One of the major disasters in 19th century around the world was the eruption of the volcano Krakatau in western Pacific Ocean, Indonesia.
The volcano erupted on this day in 1883 and killed thousand people on the other islands near it. The volcanic dust was thrown into the atmosphere and affected the weather around the world, and people as far away as Britain and the United States began to see bizarre red sunsets caused by particles in the atmosphere.
On this day in 1859, the first oil well was successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake (below) near Titusville, PA.
Drake Well Museum in Titusville, PA is on the site where Edwin L. Drake drilled the world’s first oil well in 1859 and launched the modern petroleum industry.
It was on this day in 1979.
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten was born Prince Louis of Battenberg (June 25, 1900 – August 27, 1979)
President John F. Kennedy (left) Meets with Lord Louis Mountbatten (center) in 1961. Mountbatten was Chief of the Defense Staff of the British Armed Forces at the time.
Brian Epstein was found dead in his home from an overdose of sleeping pills on this day in 1967. Epstein first discovered The Beatles in November 1961.
Brian Samuel Epstein (September 19, 1934 – August 27, 1967)
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty on this day in 1939.
It was on this day in 1927, despite worldwide demonstrations in support of their innocence, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed for murder.
On April 15, 1920, a paymaster for a shoe company in South Braintree, Massachusetts, was shot and killed along with his guard.
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.
Former priest John Geoghan, a notorious pedophile whose case sparked the clergy molestation scandal for 18 months, died on this day in 2003 after being attacked at the state prison in Shirley.
It was on this day in 1926.
1921
Rudolph Valentino (Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi) (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926)
On this day in 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber, known as the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on an inhabited area. The bomb named "Little Boy"(pictured below) was dropped over the center of Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 people were killed.
The above August 6, 1945 file photos shows the destruction from the atomic bomb explosion on Hiroshima, Japan.
On this day in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Nixon had to turn over subpoenaed White House tape recordings to the Watergate special prosecutor.
It was on this day in 1959.
On this day in 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young and his followers arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in present-day Utah.
Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877)
The Apollo 11 astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on this day in 1969.
United States President Richard Nixon was in the central Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, on July 24, 1969. The Apollo 11 astronauts are, from left, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. The crew was quarantined after splashdown to ensure they did not bring back any contamination from the moon.