August 2

Historic Events

2014

At least 146 people are killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China. ›

2005

Air France Flight 358 lands at Toronto Pearson International Airport and runs off the runway, causing the plane to burst into flames, leaving 12 injuries and no fatalities. ›

1999

The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India. ›

1991

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-43 to deploy the TDRS-5 satellite. ›

1990

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: Iraq invades Kuwait and temporarily establishes the Republic of Kuwait puppet state on the orders of Saddam Hussein, eventually leading to the Gulf War. ›

1989

Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972. ›

1989

A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians. ›

1985

Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137. ›

1982

The Helsinki Metro, the first rapid transit system of Finland, is opened to the general public. ›

1980

A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200. ›

1973

A flash fire kills 50 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man. ›

1968

An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261. ›

1947

A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. The wreckage would not be found until 1998. ›

1945

World War II: The Potsdam Conference ends. ›

1944

ASNOM: Birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in North Macedonia. ›

1944

World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches. ›

1943

The Holocaust: Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months. ›

1943

World War II: After the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. president, saves all but two of his crew. ›

1939

Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon. ›

1937

The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal. ›

1934

Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. ›

1932

The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson. ›

1923

U.S. Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of President Warren G. Harding. ›

1922

A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China, killing more than 50,000 people. ›

1918

The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver. ›

1916

World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto. ›

1914

World War I: The German occupation of Luxembourg begins. ›

1909

End of the Tragic Week in Barcelona, a series of antiwar and antigovernment protests in Spain and especially in Barcelona. ›

1903

The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins. ›

1897

Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states. ›

1873

The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system. ›

1870

Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom. ›

1869

Japan's Edo society class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. ›

1858

The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj. ›

1830

July Revolution: Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri. ›

1798

French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory. ›

1790

The first United States Census is conducted. ›

1784

The first British mail coach service runs from Bristol to London. ›

1776

American Revolution: The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress takes place. ›

1610

During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay. ›

1492

The Jews are expelled from Spain: 40,000–200,000 leave. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning of this, dispatches the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Thessaloniki (in modern-day Greece) and İzmir (in modern-day Turkey). ›

1415

Thomas Grey is executed for participating in the Southampton Plot. ›

1377

Russian troops are defeated by forces of the Blue Horde Khan Arapsha in the Battle on Pyana River. ›

1343

After the execution of her husband, Jeanne de Clisson sells her estates and raises a force of men with which to attack French shipping and ports. ›

1274

Edward I of England returns from the Ninth Crusade and is crowned King seventeen days later. ›

932

After a two-year siege, the city of Toledo, in Spain, surrenders to the forces of the Caliph of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III, assuming an important victory in his campaign to subjugate the Central March. ›

461

Western Roman Emperor Majorian is arrested near Tortona (northern Italy) and deposed by the Suebian general Ricimer. ›

47 BC

Julius Caesar defeats Pharnaces II of Pontus in the battle of Zela. ›

49 BC

Caesar, who marched to Spain earlier in the year, leaving Marcus Antonius in charge of Italy, defeats Pompey's general Afranius and Petreius in Ilerda (Lerida) north of the Ebro river. ›

216 BC

The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae. ›

338 BC

A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeats the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean. ›