The Eritrean War of Independence officially begins with the shooting of Ethiopian police by Hamid Idris Awate.
31 August 1997
Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris.
30 August 1963
The Moscow–Washington hotline between the leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union goes into operation.
28 August 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech.
27 August 2011
Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage
25 August 1967
George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, is assassinated by a former member of his group.
24 August 1932
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).
23 August 1973
A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their…