August 02
Australian History Saturday, August 2, 1997. : After three days, skiing instructor Stuart Diver is pulled alive from the rubble of the collapsed Thredbo resorts. For three days after the collapse of the Alpine Way in Australia’s high country in 1997 (see July 30), Stuart Diver, 27, lay trapped between two concrete slabs, under mud, rubble and […]
August 29
Born on this day Friday, August 29, 1958. : Singer-songwriter Michael Jackson is born. Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana on 29 August 1958, to a large family. Jackson’s father Joseph saw the potential of his children, creating a musical group which young Michael joined when he was just five years old. Soon, he became the […]
August 07
Australian History Tuesday, August 7, 1928. : Dingo hunter Frederick Brooks is killed, sparking the Coniston Massacre of Australian Aborigines. Coniston Station is a large cattle station in central Australia, about 300 km northwest of Alice Springs. Covering 2178 sq km, it is bordered by the Tanami Desert to the west. The cattle station was founded by […]
August 23
Born on this day Friday, August 23, 1912. : American actor, dancer and singer, Gene Kelly, is born. Gene Kelly was born Eugene Curran Kelly on 23 August 1912, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was an actor, singer and dancer, choreographing much of his own and others’ performances. Kelly was the first American to choreograph and stage a […]
August 27
Born on this day Thursday, August 27, 1908. : Australian cricketing legend, Sir Donald Bradman, is born. Donald George Bradman was born on 27 August 1908 in Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia. One of Australia’s most popular sporting heroes, he is often regarded as the greatest batsman of all time. The Bradman Museum and Bradman Oval are […]
August 11
Born on this day Wednesday, August 11, 1897. : British children’s author, Enid Blyton, is born. Enid Blyton was born in East Dulwich, England, on 11 August 1897. Blyton became a prolific writer of children’s books, and many of her titles have been translated into 40 different languages. It is estimated that she wrote over 600 titles, […]
August 13
Born on this day Monday, August 13, 1888. : John Logie Baird, inventor of television, is born. John Logie Baird was born on 13 August 1888 in Helensburgh, Scotland. He was educated at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, which later became the University of Strathclyde, and the University of Glasgow, but the eruption of […]
August 16
Born on this day Saturday, August 16, 1884. : Hugo Gernsback, the American publisher credited with the establishment of science fiction as an independent literary form, is born. Hugo Gernsback was born in Luxembourg on 16 August 1884, and immigrated to the USA in 1905. As an inventor, he held 80 patents. He was also a publisher, […]
August 31
Born on this day Friday, August 31, 0012. : Gaius Caesar (Caligula), third Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, is born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus was born in Antium on 31 August AD 12. As the third Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he ruled from AD 37 to 41. Gaius Caesar gained his nickname of Caligula […]
August 06
Born on this day Saturday, August 6, 1881. : Bacteriologist and discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming, is born. Alexander Fleming was born near Darvel in Ayrshire, Scotland, on 6 August 1881. He was educated at St Mary’s Hospital medical school in London until World War I, when he gained further experience in a battlefield hospital in France. […]