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This day in history

This day in history: 2 August

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

426 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 2 August.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2014: At least 146 people are killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church).

Christian feast day: August 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

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)

Events

2014At least 146 people are killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.

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.

1999The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India.

1991Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-43 to deploy the TDRS-5 satellite.

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.

1989A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.

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

1985Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.

1982The Helsinki Metro, the first rapid transit system of Finland, is opened to the general public.

1980A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.

1973A flash fire kills 50 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.

1968An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.

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.

1945World War II: The Potsdam Conference ends.

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

1944World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches.

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.

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.

1939Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon.

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

1934Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg.

1932The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.

1923U.S. Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of President Warren G. Harding.

1922A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China, killing more than 50,000 people.

1918The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver.

1916World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto.

1914World War I: The German occupation of Luxembourg begins.

1909End of the Tragic Week in Barcelona, a series of antiwar and antigovernment protests in Spain and especially in Barcelona.

1903The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins.

1897Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states.

1873The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system.

1870Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom.

1869Japan's Edo society class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms.

1858The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj.

1830July Revolution: Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri.

1798French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.

1790The first United States Census is conducted.

1784The first British mail coach service runs from Bristol to London.

1776American Revolution: The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress takes place.

1610During Henry Hudson's search for the Northwest Passage, he sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay.

Born on this day

2006Héctor Fort, Spanish footballer

2000Mohammed Kudus, Ghanaian footballer

2000Varvara Gracheva, Russian tennis player

1999Anastasios Douvikas, Greek footballer

1999Joël Piroe, Dutch-Surinamese footballer

1999Mark Lee, Korean-Canadian singer

1997Austin Theory, American wrestler

1996Keston Hiura, American baseball player

1996Simone Manuel, American swimmer

1995Kristaps Porziņģis, Latvian basketball player

1995Vikkstar123, English internet personality

1994Emil Krafth, Swedish footballer

1994Laremy Tunsil, American football player

1994Laura Pigossi, Brazilian tennis player

1994MoistCr1tikal, American YouTuber and streamer

1993Gael Bussa, Congolese politician

1993Joey Florez, American scholar and cultural critic

1992Charli XCX, English singer-songwriter

1991Evander Kane, Canadian ice hockey player

1990Ima Bohush, Belarusian tennis player

1990Skylar Diggins, American basketball player

1990Vitalia Diatchenko, Russian tennis player

1989Nacer Chadli, Belgian footballer

1988Golden Tate, American football player

1988Rob Kwiet, Canadian ice hockey player

1986Lily Gladstone, American actress

1986Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian skier

1985David Hart Smith, Canadian wrestler

1985Stephen Ferris, Irish rugby player

1984Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer

1984JD Vance, American politician, 50th vice president of the United States

1983Huston Street, American baseball player

1983Michel Bastos, Brazilian footballer

1982Grady Sizemore, American baseball player

1982Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer

1982Kerry Rhodes, American football player

1981Alexander Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist and boxer

1981Tim Murtagh, English-Irish cricketer

1980Ivica Banović, Croatian footballer

1979Marco Bonura, Italian footballer

Died on this day

2023Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer (born 1965)

2022Vin Scully, American sportscaster and game show host (born 1927)

2020Suzanne Perlman, Hungarian-Dutch visual artist (born 1922)

2017Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor (born 1924)

2016Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1946)

2016David Huddleston, American actor (born 1930)

2016Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (born 1927)

2016Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (born 1930)

2015Forrest Bird, American pilot and engineer (born 1921)

2015Giovanni Conso, Italian jurist and politician, Italian Minister of Justice (born 1922)

2015Jack Spring, American baseball player (born 1933)

2015Piet Fransen, Dutch footballer (born 1936)

2014Barbara Prammer, Austrian social worker and politician (born 1954)

2014Billie Letts, American author and educator (born 1938)

2014Ed Joyce, American journalist (born 1932)

2014James Thompson, American-Finnish author (born 1964)

2013Alla Kushnir, Russian–Israeli chess player (born 1941)

2013Julius L. Chambers, American lawyer and activist (born 1936)

2013Richard E. Dauch, American businessman, co-founded American Axle (born 1942)

2012Bernd Meier, German footballer (born 1972)

2012Gabriel Horn, English biologist and academic (born 1927)

2012Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (born 1930)

2012John Keegan, English historian and journalist (born 1934)

2012Magnus Isacsson, Canadian director and producer (born 1948)

2012Marguerite Piazza, American soprano (born 1920)

2011José Sanchis Grau, Spanish author and illustrator (born 1932)

2008Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese illustrator (born 1935)

2007Chauncey Bailey, American journalist (born 1950)

2005Steven Vincent, American journalist and author (born 1955)

2004Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian painter and academic (born 1929)

Quote of the day

“The obstacle is the path.”

Zen proverb

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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