills 424 people and injures 360 others in Asunción, Paraguay. ›

1998

Puntland, an autonomous state in northeastern Somalia, is officially established following a constitutional conference in Garowe. Issims and tribal chiefs agreed to create a self-declared government until Somalia recovered. ›

1993

The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 comes to a peak. ›

1990

A plane crash in the Karabakh Range kills 46 people. ›

1988

A British soldier is killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England. ›

1984

Commercial peat-cutters discover the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England. ›

1981

MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. ›

1980

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state. ›

1980

A train crash kills 18 people and injures over 170 more in County Cork, Ireland. ›

1976

Niki Lauda has a severe accident that almost claims his life at the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring. ›

1975

The final act of the CSCE meeting is signed in Helsinki, Finland. ›

1974

Cyprus dispute: The United Nations Security Council authorizes the UNFICYP to create the "Green Line", dividing Cyprus into two zones. ›

1971

The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by former Beatle George Harrison, is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. ›

1968

The coronation of Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, is held. ›

1966

Charles Whitman kills 15 people at the University of Texas at Austin before being killed by the police. ›

1966

Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. ›

1965

Frank Herbert's novel, Dune, is published for the first time. It was named as the world's best-selling science fiction novel in 2003. ›

1964

The former Belgian Congo is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ›

1961

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization. ›

1960

Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France. ›

1960

Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan. ›

1957

The United States and Canada form the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). ›

1950

Guam is organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States as the President Harry S. Truman signs the Guam Organic Act. ›

1946

Leaders of the Russian Liberation Army, a force of Russian prisoners of war that collaborated with Nazi Germany, are executed in Moscow, Soviet Union for treason. ›

1944

World War II: The Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupation breaks out in Warsaw, Poland. ›

1943

World War II: Operation Tidal Wave, also known as "Black Sunday", is a failed American attempt to destroy Romanian oil fields. ›

1937

Josip Broz Tito reads the resolution "Manifesto of constitutional congress of KPH" to the constitutive congress of KPH (Croatian Communist Party) in woods near Samobor. ›

1936

The Olympics open in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler. ›

1933

Anti-Fascist activists Bruno Tesch, Walter Möller, Karl Wolff and August Lütgens are executed by the Nazi regime in Altona. ›

1927

The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. ›

1915

Patrick Pearse gives his famous speech "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace" at O'Donovan Rossa's funeral in Dublin. ›

1914

World War I: The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire. ›

1914

World War I: The Swiss Army mobilizes because of World War I. ›

1911

Harriet Quimby takes her pilot's test and becomes the first U.S. woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator's certificate. ›

1907

The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement. ›

1894

The Empire of Japan and Qing China declare war on each other after a week of fighting over Korea, formally inaugurating the First Sino-Japanese War. ›

1893

Henry Perky patents shredded wheat. ›

1876

Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state. ›

1863

At the suggestion of Senator J. V. Snellman and the order of Emperor Alexander II, full rights are promised to the Finnish language by a language regulation in the Grand Duchy of Finland. ›

1855

The first ascent of Monte Rosa, the second highest summit in the Alps. ›

1849

Joven Daniel wrecks at the coast of Araucanía, Chile, leading to allegations that local Mapuche tribes murdered survivors and kidnapped Elisa Bravo. ›

1842

The Lombard Street riot erupts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. ›

1834

Slavery is abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force, although it remains legal in the possessions of the East India Company until the passage of the Indian Slavery Act, 1843. ›

1834

Construction begins on the Wilberforce Monument in Kingston Upon Hull. ›

1801

First Barbary War: The American schooner USS Enterprise captures the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of modern-day Libya. ›

1800

The Acts of Union 1800 are passed which merge the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ›

1774

British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen gas, corroborating the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. ›

1759

Seven Years' War: The Battle of Minden, an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French. In Britain this was one of a number of events that constituted the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 and is celebrated as Minden Day by certain British Army regiments. ›

1714

George, Elector of Hanover, becomes King George I of Great Britain, marking the beginning of the Georgian era of British history. ›

1664

Ottoman forces are defeated in the battle of Saint Gotthard by an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, resulting in the Peace of Vasvár. ›

1620

Speedwell leaves Delfshaven to bring pilgrims to America by way of England. ›

1571

The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus is concluded, by the surrender of Famagusta. ›

1498

Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela. ›

1469

Louis XI of France founds the chivalric order called the Order of Saint Michael in Amboise. ›

1291

The Old Swiss Confederacy is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter. ›

1203

Alexios IV Angelos is crowned Byzantine co-emperor after his father Isaac II Angelos is pressured to do so by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade. ›

902

Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army, concluding the Muslim conquest of Sicily. ›

607

Ono no Imoko is dispatched as envoy to the Sui court in China (Traditional Japanese date: July 3, 607). ›

527

Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. ›

314

The first synod of Arles is opened by bishop Marinus of Arles. ›

69

Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under the leadership of Gaius Julius Civilis. ›

30 BC

Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, executes Marcus Antonius Antyllus, and brings the city under the control of the Roman Republic. (date is O.S.) ›