Events

• 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
• 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy.
• 663 – Silla–Tang armies crush the Baekje restoration attempt and force Yamato Japan to withdraw from Korea in the Battle of Baekgang.
• 1189 – Third Crusade: The Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan.
• 1521 – The Ottoman Turks occupy Belgrade.
• 1524 – The Kaqchikel Maya rebel against their former Spanish allies during the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
• 1542 – Turkish-Portuguese War: Battle of Wofla: The Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and later executed.
• 1565 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sights land near St. Augustine, Florida and founds the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States.
• 1640 – Second Bishop’s War: King Charles I’s English army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn.
• 1648 – The Siege of Colchester ends when Royalists Forces surrender to the Parliamentary Forces after eleven weeks, during the Second English Civil War.
• 1810 – Battle of Grand Port: The French accept the surrender of a British Navy fleet.
• 1830 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s new Tom Thumb steam locomotive races a horse-drawn car, presaging steam’s role in US railroads.
• 1849 – After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent as the Republic of San Marco, surrenders to Austria.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries which lasts for two days.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas. The battle ends on August 30.
• 1867 – The United States takes possession of the (at this point unoccupied) Midway Atoll.
• 1879 – Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British.
• 1898 – Caleb Bradham’s beverage “Brad’s Drink” is renamed “Pepsi-Cola”.
• 1909 – A group of mid-level Greek Army officers launches the Goudi coup, seeking wide-ranging reforms.
• 1913 – Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in The Hague.
• 1914 – World War I: The Royal Navy defeats the German fleet in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.
• 1916 – World War I: Germany declares war on Romania.
• 1916 – World War I: Italy declares war on Germany.
• 1921 – The Red Army dissolved the Free Territory, after driving the Black Army out of Ukraine.
• 1924 – The Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union.
• 1943 – Denmark in World War II: German authorities demand that Danish authorities crack down on acts of resistance.
  • The next day, martial law is imposed on Denmark.
• 1944 – World War II: Marseille and Toulon are liberated.
• 1988 – Ramstein air show disaster: Three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd.
  • Seventy-five are killed and 346 seriously injured.
• 1990 – Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.
• 1998 – Second Congo War: Loyalist troops backed by Angolan and Zimbabwean forces repulse the RCD and Rwandan offensive on Kinshasa.

People (Births)

• 1366 – Jean Le Maingre, Marshal of France (d. 1421).
• 1728 – John Stark, American general (d. 1822).
• 1911 – Joseph Luns, Dutch politician and diplomat, 5th Secretary General of NATO (d. 2002).
• 1921 – Nancy Kulp, American actress and soldier (d. 1991).
• 1931 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honour recipient (d. 2014).
• 1940 – Roger Pingeon, French cyclist (d. 2017).
• 1943 – Surayud Chulanont, Thai general and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Thailand.
• 1943 – Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani colonel and politician (d. 2015).
• 1944 – Marianne Heemskerk, Dutch swimmer.
• 1963 – Regina Jacobs, American runner.
• 1971 – Janet Evans, American swimmer.
• 1980 – Jaakko Ojaniemi, Finnish decathlete.
• 1983 – Lilli Schwarzkopf, German heptathlete.
• 1986 – Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier and hostage.

People (Deaths)

• 476 – Orestes, Roman general and politician.
• 919 – He Gui, Chinese general (b. 858).
• 1609 – Francis Vere, English governor and general.
• 1648 – George Lisle, English general (b. 1610).
• 1648 – Charles Lucas, English general (b. 1613).
• 1678 – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1602).
• 1793 – Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine, French general (b. 1740).
• 1984 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (b. 1901).
• 2014 – John Anthony Walker, American soldier and spy (b. 1937).