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HISTORY & TIMELINE
2 August

A journey through
2 August in history

The story of 2 August runs from Hannibal’s victory at Cannae in 216 BC to an Air France airliner that overran the runway at Toronto in 2005 without the loss of a single life. In between come the death of William Rufus in the New Forest, the abdication of Charles X of France, the Government of India Act, the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok at a Deadwood poker table, Hitler’s seizure of the German presidency, Einstein’s warning to Roosevelt, Fanny Blankers-Koen’s first Olympic title, the revolt at Treblinka, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the start of the Second Congo War.

Begin the Timeline ↓ ← Back to Explore This Day
JUMP THROUGH TIME
I
EARLIEST RECORDS

Ancient & Early History

The earliest worthwhile records and events connected with this date.

-216
The monument on the battlefield of Cannae, in Apulia in southern ItalyThe monument on the battlefield of Cannae, in Apulia in southern ItalyImage: Jörg Schulz · CC BY-SA 3.0
world · Europe

Hannibal destroys a Roman army at Cannae

In 218 BC the Carthaginian general Hannibal led his army over the Alps into Italy and beat the Romans twice, at the Trebia and at Lake Trasimene. Rome answered by raising the largest army it had ever put into the field, perhaps 80,000 men, many of them raw recruits, under the two consuls of the year, Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. They found Hannibal, with about 50,000 men, beside the river Aufidus near the village of Cannae in Apulia. The battle was fought on 2 August 216 BC by the Roman calendar. Hannibal let his thin centre give way before the Roman legions while his African infantry on either side turned inwards and his cavalry, having routed the Roman horsemen, closed in from behind. Surrounded and packed together, the Romans were cut down; ancient writers put their dead at 55,000 (Livy) or 70,000 (Polybius), and Paullus was among them. Cannae became the textbook example of encirclement, yet Rome refused to make peace and won the war in the end.

Source: Britannica: Battle of Cannae ↗
II
THE MIDDLE AGES

Medieval History

Kingdoms, conflict, faith, power and the changing medieval world.

1100
The Rufus Stone in the New Forest, which marks the traditional spot where William II fellThe Rufus Stone in the New Forest, which marks the traditional spot where William II fellImage: David Hunt · Public domain
politics · Europe

William Rufus is killed by an arrow in the New Forest

William II, the son of William the Conqueror, known as Rufus perhaps for his red face, had ruled England since 1087. On 2 August 1100 he went hunting in the New Forest and was killed by an arrow, said to have been shot by the Norman lord Walter Tirel, who fled to France. Whether it was an accident or murder has been argued over ever since. His younger brother Henry, who was in the hunting party, rode straight to Winchester to seize the treasury and was crowned three days later.

Source: The Royal Family: William II (known as William Rufus) ↗
IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1830
Charles X of France in his coronation robes, painted by François GérardCharles X of France in his coronation robes, painted by François GérardImage: François Gérard · Public domain
politics · Europe

Charles X of France abdicates after the July Revolution

In July 1830 Charles X issued ordinances that muzzled the press and dissolved the newly elected chamber, and Paris rose against him in three days of street fighting, the ‘Three Glorious Days’ of 27 to 29 July. The king withdrew to the château of Rambouillet, and on 2 August 1830 he abdicated in favour of his young grandson Henri. The deputies ignored his wishes and offered the crown to his cousin Louis-Philippe, and Charles went into exile.

Source: Britannica: July Revolution ↗
1858
A printed copy of Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858, announcing that the Crown had taken over the government of IndiaA printed copy of Queen Victoria’s proclamation of 1858, announcing that the Crown had taken over the government of IndiaImage: Unknown author · Public domain
politics · Asia

The British Crown takes over India from the East India Company

For a century the East India Company, a trading business with its own armies, had ruled a growing share of India on Britain’s behalf. In 1857 Indian soldiers in the company’s service rose against their British officers, and the rebellion spread across much of northern India before it was put down with great brutality. In Britain the uprising was blamed on the company’s misrule, and Parliament decided that it could no longer be left in charge. The Government of India Act received royal assent on 2 August 1858. It transferred the company’s territories, armies and powers to the Crown. A new Secretary of State for India, a member of the British cabinet advised by a Council of India, took charge in London, and the governor-general in India also became the queen’s viceroy. In November Queen Victoria’s proclamation promised Indians religious tolerance. Crown rule, the British Raj, lasted until independence in 1947.

Source: Britannica: India, Government of India Act of 1858 ↗
1876
James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok, scout, lawman and gunfighter, in an early photographJames Butler ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok, scout, lawman and gunfighter, in an early photographImage: Unknown author · Public domain
culture · Americas

Wild Bill Hickok is shot at the poker table in Deadwood

James Butler Hickok, known as Wild Bill, was already a legend of the American West in his own lifetime: a Union scout in the Civil War, a marshal in the rough cattle town of Abilene, Kansas, and a gunfighter whose exploits were blown up in magazines and dime novels. In 1876, aged 39 and with his eyesight failing, he joined the gold rush to Deadwood in the Black Hills, a lawless mining camp in Dakota Territory. On 2 August 1876 he was playing poker in Nuttall and Mann’s Saloon No. 10, for once sitting with his back to the door, when a drifter named Jack McCall walked up behind him and shot him in the head. His cards are said to have been a pair of aces and a pair of eights, ever since known as the ‘dead man’s hand’. McCall was freed by a miners’ court but retried in Yankton and hanged in 1877.

Source: Britannica: Wild Bill Hickok ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1934
The Reich Law Gazette issued in Berlin on 2 August 1934, printing the Law on the Head of State of the German Reich dated 1 AugustThe Reich Law Gazette issued in Berlin on 2 August 1934, printing the Law on the Head of State of the German Reich dated 1 AugustImage: Reichsgesetzblatt (official publication of the German government) · Public domain
politics · Europe

Hitler makes himself head of state on Hindenburg’s death

Adolf Hitler had been Chancellor of Germany since January 1933, but one office still stood above him: the presidency, held by the 86-year-old First World War field marshal Paul von Hindenburg, who could in theory dismiss him and who commanded the loyalty of the army. In the summer of 1934, weeks after Hitler had his rivals in the SA murdered in the Night of the Long Knives, the old president lay dying. On 1 August the cabinet passed a law merging the offices of president and chancellor, to take effect on his death. Hindenburg died at 9 a.m. on 2 August 1934, and the law came into force at once. Hitler decreed that he would be known as Führer and Reich Chancellor, and the same day officers and soldiers swore an oath of unconditional obedience, not to the constitution but to Hitler personally. A referendum on 19 August approved the change with about 90 per cent of the vote. It removed the last legal check on his power.

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Death of German President von Hindenburg ↗
1939
The two pages of the letter signed by Albert Einstein and dated 2 August 1939, warning President Roosevelt that atomic bombs might be builtThe two pages of the letter signed by Albert Einstein and dated 2 August 1939, warning President Roosevelt that atomic bombs might be builtImage: Albert Einstein · Public domain
science · Americas

Einstein signs his letter to Roosevelt warning of the atomic bomb

Early in 1939 news spread that German chemists had split the uranium atom. The Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, a refugee in New York, realised that if splitting atoms released more neutrons, a chain reaction could produce a bomb of terrible power, and he feared that Nazi Germany would build one first. To be heard in Washington he needed a famous name, so he drove out to the summer cottage on Long Island where Albert Einstein was staying. Einstein signed the letter they drafted, dated 2 August 1939. It told President Franklin D. Roosevelt that ‘extremely powerful bombs of a new type’ might be built from uranium, noted that Germany had stopped selling uranium from Czechoslovak mines, and urged the government to support the research. The economist Alexander Sachs handed it to Roosevelt only on 11 October. Roosevelt set up an advisory committee on uranium, the first step towards the Manhattan Project. Einstein later said he regretted signing it.

Source: US Department of Energy: August 2, 1939, Einstein’s letter ↗
1943
Smoke rising over Treblinka during the prisoners' revolt, photographed secretly by the Polish railwayman Franciszek ZąbeckiSmoke rising over Treblinka during the prisoners’ revolt, photographed secretly by the Polish railwayman Franciszek ZąbeckiImage: Franciszek Ząbecki · Public domain
world · Europe

Prisoners rise up at the Treblinka death camp

At Treblinka, north-east of Warsaw, the SS and police murdered between 870,000 and 925,000 Jews in little more than a year. The few hundred prisoners kept alive to work there formed an underground group, and as the killing slowed they feared they would be killed and the camp erased. On 2 August 1943 they took weapons from the armoury and set the camp on fire. Hundreds stormed the fences under machine-gun fire; more than 300 escaped, though most were later hunted down.

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Treblinka ↗
1948
Fanny Blankers-Koen, the Dutch sprinter and hurdler who won four gold medals at the 1948 OlympicsFanny Blankers-Koen, the Dutch sprinter and hurdler who won four gold medals at the 1948 OlympicsImage: Daan Noske / Anefo · CC0
sport · Europe

Fanny Blankers-Koen wins the first of her four London golds

Fanny Blankers-Koen had run at the Berlin Olympics as an 18-year-old in 1936, but the war wiped out the Games of 1940 and 1944. By the time London held the first Olympics for twelve years in 1948 she was 30 and a mother of two, and some critics said she was too old and should be at home with her children. On 2 August 1948, on a wet and heavy track at Wembley, she won the 100 metres final in 11.9 seconds, ahead of Britain’s Dorothy Manley. She then won the 80 metres hurdles, the 200 metres and the 4 x 100 metres relay, eleven races in eight days, and went home as the star of the Games, nicknamed ‘the Flying Housewife’.

Source: Olympics.com: The incredible dominance of Fanny Blankers-Koen ↗
1990
Iraqi Army T-72 tanks on the move during the invasion of Kuwait in August 1990Iraqi Army T-72 tanks on the move during the invasion of Kuwait in August 1990Image: Unknown author · CC BY 4.0
world · Middle East

Iraq invades Kuwait

Iraq came out of its eight-year war with Iran in 1988 deep in debt, much of it owed to its small, oil-rich neighbour Kuwait. In the summer of 1990 Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates of pumping more oil than their OPEC quotas allowed, driving down the price Iraq depended on, and charged Kuwait with taking oil from the Rumaila field that runs under the border. Iraqi troops massed in the south while Arab leaders tried to calm the dispute. In the early hours of 2 August 1990 about 100,000 Iraqi soldiers crossed the border, and within hours they had overrun the country; the emir escaped to Saudi Arabia. The same day the UN Security Council condemned the invasion in Resolution 660 and demanded a withdrawal. Iraq instead declared Kuwait its 19th province. An international coalition led by the United States drove the Iraqi army out in the Gulf War of early 1991.

Source: US Department of State, Office of the Historian: The Gulf War, 1991 ↗
1998
A map of the Second Congo War in 2001, showing the areas held by the government, the rebel movements and foreign armiesA map of the Second Congo War in 2001, showing the areas held by the government, the rebel movements and foreign armiesImage: Don-kun, Uwe Dedering · CC BY 3.0
world · Africa

The Second Congo War begins

Laurent-Désiré Kabila had taken power in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997 with the help of Rwanda and Uganda, but he soon turned on his former allies and ordered their troops to leave. On 2 August 1998 soldiers in the east of the country rebelled, backed by Rwanda, and a new rebel movement quickly took Goma. Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia sent troops to defend Kabila, and the conflict, often called Africa’s World War, drew in many nations. Estimates of the dead, most from hunger and disease, run into millions.

Source: Council on Foreign Relations, Global Conflict Tracker: Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo ↗
VI
2000 TO TODAY

Modern Day

The events of recent decades that have already become part of the historical record.

2005
The burnt-out wreck of Air France Flight 358 in the ravine beyond the runway at Toronto Pearson airportThe burnt-out wreck of Air France Flight 358 in the ravine beyond the runway at Toronto Pearson airportImage: Paul Cardin – Special Projects IR · CC BY-SA 3.0
world · Americas

Everyone escapes as an Air France airliner burns at Toronto

Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340 from Paris with 309 people on board, landed at Toronto’s Pearson airport in a violent thunderstorm on the afternoon of 2 August 2005. It touched down too far along the runway, could not stop, and ran off the end into a ravine, where fire destroyed it. Every passenger and crew member got out alive; eleven people were seriously hurt. Canada’s safety board later called for longer safety areas at runway ends.

Source: Transportation Safety Board of Canada: Aviation investigation report A05H0002 ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 2 August, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

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