What are the important events that happened on August 2? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

August 2: Facts & Myths About This Day

August 2 is the 214^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 151 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is July 20, 2025 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,754,092,800 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectadecatetragon’ day.

Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 199 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,607 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

August 2 Historical Events

• 1610 –
  Henry Hudson sails into what is now known as Hudson Bay thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean.
• 1798 –
  French Revolutionary Wars: the Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.
• 1869 –
  Japan’s samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system (Shinōkōshō) is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese date: June 25, 1869).
• 1870 –
  Tower Subway, the world’s first underground tube railway, opens in London.
• 1897 –
  Anglo-Afghan wars: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial India’s North West Frontier Province.
• 1932 –
  The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
• 1937 –
  The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal.
• 1944 –
  ASNOM: birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in the Republic of Macedonia.
• 1985 –
  Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.
• 1989 –
  A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.

Who were born on August 2?

• 1858 –
  Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1934)
• 1915 –
  Gary Merrill, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1938 –
  Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
• 1960 –
  David Yow, American vocalist (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard)
• 1960 –
  Linda Fratianne, American figure skater
• 1961 –
  Pete de Freitas, born in Trinidad, drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen (d. 1989)
• 1968 –
  Stefan Effenberg, German footballer
• 1972 –
  Daniele Nardello, Italian cyclist
• 1979 –
  Marco Bonura, Italian footballer
• 1985 –
  Harry Smith, Canadian professional wrestler

Who died on August 2?

• 1799 –
  Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor (b. 1745)
• 1889 –
  Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian writer (b. 1851)
• 1890 –
  Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (b. 1813)
• 1920 –
  Ormer Locklear, American stunt pilot (b. 1891)
• 1922 –
  Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born Canadian inventor (b. 1847)
• 1934 –
  Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and 2nd President of Germany (b. 1847)
• 1973 –
  Jean-Pierre Melville, French film director (b. 1917)
• 2003 –
  Peter Safar, Austrian physician (b. 1924)
• 2004 –
  Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian painter (b. 1929)
• 2005 –
  Steven Vincent, American journalist and writer (b. 1955)