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| 1692 Five women are hanged in Salem, Massachusetts after being convicted of the crime of witchcraft. Fourteen more people are executed that year and 150 others are imprisoned. |
''Knowing the past, we can make wise
choices for a brighter, and more positive future.''
| 1493 | Maximilian succeeds his father Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor. | |
| 1587 | Sigismund III is chosen to be the king of Poland. | |
| 1692 | Five women are hanged in Salem, Massachusetts after being convicted of the crime of witchcraft. Fourteen more people are executed that year and 150 others are imprisoned. | |
| 1772 | Gustavus III of Sweden eliminates the rule of parties and establishes an absolute monarchy. | |
| 1779 | Americans under Major Henry Lee take the British garrison at Paulus Hook, New Jersey. | |
| 1812 | The USS Constitution earns the nickname "Old Ironsides" during the battle off Nova Scotia that saw her defeat the HMS Guerriere. | |
| 1914 | The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) lands in France. | |
| 1934 | 38 million Germans vote to make Adolf Hitler the official successor to President von Hindenburg. | |
| 1936 | Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca is shot by Franco's troops after being forced to dig his own grave. | |
| 1942 | A raid on Dieppe, France by British and Canadian commandos is repulsed by the German Army. | |
| 1944 | In an effort to prevent a communist uprising in Paris, Charles De Gualle begins attacking German forces all around the city. | |
| 1950 | Edith Sampson becomes the first African-American representative to the United Nations. | |
| 1957 | The first balloon flight to exceed 100,000 feet takes off from Crosby, Minnesota. | |
| 1965 | US forces destroy a Viet Cong stronghold near Van Tuong, in South Vietnam. | |
| 1974 | US Ambassador to Cyrus Rodger P. Davies assassinated by a sniper of Greek Cypriot paramilitary group EOKA-B during a demonstration outside the embassy in Nicosia. | |
| 1976 | Gerald R Ford, who had become President of the United States after Richard Nixon resigned, wins Republican Party's presidential nomination at Kansas City convention. | |
| 1987 | Hungerford Massacre in the UK; armed with semi-automatic rifles and a handgun Michael Ryan kills 16 people before committing suicide. In response, Parliament passed the Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1988 banning ownership of certain classes of firearms. | |
| 1988 | Cease fire begins in 8-year war between Iran and Iraq. | |
| 1991 | Communist hard-liners place President Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest in an attempted coup that failed two days later. | |
| 2002 | A Russian Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside of Grozny, killing 118 soldiers. | |
| 2003 | Shmuel Hanavi bus bombing: suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem kills 23 Israelis, some of them children, and wounds 130. Islamist militant group Hamas claims responsibility for the attack. | |
| 2004 | Google Inc. stock begins selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market, with an initial price of $85; the stock ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded. | |
| 2005 | Toronto Supercell: A series of thunderstorms spawn several tornadoes and cause flash floods in Southern Ontario. Losses exceed $500 million Canadian dollars, the highest ever in the province. | |
| 2010 |
Operation Iraqi Freedom ends; the last US combat brigade, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, leaves the country. Six brigades remain to train Iraqi troops.
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Born on August 19
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| 1870 | Bernard Baruch, U.S. representative to the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission. | |
| 1871 | Orville Wright, aviation pioneer. | |
| 1883 | Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, fashion designer. | |
| 1902 | Ogden Nash, humorist. | |
| 1919 | Malcolm Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine. | |
| 1921 | Gene Roddenberry, television writer and producer, best known for the series Star Trek. | |
| 1931 | Willie Shoemaker, record-setting jockey (won 8,833 of 40,350 starts); received Mike Venezia Memorial Award for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship" in 1990. | |
| 1940 | Jill St John, (Jill Arlyn Oppenheim), Los Angeles California, actress (Diamonds are Forever). | |
| 1942 | Fred Thompson, US Senator (R-Tenn); minority counsel on Senate Watergate Committee, lobbyist; actor (Law and Order)). | |
| 1945 | William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton, 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001); first president from the Baby Boomer generation. | |
| 1948 | Tipper Gore, wife of US Vice President Al Gore (1993-2001); co-founder, Parents Music Resource Center, which lobbied to have parental advisory labels placed on the packaging of music containing violent, sexual or drug-use lyrics. | |
| 1952 | Jonathan Frakes, actor (Commander William T Riker, Star Trek: The Next Generation); character given same birth-date but in 2335. | |
| 1966 | Lee Ann Womack, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter ("I Hope You Dance"). | |
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