August 2nd. TODAY IN HISTORY

August 2 is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 151 days remaining until the end of the year.


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 led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army under command of consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro.

461 – Majorian is arrested near Tortona (Northern Italy) and deposed by the Suebian general Ricimer as puppet emperor.

1377 – Russian troops are defeated in the Battle on Pyana River because of drunkenness.

1610 – Henry Hudson sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean.

1776 – The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place.

1790 – The first US Census is conducted.

1798 – French Revolutionary Wars: the Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.

1830 – Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri.

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, England, United Kingdom.

1873 – The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system.

1897 – Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states adjacent to India's North West Frontier Province.

1903 – Fall of the Ottoman Empire: an unsuccessful uprising led by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization against Ottoman Turkey, also known as the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, takes place.

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.

1918 – The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver.

1922 – A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China killing more than 50,000 people.

1923 – Vice president, Calvin Coolidge becomes the 30th President of the United States after the death of Warren G. Harding

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, the effect of which is
to render 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: the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and sinks. Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. President, saves all but two of his crew.

1944 – ASNOM: birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in the Republic of Macedonia.

1945 – World War II: the Potsdam Conference, at which the Allied Powers discuss the future of defeated Germany.

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 for over 50 years.(Check passenger list)

1964 – Vietnam War: Gulf of Tonkin incident – North Vietnamese gunboats allegedly fire on the U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy. This is the reason Kennedy was murdered just months before this 'Black-Op' took place.

1968 – An 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 – 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 – Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restoring 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.

1990 – Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.

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.

Births

• 1455 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1499)
• 1533 – Theodor Zwinger, Swiss scholar (d. 1588)
• 1612 – Saskia van Uylenburgh, wife of Rembrandt (d. 1642)
• 1672 – Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss scholar (d. 1733)
• 1674 – Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France (d. 1723)
• 1696 – Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1754)
• 1702 – Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau, German Prince (d. 1769)
• 1703 – Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (d. 1775)
• 1740 – Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux, French general (d. 1817)
• 1788 – Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (d. 1853)
• 1815 – Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German writer (d. 1894)
• 1820 – John Tyndall, British physicist (d. 1893)
• 1828 – Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general (d. 1895)
• 1834 – Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (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)
• 1867 – Ernest Dowson, English poet (d. 1900)
• 1868 – King Constantine I of Greece (d. 1923)
• 1871 – John French Sloan, American artist (d. 1951)
• 1872 – George E. Stewart, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1946)
• 1875 – Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian painter (d. 1957)
• 1878 – Aino Kallas, Finnish-born Estonian author (d. 1956)
• 1882 – Red Ames, American baseball player (d. 1936)
• 1884 – Rómulo Gallegos, 46th President of Venezuela (d. 1969)
• 1886 – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy Canadian aviator (d. 1961)
• 1887 – Tommy Ward, South African cricketer (d. 1936)
• 1890 – Marin Sais, American actress (d. 1971)
• 1891 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian and linguist (d. 1971)
• 1891 – Arthur Bliss, British composer and Master of the Queen's Music (d. 1975)
• 1892 – Jack Warner, Canadian-born American film producer (d. 1978)
• 1895 – Matt Henderson, 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)
• 1898 – Ernő Nagy, Hungarian fencer (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Charles Bennett, British screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1902 – Helen Morgan, American actress (d. 1941)
• 1902 – Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, Pope of the Coptic Christian Church (d. 1971)
• 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, Scottish writer (d. 1993)
• 1912 – Palle Huld, Danish actor (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Ann Dvorak, American actress (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Vladimir Žerjavić, Croatian statistician (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Félix Leclerc, Quebec singer, songwriter and writer (d. 1988)
• 1914 – Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Big Walter Price, American blues singer, songwriter and pianist (d. 2012)
• 1915 – Gary Merrill, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1919 – Nehemiah Persoff, American actor
• 1920 – Louis Pauwels, French journalist and writer (d. 1997)
• 1922 – Geoffrey Dutton, Australian author and historian (d. 1998)
• 1922 – Gábor Agárdy, Hungarian actor (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Shimon Peres, Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel and the ninth President of the State of Israel
• 1924 – James Baldwin, American writer (d. 1987)
• 1924 – Joe Harnell, American pianist, 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, 43rd President of Argentina
• 1925 – Alan Whicker, British journalist and broadcaster
• 1926 – Betsy Bloomingdale, American socialite
• 1928 – Malcolm Hilton, English cricketer (d. 1990)
• 1930 – Vali Myers, Australian painter (d. 2003)
• 1931 – Pierre DuMaine, American Catholic bishop
• 1931 – Viliam Schrojf, Slovak footballer (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Peter O'Toole, Irish actor
• 1933 – Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Greek politician
• 1934 – Valery Bykovsky, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1935 – Hank Cochran, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1937 – Billy Cannon, American football player
• 1937 – Garth Hudson, Canadian organist and keyboardist (The Band)
• 1938 – Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
• 1938 – Pierre de Bané, French-Canadian politician
• 1938 – Terry Peck, Falkland Islands-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
• 1940 – Will Tura, Belgian singer
• 1940 – Beko Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian doctor and activist (d. 2006)
• 1941 – Doris Coley, American singer (The Shirelles) (d. 2000)
• 1941 – Ede Staal, Dutch singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
• 1941 – Jules A. Hoffmann, Member of the Académie française
• 1941 – François Weyergans, Member of the Académie française
• 1942 – Isabel Allende, Chilean author
• 1943 – Tom Burgmeier, American baseball player
• 1943 – Max Wright, American actor
• 1944 – Jim Capaldi, British drummer and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian jazz percussionist and vocalist
• 1945 – Joanna Cassidy, American actress
• 1945 – Alex Jesaulenko, Australian rules footballer
• 1945 – Bunker Roy, Indian Social Activist and Educator
• 1947 – Massiel, Spanish singer
• 1947 – Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning American author
• 1948 – Andy Fairweather Low, Welsh guitarist (Amen Corner)
• 1948 – Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author
• 1949 – James Fallows, American journalist
• 1949 – Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian cosmonaut
• 1950 – Jussi Adler-Olsen, Danish author
• 1950 – Kathryn Harrold, American actress
• 1950 – Lance Ito, American judge
• 1950 – Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate (d. 1994)
• 1951 – Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
• 1951 – Joe Lynn Turner, American singer (Deep Purple, Rainbow)
• 1951 – Freddie Wadling, Swedish singer and musician (Leather Nun, Fleshquartet)
• 1951 – Per Westerberg, Swedish politician
• 1953 – Marjo, Quebec singer
• 1953 – Donnie Munro, former lead singer with Runrig
• 1953 – Butch Patrick, American actor
• 1954 – James Charles Kopp, American anti-abortion militant, murderer of Barnett Slepian
• 1954 – Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and manager
• 1955 – Caleb Carr, American novelist and military historian
• 1955 – Tim Dunigan, American actor
• 1955 – Tony Godden, English footballer
• 1956 – Fulvio Melia, Italian-born American physicist, astrophysicist and author
• 1956 – Jim Neidhart, American professional wrestler
• 1956 – Isabel Pantoja, Spanish singer
• 1957 – Mojo Nixon, American singer, lyricist and actor
• 1957 – Butch Vig, American record producer and drummer (Garbage)
• 1957 – Farhat Basir Khan, Indian Photography and Media Activist Academician, a critically acclaimed Media Professional.
• 1958 – Arshad Ayub, Indian cricketer
• 1959 – Victoria Jackson, American comedian
• 1959 – Apollonia Kotero, American singer and actress
• 1960 – Neal Morse, American keyboardist and vocalist (Spock's Beard, Transatlantic)
• 1960 – David Yow, American vocalist (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard)
• 1960 – Linda Fratianne, American figure skater
• 1961 – Cold 187um, American rapper (Above the Law)
• 1961 – Pete de Freitas, born in Trinidad, drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen (d. 1989)
• 1962 – Cynthia Stevenson, Canadian actress
• 1962 – Lee Mavers, English musician, lead singer with The La's
• 1963 – Daniel Pelosi, American convicted murderer
• 1963 – Laura Bennett, American architect and designer
• 1964 – Frank Biela, German racing 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 drummer Helmet
• 1969 – Cedric Ceballos, American basketball player
• 1969 – Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer
• 1969 – Jan Axel Blomberg Norwegian drummer (Dimmu Borgir, Winds, Mayhem)
• 1969 – Richard Hallebeek, Dutch jazz guitarist
• 1970 – Tony Amonte, American ice hockey player
• 1970 – Kevin Smith, American director and screenwriter
• 1970 – Philo Wallace, Barbadian West Indies cricketer
• 1971 – Alice Evans, English actress
• 1971 – Michael Hughes, Irish footballer
• 1972 – Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi Arabian footballer
• 1972 – Jacinda Barrett, Australian model and actress
• 1972 – Daniele Nardello, Italian cyclist
• 1972 – Justyna Steczkowska, Polish singer
• 1973 – Hiroyuki Goto, Japanese game designer
• 1973 – Danie Keulder, Namibian cricketer
• 1973 – Jay Meetze, American conductor and impresario
• 1973 – Susie O'Neill, Australian swimmer
• 1973 – Reyn Ouwehand, Dutch Commodore 64 Composer
• 1974 – Angie Cepeda, Colombian actress
• 1974 – Phil Williams, Radio 5live Presenter
• 1975 – Mineiro, Brazilian footballer
• 1975 – Xu Huaiwen, Chinese-born German badminton player
• 1975 – Tamás Molnár, Hungarian water polo player
• 1975 – Ingrid Rubio, Spanish actress
• 1976 – Reyes Estévez, Spanish mid-distance runner
• 1976 – Sam Worthington, Australian actor
• 1976 – Jay Heaps, American footballer
• 1976 – Michael Weiss, American figure skater
• 1976 – Mohammad Zahid, Pakistani cricketer
• 1977 – Edward Furlong, American actor
• 1978 – Goran Gavrančić, Serbian footballer
• 1978 – Matt Guerrier, American baseball player
• 1979 – Marco Bonura, Italian footballer
• 1979 – Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner
• 1979 – Donna Air, English television presenter
• 1980 – Ivica Banović, Croatian footballer
• 1980 – Nadia Bjorlin, American actress
• 1980 – Dingdong Dantes, Filipino actor
• 1980 – Uğur Rıfat Karlova, Turkish TV and stage entertainer
• 1981 – Alexander Emelianenko, Russian MMA fighter, brother of Fedor Emelianenko
• 1981 – Sara Foster, American actress
• 1982 – Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer
• 1982 – Kerry Rhodes, American football player
• 1982 – Grady Sizemore, American baseball player
• 1983 – Nick Diaz, American MMA fighter
• 1983 – Michel Bastos, Brazilian footballer
• 1984 – Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Harry Smith, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1985 – Britt Nicole, American Christian pop vocalist
• 1986 – Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian-born Malagasy skier
• 1988 – Brittany Hargest, American singer
• 1988 – Rob Kwiet, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1989 – Vanes-Mari Du Toit, South African netballer
• 1990 – Skylar Diggins, American basketball player
• 1991 – Skyler Day, American actress
• 1991 – Evander Kane, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1992 – Hallie Eisenberg, American actress

Deaths

• 686 – Pope John V (birth year unknown)
• 924 – King Ælfweard of Wessex (b. 904)
• 1100 – King William II of England (b. c. 1056)
• 1222 – Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse (b. 1156)
• 1316 – Louis of Burgundy, Prince of Achaea (b. 1297)
• 1445 – Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian composer (b. 1376 or 1377)
• 1511 – Andrew Barton, Scottish naval leader (b. c. 1466)
• 1589 – King Henry III of France (b. 1551)
• 1611 – Katō 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, Prince of Conti, French military leader (b. 1717)
• 1788 – Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (b. 1727)
• 1815 – Guillaume-Marie-Anne Brune, French marshal (b. 1763)
• 1823 – Lazare Carnot, French general, politician and mathematician (b. 1753)
• 1849 – Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Egyptian military officer and statesman (b. 1769)
• 1859 – Horace Mann, American educator and abolitionist (b. 1796)
• 1876 – Wild Bill Hickok, American gunfighter (b. 1837)
• 1889 – Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian writer (b. 1851)
• 1890 – Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (b. 1813)
• 1903 – Edmond Nocard, French veterinarian (b. 1850)
• 1913 – Ferenc Pfaff, Hungarian architect (b. 1851)
• 1920 – Ormer Locklear, American stunt pilot (b. 1891)
• 1921 – Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor (b. 1873)
• 1922 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born Canadian inventor (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 2nd 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)
• 1951 – John Paine, American shooter (b. 1870)
• 1955 – Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901)
• 1967 – Walter Terence Stace, British philosopher (b. 1886)
• 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 – Douglas Hawkes, British racing driver (b. 1893)
• 1976 – Fritz Lang, Austrian film director (b. 1890)
• 1976 – László Kalmár, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899)
• 1979 – Thurman Munson, American baseball player (b. 1947)
• 1983 – James Jamerson, American bassist (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 Maclean, 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 Kuti, Nigerian musician (b. 1938)
• 1998 – Shari Lewis, American puppeteer (b. 1933)
• 2001 – Ronald Townson, American singer (The 5th 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 violinist, composer and bandleader (b. 1923)
• 2004 – Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian painter (b. 1929)
• 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 politician (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Kay Dotrice, English repertory actress (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese cartoonist (b. 1935)
• 2011 – José Sanchis Grau, Spanish comic writer (b. 1932)