On this day: 2 August
Events, births and deaths on 2 August. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
Nothing recorded for that year.
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Ahmed Zewail
- Deaths · Franciszek Macharski
- Deaths · David Huddleston
100 years ago1926
Within 10 years of that
- 1922 · Deaths · Alexander Graham Bell
- 1923 · Deaths · Warren G. Harding
- 1923 · Births · Shimon Peres
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1100 · Deaths · William II of England
- 1075 · Deaths · John VIII of Constantinople
Events · 16
- 216 BCE(Julian date)Battle of Cannae — major battle of the Second Punic War (216 BCE)
- 1377Battle on Pyana River — 1377 battle
- 1776signing of the United States Declaration of Independence — historical event
- 17901790 United States Census — first United States census
- 1903Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising — revolt against the Ottoman Empire in Southeastern Europe 1903
- 1939Einstein–Szilárd letter — letter by Leó Szilárd and Albert Einstein to US President Roosevelt in August 1939
- 1944Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia — Supreme legislative and executive people's representative body of the Macedonian state from 1944 until the end of World War II
- 1947BSAA Star Dust accident — 1947 plane crash
- 1973Summerland disaster — Amusement centre fire tragedy
- 1980Bologna massacre — terrorist bombing of the Central Station at Bologna, Italy
- 1985Delta Air Lines Flight 191 — aviation accident
- 1990Gulf War — 1990–1991 conflict between Iraq and a 42-country coalition
- 1999Gaisal train disaster — railway accident in India
- 2005Air France Flight 358 — aviation accident
- 20142014 Kunshan explosion — Dust explosion at a metals factory
- 20222022 visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan — diplomatic visit by US House speaker Nancy Pelosi and five other Democratic House members
Births · 60
- 1674Philippe II, Duke of Orléans — member of the royal family of France, Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723 (1674–1723)
- 1696Mahmud I — 24th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1730–1754)
- 1754Pierre Charles L’Enfant — French-born American architect (1754–1825)
- 1788Leopold Gmelin — German chemist (1788–1853)
- 1820John Tyndall — Irish physicist (1820–1893)
- 1824Princess Francisca of Brazil — Princess of Brazil (1824-1898)
- 1834Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi — French sculptor and painter (1834–1904)
- 1835Elisha Gray — American electrical engineer
- 1868Constantine I of Greece — King of Greece (r. 1913–17; 1920–22)
- 1878Aino Kallas — Finnish-Estonian writer (1878-1956)
- 1884Rómulo Gallegos — Venezuelan politician and writer (1884–1969)
- 1892Jack Warner — American film executive (1892–1978)
- 1894Bertha Lutz — Brazilian scientist (1894-1976)
- 1897Philippe Soupault — French writer (1897–1990)
- 1897Karl-Otto Koch — German SS Military Regiment officer and first commandant of the Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen concentration camp (1897–1945)
- 1905Myrna Loy — American actress (1905–1993)
- 1914Beatrice Straight — American actress (1914-2001)
- 1919Nehemiah Persoff — American actor and painter (1919–2022)
- 1923Shimon Peres — Israeli politician (1923–2016) –Former President of Israel (2007–2014) and Prime Minister of Israel (1977, 1984–1986, 1995–1996)
- 1924James Baldwin — American writer (1924–1987)
- 1924Carroll O'Connor — American actor (1924–2001)
- 1925Jorge Rafael Videla — Argentina de facto president (1925–2013)
- 1931Viliam Schrojf — Slovak footballer (1931-2007)
- 1932Peter O'Toole — British-Irish actor (1932–2013)
- 1934Valery Bykovsky — Soviet cosmonaut (1934-2019)
Deaths · 60
- 216 BCE(Julian date)Lucius Aemilius Paullus — Roman general and senator (died 216 BC)
- 216 BCE(Julian date)Gnaeus Servilius Geminus — Roman consul 217 BC
- 216 BCE(Julian date)Marcus Minucius Rufus — Roman consul and magister equitum (died 216 BC)
- 257(Julian date)Stephen I — Pope and Bishop of Rome from 254 to 257
- 640(Julian date)Severinus — 7th-century pope
- 686(Julian date)John V — pope
- 855(Julian date)Ahmad ibn Hanbal — Muslim jurist and theologian (780–855)
- 924(Julian date)Ælfweard of Wessex — West Saxon monarch
- 1075John VIII of Constantinople — patriarch of Constantinople (1010-1075)
- 1100William II of England — King of England from 1087 to 1100
- 1222(Julian date)Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse — Count of Toulouse
- 1316(Julian date)Louis of Burgundy — Prince of Achaea
- 1330(Julian date)Yolande of Dreux — Queen consort of Scotland, duchess consort of Britain
- 1332Christopher II of Denmark — King of Denmark
- 1445(Julian date)Oswald von Wolkenstein — German poet, composer, and diplomat
- 1512(Julian date)Alessandro Achillini — Italian philosopher
- 1567Myeongjong of Joseon — 13th King of Joseon Dynasty in Korean history
- 1589Henry III of France — King of France from 1574 to 1589 (1551-1589)
- 1611Katō Kiyomasa — 16th-century Japanese daimyo (1562-1611)
- 1667Francesco Borromini — Italian architect from Ticino and leading figure in Roman Baroque architecture (1599-1667), sculptor, engineer, stonemason and draughtsman (1599–1667)
- 1788Thomas Gainsborough — English portrait and landscape painter (1727-1788)
- 1815Guillaume-Marie-Anne Brune — French general (1763-1815)
- 1823Lazare Carnot — French political, engineering and mathematical figure (1753–1823)
- 1849Muhammad Ali — Wali of Egypt and Sudan (1769–1849)
- 1859Horace Mann — American politician (1796-1859)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.