Take a look back at this month in history.
- On August 12, 30 BC, Queen Cleopatra, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, died after she was defeated by Octavius who later became Augustus Caesar.
- Aiming to find a new western passage to the East Indies in order to benefit from the spice trade, on August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera in southern Spain with three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. Sponsored by Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II of Castile and Aragon, he eventually landed on an island in the Bahamas called Guanahani. He never did find a route to the East Indies but this and subsequent voyages led to the colonisation of the Americas.
- In August 1831, a Mr Hyde opened his United Service Hotel on Ireland Island. The Bermuda Gazette reported, “Such an establishment has long been wanting at Ireland …. it frequently happened that gentlemen from His Majesty’s ships were unable to get on board and persons have been obliged to make their bed among the cedar trees …. these inconveniences are now obviated – the United Service Hotel offers both beds and refreshment.”
- Cup Match officially began in 1902 when three one-day cricket matches were played over three months. The last of the three was played in Somerset on August 21.
- August 3, 1914, Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Minister said, “The lights are going out all over Europe.” Britain declared war against Germany on August 4.
- Anne Frank and her family were discovered by the Nazis in Amsterdam on August 4, 1944 and subsequently sent to concentration camps where she and her sister died of typhus.
- August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, instantly killing around 80,000 people. August 15, 1945 is V-J Day, celebrating Japan’s surrender, which effectively ended World War II.
- August 13, 1961, construction of the Berlin Wall began. The wall would divide East and West Berlin and become a powerful image of the Cold War.
- On August 5, 1962, famous actress and film star Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home. She died of a barbiturate overdose.
- From August 24–27, 1980, Jim Henson, creator of The Muppet Show, hosted a retreat in Bermuda for 85 staff members from New York and London. The retreat included seminars, entertainment, and previews of upcoming projects such as The Great Muppet Caper and The Dark Crystal. The event culminated in a gala dinner with dancing to the Bermuda All Stars Steel Drum Band.
- August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, triggering the Gulf War and leading to Operation Desert Storm led by the U.S.
- The COVID-19 pandemic caused the Bermuda Cup Match to be cancelled in 2020, the first and to date only time in its 118-year history that the event did not take place.
- Many famous personages were born in August. They include:
– Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States and 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.
– Bermudian Earl Cameron CBE, a well known black actor in the UK who helped to break racial barriers in British cinema and appeared in many movies including Pool of London and The Queen, was born in Bermuda on August 8, 1917.
– British politician, philanthropist and abolitionist William Wilberforce was born in Hull, UK, on August 29, 1759.
