What happened on August 2? There are more than 298 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About August 2
August 2 is the 215th day of the year 2024. There are 151 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 31st week of the year 2024.
On this day in Forreston, Illinois 61030 sunrise will occur at 05:51 AM and sunset will occur at 08:17 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Leo. The modern birthstone for this month is Peridot while the mystical birthstone is Diamond.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 180 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 20 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For August 2
- 216 BCSecond 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.
- 338 BCA 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.
- 1377Russian troops are defeated in the Battle on Pyana River because of drunkenness.
- 1610Henry Hudson sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean.
- 1776The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place.
- 1790The first US Census is conducted.
- 1798French Revolutionary Wars: the Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.
- 1830Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri.
- 1869Japan’s samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system (Shinōkōshō) is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese date: June 25, 1869).
- 1870Tower Subway, the world’s first underground tube railway, opens in London.
- 1873The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco’s famous cable car system.
- 1897Anglo-Afghan wars: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial India’s North West Frontier Province.
- 1903Fall of the Ottoman Empire: an unsuccessful uprising led by the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization against Ottoman Turkey, also known as the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising, takes place.
- 1916World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto.
- 1918Japan announces that it is deploying troops to Siberia in the aftermath of World War I.
- 1918The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver.
- 1922A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China killing more than 50,000 people.
- 1923As vice president, Calvin Coolidge becomes the 30th President of the United States after the death of Warren G. Harding
- 1932The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
- 1934Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
- 1937The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal.
- 1939Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan project to develop a nuclear weapon.
- 1943Rebellion in the Nazi death camp of Treblinka.
- 1943World 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.
- 1944ASNOM: birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in the Republic of Macedonia.
- 1945World War II: the Potsdam Conference, at which the Allied Powers discuss the future of defeated Germany, is concluded.
- 1964Vietnam War: Gulf of Tonkin incident – North Vietnamese gunboats allegedly fire on the U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy.
- 1968An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.
- 1973A flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.
- 1980A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
- 1985Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.
- 1989A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.
- 1989Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restoring democracy for the first time since 1972.
- 1990Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
- 2005Air 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.
- 2011Three Rapid City, South Dakota officers stop a group of suspicious people on Anamosa Street. One man pulls out a revolver and fires six shots, killing one officer, mortally wounding another, and injuring the third.
Who Were Born On August 2?
- 1455John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1499)
- 1533Theodor Zwinger, Swiss scholar (d. 1588)
- 1612Saskia van Uylenburgh, wife of Rembrandt van Rijn (d. 1642)
- 1672Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss scholar (d. 1733)
- 1674Philip II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France (d. 1723)
- 1696Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1754)
- 1702Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau, German Prince (d. 1769)
- 1703Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (d. 1775)
- 1740Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux, French general (d. 1817)
- 1788Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (d. 1853)
- 1815Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German writer (d. 1894)
- 1820John Tyndall, British physicist (d. 1893)
- 1828Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general (d. 1895)
- 1834Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor (d. 1904)
- 1835Elisha Gray, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1901)
- 1858Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1934)
- 1865Irving Babbitt, American literary critic (d. 1933)
- 1865John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (d. 1955)
- 1867Ernest Dowson, English poet (d. 1900)
- 1868King Constantine I of Greece (d. 1923)
- 1871John French Sloan, American artist (d. 1951)
- 1872George E. Stewart, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1946)
- 1875Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian painter (d. 1957)
- 1878Aino Kallas, Finnish-born Estonian author (d. 1956)
- 1882Red Ames, American baseball player (d. 1936)
- 1884Rómulo Gallegos, 46th President of Venezuela (d. 1969)
- 1886John Alexander Douglas McCurdy Canadian aviator (d. 1961)
- 1887Tommy Ward, South African cricketer (d. 1936)
- 1890Marin Sais, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1891Arthur Bliss, British composer and Master of the Queen’s Music (d. 1975)
- 1891Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian and linguist (d. 1971)
- 1892Jack Warner, Canadian-born American film producer (d. 1978)
- 1895Matt Henderson, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1970)
- 1896Lorenzo Herrera, Venezuelan singer and composer (d. 1960)
- 1897Karl Otto Koch, German SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1897Max Weber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1974)
- 1898Ernő Nagy, Hungarian fencer (d. 1977)
- 1899Charles Bennett, British screenwriter (d. 1995)
- 1902Helen Morgan, American actress (d. 1941)
- 1905Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (d. 1963)
- 1905Myrna Loy, American actress (d. 1993)
- 1907Mary Hamman, American writer (d. 1984)
- 1910Roger MacDougall, Scottish writer (d. 1993)
- 1912Ann Dvorak, American actress (d. 1979)
- 1912Palle Huld, Danish actor (d. 2010)
- 1912Vladimir Žerjavić, Croatian statistician (d. 2001)
- 1914Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1914Félix Leclerc, Quebec singer, songwriter and writer (d. 1988)
- 1915Gary Merrill, American actor (d. 1990)
- 1919Nehemiah Persoff, American actor
- 1920Louis Pauwels, French journalist and writer (d. 1997)
- 1922Gábor Agárdy, Hungarian actor (d. 2006)
- 1922Geoffrey Dutton, Australian author and historian (d. 1998)
- 1923Shimon Peres, Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel and the ninth President of the State of Israel
- 1924Carroll O'Connor, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1924James Baldwin, American writer (d. 1987)
- 1924Joe Harnell, American pianist, composer and arranger (d. 2005)
- 1925Alan Whicker, British journalist and broadcaster
- 1925John Dexter, English stage and film director (d. 1990)
- 1925John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1925Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian dictator, 43rd President of Argentina
- 1926Betsy Bloomingdale, American socialite
- 1928Malcolm Hilton, English cricketer (d. 1990)
- 1930Vali Myers, Australian painter (d. 2003)
- 1931Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer (d. 2008)
- 1931Pierre DuMaine, American Catholic bishop
- 1931Viliam Schrojf, Slovak footballer (d. 2007)
- 1932Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (d. 2006)
- 1932Peter O'Toole, Irish actor
- 1933Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Greek politician
- 1934Valery Bykovsky, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1935Hank Cochran, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1937Billy Cannon, American football player
- 1937Garth Hudson, Canadian organist and keyboardist (The Band)
- 1938Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
- 1938Pierre de Bané, French-Canadian politician
- 1938Terry Peck, Falkland Islands-born British soldier (d. 2006)
- 1939Benjamin Barber, American political theorist
- 1939John W. Snow, American 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1939Wes Craven, American film director
- 1940Will Tura, Belgian singer
- 1941Doris Coley, American singer (Shirelles) (d. 2000)
- 1941Ede Staal, Dutch singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
- 1942Isabel Allende, Chilean author
- 1943Kathy Lennon, one of the original Lennon Sisters
- 1943Max Wright, American actor
- 1943Tom Burgmeier, American baseball player
- 1944Jim Capaldi, British drummer and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
- 1944Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian jazz percussionist and vocalist
- 1945Alex Jesaulenko, Australian rules footballer
- 1945Bunker Roy, Indian Social Activist and Educator
- 1945Joanna Cassidy, American actress
- 1947Massiel, Spanish singer
- 1948Andy Fairweather Low, Welsh guitarist (Amen Corner)
- 1948Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author
- 1949Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian cosmonaut
- 1949James Fallows, American journalist
- 1950Jussi Adler-Olsen, Danish author
- 1950Kathryn Harrold, American actress
- 1950Lance Ito, American judge
- 1950Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate (d. 1994)
- 1951Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
- 1951Freddie Wadling, Swedish singer and musician (The Leather Nun, Fleshquartet)
- 1951Joe Lynn Turner, American singer (Deep Purple, Rainbow)
- 1951Per Westerberg, Swedish politician
- 1953Butch Patrick, American actor
- 1953Donnie Munro, former lead singer with Runrig
- 1953Marjo, Quebec singer
- 1954James Charles Kopp, American anti-abortion militant, murderer of Barnett Slepian
- 1954Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1955Caleb Carr, American novelist and military historian
- 1955Tim Dunigan, American actor
- 1955Tony Godden, English footballer
- 1956Fulvio Melia, Italian-born American physicist, astrophysicist and author
- 1956Isabel Pantoja, Spanish singer
- 1956Jim Neidhart, American professional wrestler
- 1957Butch Vig, American record producer and drummer (Garbage)
- 1957Farhat Basir Khan, Indian Photography and Media Activist Academician, a critically acclaimed Media Professional.
- 1957Mojo Nixon, American singer, lyricist and actor
- 1958Arshad Ayub, Indian cricketer
- 1959Apollonia Kotero, American singer and actress
- 1959Victoria Jackson, American comedian
- 1960David Yow, American vocalist (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard)
- 1960Linda Fratianne, American figure skater
- 1960Neal Morse, American keyboardist and vocalist (Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic)
- 1961Cold 187um, American rapper (Above the Law)
- 1961Graham Dye, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Scarlet Party, The Alan Parsons Project)
- 1961Pete de Freitas, born in Trinidad, drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen (d. 1989)
- 1962Cynthia Stevenson, Canadian actress
- 1962Lee Mavers, English musician, lead singer with The La’s
- 1963Daniel Pelosi, American convicted murderer
- 1963Laura Bennett, American architect and designer
- 1964Frank Biela, German racing driver
- 1964Mary-Louise Parker, American actress
- 1965Hisanobu Watanabe, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1966M.V. Sridhar, Indian cricketer
- 1966Takayuki Iizuka, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1966Tim Wakefield, American baseball player
- 1967Aaron Krickstein, American tennis player
- 1967Aline Brosh McKenna, American screenwriter
- 1968John Stanier, American drummer Helmet
- 1968Stefan Effenberg, German footballer
- 1969Cedric Ceballos, American basketball player
- 1969Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer
- 1969Jan Axel Blomberg Norwegian drummer (Dimmu Borgir, Winds, Mayhem)
- 1969Richard Hallebeek, Dutch jazz guitarist
- 1970Kevin Smith, American director and screenwriter
- 1970Philo Wallace, Barbiadian West Indies cricketer
- 1970Tony Amonte, American ice hockey player
- 1971Alice Evans, English actress
- 1971Michael Hughes, Irish footballer
- 1972Daniele Nardello, Italian cyclist
- 1972Jacinda Barrett, Australian model and actress
- 1972Justyna Steczkowska, Polish singer
- 1972Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1973Danie Keulder, Namibian cricketer
- 1973Hiroyuki Goto, Japanese game designer
- 1973Jay Meetze, American conductor and impresario
- 1973Reyn Ouwehand, Dutch C=64 Composer
- 1973Susie O'Neill, Australian swimmer
- 1974Angie Cepeda, Colombian actress
- 1974Phil Williams, Radio 5live Presenter
- 1975Ingrid Rubio, Spanish actress
- 1975Mineiro, Brazilian footballer
- 1975Tamás Molnár, Hungarian water polo player
- 1975Xu Huaiwen, Chinese-born German badminton player
- 1976Jay Heaps, American footballer
- 1976Michael Weiss, American figure skater
- 1976Mohammad Zahid, Pakistani cricketer
- 1976Reyes Estévez, Spanish mid-distance runner
- 1976Sam Worthington, Australian actor
- 1977Edward Furlong, American actor
- 1978Goran Gavrančić, Serbian footballer
- 1978Matt Guerrier, American baseball player
- 1979Donna Air, English television presenter
- 1979Marco Bonura, Italian footballer
- 1979Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner
- 1980Dingdong Dantes, Filipino actor
- 1980Ivica Banović, Croatian footballer
- 1980Nadia Bjorlin, American actress
- 1980Ugur Rifat Karlova, Turkish TV and stage entertainer
- 1981Aleksander Emelianenko, Russian MMA fighter, brother of Fedor Emelianenko
- 1982Grady Sizemore, American baseball player
- 1982Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer
- 1982Kerry Rhodes, American football player
- 1982Sara Foster, American actress
- 1983Nick Diaz, American MMA fighter
- 1984Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer
- 1985Britt Nicole, American Christian pop vocalist
- 1985Harry Smith, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1986Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian-born Malagasy skier
- 1988Brittany Hargest, American singer
- 1988Rob Kwiet, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989Vanes-Mari Du Toit, South African netballer
- 1990Skylar Diggins, American basketball player
- 1991Evander Kane, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992Hallie Kate Eisenberg, American actress
Who Died On August 2?
- 686Pope John V (birth year unknown)
- 924King Ælfweard of Wessex (b. 904)
- 1100King William II of England (b. c. 1056)
- 1222Count Raymond VI of Toulouse (b. 1156)
- 1316Louis of Burgundy, Prince of Achaea (b. 1297)
- 1445Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian composer (b. 1376 or 1377)
- 1511Andrew Barton, Scottish naval leader (b. c. 1466)
- 1589King Henry III of France (b. 1551)
- 1611Katō Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1562)
- 1696Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, Scottish military commander (b. 1630)
- 1769Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician (b. 1689)
- 1776Louis François I, Prince of Conti, French military leader (b. 1717)
- 1788Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (b. 1727)
- 1799Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor (b. 1745)
- 1815Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, French marshal (b. 1763)
- 1823Lazare Carnot, French general, politician and mathematician (b. 1753)
- 1849Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Egyptian military officer and statesman (b. 1769)
- 1859Horace Mann, American educator and abolitionist (b. 1796)
- 1876Wild Bill Hickok, American gunfighter (b. 1837)
- 1889Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian writer (b. 1851)
- 1890Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (b. 1813)
- 1903Edmond Nocard, French veterinarian (b. 1850)
- 1913Ferenc Pfaff, Hungarian architect (b. 1851)
- 1920Ormer Locklear, American stunt pilot (b. 1891)
- 1921Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor (b. 1873)
- 1922Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born Canadian inventor (b. 1847)
- 1923Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (b. 1865)
- 1929Mae Costello, American actress (b. 1882)
- 1934Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and 2nd President of Germany (b. 1847)
- 1936Louis Blériot, French aviation pioneer (b. 1872)
- 1939Harvey Spencer Lewis, American Rosicrucian mystic (b. 1883)
- 1945Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (b. 1863)
- 1955Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901)
- 1967Walter Terence Stace, British philosopher (b. 1886)
- 1972Brian Cole, American bass player (The Association) (b. 1942)
- 1972Helen Hoyt, American poet (b. 1887)
- 1973Jean-Pierre Melville, French film director (b. 1917)
- 1974Douglas Hawkes, British racing driver (b. 1893)
- 1976Fritz Lang, Austrian film director (b. 1890)
- 1976László Kalmár, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1905)
- 1978Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899)
- 1979Thurman Munson, American baseball player (b. 1947)
- 1983James Jamerson, American bassist (b. 1936)
- 1986Roy Cohn, American politician (b. 1927)
- 1988Joe Carcione, American consumer advocate (b. 1914)
- 1988Raymond Carver, American writer (b. 1938)
- 1990Edwin Richfield, British actor (b. 1921)
- 1990Norman Maclean, American writer (b. 1902)
- 1992Michel Berger, French singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
- 1996Michel Debré, French politician (b. 1912)
- 1996Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somalian warlord (b. 1934)
- 1997Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Nigerian musician (b. 1938)
- 1997William S. Burroughs, American writer (b. 1914)
- 1998Shari Lewis, American puppeteer (b. 1933)
- 2001Ron Townson, American singer (The 5th Dimension) (b. 1933)
- 2003Don Estelle, British actor (b. 1933)
- 2003Mike Levey, American television personality (b. 1948)
- 2003Peter Safar, Austrian physician (b. 1924)
- 2004Don Tosti, American violinist, composer and bandleader (b. 1923)
- 2004Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian painter (b. 1929)
- 2004François Craenhals, Belgian comics artist (b. 1926)
- 2005Steven Vincent, American journalist and writer (b. 1955)
- 2007Chauncey Bailey, American journalist and editor (b. 1950)
- 2007Holden Roberto, Angolan politician (b. 1923)
- 2007Kay Dotrice, English repertory actress (b. 1929)
- 2008Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese cartoonist (b. 1935)
- 2011DeLois Barrett Campbell, American gospel singer (b. 1926)
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