Vintage News · Odd history for August 2
What Happened On August 2
51 events and 256 births, refreshed daily. OddlyTrue's own archive for 2 August →
10 odd things that happened on August 2
1790 First everThe first United States census was officially completed, with the nation's residential population enumerated to be 3,929,214.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1873 First everThe Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1870 First everTower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1790 First everThe first United States Census is conducted.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1784 First everThe first British mail coach service runs from Bristol to London.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1343 Oddly trueAfter 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.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1986 First everThe animated film Castle in the Sky, the first from Studio Ghibli, was released.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1989 First everPakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1982 First everThe Helsinki Metro, the first rapid transit system of Finland, is opened to the general public.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1980 Oddly trueA bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Observed today
- Christian feast day: Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church).
- Christian feast day: Basil Fool for Christ (Russian Orthodox Church)
- Christian feast day: Ceferino Giménez Malla
- Christian feast day: Centola and Helen
- Christian feast day: Joan of Aza
- Christian feast day: Justin Russolillo
- Christian feast day: Peter Julian Eymard
- Christian feast day: Plegmund
- Christian feast day: Pope Stephen I
- Christian feast day: Portiuncola Indulgence ("Pardon of Assisi"), the plenary indulgence related to St. Francis of Assisi (Catholic Church).
- Christian feast day: Samuel David Ferguson (Episcopal Church)
- Christian feast day: August 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Azerbaijani cinema (Azerbaijan)
- Our Lady of the Angels Day (Costa Rica)
- Paratroopers Day (Russia)
- Republic Day (North Macedonia)
- Romani genocide-related observances, including: Roma Holocaust Memorial Day (Council of Europe, European Parliament)
- 2014At least 146 people are killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China. Wikipedia →
- 2005Air 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. Wikipedia →
- 1999The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India. Wikipedia →
- 1991Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-43 to deploy the TDRS-5 satellite. Wikipedia →
- 1990Iraqi 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 →
- 1989Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972. Wikipedia →
- 1989A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians. Wikipedia →
- 1985Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137. Wikipedia →
- 1982The Helsinki Metro, the first rapid transit system of Finland, is opened to the general public. Wikipedia →
- 1980A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200. Wikipedia →
- 1973A flash fire kills 50 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man. Wikipedia →
- 1968An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261. Wikipedia →
- 1947A 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. Wikipedia →
- 1945World War II: The Potsdam Conference ends. Wikipedia →
- 1944ASNOM: Birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in North Macedonia. Wikipedia →
- 1944World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches. Wikipedia →
- 1943The Holocaust: 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. Wikipedia →
- 1943World 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. Wikipedia →
- 1939Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon. Wikipedia →
- 1937The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal. Wikipedia →
- 1934Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. Wikipedia →
- 1932The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson. Wikipedia →
- 1923U.S. Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of President Warren G. Harding. Wikipedia →
- 1922A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China, killing more than 50,000 people. Wikipedia →
- 1918The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver. Wikipedia →
- 1916World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto. Wikipedia →
- 1914World War I: The German occupation of Luxembourg begins. Wikipedia →
- 1909End of the Tragic Week in Barcelona, a series of antiwar and antigovernment protests in Spain and especially in Barcelona. Wikipedia →
- 1903The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins. Wikipedia →
- 1897Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states. Wikipedia →
- 1873The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system. Wikipedia →
- 1870Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom. Wikipedia →
- 1869Japan's Edo society class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. Wikipedia →
- 1858The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj. Wikipedia →
- 1830July Revolution: Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri. Wikipedia →
- 1798French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory. Wikipedia →
- 1790The first United States Census is conducted. Wikipedia →
- 1784The first British mail coach service runs from Bristol to London. Wikipedia →
- 1776American Revolution: The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress takes place. Wikipedia →
- 1610During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay. Wikipedia →
- 1492The Jews are expelled from Spain: 40,000–200,000 leave. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning of this, dispatches the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Thessaloniki (in modern-day Greece) and İzmir (in modern-day Turkey). Wikipedia →
- 1415Thomas Grey is executed for participating in the Southampton Plot. Wikipedia →
- 1377Russian troops are defeated by forces of the Blue Horde Khan Arapsha in the Battle on Pyana River. Wikipedia →
- 1343After 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. Wikipedia →
- 1274Edward I of England returns from the Ninth Crusade and is crowned King seventeen days later. Wikipedia →
- 932After a two-year siege, the city of Toledo, in Spain, surrenders to the forces of the Caliph of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III, assuming an important victory in his campaign to subjugate the Central March. Wikipedia →
- 461Western Roman Emperor Majorian is arrested near Tortona (northern Italy) and deposed by the Suebian general Ricimer. Wikipedia →
- 47 BCJulius Caesar defeats Pharnaces II of Pontus in the battle of Zela. Wikipedia →
- 49 BCCaesar, 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. Wikipedia →
- 216 BCThe Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae. Wikipedia →
- 338 BCA Macedonian army led by Philip II defeats the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean. Wikipedia →
Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.
