On This Day - 14th August

1834 - The Poor Law is amended in Britain causing the Work House to be established
1925 - Russell Baker born
1941 - US President Franklin D Roosevelt and UK PM Winston Churchill agree plans for downfall of Hitler. David Crosby and Lynne Cheney born
1945 - Steve Martin born
1946 - Susan St. James born
1947 - Danielle Steel born
1950 - Gary Larson born
1959 - Earvin "Magic" Johnson born
1968 - Halle Berry born
1969 - The British Government sends troops into Northern Ireland in what it says is a "limited operation" to restore law and order.
1970 - Kevin Cadogan born
1979 - Dozens of yachts are lost and at least three people killed after a freak storm blows during the Fastnet yacht race.
1980 - Shipyard workers in Gdansk, Poland, strike in protest over the dismissal of a trade union activist
2000 - A rescue operation is underway to save the lives of more than 100 sailors on board a Russian submarine grounded at the bottom of the Barents Sea.
2001 - The IRA says it is withdrawing a proposal it made last week on putting its weapons beyond use.
2003 - Massive power failures cause chaos across the eastern United States and Canada, hitting cities such as New York and Ottawa.

On This Day - 13th August

1860 - Annie Oakley born
1895 - Bert Lahr born
1899 - Alfred Hitchcock born
1919 - George Shearing born
1926 - Fidel Castro born
1929 - Pat Harrington born
1930 - Don Ho born
1951 - Dan Fogelberg born
1961 - Troops in East Germany seal off the border between East and West Berlin, shutting off the escape route for thousands of refugees from the East.
1966 - China announces plans for a "new leap forward" after the first meeting in four years of the Communist Party's Central Committee.
1977 - More than 200 protesters are arrested after demonstrations in Lewisham against a National Front march.
1985 - A three-year-old boy from Dublin becomes the world's youngest heart and lung transplant patient.
1991 - The Prince of Wales resigns as the patron of Scotland's national museum over a competition to design a new building.

On This Day - 12th August

1881 - Cecil B. DeMille born
1896 - Gold is found in the Klondike sparking a Gold Rush
1908 - The first Model Ford built
1911 - Cantinflas born
1912 - Jane Wyatt born
1926 - John Derek born
1931 - William Goldman born
1939 - George Hamilton born
1964 - A massive manhunt is underway across Britain after Charlie Wilson, one of the gang involved in the Great Train Robbery breaks out of a high-security prison in Birmingham.
1969 - The Royal Ulster Constabulary uses tear gas for the first time in its history after nine hours of rioting in the Bogside area of Londonderry.
1971 - Pete Sampras born
1980 - Dominique Swain born
1985 - A Japan Airlines jumbo jet crashes on a remote mountainside 70 miles from Tokyo in Japan.
1990 - A British man attempting to escape in a convoy from Iraqi-occupied Kuwait is shot by Iraqi soldiers.
2000 - The family of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne is joined by friends and hundreds of members of the public for a memorial service.
2003 - BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan answers questions from the Hutton Inquiry over his report that the government "sexed up" a weapons dossier on Iraq

On This Day - 11th August

1921 - Alex Haley born
1925 - Mike Douglas born
1928 - Arlene Dahl born
1933 - Reverend Jerry Falwell born
1950 - Steve Wozniak born
1953 - Hollywood Hulk Hogan born
1971 - Prime Minister Edward Heath steers the British yachting team to Admiral's Cup victory.
1982 - The notorious East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray have been allowed out of prison for their mother's funeral.
1984 - British athlete sparks controversy in the 3,000m Olympics final as American favourite Mary Decker trips over her.
1999 - Up to 350 million people in Europe and Asia witness the last total solar eclipse of the century.
2000 - Two men are jailed after an incident of "air rage" on board a holiday jet bound for Jamaica.

On This Day - 10th August

1874 - Herbert Hoover born
1900 - American win the first ever Davis Cup
1909 - George Crockett born
1923 - Rhonda Fleming born
1928 - Eddie Fisher born
1928 - Jimmy Dean born
1933 - Rocky Colavito born
1947 - Ian Anderson born
1959 - Rosanna Arquette born
1960 - Antonio Banderas born
1964 - Nicole Bass born
1964 - The United Nations brokers another ceasefire in Cyprus, defusing a growing military crisis and heading off the threat of invasion by Turkey.
1982 - Devon Aoki born
1977 - The Queen visits Northern Ireland for the first time in 11 years as part of her Silver Jubilee tour.
1998 - Scientists fear a disease which has killed more than 6,000 seals in the North Sea and the Baltic has now reached British waters.
1990 - The NASA space probe Magellan arrives at Venus after a 15-month journey from Earth and starts its mission to map the global warming "hell-hole".
2001 - Former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton and wife Christine strenuously deny allegations they carried out a serious sexual assault.
2003 - Britain records its hottest-ever day with temperatures above 100F, jamming roads and packing beaches across the country.

On This Day - 9th August

1927 - Robert Shaw born
1944 - Sam Elliott born
1945 - American forces drop an atomic bomb on Nagasaki - the second such attack on Japan in the past three days.
1957 - Melanie Griffith born
1963 - Whitney Houston born
1968 - Gillian Anderson born
1969 - Actress Sharon Tate is found brutally murdered in her Los Angeles home, along with four other victims.
1971 - New powers to enable authorities in Northern Ireland to indefinitely detain suspected terrorists without trial are introduced.
1974 - Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 38th US president following Richard Nixon's resignation.
1979 - Brighton becomes the first major resort in Britain to agree to set aside part of its seafront to nudists.
1993 - A five-year-old girl who was severely injured in the fighting in Bosnia is flown to Britain for treatment.
1999 - Charles Kennedy wins the race to succeed Paddy Ashdown as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

On This Day - 8th August

1923 - Esther Williams born
1932 - Mel Tillis born
1937 - Dustin Hoffman born
1938 - Connie Stevens born
1945 - USSR declares war on Japan
1947 - Willie P. Richardson born
1949 - Keith Carradine born
1952 - Robin Quivers born
1953 - Donny Most born
1961 - Dave "The Edge" Evans born
1963 - Thieves ambush the Glasgow to Euston mail train and steal thousands of pounds.
1974 - Richard Nixon announces he is to step down as President of the United States - the first man ever to do so.
1976 - J.C. Chasez and Drew Lachey born
1981 - Roger Federer, Bradley McIntosh and Vanesssa Amorosi born
1988 - The Duke and Duchess of York have announced the birth of their first child, Beatrice .
1991 - John McCarthy, Britain's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, is set free after more than five years in captivity.
2001 - The final decree ending the marriage of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise comes through hours after they attend the premiere of their latest movie, The Others




1988 - Princess Beatrice born