| 1587 |
|
In
the Roanoke Island colony,
Ellinor and Ananias Dare
become parents of a baby girl
whom they name Virginia, the
first English child born in
what would become the United
States. |
| 1698 |
|
After
invading Denmark and capturing
Sweden, Charles XII of Sweden
forces Frederick IV of Denmark
to sign the Peace of Travendal. |
| 1759 |
|
The
French fleet is destroyed by
the British under "Old
Dreadnought" Boscawen at
the battle of Lagos Bay. |
| 1782 |
|
Poet
and artist William Blake
marries Catherine Sophia
Boucher. |
| 1862 |
|
Confederate
General J.E.B. Stuart's
headquarters is raided by
Union troops of the 5th New
York and 1st Michigan
cavalries. |
| 1864 |
|
Union
General William T. Sherman
sends General Judson
Kilpatrick to raid Confederate
lines of communication outside
Atlanta. The raid is
unsuccessful. |
| 1870 |
|
Prussian
forces defeat the French at
the Battle of Gravelotte
during the Franco-Prussian
War. |
| 1898 |
|
Adolph
Ochs takes over the New
York Times, saying his aim
is to give "the news, all
the news, in concise and
attractive form, in language
that is permissible in good
society, and give it early, if
not earlier, than it can be
learned through any other
medium." |
| 1914 |
|
Germany
declares war on Russia while
President Woodrow Wilson
issues his Proclamation of
Neutrality. |
| 1920 |
|
Tennessee
becomes the thirty-sixth state
to ratify the nineteenth
amendment granting women's
sufferage, completing the
three-quarters necessary to
put the amendment into effect. |
| 1929 |
|
The
first cross-country women's
air derby begins. Louise
McPhetride Thaden wins first
prize in the heavier-plane
division, while Phoebe
Fairgrave Omlie finishes first
in the lighter-plane category. |
| 1939 |
|
The
film The Wizard of Oz
opens in New York City. |
| 1942 |
|
Japan
sends a crack army to
Guadalcanal to repulse the
U.S. Marines fighting there. |
| 1943 |
|
The
Royal Air Force Bomber Command
completes the first major
strike against the German
missile development facility
at Peenemunde. |
| 1963 |
|
James
Meredith, the first African
American to attend University
of Mississippi, graduates. |
| 1965 |
|
Operation
Starlite marks the beginning
of major U.S. ground combat
operations in Vietnam. |
| 1966 |
|
Australian
troops repulse a Viet Cong
attack at Long Tan. |
| 1969 |
|
Two
concert goers die at the
Woodstock Music and Art Fair
in Bethel, New York, one from
an overdose of heroin, the
other from a burst appendix. |
| 1991 |
|
A
group of hard-line communist
leaders unhappy with the drift
toward the collapse of the
Soviet Union seize control of
the government in Moscow and
place President Mikhail S.
Gorbachev under house arrest |
Born on August 18 |
| 1774 |
|
Meriwether
Lewis, American explorer who
led the Corps of Discovery
with William Clark. |
| 1792 |
|
Lord
John Russel, Prime Minister of
England from 1846 to 1852 and
1865 to 1866. |
| 1807 |
|
Charles
F. Adams, U.S. diplomat and
public official whose father
was John Quincy Adams. |
| 1918 |
|
Elsa
Morante, Italian writer (History:
A Novel). |
| 1922 |
|
Shelly
Winters, actress who won an
Academy Award for The Diary
of Anne Frank. |
| 1923 |
|
Jimmy
Witherspoon, blues singer. |
| 1932 |
|
Luc
Montagnier, virologist who
discovered the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV). |
| 1933 |
|
Roman
Polanski, Polish film director
best known for Rosemary's
Baby and Chinatown. |
