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This Day In History
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Historical Events on August 24

August

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Discharge of radioactive water of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

2023

Japan officially begins discharging treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, sparking international concerns and condemnation..

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Erin O'Toole

Erin O'Toole is elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

2020
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List of government space agencies

The National Space Agency of Taiwan successfully launches the observation satellite Formosat-5 into space.

2017
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August 2016 Central Italy earthquake

An earthquake strikes Central Italy with a magnitude of 6.2, with aftershocks felt as far as Rome and Florence. Around 300 people are killed.

2016
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Proxima Centauri b

Proxima Centauri b, the closest exoplanet to Earth, is discovered by the European Southern Observatory.

2016

2014 South Napa earthquake

2014

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes the San Francisco Bay Area; it is the largest in that area since 1989..

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Anders Behring Breivik

Anders Behring Breivik, perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, is sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention.

2012
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San Fernando, Tamaulipas

In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 72 illegal immigrants are killed by Los Zetas and eventually found dead by Mexican authorities.

2010
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Henan Airlines Flight 8387

Henan Airlines Flight 8387 crashes at Yichun Lindu Airport in Yichun, Heilongjiang, China, killing 44 out of the 96 people on board.

2010
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Agni Air Flight 101

Agni Air Flight 101 crashes near Shikharpur, Makwanpur, Nepal, killing all 14 people on board.

2010

Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895

2008

Sixty-five passengers are killed when Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 crashes during an emergency landing at Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan..

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Cessna 208 Caravan

A Cessna 208 Caravan crashes in Cabañas, Zacapa, Guatemala, killing 11 people.

2008
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International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet.

2006
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2004 Russian aircraft bombings

Ninety passengers die after two airliners explode after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions are caused by suicide bombers from Chechnya.

2004
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Air Transat Flight 236

Air Transat Flight 236 loses all engine power over the Atlantic Ocean, forcing the pilots to conduct an emergency landing in the Azores.

2001

Radio-frequency identification

1998

First radio-frequency identification (RFID) human implantation tested in the United Kingdom..

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Microsoft

Microsoft releases Windows 95 to the public in North America.

1995
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Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew makes landfall in Homestead, Florida as a Category 5 hurricane, causing up to $25 billion (1992 USD) in damages.

1992
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Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1991
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Ukraine

Ukraine declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.

1991

Colombia

1989

Colombian drug barons declare "total war" on the Colombian government..

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Tadeusz Mazowiecki

Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe.

1989
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Mark David Chapman

Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

1981
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Vietnam War

Vietnam War protesters bomb Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, leading to an international manhunt for the perpetrators.

1970
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Abbie Hoffman

Led by Abbie Hoffman, the Youth International Party temporarily disrupts trading at the New York Stock Exchange by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing trading to cease as brokers scramble to grab them.

1967

Buddhist crisis

1963

Buddhist crisis: As a result of the XĂĄ Lợi Pagoda raids, the US State Department cables the United States Embassy, Saigon to encourage Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals to launch a coup against President NgĂŽ ĐÏnh Diệm if he did not remove his brother NgĂŽ ĐÏnh Nhu..

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Communist Control Act of 1954

The Communist Control Act goes into effect, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

1954
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Café Filho

Vice president JoĂŁo CafĂ© Filho takes office as president of Brazil, following the suicide of GetĂșlio Vargas.

1954
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United Air Lines Flight 615

United Air Lines Flight 615 crashes near Decoto, California, killing 50 people.

1951
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Edith S. Sampson

Edith Sampson becomes the first black U.S. delegate to the United Nations.

1950

NATO

1949

The treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization goes into effect..

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Liberation of Paris

World War II: Allied troops begin the attack on Paris.

1944
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World War II

World War II: The Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Japanese aircraft carrier RyĆ«jƍ is sunk, with the loss of seven officers and 113 crewmen. The US carrier USS Enterprise is heavily damaged.

1942
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The Holocaust

The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler orders the cessation of Nazi Germany's systematic T4 euthanasia program of the mentally ill and the handicapped due to protests, although killings continue for the remainder of the war.

1941
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Kweilin incident

Kweilin incident: A Japanese warplane shoots down the Kweilin, a Chinese civilian airliner, killing 14. It is the first recorded instance of a civilian airliner being shot down.

1938

Spanish Civil War

1937

Spanish Civil War: the Basque Army surrenders to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie following the Santoña Agreement..

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Sovereign Council of Asturias and LeĂłn

Spanish Civil War: Sovereign Council of Asturias and LeĂłn is proclaimed in GijĂłn.

1937
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Australian Antarctic Territory

The Australian Antarctic Territory is created.

1936
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Crescent (train)

The Crescent Limited train derails in Washington, D.C., after the bridge it is crossing is washed out by the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane.

1933
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Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).

1932

Second MacDonald ministry

1931

Resignation of the United Kingdom's Second Labour Government. Formation of the UK National Government..

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1929 Hebron massacre

Second day of two-day Hebron massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attacks on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, result in the death of 65–68 Jews; the remaining Jews are forced to flee the city.

1929
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World War I

World War I: German troops capture Namur.

1914
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Battle of Cer

World War I: The Battle of Cer ends as the first Allied victory in the war.

1914
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Manuel de Arriaga

Manuel de Arriaga is elected and sworn in as the first President of Portugal.

1911

Panama Canal

1909

Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal..

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Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov

Count Muravyov, Foreign Minister of Russia presents a rescript that convoked the First Hague Peace Conference.

1898
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Wolseley expedition

The Wolseley expedition reaches Manitoba to end the Red River Rebellion.

1870
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Panic of 1857

The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.

1857
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Treaty of CĂłrdoba

The Treaty of CĂłrdoba is signed in CĂłrdoba, now in Veracruz, Mexico, concluding the Mexican War of Independence from Spain.

1821

Constitutionalism

1820

Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, Portugal..

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Treaty of St. Louis (1816)

The Treaty of St. Louis is signed in St. Louis, Missouri.

1816
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Constitution of the Netherlands

The modern Constitution of the Netherlands is signed.

1815
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Burning of Washington

British troops capture Washington, D.C. and set the Presidential Mansion, Capitol, Navy Yard and many other public buildings ablaze.

1814
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Peninsular War

Peninsular War: A coalition of Spanish, British, and Portuguese forces succeed in lifting the two-and-a-half-year-long Siege of CĂĄdiz.

1812

Battle of Svensksund (1789)

1789

The first naval battle of the Svensksund began in the Gulf of Finland..

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American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War: A small force of Pennsylvania militia is ambushed and overwhelmed by an American Indian group, which forces George Rogers Clark to abandon his attempt to attack Detroit.

1781
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Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)

The War of the Hats: The Swedish army surrenders to the Russians in Helsinki, ending the war and starting Lesser Wrath.

1743
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Job Charnock

Job Charnock of the East India Company establishes a factory in Calcutta, an event formerly considered the founding of the city (in 2003 the Calcutta High Court ruled that the city's foundation date is unknown).

1690
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William Penn

William Penn receives the area that is now the state of Delaware, and adds it to his colony of Pennsylvania.

1682

Book of Common Prayer (1662)

1662

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer is legally enforced as the liturgy of the Church of England, precipitating the Great Ejection of Dissenter ministers from their benefices..

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Dutch expedition to Valdivia

A Dutch fleet establishes a new colony in the ruins of Valdivia in southern Chile.

1643
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Surat

The first official English representative to India lands in Surat.

1608
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William the Silent

Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxony.

1561
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Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Syria at the Battle of Marj Dabiq.

1516

English invasion of Scotland (1482)

1482

The town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured from Scotland by an English army..

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Mainz

Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.

1349
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Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III issues a bull declaring Magna Carta invalid.

1215
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John, King of England

King John of England, signer of the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of AngoulĂȘme in AngoulĂȘme Cathedral.

1200
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Sack of Thessalonica (1185)

Sack of Thessalonica by the Normans.

1185

Visigoths

410

The Visigoths under King Alaric I begin to pillage Rome..

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Graffito of Esmet-Akhom

The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is written.

394
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Gratian

Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father.

367