August 31

### Up to 1900

- 1056 – Byzantine Empress Theodora dies suddenly without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty.
- 1314 – Norway's capital is moved from Bergen to Oslo.
- 1422 – King Henry V of England dies in France from dysentery. Henry VI of England becomes king of England at the age of just under nine months.
- 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Irish rebels, with French assistance, establish the short–lived Republic of Connacht.
- 1803 – Meriwether Lewis and William Clark start their expedition west by leaving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 11 in the morning.
- 1812 – Troop transporter _Salvador_ runs aground on the Rio de la Plata, between Argentina and Uruguay, killing 470 people, of the 600 on board.
- 1813 – At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British  and Portuguese forces capture Donostia, now known as San Sebastian, in the Basque Country, resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town.
- 1848 – Costa Rica becomes independent from the Federal Republic of Central America.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1876 – Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.
- 1886 – An Earthquake kills 100 in Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1888 – Mary Ann Nicholls is murdered. She is perhaps the first of Jack the Ripper's victims
- 1895 – John Brallier is paid US$10 plus expenses to play football for the Latrobe, Pennsylvania YMCA, making him the first professional football player.
- 1897 – Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
- 1897 – Initiated by Theodor Herzl, the Zionist World Congress in Basel, Switzerland, calls for the creation of a Jewish state.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1907 – England, Russia and France form the Triple Entente alliance.
- 1914 – Ecuador becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1915 – Brazil becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1920 – Polish-Bolshevik War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.
- 1920 – First news radio program broadcast in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1931 – Production of Ford Motor Company's Model A ends, with 4.3 million produced.
- 1936 – Radio Praha, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air.
- 1939 – Nazi Germany mounts a staged attack on Gleiwitz radio station, giving them an excuse to attack Poland the following day, starting World War II.
- 1940 – Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia.
- 1941 – World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat German forces  in the Battle of Loznica.
- 1943 – The USS _Harmon_, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for a black person, is commissioned.
- 1945 – The Liberal Party of Australia is formed by Robert Menzies.
- 1949 – The Greek Civil War ends.
- 1950 – East Germany bans Jehovah's Witnesses from practising their faith.
- 1951 – The Dominican Republic records its highest–ever temperature, at 43 degrees Celsius.
- 1953 – The city of Santander in Northern Spain opens its new airport.
- 1957 – The Federation of Malaya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1958 – An assassination attempt on King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia fails, when a parcel bomb sent by Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother and advisor to Ngo Dinh Diem, fails to detonate.
- 1962 – Trinidad and Tobago become independent.
- 1963 – Sarawak, North Borneo and Singapore achieve technical independence, pending accession to the Federation of Malaya.
- 1968 – An earthquake in Iran kills at least 12,000 people.
- 1978 – William and Emily Harris, founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army, plead guilty to the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.
- 1980 – The Solidarity trade union is formed in Poland.
- 1980 – Heavy rain causes flooding in Ibadan, Nigeria, killing over 300 people.
- 1985 – Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker" serial killer, is arrested in Los Angeles, California.
- 1986 – An Aeroméxico Douglas DC-9 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
- 1986 – The Soviet passenger liner _Admiral Nakhimov_ sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier _Pyotr Vasev_, killing 398.
- 1987 – Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 people on board.
- 1989 – Buckingham Palace officials confirm that Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips are to be separated.
- 1990 – The plan for German unity is signed in Berlin.
- 1991 – Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1992 – Pascal Lissouba is inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo after a multiparty presidential election, ending a long history of one–party oppressive rule under the Congolese Workers Party.
- 1994 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.
- 1996 – Saddam Hussein's troops seize Irbil, Iraq, after Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani had asked for help to defeat the Kurdish PKK.
- 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.
- 1998 – North Korea reportedly launches _Kwangmyongsong_, its first satellite.
- 1999 – A LAPA Boeing 737–200 crashes during take–off from Jorge Newbury Airport, Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 65 people, including 2 on the ground.
- 1999 – The first of a series of Russian Apartment Bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.

### From 2001

- 2001 – PBS airs the final episode of _Mister Rogers' Neighborhood_ with host Fred Rogers retiring.
- 2004 – Mel Gibson's movie _The Passion of the Christ_ is released on DVD and VHS in stores across the United States, selling approximately 4.1 million copies by the end of the day.
- 2005 – A stampede at the Al–Aimmah Bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.
- 2005 – Football: An early–round FA Cup match in England sets the record for the most penalty kicks taken. It took 40 such kicks to separate Tunbridge Wells and Littlehampton Town.
- 2006 – Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered in a police raid, more than two years after it was stolen.
- 2010 – Iraq War officially ends.
- 2016 – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is impeached and removed from office; Michel Temer succeeds her as president.
- 2018 – A six–hour–long funeral takes place for American soul singer Aretha Franklin in Detroit, Michigan.
- 2023 – A fire in Johannesburg kills 77 people.

### Up to 1900

- 12 – Gaius Caligula, Roman Emperor (d. 41)
- 161 – Commodus, Roman Emperor (d. 192)
- 1018 – Jeongjong II of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1046)
- 1168 – Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (d. 1208)
- 1542 – Isabella de' Medici, Italian princess (d. 1576)
- 1569 – Jahangir, Indian Mughal Emperor (d. 1627)
- 1602 – Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, wife of Frederick, Prince of Orange (d. 1675)
- 1663 – Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (d. 1705)
- 1721 – George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (d. 1775)
- 1741 – Jean Paul Egide Martini, French composer (d. 1816)
- 1741 – John Houstoun, American politician, Governor of Georgia (d. 1796)
- 1748 – Jean Etienne Despreaux, French dancer, choreographer, composer, singer and playwright (d. 1820)
- 1749 – Alexander Radishchev, Russian philosopher and writer (d. 1802)
- 1760 – Peter Joseph Triest, Belgian canon of the Roman Catholic Church (d. 1836)
- 1767 – Henry Joy McCracken, Irish activist (d. 1798)
- 1786 – Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist (d. 1889)
- 1797 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and engineer (d. 1867)
- 1811 – Theophile Gautier, French poet and novelist (d. 1872)
- 1821 – Hermann von Helmholtz, German scientist (d. 1894)
- 1822 – Galusha M. Grow, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1907)
- 1834 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (d. 1886)
- 1837 – Frederick Walter Pikin, Governor of Colorado (d. 1886)
- 1842 – Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, American publisher, journalist and activist (d. 1924)
- 1843 – Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1919)
- 1853 – Alexei Alekseyevich Brusilov, Russian general (d. 1926)
- 1866 – Elizabeth von Arnim, Australian–English writer (d. 1941)
- 1870 – Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator (d. 1952)
- 1871 – James E. Ferguson, 26th Governor of Texas (d. 1944)
- 1871 – Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (d. 1955)
- 1874 – Edward Thorndike, American psychologist (d. 1949)
- 1878 – Frank Jarvis, American athlete (d. 1933)
- 1879 – Alma Mahler, wife of Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel (d. 1964)
- 1879 – Emperor Taisho, Emperor of Japan (d. 1926)
- 1880 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
- 1882 – Harry Porter, American high jumper (d. 1965)
- 1885 – DuBose Heyward, American playwright (d. 1940)
- 1891 – Martin Sennet Conner, 44th Governor of Mississippi (d. 1950)
- 1893 – Raymond E. Baldwin, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1986)
- 1897 – Fredric March, American actor (d. 1975)
- 1900 – Gino Lucetti, Italian anarchist, attempted assassin of Benito Mussolini (d. 1943)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1903 – Vladimir Jankelevitch, French philosopher and musicologist (d. 1985)
- 1903 – Arthur Godfrey, American television host (d. 1983)
- 1907 – William Shawn, American editor (d. 1992)
- 1907 – Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (d. 1957)
- 1907 – Altiero Spinelli, Italian politician (d. 1986)
- 1908 – William Saroyan, American novelist and playwright (d. 1981)
- 1909 – Ferenc Fejto, Hungarian–French journalist and political scientist (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Bernard Lovell, English radio astronomer and physicist (d. 2012)
- 1913 – Helen Levitt, American photographer (d. 2009)
- 1914 – Richard Basehart, American actor (d. 1984)
- 1916 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (d. 2002)
- 1916 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist (d. 2010)
- 1918 – Alan Jay Lerner, American composer (d. 1986)
- 1924 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and comedian (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Katyna Ranieri, Italian actress and singer (d. 2018)
- 1928 – James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1928 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Jean Beliveau, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Brita Koivunen, Finnish singer (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Noble Willingham, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1932 – Roy Castle, English actor, singer and dancer (d. 1994)
- 1935 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player and manager
- 1935 – Eldridge Cleaver, American political activist (d. 1998)
- 1936 – Vladimir Orlov, Russian author (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Gilles Latulippe, Canadian comedian, author and theatre manager (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Warren Berlinger, American actor
- 1937 – Bobby Parker, American guitarist
- 1938 – Martin Bell, British journalist and politician
- 1940 – Wilton Felder, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Alain Calmat, French figure skater
- 1942 – Isao Aoki, Japanese golfer
- 1944 – Roger Denn, English artist, designer, architect and publisher
- 1945 – Bob Welch, American musician (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Van Morrison, Northern Irish musician
- 1945 – Itzhak Perlman, Israeli violinist
- 1945 – Leonid Popov, Soviet–Ukrainian cosmonaut
- 1946 – Ann Coffey, Scottish politician
- 1947 – Somchai Wongsawat, former Prime Minister of Thailand
- 1947 – Mona Marshall, American voice actress
- 1948 – Holger Osieck, German football coach
- 1948 – Harald Ertl, Austrian racing driver (d. 1982)
- 1948 – Lowell Ganz, screenwriter
- 1948 – Rudolf Schenker, German musician (Scorpions)
- 1949 – Richard Gere, American actor
- 1949 – Hugh David Politzer, American physicist

### 1951 – 1975

- 1952 – Kim Kashkashian, Armenian–American violist
- 1953 – Pavel Vingradov, Russian cosmonaut
- 1954 – Robert Kocharian, former President of Armenia
- 1955 – Edwin Moses, American athlete
- 1956 – Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China
- 1956 – Mark Mangini, American sound editor
- 1956 – Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer
- 1959 – Ralph Krueger, Canadian ice hockey coach
- 1960 – Chris Whitley, American musician
- 1960 – Vali Ionescu, Romanian long jumper
- 1960 – Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanese leader of Hezbollah
- 1962 – Dee Bradley Baker, American actor
- 1963 – Todd Carty, Irish actor
- 1965 – Zsolt Borkai, Hungarian gymnast
- 1966 – Jan Einar Thorsen, Norwegian alpine skier
- 1967 – Anna Moen, Norwegian skier
- 1968 – Valdon Dowiyogo, Nauruan politician
- 1968 – Derek Whyte, Scottish footballer
- 1969 – Jonathan LaPaglia, Australian actor
- 1969 – Andrew Cunanan, American serial killer (d. 1997)
- 1970 – Debbie Gibson, American singer
- 1970 – Queen Rania of Jordan, Jordanian Queen
- 1970 – Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian politician
- 1970 – Arie van Lent, Dutch–German footballer
- 1971 – Padraig Harrington, Irish golfer
- 1971 – Junior Jack, Italian music producer and DJ
- 1972 – Chris Tucker, American actor

### From 1976

- 1976 – Roque Junior, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Radek Martinek, Czech ice hockey player
- 1976 – Lucy Speed, British actress
- 1977 – Craig Nicholls, American  singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Vines)
- 1977 – Jeff Hardy, American professional wrestler
- 1979 – Simon Neil, Scottish singer and guitarist (Biffy Clyro)
- 1980 – Joe Budden, American rapper
- 1981 – Dwayne Peel, Welsh rugby player
- 1982 – Christopher Katongo, Zambian footballer
- 1982 – José Manuel Reina, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Alexei Mikhnov, Ukrainian–Russian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Chris Duhon, American basketball player
- 1984 – Ted Ligety, American skier
- 1984 – Ryan Kesler, American ice hockey player
- 1985 – Rolando, Portuguese footballer
- 1985 – Ashley Hartman, American actress and model
- 1985 – Mohammad bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
- 1986 – Ryan Kelley, American actor
- 1987 – Ondrej Pavelec, Czech ice hockey player
- 1988 – David Ospina, Colombian footballer
- 1990 – Gary Mackay-Steven, Scottish footballer
- 1991 – Shi Tingmao, Chinese diver
- 1998 – Saya Kawamoto, Japanese idol and singer
- 2017 – Prince Gabriel, Duke of Dalarna, Swedish royal

### Up to 1900

- 577 – John Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople
- 651 – Aidan of Lindisfarne, Irish bishop and missionary
- 683 – Pacal II, Mayan ruler (b. 603)
- 1056 – Byzantine Empress Theodora (b. 981)
- 1158 – Sancho I of Castile (b. 1134)
- 1234 – Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (b. 1212)
- 1422 – King Henry V of England (b. 1387)
- 1654 – Ole Worm, Danish physician (b. 1588)
- 1688 – John Bunyan, English writer (b. 1628)
- 1724 – Louis I of Spain (b. 1707)
- 1741 – Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, German jurist (b. 1681)
- 1762 – Emperor Momozono of Japan (b. 1741)
- 1772 – William Borlase, English naturalist (b. 1695)
- 1799 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect (b. 1720)
- 1811 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French explorer (b. 1729)
- 1814 – Arthur Phillip, British admiral, first Governor of New South Wales (b. 1738)
- 1864 – Ferdinand Lassalle, German writer and politician (b. 1825)
- 1867 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet (b. 1821)
- 1888 – Mary Ann Nichols, victim of Jack the Ripper (b. 1845)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1920 – Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist (b. 1832)
- 1920 – Jens Oliver Lisberg, Faroese law student (b. 1896)
- 1924 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1881)
- 1927 – William Frank Carver, American target shooter and showman (b. 1851)
- 1941 – Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet (b. 1892)
- 1948 – Billy Laughlin, American actor (b. 1932)
- 1948 – Andrei Zhdanov, Soviet politician (b. 1896)
- 1963 – Georges Braque, French painter (b. 1882)
- 1967 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Soviet writer, journalist and translator (b. 1891)
- 1969 – Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923)
- 1973 – John Ford, American movie director (b. 1894)
- 1974 – Norman Kirk, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1923)
- 1978 – John Wrathall, Rhodesian politician (b. 1913)
- 1979 – Sally Rand, American dancer and actress (b. 1904)
- 1985 – Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist (b. 1899)
- 1986 – Henry Moore, English sculptor (b. 1898)
- 1986 – Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (b. 1900)
- 1986 – Jorge Alessandri, President of Chile (b. 1896)
- 1990 – Nathaniel Clifton, American basketball player (b. 1922)
- 1991 – Cliff Lumsden, Canadian marathon swimmer (b. 1931)
- 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales (car accident) (b. 1961)
- 1997 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian–born movie producer (car accident) (b. 1955)
- 1997 – Henri Paul, French security guard (car accident) (b. 1956)

### From 2001

- 2002 – Lionel Hampton, American vibraphone player (b. 1908)
- 2002 – George Porter, English chemist (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Carl Wayne, English singer (b. 1943)
- 2005 – Joseph Rotblat, Polish–British physicist (b. 1908)
- 2006 – Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian footballer (b. 1983)
- 2010 – Laurent Fignon, French cyclist (b. 1960)
- 2011 – Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1976)
- 2011 – Valery Rozhdestvensky, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Sergey Leonidovich Sokolov, Soviet–Russian military commander (b. 1911)
- 2012 – Carlo Maria Martini, Italian cardinal (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Max Bygraves, British entertainer (b. 1922)
- 2013 – David Frost, British broadcaster (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Stefan Andrei, Romanian Communist politician (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Stan Goldberg, American comic author (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Jimi Jamison, American rock music singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Carol Vadnais, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1945)
- 2014 – Bapu, Indian movie director (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Yves Carcelle, French businessman (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, English politician (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Richard Anderson, American actor (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Janne Carlsson, Swedish actor and musician (b. 1937)
- 2017 – Mike Cockerill, Australian soccer journalist (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Egon Günther, German film director and screenwriter (b. 1927)
- 2017 – Tamara Tchinarova, Romanian ballet dancer and writer (b. 1919)
- 2018 – Susan Brown, American actress (b. 1932)
- 2018 – Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Italian geneticist (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Alexander Zakharenko, Ukrainian separatist leader (b. 1976)

## Observances

- Independence Day (Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Kyrgyzstan)
- Day of Solidarity and Freedom (Poland)
- National Language Day (Moldova)
- Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne