First Spacecraft to Enter Interstellar Space. NASA's Voyager 1, which was launched on September 5, 1977, left the heliosphere – the part of space that is not influenced by our Sun on this day. In February 1990, the spacecraft took the first overview picture of the solar system. It is the most distant man-made object in space.
Edward "Ted" Kennedy, who served as a Democratic senator from Massachusetts since 1962, dies. He was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 2008.
Tennis champion Pete Sampras announced his retirement during a news conference at the U.S. Open in New York.
Marcelo Ríos
Singer and actress Aaliyah died in a plane crash in the Bahamas.
Former Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell died at age 90.
Lewis F. Powell Jr.
The tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida.
Fred Levin
Michael Schumacher Makes His Formula One Debut. The German race car champion competed in his first Formula One race in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps. While he did not win that race, he would go on to win 91 Formula One Grand Prix races.
UN security council authorizes military action against Iraq.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 678
Samantha Smith, the schoolgirl whose letter to Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov resulted in her peace tour of the communist country, was killed with her father in an airplane crash in Maine.
Author Truman Capote was found dead in Los Angeles.
The album "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen was released.
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run album
President Harry S. Truman ordered the Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.
1952 steel strike
Liberation of Paris. The battle to liberate Paris, which had been under Nazi control since 1940, began on August 19, 1944, and ended on this day. The battle was fought between Nazi soldiers and members of the French resistance group, who were helped by the American Armed Forces headed by General George Patton. The Germans provided little resistance and did not carry out Hitler's orders of razing Paris to the ground. The Nazi Commander of Paris, General Dietrich Von Choltitz surrendered to the French and American troops. On August 26, General Charles de Gaulle entered Paris and headed a liberation march on the Champs d'Elysees before declaring the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
Liberation of Paris
The United States signed a peace treaty with Germany.
U.S.–German Peace Treaty (1921)
The Department of the Interior created the National Park Service to manage and preserve national parks and monuments for future generations.
Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet.
Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 22 hours.
Matthew Webb
First Installment of the Great Moon Hoax is Published. The New York-based newspaper The Sun published a series of articles, starting on this day, that detailed the discovery of civilization on the Moon.
Great Moon Hoax
Uruguay Declares Independence from the Brazilian Empire. The Empire consisted of present-day Brazil and Uruguay and had declared its independence from Portugal in 1822. Despite the declaration of independence, Uruguay's independence was not recognized by the Empire until August 1928, when the Treaty of Montevideo was signed.
Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, on his first voyage on board the Endeavour, bound for the Pacific Ocean.
William Bligh
Hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, with some of them settling in present-day New Orleans.
History of New Orleans
Galileo demonstrates his 1st telescope to Venetian lawmakers.