What Happened in August?

Adolf Hitler becomes absolute dictator of Germany under the title of Fuhrer, or “Leader after German President Paul von Hindenburg death. More

The first batch of 137 prisoners arrives at Alcatraz, arriving by railroad from the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, to Santa Venetia, California. In 1850, a presidential order set aside the island for possible use as a United States military reservation and the U.S. Army had used the island for more than 80 years. In 1933, the island was transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice for use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to open a maximum-security, minimum-privilege penitentiary to deal with the most incorrigible inmates in Federal prisons. More

Hitler becomes President of Germany; 89.9 percent of German voters approved granting Chancellor Adolf Hitler additional powers, including the office of president.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) signs the Social Security Act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue and for other purposes. More

American Aviator Wiley Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post's aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska. Post was piloting a modified Lockheed Orion/Explorer, and the engine failed shortly after takeoff from a lagoon. 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.” 

Federico García Lorca, widely considered one of the most important Spanish poet and playwright of the 20th century, was murdered by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. His remains have never been found and the motive remains unknown, although a personal dispute is believed to be the more likely reason. 

Albert Einstein writes a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt regarding the possibility of atomic weapons. Six years later, on August 6, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb, developed by the U.S., was dropped on the Japanese port of Hiroshima.

The Heinkel He 178, a turbojet designed by German engineer Ernst Heinrich Heinkel and piloted by Erich Warsitz makes its first flight. It was the world's first aircraft to fly using a turbojet engine.  Expand +

Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, dies in Mexico City after being fatally wounded with an ice axe the day before. His assassin, Ramon Mercader, was a Spanish communist and an agent of the secret police of the Soviet Union (NKVD). Mercader was imprisoned for 20 years in Mexico and he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal, shortly after his release from prison. Trotsky was 60 years old when he died. He was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1927 and had been living in Mexico since 1936. More

FDR and Churchill meet for the first time as leaders of their respective nations on board naval vessels anchored in Placentia Bay, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The document released as a result of the meeting is referred to as "The Atlantic Charter." It was not an official document, but rather a joint statement expressing the war aims of the two countries--one technically neutral and the other at war. More

The United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with Mexico. An executive order called the Mexican Farm Labor Program established the Bracero Program. This series of diplomatic accords between Mexico and the United States permitted millions of Mexican men to work legally in the United States on short-term labor contracts. The Bracero Program ended on December 31, 1964. More

American forces land on the Solomon Islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida. on the morning of August 7,1942. After some fierce fighting, the US Marines cleared Tulagi and Florida by August 9. The main forces on Guadalcanal met little resistance on their way inland to secure the airfield at Lunga Point, Almost immediately, however, Japanese naval aircraft attacked transport and escort ships, and Japanese reinforcements arrived in the area. More

Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil were awarded a patent for a “frequency hopping, spread-spectrum communication system” designed to make radio-guided torpedoes harder to detect or jam. Lamarr and Antheil donated their patent to the US Navy and never realized any money from their invention. Expand +

The official start date of the Manhattan Engineer District, (MED) Better known as the Manhattan Project. It was top-secret, U.S. led research and development project during World War II with the goal of developing the first atomic bombs. It involved scientists, engineers, and the military, and resulted in the creation of nuclear weapons that were used against Japan, ending the war but also ushered in the atomic age. The project was disbanded on August 15 1947 More

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The Dieppe Raid, an Allied amphibious assault on the German-occupied port of Dieppe, France, ends in a heavy defeat and high casualties for the Allies.

The Battle of Stalingrad begins as German forces launch an offensive with 600 Luftwaffe planes bombing Stalingrad and killing 40,000 people. The battle was a turning point in World War II as the Soviet Union successfully defended and ultimately defeated the German army. The battle continue until February 2, 1943. More

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

"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.

The 80-foot patrol torpedo boat PT-109 commanded by Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer during the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Two crewmen were killed and 11 survived. Kennedy's actions were instrumental in saving his surviving crew which earned him several commendations and made him a war hero. Back problems stemming from the incident required months of hospitalization at Chelsea Naval Hospital and plagued him the rest of his life. More