On This Day: 2 August

2 August in Indian history

• 1999The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India.India
• 1989A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.India
• 1858The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj.India

2 August in world history

• 1990Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: Iraq invades Kuwait and temporarily establishes the Republic of Kuwait puppet state on the orders of Saddam Hussein, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
• 1985Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.
• 1971The English rock band the Who released Who's Next, their only album to top the UK charts.
• 1947Star Dust, a British South American Airways airliner, crashed into Mount Tupungato in the Argentine Andes; its wreckage was not found until 1998.
• 1943The Holocaust: Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months.
• 1943World War II: After the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. president, saves all but two of his crew.
• 1939Leo Szilard penned a letter, signed by Albert Einstein and addressed to U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning that Germany may develop atomic bombs, leading to the establishment of the Manhattan Project.
• 1932At the California Institute of Technology, American physicist Carl David Anderson proved the existence of antimatter with the discovery of the positron, for which he would receive the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics.
• 1923Calvin Coolidge became the 30th president of the United States after Warren G. Harding suffered a fatal heart attack.
• 1916An explosion, blamed on Austro-Hungarian saboteurs, sank the Italian dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci.
• 1798French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.
• 1776American Revolution: The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress takes place.
• 1492The Jews are expelled from Spain: 40,000–200,000 leave. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning of this, dispatches the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Thessaloniki (in modern-day Greece) and İzmir (in
• 461Unpopular among the Senate aristocracy for his reforming efforts, Roman emperor Majorian was deposed by Ricimer and executed five days later.
• 338 BCAn allied army led by Philip II of Macedon overcame the forces of city-states led by Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony over the majority of ancient Greece.

Born on 2 August

• 1941Jules A. Hoffmann, Luxembourgish-French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1929Vidya Charan Shukla, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2013)India
• 1923Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel (died 2016)
• 1900Helen Morgan, American actress and singer (died 1941)
• 1877Ravishankar Shukla, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (died 1956)India
• 1876Pingali Venkayya, Indian geologist, designed the Flag of India (died 1963)India

Died on 2 August

• 2023Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer (born 1965)India
• 1988Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (born 1938)
• 1923Joseph Whitty, Irish Republican died on hunger strike during the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes (born 1904)
• 855Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Arab theologian and jurist (born 780)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 2 August in history?

1999: The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India. 1990: Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: Iraq invades Kuwait and temporarily establishes the Republic of Kuwait puppet state on the orders of Saddam Hussein, eventually leading to the Gulf War. 1989: A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians. 1985: Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.

What happened on 2 August in Indian history?

1999: The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India. 1989: A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians. 1858: The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj.

Which famous people were born on 2 August?

Jules A. Hoffmann, Luxembourgish-French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (1941); Vidya Charan Shukla, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2013) (1929); Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel (died 2016) (1923); Helen Morgan, American actress and singer (died 1941) (1900).

Which day is observed on 2 August?

Day of Azerbaijani cinema (Azerbaijan); Our Lady of the Angels Day (Costa Rica); Paratroopers Day (Russia); Republic Day (North Macedonia); Romani genocide-related observances, including: Roma Holocaust Memorial Day (Council of Europe, European Parliament).