Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Monday, August 31, 2026
Today is the 243rd day of 2026. There are 122 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1303
The War of the Vespers in Sicily ends with an agreement between Charles of Valois, who invaded the country, and Frederick, the ruler of Sicily.
1756
The British at Fort William Henry, New York, surrender to Louis Montcalm of France.
1802
Captain Meriwether Lewis leaves Pittsburgh to meet up with Captain William Clark and begin their trek to the Pacific Ocean.
1864
At the Democratic convention in Chicago, General George B. McClellan is nominated for president.
1886
An earthquake rocked Charleston, S.C., killing up to 110 people.
1887
Thomas A. Edison received a patent for his ''Kinetoscope,'' a device that produced moving pictures.
1888
Mary Ann Nicholls was found murdered in London's East End. She is generally regarded as the first victim of Jack the Ripper.
1919
The Communist Labor Party is founded in Chicago, with the motto, "Workers of the world unite!"
1928
Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera opens in Berlin.
1935
President Roosevelt signed an act prohibiting the export of U.S. arms to belligerents.
1940
Joseph Avenol steps down as Secretary-General of the League of Nations.
1942
The British army under General Bernard Law Montgomery defeated Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in the Battle of Alam el Halfa in Egypt.
1944
The British Eighth Army penetrated the German Gothic Line in Italy.
1949
Six of the 16 surviving Union veterans of the Civil War attend the last-ever encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1951
The 1st Marine Division begins its attack on Bloody Ridge in Korea. The four-day battle results in 2,700 Marine casualties.
1954
Hurricane Carol hit the northeastern United States, resulting in nearly 70 deaths and millions of dollars in damage.
1961
A concrete wall replaces the barbed wire fence that separates East and West Germany. It will be called the Berlin Wall.
1962
The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became independent within the British Commonwealth.
1965
The US Congress creates the Department of Housing & Urban Development.
1968
The Dasht-e Bayaz 7.3 earthquake in NE Iran completely destroys five villages and severely damages six others.
1970
Lonnie McLucas is convicted of torturing and murdering fellow Black Panther Party member Alex Rackley in the first of the New Haven Black Panther Trials.
1980
Poland's Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement signed in Gdansk that ended a 17-day strike.
1985
Richard Ramirez, later convicted of California's ''Night Stalker'' killings, was captured by residents of an East Los Angeles neighborhood.
1986
An Aeromexico jetliner and a small private plane collided over Cerritos, Calif., killing 82 people.
1986
A Russian cargo ship collides with the cruise ship Admiral Nakhimov, killing 398.
1987
The longest mine strike in South Africa's history ends, after 11 people were killed, 500 injured and 400 arrested.
1990
Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. become the first father and son to play on the same team simultaneously in professional baseball (Seattle Mariners).
1990
East and West Germany sign the Treaty of Unification (Einigungsvertrag) to join their legal and political systems.
1992
White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that claimed the lives of Weaver's wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal.
1994
The Irish Republican Army declared a cease-fire.
1994
Russia officially ended its military presence in the former East Germany and the Baltics after a half-century.
1997
Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a Paris car crash along with her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul while fleeing paparazzi.
1997
The New York Yankees retire Don Mattingly's #23 (first baseman, coach, manager).
2006
Edvard Munch's famed painting The Scream is recovered by Norwegian police. The artwork had been stolen on Aug. 22, 2004.
Notable Births
1811
Théophile Gautier, French poet, novelist and author of Art for Art's Sake.
1870
Maria Montessori, educator and founder of the Montessori schools.
1885
Dubose Heyward, novelist, poet and dramatist best know for Porgy which was the basis for the opera Porgy and Bess.
1899
Lynn Riggs, writer, her book Green Grow the Lilacs was adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein to become Oklahoma.
1903
Arthur Godfrey, radio and television personality.
1905
Sanford Meisner, influential acting teacher.
1907
William Shawn, longtime editor of The New Yorker.
1908
William Saroyan, author and playwright (The Human Comedy).
1918
Alan Jay Lerner, playwright and lyricist (Brigadoon, Camelot).
1918
Daniel Schorr, journalist.
1935
Eldridge Cleaver, political activist and author of Soul on Fire.
1936
Marva Collins, innovative educator who started Chicago's one-room school, Westside Preparatory.
1945
Van Morrison, Irish singer, songwriter.
1945
Itzhak Perlman, violinist.
1948
Lowell Ganz, screenwriter, (A League of Their Own) director, producer, actor.
1949
Richard Gere, actor (Pretty Woman, An Officer and a Gentleman).
1970
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson, singer, songwriter, record producer, actress; youngest artist ever to write, produce and perform a Billboard #1 single ("Foolish Beat").
1970
Queen Rania of Jordan (nee Rania al Yassin), wife of King Abdullah II.
Notable Deaths
1969
Boxer Rocky Marciano died in a light airplane crash in Iowa, the day before his 46th birthday.
1997
Diana, the Princess of Wales, was killed in an automobile accident in a tunnel by the Seine in Paris. The accident also killed Emad Mohammed al-Fayed, the Harrod's heir.