Historical anniversaries are great for “On This Day in History” features and anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with readers and viewers, editors and producers love them, they’re easy to research, and you can easily turn them into newspaper and magazine articles, films, TV/radio/theatre shows, and more.
Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries coming up in August 2021 (so you have time to write about them!)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2021. You’ll find hundreds more in the book. The 2022 edition is also available.
Aug 1, 1946 – 75 years ago
The Fulbright Program was established in the USA. It is the world’s largest education exchange program. It funds U.S. citizens to study or teach in a foreign country, and funds non-U.S. citizens to study or teach in the USA.
Aug 2, 1921 – 100 years ago
Death of Enrico Caruso, Italian operatic tenor.
Aug 3, 1921 – 100 years ago
U.S. Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate 8 members of the Chicago White Sox who had been implicated in the Black Sox Scandal. They had been acquitted by a jury the previous day. He ruled that, regardless of the verdict, no player who deliberately threw a game should play professionally again, and banned them for life.
Aug 4, 1821 – 200 years ago
Birth of Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer. Known for his luxury cases and travel accessories.
Aug 5, 1921 – 100 years ago
The first live radio broadcast of a Major League Baseball game, by KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Aug 6, 1991 – 30 years ago
The first website (info.cern.ch) went live. The web’s inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, also posted a description of the World Wide Web project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup, and provided a link to download the first web browser, though it could only run on NeXT workstations.
Aug 7, 1821 – 200 years ago
Death of Caroline of Brunswick, Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom.
Aug 8, 1846 – 175 years ago
The Wilmot Proviso was proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives. It attempted to ban slavery in new territories acquired from Mexico. The conflict over the proviso was one of the key events that led to the American Civil War.
Aug 9, 2006 – 15 years ago
Terrorists attempted to detonate liquid explosives on board airliners traveling from the UK to the USA and Canada. The explosives were disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by British police during a surveillance operation and none of the explosives detonated. Many airlines immediately banned all liquids on flights, except baby milk formula and prescription medicines. The ban was relaxed in the following weeks, but at the time of writing many airlines still ban liquid containers larger than 100 ml.
Aug 10, 1821 – 200 years ago
Missouri was admitted as the 24th state of the USA.
Aug 11, 1956 – 65 years ago
Death of Jackson Pollock, American abstract expressionist artist. Best known for his drip paintings. (Car crash, aged 44.)
Aug 12, 1981 – 40 years ago
IBM launched the Personal Computer (PC).
Aug 13, 1521 – 500 years ago
The Fall of the Aztec Empire. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés captured Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire after a 3-month siege, and Mexico became a Spanish territory. (Tenochtitlan is now part of Mexico City.)
Aug 14, 1871 – 150 years ago
Birth of Guangxu, Emperor of China (1875–1908). (Poisoned by arsenic and killed, aged 37.)
Aug 15, 1771 – 250 years ago
Birth of Sir Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist, poet, and playwright. His best-known works include Ivanhoe and Rob Roy.
Aug 16, 1896 – 125 years ago
Local miners discovered gold in the Klondike region of the Yukon, Canada. This triggered the Klondike Gold Rush when 100,000 prospectors migrated to the area between 1897 and 1899.
Aug 17, 1771 – 250 years ago
The first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis in Scotland was made by Scottish botanist James Robertson. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. About 100,000 people per year now make the ascent.
Aug 18, 1941 – 80 years ago
The National Fire Service was established in Britain. (It ceased in 1948.)
Aug 19 to 21, 1991 – 30 years ago
Attempted coup in the Soviet Union. Hard-line members of the Communist Party tried to seize control from President Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup failed after 3 days, and eventually led to the collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev resigned as First Secretary of the Communist Party on 24th. On 29th the Supreme Soviet suspended all activities of the Communist Party.
Aug 20, 1991 – 30 years ago
The following former Soviet states declared their independence this month: Estonia (20th), Latvia (21st), Ukraine (24th), Belarus (25th), Moldova (27th), Azerbaijan (30th), Kyrgyzstan (31st), Uzbekistan (31st).
Aug 21, 1961 – 60 years ago
The song Please Mr. Postman by The Marvelettes was released. It became Motown’s first #1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 record chart.
Aug 22, 1771 – 250 years ago
Birth of Henry Maudslay, British engineer. Considered the father of machine tool technology. His inventions were a key foundation of the Industrial Revolution.
Aug 23, 1996 – 25 years ago
Saudi Arabian-born terrorist Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa entitled A Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places. Few people knew who he was at that time, and it received little attention.
Aug 24, 1821 – 200 years ago
The Treaty of Córdoba was signed, establishing Mexico’s independence from Spain and concluding the Mexican War of Independence. Mexico officially declared its independence on 28th September.
Aug 25, 1981 – 40 years ago
The U.S. space probe Voyager 2 reached Saturn and sent back images and data from the planet. It then travelled on to Uranus (1986) and Neptune (1989) before reaching interstellar space in 2018. At the time of writing it remains operational.
Aug 26, 1961 – 60 years ago
The Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto, Canada.
Aug 27, 1896 – 125 years ago
Anglo-Zanzibar War, Zanzibar. The shortest war in history – 38 minutes. British victory.
Aug 28, 1941 – 80 years ago
The Office of Price Administration was established in the USA. It placed ceilings on prices for goods and handled rationing of items in short supply during WWII. It was dissolved in 1947.
Aug 29, 1871 – 150 years ago
The abolition of the han system in Japan. All remaining feudal domains (han) were transformed into prefectures.
Aug 30, 1871 – 150 years ago
Birth of Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand-born British nuclear physicist whose many discoveries include alpha and beta radiation, radon, and the radioactive half-life. Winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The chemical element rutherfordium (element 104) is named in his honor.
Aug 31, 1996 – 25 years ago
The First Chechen War ended. Chechen victory over Russian Federation forces.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2021. The 2022 edition is also available if you need to work further ahead. Find out more at ideas4writers.com.