August 2 in History

Historical Events on August 2

338 BC

A 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.
216 BC

The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae.
AD 70

The armies of Titus destroy the Second Temple as the final blow of the Siege of Jerusalem.
461

Majorian is arrested near Tortona (northern Italy) and deposed by the Suebian general Ricimer as puppet emperor.
1274

Edward I of England returns from the Ninth Crusade and is crowned King seventeen days later.
1343

After the execution of her husband, Jeanne de Clisson sells her estates and raises a force of men with which to attack French shipping and ports.
1377

Russian troops are defeated by forces of the Blue Horde Khan Arapsha in the Battle on Pyana River.
1415

Thomas Grey, conspirator against King Henry V, beheaded.
1610

During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay.
1776

The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place.
1790

The first United States Census is conducted.
1798

French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.
1830

Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri.
1869

Japan's Edo society class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms.
1870

Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom.
1873

The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system.
1897

Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states.
1903

The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins.
1914

The German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I begins.
1916

World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto.
1918

The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver.
1922

A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China killing more than 50,000 people.
1923

Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes U.S. President upon the death of President Warren G. Harding.
1932

The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
1934

Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg.
1937

The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal.
1939

Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.
1943

Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months.
1943

World 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.
1944

ASNOM: Birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in the Republic of Macedonia.
1944

World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches.
1945

World War II: End of the Potsdam Conference.
1947

A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. The wreckage would not be found until 1998.
1968

An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.
1973

A flash fire kills 51 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.
1980

A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
1985

Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.
1989

Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972.
1989

A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.
1990

Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
1999

The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India.
2005

Air 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.
2014

At least 146 people were killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.

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