What Happened in August?

An Armistice to stop the hostilities in the Spanish - American War is signed. Spain agrees to the cession of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the United States, pending a final peace treaty. The war officially ended four months later, when the U.S. and Spanish governments signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. The United States Senate ratified the treaty on February 6, 1899. More

A telegram reading “This message sent around the world” is sent by the New York Times to test how fast a commercial message could be sent around the world. it traveled over 28,000 miles and was relayed by 16 different operators. It arrived back at The Times only 16.5 minutes later. The building where the message originated is now called One Times Square. More

The Louvre announces the theft of the Mona Lisa. The theft had actually occurred the day before but it was believed to have been moved for cleaning or photography and it took over 24 hours for the official announcement. The painting had been stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia a temporary Italian worker at the Louvre who reportedly, "wanted to return the Mona Lisa to Italy where it belonged" It was recovered two years later on December 1913 in Italy and returned to the Louvre. Expand +

Ishi, believed to be the last surviving member of the Native American Yahi Tribe is found outside a slaughterhouse near Oroville, California. The rest of the Yahi (as well as many members of their parent tribe, the Yana) were killed in the California genocide in the 19th century. Ishi was 50 years old when he emerged and lived most of his life isolated from modern North American culture. He was the last known Native manufacturer of stone arrowheads. More

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

President Woodrow Wilson declared U.S. neutrality as World War erupts . The conflict eventually became a matter of principles: whether to uphold the freedom of the seas, to make the world safe for democracy in the face of autocracy, or to establish a new world order ensuring permanent peace and governed by rational law. The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. More

The first electric traffic signal is installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street, by the American Traffic Signal Company. It was manually operated by a nearby police officer and It had two light colors, red and green. It also had a manual buzzer to announce the change from one color to the other. There had been previously reported traffic light installations but this one is believed to be the first permanently installed electric traffic light. Detroit and New York added the yellow between red and green in 1920. More

Japan issues an ultimatum to Germany demanding the withdraw of its warships from Chinese and Japanese waters and to hand over Tsingtao. This was refused and on August 23, 1914 Japan declared war on Germany. More

The Panama Canal had its inaugural passage when the U.S. vessel USS Ancon, passed through its gates and it opened to traffic, In the 1880s, the French attempted to build the canal to connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. the project was halted because of poor planning, a breakout of disease among the crew, and financial problems that drove the contractor’s company to bankruptcy in 1889. More

The WW1 Battle of Tannenberg between the Germans and the Russians begins The battle lasted until August 30th.  The German forces, led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, handed Russia a crushing defeat resulting in the destruction of the Russian Second Army, with 120,000-170,000 soldiers killed, injured, or captured by the German 8th Army. More

German forces set fire to the library at the University of Leuven, Belgium, on August 25, 1914, destroying approximately 300,000 books and 1,000 manuscripts. The library was rebuilt but burned down for a second time in May 1940, with approximately 900,000 books lost.

The WW1 battle of Tannenberg between the Germans and the Russians ends. The German forces, led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, handed Russia a crushing defeat resulting in the destruction of the Russian Second Army, with 120,000-170,000 soldiers killed, injured, or captured by the German 8th Army. More

27 Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary. and enters WW1 on the side of the Allies. The decision was motivated primarily by the desire to claim the region of Transylvania and its majority ethnic Romanian population from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Harry Butters Jr, an American serving in the British army as a second Lieutenant during World War I, is killed by a German shell during the Battle of the Somme in France, becoming the first American citizen to die during World War I. Expand +

China ends its neutrality and declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary during World War I.

Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot by Fanya Kaplan, a member of the Social Revolutionary party. Lenin was seriously wounded but survived the attack which was the third assassination attempt on his life. More

Germany's Weimar constitution was passed by the National Assembly. The design of a new Democratic constitution began in late 1918, following the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the collapse of the monarchy. The Weimar Republic, Germany's 12-year experiment with democracy, came to an end 12 years later when the Nazis came to power in January 1933 and established a dictatorship. More

Afghanistan, Independence Day officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Independence Day (Afghan Victory Day) It commemorates the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919.

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote is ratified as Tennessee, by a vote of 50 to 49, becomes the 36th State to do so. The deciding vote came from Harry T. Burn, a 24 year old, who supported suffrage but but was under political pressure to vote no. In his pocket was a letter from his mother, Febb Burn, urging him to vote for the amendment. The amendment was formally adopted into the Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby on August 26, 1920. More

The 19th amendment giving women the Constitutional right to vote is formally adopted into the Constitution by proclamation as the US Secretary of State, Bainbridge Colby certifies it, after the State of Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment. It had been first proposed in Congress, forty two years earlier in 1878 and passed by Congress on June 4, 1919. More