August 8
President Harry S Truman signs the United Nations Charter and the United States becomes the first nation to complete the ratification process and join the new international organization. – 1945.
August 9
A second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan’s unconditional surrender. – 1945.
Richard M. Nixon officially ends his term as president of the United States. Minutes later, vice president Gerald R. Ford is sworn in as the 38th U.S. president. – 1974.
Members of Charles Manson’s cult kill five individuals in movie director Roman Polanski’s home, including Polanski’s pregnant wife. Less than two days later, the group killed two more individuals. The savage crimes shocked the Nation. – 1969.
August 10
Construction on the St. Lawrence Seaway begins. Ultimately 22,000 workers spent five years building the 2,342-mile route from the Atlantic Ocean to the northern-most part of the Great Lakes. – 1954.
The United Kingdom records its first temperature above 100°F. Throughout the month, an intense heat wave scorched the European continent which claimed more than 35,000 lives. – 2003.
August 11
A group of federal prisoners classified as “most dangerous” arrives at Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre rocky outcrop situated 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay. – 1934.
Racial tension reaches a breaking point in the Watts section of Los Angeles after two white policemen scuffle with a black motorist suspected of drunken driving. A riot quickly rages over a 50-square-mile area of South Central Los Angeles. Order was restored August 16 which left 34 dead, 1,032 injured, nearly 4,000 arrested. – 1965.
August 12
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was concluded between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It went into effect in January 1994. – 1992.
What was to become a 232-day strike by Major League Baseball players over owners’ demands for team salary caps begins; ultimately 938 games were canceled. It ended the 1994 season. – 1994.
August 13
After a three-month siege, Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés capture Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. Cortés’ men leveled the city. – 1521.
In an effort to stem the tide of refugees attempting to leave East Berlin, the communist government representatives of East Germany begin building the Berlin Wall to divide East Berlin and West Berlin. – 1961.
August 14
President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, to provide for the first time, guaranteed income for retirees and to create a system of unemployment benefits. – 1935.
A major outage knocks out power across the eastern United States and parts of Canada. Fifty-million people were affected. Despite concerns, there were very few reports of looting or other blackout-inspired crime. In New York City, the police department, out in full force, recorded about 100 fewer arrests than average. In some places, citizens even took it upon themselves to help direct traffic in the absence of working traffic lights. In New York City, the estimated cost of the blackout was more than $500 million. – 2003.