August 25

Matthew Webb becomes first person to swim across English Channel (1875); Singer Aaliyah dies in plane crash (2001); Voyager 1 becomes first human-made object to enter interstellar space (2012); Astronaut Neil Armstrong dies (2012); Sen. John McCain dies (2018).

August 24

Mount Vesuvius erupts, killing up to 15,000 people in and around Pompeii (79); Thomas Edison files patent for the kinetoscope, an early motion-picture viewer (1891); Brazilian author Paulo Coelho born (1947); Windows 95 released (1995).

April 4

"As the Artemis II astronauts fly farther from Earth, they’re taking the opportunity to look back home."https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/science/nasa-artemis-moon-photos.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YFA.niU3.mjN6IAwf3eqD&smid=url-share&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

May 16

"What began as a stop to help a stranded driver with a flat tire turned into a life-saving rescue for three Florida teenagers now being hailed as heroes in their community."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/humankind/2026/05/14/florida-teens-save-man-heart-attack/90078133007/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

May 30

"Simpsons" creator Matt Groening said the show's fictional Springfield was based on his childhood in Oregon, but the show has famously avoided stating where the town is located.

August 5

"A poop transplant — otherwise known as a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) — may help adults with long-term insomnia sleep better, a small study suggests."

https://www.livescience.com/health/sleep/poop-pills-may-ease-insomnia-by-reprogramming-the-gut-microbiome-early-study-hints?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

August 21

Nat Turner leads rebellion of enslaved people (1831); "Mona Lisa" stolen from The Louvre Museum, is recovered two years later (1911); Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain born (1936); Hawaii becomes 50th US state (1959); Usain Bolt born (1986).

August 20

First around-the-world telegram sent (1911); "Valley of the Dolls" author Jacqueline Susann is born (1918); Actress Amy Adams born (1974); NASA launches Viking 1 probe toward Mars (1975); Comedian Jerry Lewis dies (2017).

August 23

Actor River Phoenix born (1970); Salad Bowl strike begins; largest farmworker strike in US history (1970); Kobe Bryant born (1978); 12-time Olympic swimming medalist Natalie Coughlin born (1982); India becomes fourth country to successfully land on the moon (2023).  

August 20

Fashion designer Coco Chanel born (1883); Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500, hosts first race (1909); Former President Bill Clinton born (1946); Comedian Groucho Marx dies (1977); Final US combat brigade leaves Iraq (2010).

April 23

English playwright William Shakespeare dies (1616); Hollywood legend and diplomat Shirley Temple born (1928); American punk rock band Ramones releases first album (1976); The first video is uploaded on YouTube (2005).

August 18

Actress Shelley Winters born (1920); Baseball great Roberto Clemente born (1934); Hollywood legend Robert Redford born (1936); Nobel Peace Prize winner and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan dies (2018).

August 17

Actress Mae West born (1893); Robert De Niro born (1943); George Orwell's "Animal Farm" published (1945); President Bill Clinton admits to improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky (1998); Michael Phelps becomes first person to win eight gold medals in single Olympics (2008).

August 14

Steve Martin born (1945); Magic Johnson born (1959); Halle Berry born (1966); Blackout in the US and Canada affects 53 million (2003); US Embassy in Cuba opens for first time in 54 years (2015).

August 16

Gold is discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory, sparks Klondike gold rush (1896); Babe Ruth dies (1948); Sports Illustrated is first published (1954); Madonna is born (1958); Elvis Presley dies (1977); Aretha Franklin dies (2018).

August 15

Napoleon Bonaparte born (1769); Iconic chef and TV host Julia Child born (1912); Panama Canal opens (1914); Woodstock music festival begins (1969); Civil rights activist Julian Bond dies (2015).

August 13

Sharpshooter Annie Oakley born (1860); Florence Nightingale, pioneer of modern nursing, dies (1910); Fidel Castro born (1926); Construction of the Berlin Wall begins (1961); Baseball great Mickey Mantle dies (1995); Celebrity chef Julia Child dies (2004).

August 12

Egyptian queen Cleopatra dies by suicide (30 BCE, estimated); James Bond creator Ian Fleming dies (1964); IBM personal computer is released (1981); Explorer Susan Hendrickson discovers SUE the Tyrannosaurus rex (1990); Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall dies (2014).

August 10

Louvre Museum opens in Paris, France (1793); Smithsonian Institution created (1846); First electric guitar patent awarded to Electro String Corporation (1937); "Wizard of Oz" movie premieres in Green Bay, Wisconsin (1939); Ruth Bader Ginsburg sworn in as Supreme Court justice (1993)

August 11

Author and historian Alex Haley born (1921); Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak born (1950); Actress Viola Davis born (1965); Final US ground combat troops leave South Vietnam during Vietnam War (1972); Robin Williams dies by suicide (2014).

August 8

Thomas Edison patents the mimeograph (1876); Writer Shirley Jackson dies (1965); President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (1974); Roger Federer born (1981); Olivia Newton-John dies (2022). 

August 9

The US drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing over 40,000 (1945); Singer Whitney Houston born (1963); Actress Sharon Tate, four others murdered by Manson Family (1969); Gerald Ford becomes US president as Richard Nixon resigns (1974); Musician Jerry Garcia dies (1995).

August 7

Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche born (1904); Operation Desert Shield preps the US to enter Gulf War (1990); US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are bombed, killing 224 and wounding 4,500 (1998); Track and field star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone born (1999); Journalist Peter Jennings dies (2005).

August 6

Actress Lucille Ball born (1911); Pop artist Andy Warhol born (1928); "Little Boy" atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, killing more than 80,000 (1945); Actress Michelle Yeoh born (1962); Voting Rights Act signed (1965); Curiosity rover lands on Mars (2012).

August 5

Space pioneer Neil Armstrong born (1930); Marilyn Monroe found dead in her Los Angeles home (1962); The US, the UK, and the Soviet Union sign Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963); Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison dies (2019).

August 4

Jazz legend Louis Armstrong born (1901); Anne Frank and family are captured after two years hiding from Nazis (1944); President Barack Obama born (1961); Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, born (1981); Rwanda peace treaty signed (1993).

August 3

Christopher Columbus sets sail on his first trans-Atlantic voyage from Spain (1492); Former US Vice President Aaron Burr goes on trial for treason (1807); US businesswoman Martha Stewart born (1941); NBA was formed as a merger of two leagues (1949); Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn dies (2008)