# On this day: August 2

August 2 is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years), with 151 days left until the end of the year.

## August 2 in one line

Headline entries for August 2, from Wikipedia: in 1990, Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: Iraq invades Kuwait and temporarily establishes the Republic of Kuwait puppet state on the orders of Saddam Hussein, eventually leading to the Gulf War; born 1923: Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel (died 2016); died 1922: Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, invented the telephone (born 1847). In 2026 it is a Sunday, in 2027 a Monday.

## Events on August 2

- 338 BC An allied army led by Philip II of Macedon overcame the forces of city-states led by Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony over the majority of ancient Greece. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chaeronea_(338_BC))
- 216 BC The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae)
- 461 Unpopular among the Senate aristocracy for his reforming efforts, Roman emperor Majorian was deposed by Ricimer and executed five days later. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorian)
- 1100 While on a hunting trip in the New Forest, King William II of England was killed by an arrow through the lung loosed by one of his own men. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_England)
- 1610 During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Bay)
- 1776 American Revolution: The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress takes place. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence)
- 1790 The first United States census was officially completed, with the nation's residential population enumerated to be 3,929,214. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1790_United_States_census)
- 1798 French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Nile)
- 1870 One of the world's earliest underground tube railways opened in the Tower Subway, a tunnel beneath the River Thames in London. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Subway)
- 1903 The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilinden%E2%80%93Preobrazhenie_Uprising)
- 1914 The French army's general headquarters was activated in anticipation of war with Germany. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Quartier_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral_(1914%E2%80%931919))
- 1916 An explosion, blamed on Austro-Hungarian saboteurs, sank the Italian dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_battleship_Leonardo_da_Vinci)
- 1920 Nepalese author Krishna Lal Adhikari was sentenced to nine years in prison for publishing a book about the cultivation of corn alleged to contain attacks on the ruling dynasty. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makaiko_Kheti)
- 1923 Calvin Coolidge became the 30th president of the United States after Warren G. Harding suffered a fatal heart attack. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge)
- 1932 At the California Institute of Technology, American physicist Carl David Anderson proved the existence of antimatter with the discovery of the positron, for which he would receive the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron)
- 1934 Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_von_Hindenburg)
- 1939 Leo Szilard penned a letter, signed by Albert Einstein and addressed to U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning that Germany may develop atomic bombs, leading to the establishment of the Manhattan Project. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szilard_letter)
- 1945 World War II: The Potsdam Conference ends. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Conference)
- 1947 Star Dust, a British South American Airways airliner, crashed into Mount Tupungato in the Argentine Andes; its wreckage was not found until 1998. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_BSAA_Avro_Lancastrian_Star_Dust_accident)
- 1971 The English rock band the Who released Who's Next, their only album to top the UK charts. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Next)
- 1973 A flash fire killed 50 people at a leisure centre in Douglas, Isle of Man. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerland_disaster)
- 1980 A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_massacre)
- 1986 The animated film Castle in the Sky, the first from Studio Ghibli, was released. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky)
- 1989 Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations)
- 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: Iraq invades Kuwait and temporarily establishes the Republic of Kuwait puppet state on the orders of Saddam Hussein, eventually leading to the Gulf War. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_invasion_of_Kuwait)
- 2007 Raúl Iturriaga, a former deputy director of the Chilean secret police, was captured in Viña del Mar after having been on the run following a kidnapping conviction. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Iturriaga)
- 2008 A taxi driver is murdered in Bangkok by a teenager addicted to video games leading to the Thai government banning the sale of Grand Theft Auto. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Khuan_Phokaeng)

## Born on August 2

- 1696 Mahmud I, Ottoman sultan (died 1754) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_I)
- 1820 John Tyndall, Irish-English physicist and mountaineer (died 1893) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyndall)
- 1834 Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (died 1904) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Auguste_Bartholdi)
- 1868 Constantine I of Greece (died 1923) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I_of_Greece)
- 1884 Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan author and politician, 46th President of Venezuela (died 1969) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B3mulo_Gallegos)
- 1905 Myrna Loy, American actress (died 1993) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrna_Loy)
- 1923 Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel (died 2016) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres)
- 1924 James Baldwin, American novelist, poet, and critic (died 1987) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin)
- 1925 Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian general and politician, 43rd President of Argentina (died 2013) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Rafael_Videla)
- 1932 Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor and producer (died 2013) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_O'Toole)
- 1939 Wes Craven, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2015) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Craven)
- 1941 Jules A. Hoffmann, Luxembourgish-French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_A._Hoffmann)
- 1942 Isabel Allende, Chilean-American novelist, essayist, essayist [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Allende)
- 1964 Mary-Louise Parker, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary-Louise_Parker)
- 1968 Stefan Effenberg, German footballer and sportscaster [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Effenberg)
- 1970 Kevin Smith, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Smith)
- 1976 Sam Worthington, English-Australian actor and producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Worthington)
- 1982 Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9lder_Postiga)
- 1984 JD Vance, American politician, 50th vice president of the United States [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JD_Vance)
- 1984 Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giampaolo_Pazzini)
- 1989 Nacer Chadli, Belgian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacer_Chadli)
- 1992 Charli XCX, English singer-songwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charli_XCX)

## Died on August 2

- 257 Pope Stephen I [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Stephen_I)
- 686 Pope John V [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_V)
- 855 Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Arab theologian and jurist (born 780) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Hanbal)
- 1100 William II of England (born 1056) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_England)
- 1589 Henry III of France (born 1551) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_III_of_France)
- 1788 Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (born 1727) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gainsborough)
- 1849 Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Ottoman Albanian commander (born 1769) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_of_Egypt)
- 1921 Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor and actor (born 1873) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Caruso)
- 1922 Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, invented the telephone (born 1847) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell)
- 1923 Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th president of the United States (born 1865) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_G._Harding)
- 1934 Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and politician, 2nd president of Germany (born 1847) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_von_Hindenburg)
- 1976 Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1890) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Lang)
- 1997 William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1914) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs)
- 2016 Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1946) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Zewail)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church). [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_Orthodox_Church)
- Christian feast day: Basil Fool for Christ (Russian Orthodox Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Fool_for_Christ)
- Christian feast day: Ceferino Giménez Malla [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceferino_Gim%C3%A9nez_Malla)
- Christian feast day: Centola and Helen [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centola_and_Helen)
- Christian feast day: Joan of Aza [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Aza)
- Christian feast day: Justin Russolillo [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giustino_Russolillo)
- Christian feast day: Peter Julian Eymard [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Julian_Eymard)
- Christian feast day: Plegmund [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plegmund)
- Christian feast day: Pope Stephen I [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Stephen_I)
- Christian feast day: Portiuncola Indulgence ("Pardon of Assisi"), the plenary indulgence related to St. Francis of Assisi (Catholic Church). [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi)
- Christian feast day: Samuel David Ferguson (Episcopal Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_David_Ferguson)
- Christian feast day: August 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Day of Azerbaijani cinema (Azerbaijan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Azerbaijan)
- Our Lady of the Angels Day (Costa Rica) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_de_los_%C3%81ngeles)
- Paratroopers Day (Russia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_Day)
- Republic Day (North Macedonia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day_(North_Macedonia))
- Romani genocide-related observances, including: Roma Holocaust Memorial Day (Council of Europe, European Parliament) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_Holocaust_Memorial_Day)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “August 2”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/August 2”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/August_2) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“August 2”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for August 2 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 27 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. The 1990 entry stays as well, and comes first in the one-line summary: we keep a short list, checked by hand, of widely known events that Wikipedia's editors leave out of their selection, usually because the article carries a maintenance notice. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## August 2 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Sunday | 2026-W31 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2027 | Monday | 2027-W31 | 🌑 New Moon |
| 2028 | Wednesday | 2028-W31 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2029 | Thursday | 2029-W31 | 🌗 Last Quarter |
| 2030 | Friday | 2030-W31 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on August 2

- [🇮🇪 Ireland](https://whathappen.today/holidays/ireland/): August Bank Holiday (2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← August 1](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/august-1/) · [August 3 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/august-3/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/august-2/