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On This Day · The 214th day of the year

August 2

A look at August 2 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Bertalan Farkas and Stefan Effenberg, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1989

    Pakistan

    Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972.

    Country in South Asia
  2. 1973

    Summerland disaster

    A flash fire kills 50 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.

    1973 fire in Douglas,
  3. 1943

    World War II

    World War II: After the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. president, saves all but two of his crew.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  4. 1939

    Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.

    German-born theoretical physicist (1879–1955)
  5. 1923

    Calvin Coolidge

    U.S. Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of President Warren G. Harding.

    President of the United
  6. 1916

    Austria-Hungary

    World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto.

    1867–1918 empire in Central
  7. 1914

    World War I

    World War I: The German occupation of Luxembourg begins.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  8. 1870

    Tower Subway

    Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom.

    Tunnel beneath the River
  9. 1790

    1790 United States census

    The first United States Census is conducted.

    First US census
  10. -49

    Julius Caesar

    Caesar, who marched to Spain earlier in the year, leaving Marcus Antonius in charge of Italy, defeats Pompey's general Afranius and Petreius in Ilerda (Lerida) north of the Ebro river.

    Roman general and dictator
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Famous birthday twins

Born on August 2

Bertalan Farkas

b. 1949

Hungarian general and cosmonaut

Stefan Effenberg

b. 1968

German footballer and sportscaster

Susie O'Neill

b. 1973

Australian swimmer

Victoria Jackson

b. 1959

American actress and singer

Shimon Peres

b. 1923

Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel

Karl-Otto Koch

b. 1897

German SS officer

Leopold Gmelin

b. 1788

German chemist and academic

Frank Biela

b. 1964

German race car driver

Deaths

  • 1976Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1934Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and politician, 2nd president of Germany
  • 1923Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th president of the United States
  • 1922Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, invented the telephone
  • 1876Wild Bill Hickok, American sheriff
  • 1445Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian poet and composer

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church).
  • —Christian feast day: Basil Fool for Christ (Russian Orthodox Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Justin Russolillo
  • —Christian feast day: Eusebius of Vercelli
  • —Christian feast day: Peter Faber
  • —Christian feast day: Peter Julian Eymard
  • —Christian feast day: Plegmund
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Stephen I

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