August 14



Events

Up to 1900 
 29 BC  Octavian celebrates the second of his three consecutive triumphs in Rome after his victory over the Dalmatians.
 1040  Macbeth kills King Duncan I of Scotland, and crowns himself King of Scotland.
 1352  War of the Breton Succession: The Anglo-Britons defeat the French in the Battle of Mauron.
 1385  The Battle of Aljubarrota is fought, in which forces of King John I of Portugal defeat those of King John I of Castile.
 1415  Henry the Navigator leads Portuguese forces to victory over the Marinids at the Battle of Ceuta.
 1502  Christopher Columbus lands in present-day Honduras; this is the first time he sets foot on the mainland of the Americas.
 1592  Imjin War: Battle of Hansan Island - Admiral Yi Sun-sin decisively defeats the Japanese Navy at Hansan Island.
 1762  English forces take Havana, Cuba during the Seven Years' War.
 1816  The United Kingdom annexes the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic.
 1842  Seminole Native Americans are forced from Florida to Oklahoma.
 1848  The Oregon territory is created by an act of the United States Congress.
 1880  After taking more than 600 years, the construction of Cologne Cathedral is completed.
 1885  Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of rust-proof paint.
 1888  Danish passenger steamer Geiser sinks off Sable Island after a collision with a ship of the same shipping line, killing 118 people.
 1893  France introduces motor vehicle registration.
 1900  The Eight-Nation Alliance occupy Beijing, China, in an attempt to end of the Boxer Rebellion.

1901  2000 
 1912  US marines land in Nicaragua to support the US-backed government installed there after José Santos Zelaya had resigned three years earlier.
 1914  The Big Hole Diamond mine in South Africa is closed.
 1916  World War I: Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary.
 1917  World War I: China declares war on Germany.
 1921  Tannu Uriankhai, later the Tuvan People's Republic, is established as a completely independent country, supported by Soviet Russia.
 1933  Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later becoming known as the forest fire of Tillamook Burn. It is extinguished on September 5.
 1935  The Social Security Act creates a government pension for retired people in the United States.
 1936  Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, in the last public execution in the United States.
 1941  World War II: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter of War, stating postwar aims.
 1945  World War II: Japan accepts Allied terms of surrender  and the Emperor, Hirohito, records the Imperial Rescription surrender.
 1945  Philippe Pétain, leader of Vichy France, is sentenced to death.
 1947  Partition of India: Pakistan, a new Islamic state, becomes independent from the United Kingdom, and consists of West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) and East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh).
 1958  A propeller plane operated by the Dutch airline KLM crashes into the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland.
 1959  The American Football League is founded.
 1969  Operation Banner: British troops are deployed to Northern Ireland.
 1971  Bahrain declares its independence.
 1972  A plane crash, of an Ilyushin II-62, in East Berlin kills 156 people.
 1973  The Pakistan Constitution of 1973 goes into effect.
 1974  The Second Turkish invasion of Cyprus begins. 140,000 to 200,000 Greek Cypriots become refugees. 6,000 are killed and 1,619 are missing.
 1980  The Gdansk shipyard strike in Poland occurs, as an uprising against Communist rule, and leads to the foundation of the Solidarity movement led by Lech Walesa.
 1992  Georgian troops enter Abkhazia, which had declared independence.
 1994  Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal is arrested.

From 2001 
 2003  A wide scale power blackout affects parts of Canada and the northeastern United States.
 2005  Helios Airways Flight 522, travelling from Larnaca in Cyprus, crashes near Grammatiko in Greece, killing all 121 people on board, after the air conditioner fails.
 2006  Chencholai bombing: 61 Tamil girls are killed in a bombing by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
 2007  Bomb attacks across Northern Iraq kill a total of 796 people. 1,500 are injured.
 2010  The first ever Summer Youth Olympic Games begin in Singapore. 3,531 athletes aged 14 to 18, from 204 National Olympic Committees take part.
 2013  Egypt declares a state of emergency as security forces kill hundreds of demonstrators who support the ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
 2013  The England national football team and Scotland national football team play each other for the first time since 1999 in the oldest international football fixture. England wins a closely fought match 3-2.
 2015  The United States re-opens its Embassy in Havana, Cuba, 54 years after the countries initially broke diplomatic ties.
 2017  Heavy rain and mudslides kill hundreds of people in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
 2018  Part of the Morandi motorway Bridge in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, collapses, killing 43 people.
 2019  With support on board, Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg starts sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from Plymouth, Devon, England to New York City to take part in a climate change summit.
 2021  2021 Haiti earthquake of M 7.2 occurs in Haiti.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1297  Emperor Hanazano of Japan (d. 1348)
 1337  King Robert III of Scotland (d. 1406)
 1473  Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence (d. 1541)
 1479  Princess Catherine of York (d. 1527)
 1552  Paolo Sarpi, Italian church reformer and historian (d. 1623)
 1642  Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1723)
 1688  Frederick William I of Prussia (d. 1740)
 1714  Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (d. 1789)
 1727  Princess Marie Louise Elisabeth of France (d. 1759)
 1727  Princess Anne Henriette of France (d. 1752)
 1734  Thomas Sumter, American general and politician (d. 1832)
 1738  Leopold Hofmann, Austrian composer (d. 1793) 
 1740  Pope Pius VII (d. 1823)
 1758  Antoine Charles Horace Vernet, French painter (d. 1835)
 1773  Jean-Baptiste de Villele, French statesman (d. 1854)
 1777  Hans Christian Orsted, Danish physicist (d. 1851)
 1777  Francis I of the Two Sicilies (d. 1830)
 1802  Fabio Maria Asquini, Italian cardinal (d. 1878)
 1814  Adolph Tidemand, Norwegian painter (d. 1876)
 1818  François d'Orléans, Prince of Joinville, French admiral (d. 1900)
 1819  Agenor, duc de Gramont, French diplomat (d. 1880)
 1840  Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychologist (d. 1902)
 1847  Robert Comtesse, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 1922)
 1848  Margaret Lindsay Hughes, Irish-English astronomer (d. 1915)
 1851  Doc Holliday, American gambler and gunfighter (d. 1887)
 1857  Max Wagenknecht, German composer (d. 1922)
 1862  Prince Henry of Croatia (d. 1929)
 1863  Ernest Thayer, American poet (d. 1940)
 1865  Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician (d. 1952)
 1866  Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (d. 1962)
 1867  John Galsworthy, English writer (d. 1933)
 1867  Cupid Childs, American baseball player (d. 1912)
 1871  Quangxu Emperor of China (d. 1908)
 1874  Georgios Kondylis, Greek politician (d. 1936)
 1876  Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia (d. 1903)
 1876  Sibilla Aleramo, Italian writer and poet (d. 1960)
 1878  Georgios Kondylis, Greek general and Prime Minister (d. 1936)
 1880  Fred Alexander, American tennis player (d. 1969)
 1881  Francis Ford, American actor (d. 1953)
 1882  Gisela Richter, British-born art historian (d. 1972)
 1883  Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith, English tennis player (d. 1941)
 1887  Marija Leiko, Latvian actress (d. 1937)
 1889  Willi Münzenberg, German Communist, publisher and movie producer (d. 1940)
 1892  Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English pianist and composer (d. 1988)
 1895  Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
 1899  Alma Reville, British actress and screenwriter (d. 1982)
 1899  Evelyn Kozak, American supercentenarian (d. 2013)

1901  1950 
 1901  Franz Konwitschny, German conductor (d. 1962)
 1910  Willy Ronis, French photographer (d. 2009)
 1910  Pierre Schaeffer, French composer (d. 1995)
 1911  Jaime Rodriguez, Chilean footballer (d. 2003)
 1912  Frank Oppenheimer, American particle physicist (d. 1985)
 1914  Poul Hartling, Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 2000)
 1916  Fumio Fujimura, Japanese baseball player (d. 1992)
 1921  Julia Hartwig, Polish writer and translator (d. 2017)
 1921  Sidney Rittenberg, American linguist (d. 2019)
 1923  Kuldip Nayar, Indian journalist (d. 2018)
 1924  Sverre Fehn, Norwegian architect (d. 2009)
 1924  Holger Juul Hansen, Danish actor (d. 2013)
 1924  Georges Pretre, French conductor (d. 2017)
 1925  Russell Baker, columnist
 1926  René Goscinny, French comic-strip writer (d. 1977)
 1928  Lina Wertmüller, Italian director
 1929  Giacomo Capuzzi, Italian bishop
 1929  Thomas Meehan, American playwright (d. 2017)
 1930  Liz Fraser, English actress (d. 2018)
 1930  Earl Weaver, American Baseball Hall of Fame manager (d. 2013)
 1931  Frederick Raphael, American screenwriter, biographer, novelist and journalist
 1932  James V. Hansen, American politician (d. 2018)
 1933  Richard R. Ernst, Swiss chemist
 1935  John Brodie, American football player
 1936  Trevor Bannister, English actor (d. 2011)
 1940  Dash Crofts, musician
 1940  Aristides Royo, 36th President of Panama
 1940  Arthur Laffer, American economist
 1941  David Crosby, American guitarist, songwriter
 1941  Lynne Cheney, American political figure, former Second Lady of the United States
 1942  Molefi Kete Asante, American author
 1943  Jimmy Johnson, American football player and broadcaster
 1945  Steve Martin, American comedian and actor
 1945  Wim Wenders, German director
 1946  Antonio Fargas, actor
 1946  Susan Saint James, actress
 1946  Tom Walkinshaw, Scottish racing driver (d. 2010)
 1947  Danielle Steel, American novelist
 1949  Morten Olsen, Danish footballer and coach
 1950  Gary Larson, American cartoonist
 1950  Bob Backlund, American professional wrestler

1951  1975 
 1952  Carl Lumbly, actor
 1952  Debbie Meyer, swimmer
 1953  James Horner, American Academy Award-winning composer (d. 2015)
 1954  Mark Fidrych, American baseball player
 1954  Stanley McChrystal, American general
 1954  Christian Gross, Swiss football coach
 1955  Gillian Taylforth, English actress
 1956  Rusty Wallace, American race car driver
 1957  Peter Costello, Australian politician
 1959  Marcia Gay Harden, Academy Award-winning actress
 1959  Magic Johnson, American basketball player
 1960  Sarah Brightman, British singer
 1961  Susan Olsen, actress
 1961  Satoshi Tsunami, Japanese footballer
 1962  Rameez Raja, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster
 1964  Brannon Braga, American writer and director
 1965  Emmanuelle Béart, French actress
 1965  Mark Francois, English politician
 1966  Halle Berry, American Academy Award-winning actress
 1968  Darren Clarke, Northern Irish golfer
 1968  Adrian Lester, English actor
 1971  Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan cricketer
 1972  Laurent Lamothe, Haitian politician
 1972  Giuseppe Mazzarelli, Swiss footballer
 1973  Daisuke Ishiwatari, Japanese game developer and composer
 1973  Rana Faheem Aslam, Pakistani journalist
 1973  Jared Borgetti, Mexican footballer
 1973  Jay-Jay Okocha, Nigerian footballer
 1973  Chucky Atkins, American basketball player
 1974  Ana Matronic, American singer (Scissor Sisters)
 1974  Martin Bulloch, Scottish drummer (Mogwai)

From 1976 
 1976  Alex Albrecht, co-host of The Screen Savers
 1977  Juan Pierre, American baseball player
 1977  Philip Stamper, American pro wrestler, actor
 1978  Anastasios Kyriakos, Greek footballer
 1981  Matthew Etherington, English footballer
 1982  Simon Andrews, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
 1983  Mila Kunis, Ukrainian-American television actress
 1983  Heiko Westermann, German footballer
 1983  Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-born British tennis player (d. 2014)
 1983  Lu Yen-hsun, Taiwanese tennis player
 1984  Carl Valeri, Australian footballer
 1984  Nick Grimshaw, British radio DJ and television presenter
 1984  Robin Söderling, Swedish tennis player
 1984  Giorgio Chiellini, Italian footballer
 1985  Christian Gentner, German footballer
 1986  Cameron Jerome, English footballer
 1989  Ander Herrera, Spanish footballer
 1990  Jaydee Bixby, Canadian singer
 1992  Sarah Correa, Brazilian swimmer (d. 2015)
 1993  Gongchan, South Korean singer and actress
 1993  Cassi Thomson, Australian-American actress and singer
 1999  Garrett Ryan, American actor

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 582  Tiberius II, Byzantine Empress (b. 535)
 1040  Duncan I of Scotland
 1167  Rainald of Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne
 1204  Minamoto no Yoriie, Japanese shogun (b. 1182)
 1369  Philippa of Hainault, Queen Consort of England (b. 1311)
 1390  John FitzAlan, 2nd Baron Arundel, English soldier (b. 1364)
 1430  Philip I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1404)
 1433  King John I of Portugal (b. 1357)
 1464  Pope Pius II (b. 1405)
 1573  Saito Tatsuoki, Japanese warlord (b. 1548)
 1691  Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel, Irish rebel (b. 1630)
 1704  Roland Laporte, French Protestant leader (b. 1675)
 1727  William Croft, English composer (b. 1678)
 1754  Maria Anna of Austria (b. 1683)
 1774  Johann Jakob Reiske, German scholar and physician (b. 1716)
 1784  Nathaniel Hone, Irish-born painter (b. 1718)
 1852  Margaret Taylor, First Lady of the United States (b. 1788)
 1856  Constant Prévost, French geologist (b. 1787)
 1860  André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist (b. 1774)
 1870  David Farragut, American navy officer (b. 1801)
 1891  Sarah Childress Polk, First Lady of the United States (b. 1803)

1901  2000 
 1905  Simeon Solomon, British artist (b. 1840)
 1909  William Stanley, American inventor and engineer (b. 1829)
 1928  Klabund, German writer and poet (b. 1890)
 1941  Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (b. 1854)
 1941  Paul Sabatier, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
 1943  Joe Kelley, American baseball player (b. 1871)
 1951  William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper magnate (b. 1863)
 1954  Hugo Eckener, German pilot and designer (b. 1868)
 1955  Herbert Putnam, American Librarian of Congress (b. 1861)
 1956  Bertolt Brecht, German writer (b. 1898)
 1958  Frédéric Joliot, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1900)
 1958  Konstantin von Neurath, German diplomat (b. 1873)
 1972  Oscar Levant, American actor, composer, and musician (b. 1906)
 1980  Dorothy Stratton, Canadian actress and model (b. 1960)
 1980  Paul Snider, Canadian entrepreneur and manager (b. 1951)
 1981  Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
 1982  Patrick Magee, Irish-English actor (b. 1922)
 1984  Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach and manager (b. 1904)
 1984  J. B. Priestley, English novelist and playwright (b. 1894)
 1985  Gale Sondergaard, American actress (b. 1899)
 1988  Enzo Ferrari, Italian car maker (b. 1898)
 1989  Ricky Berry, American basketball player (b. 1964)
 1991  Alberto Crespo, Argentine racing driver (b. 1920)
 1994  Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-born writer (b. 1905)
 2000  Alain Fournier, French-born computer graphics researcher (b. 1943)

From 2001 
 2002  Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (b. 1972)
 2003  Helmut Rahn, German footballer (b. 1929)
 2004  Czesław Miłosz, Polish-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
 2005  Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (b. 1932)
 2007  Kotozakura Masakatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1940)
 2010  Abbey Lincoln, American singer (b. 1930)
 2011  Shammi Kapoor, Indian actor (b. 1931)
 2012  Svetozar Gligoric, Serbian chess player (b. 1923)
 2012  Sergey Kapitsa, Russian physicist (b. 1928)
 2012  Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (b. 1919)
 2012  Ron Palillo, American actor (b. 1949)
 2013  Lisa Robin Kelly, American actress (b. 1970)
 2014  Mariana Briski, Argentine actress (b. 1965)
 2014  George V. Hansen, American politician (b. 1930)
 2014  Jay Adams, American skateboarder (b. 1961)
 2014  Stephen Lee, American actor (b. 1955)
 2015  Bob Johnston, American record producer (b. 1932)
 2016  Fyvush Finkel, American actor (b. 1922)
 2016  Hermann Kant, German historian (b. 1926)
 2017  Andrzej Blumenfeld, Polish actor (b. 1951)
 2017  Frank Broyles, American college football coach (b. 1924)
 2017  Franklin Cleckley, American state judge (b. 1940)
 2017  Abdelkrim Ghallab, Moroccan politician, journalist and novelist (b. 1919)
 2017  Stephen Wooldridge, Australian cyclist (b. 1977)
 2017  Lateef Raji, Nigerian politician (b. 1962)
 2018  Hugh Cortazzi, British diplomat (b. 1924)
 2018  Balram Das Tandon, Indian politician (b. 1927)
 2018  Jill Janus, American singer (b. 1975)
 2018  Michael Persinger, American-Canadian psychology professor and neuroscience researcher (b. 1945)
 2018  Eduard Uspensky, Russian author (b. 1937)
 2018  Chemmanam Chacko, Indian poet (b. 1926)
 2019  Graham Farmer, Australian footballer (b. 1935)
 2019  Karim Olowu, Nigerian sprinter and long jumper (b. 1924)
 2019  Héctor Rivoira, Argentine footballer (b. 1960)
 2019  Gjergj Xhuvani, Albanian film director (b. 1963)

Observances 
Feast of Maximilian Kolbe, martyr 
 Independence Day (Pakistan)

Days of the year