What Happened Today in History on August 1

The Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey and record of the extent, value, ownership, and liabilities of landholdings in England, ordered by King William I (William the Conqueror) is completed and presented to the King at a court in Salisbury. William I was the first Norman King of England.

Swiss National Day - Alliance against the Holy Roman Empire in 1291.

Explorer Christopher Columbus, during his third trip, lands on South America at the Paria Peninsula in present-day Venezuela. Thinking it was an island, he claims it for Spain and christened it "Isla Santa".

Henry III King of France is assassinated by Jacques Clément, a young fanatical Dominican friar with a knife. Clément was killed on the spot by the guards.

Slavery is abolished in Jamaica where it had been introduced in 1509.

Colorado is admitted into the Union and becomes the 38th State

World War I starts. Germany declares war on Russia on August 1 and on France on August 3. Austria-Hungary, with German encouragement, had declared war on Serbia on 28 July. Russia's support of Serbia brought France into the conflict. Germany's violation of Belgian neutrality and British fears of German domination in Europe brought Britain and its empire into the war on 4 August. More

Hitler declares the Berlin Summer Olympics to be open. The 1936 Olympics were the eleventh Olympiad of the modern era. The success of African American athletes, notably Jesse Owens, undermined Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party to showcase the superiority of the “Aryan race.” 

"Operation Tidal Wave" - U.S. forces attack the German oil refineries at Ploiești, Romania which provide a third of Germany's fuel supplies. The mission, involving 177 B-24 Liberator bombers, was a low-level attack, intended to evade radar detection. The raid caused significant damage, but the refineries were later repaired. 53 aircraft and 500 aircrew lost, during the nicknamed "Black Sunday" raid.

A race riot takes place in Harlem, New York City, lasting two days, after a white police officer, James Collins, shot and wounded Robert Bandy, an African American soldier; and rumors circulated that the soldier had been killed. More

The Warsaw Uprising starts. The Polish Home Army, a non-Communist underground resistance movement, led by Polish General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, takes action to liberate the city from the German occupation and reclaim Polish independence, encouraged by the appearance of the Soviet Red Army along the east bank of the Vistula River and the perceived weakness of the German military.  Expand +

Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, Independence day. Effective date of the agreement with France signed on 11 July. Benin is a country in West Africa formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 112,622 km2 (43,484 sq mi), and its population in 2021 was approximately 13 million. It is a tropical country with an economy heavily dependent on agriculture and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton.