August 1

Anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army : People's Republic of China. Public holiday.

National Day : Switzerland. This holiday commemorates the founding in 1291 of the Swiss Confederation.

Lughnasadh: Pagan and Wiccan. This is the first of the three harvest sabbats. (Beltaine and Samhain are the others.) Principally a grain festival, it is sometimes known as the festival of the first fruits. (Corn, wheat, and barley are ready to be picked by August in the Northern Hemisphere.) (see entry for Imbolc, February 2)

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August 2

James Baldwin (1924–1987) : African American. Writer. In his novels and plays and especially in his essays, Baldwin bore powerful witness to the harsh realities of racial injustice in the United States. Although he made his permanent home in France beginning in 1948, he returned to the United States periodically in the decades thereafter and was an active participant in the civil rights movement as well as its most prominent literary voice.

Bank Holiday : Republic of Ireland, Scotland. Public holiday.

Civic and Provincial Holidays : Canada. Public holiday.

Emancipation Day : Bahamas. Public holiday.

Our Lady of the Angels : Costa Rica. Public holiday.

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August 4

Louis Armstrong (1900–1971) : African American. Musician and orchestra leader. Affectionately known as "Satchmo," Armstrong was one of the leading figures in the history of jazz. He was given his first instrument and taught to play by the New Orleans jazz coronetist Joe "King" Oliver. After taking Oliver's place in Kid Ory's jazz band, Armstrong played with a number of groups in Chicago and New York, then founded his own big band in 1929. Later he played with smaller groups, notably the Louis Armstrong All-Stars, a sextet. Armstrong's virtuosity and musicianship—he expanded his instrument's range to three octaves without losing any of his fluency and fullness of tone-—brought him worldwide acclaim.

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August 6

Independence Day : Bolivia. Conquered for Spain in the sixteenth century by Gonzalo and Hernando Pizarro, Bolivia became part of the general war for independence from Spain led by Simón Bolívar. Bolívar, along with José de San Martín and Antonio José de Sucre, defeated the Spanish armies and declared independence on this day in 1825. This day is celebrated as a national holiday.

Independence Day : Jamaica. After centuries of British rule, Jamaica achieved its independence on this day in 1962.

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August 7

Ira Aldridge (c. 1805–1867) : African American. Actor. The son of a freed slave, Aldridge grew up in New York and began his theatrical career when he met the great English actor Edmund Kean, who was touring America. Accompanying Kean back to Britain, Aldridge studied at the University of Glasgow and made his acting debut as Othello in London in 1827. Although he returned to the United States for a brief tour in 1830–1831, he made his career in Europe, touring the continent frequently and winning wide acclaim. He died on this date.

Battle of Boyacá : Colombia. This holiday commemorates the decisive battle of 1819 led by Simón Bolívar in Colombia's war of independence from Spain.

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August 8

Emiliano Zapata (c. 1877–1919) : Mexican. Revolutionary leader. A poor farmer in the southern state of Morelos, Zapata became a local leader and spokesman for the rights of villagers. After the outbreak of revolution in 1910, he led the insurgent forces in the South. Incorruptible and unswervingly devoted to democratic ideals and economic justice for the poor, Zapata proposed the Plan of Ayala, a blueprint for redistributing land to Indians and peasants. His conflict with the leadership of the revolutionary government led to his entrapment and murder by government soldiers on this date in 1919.

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August 9

National Day : Singapore. Populated by Indians, Chinese, and Malays, Singapore became independent from Malaysia in 1965.

Women's Day : South Africa. This marks the day of the 1956 march of women in Pretoria to protest the system of passes needed to travel from one part of the country to another.

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August 10

Independence Day : Ecuador. This marks the anniversary of Ecuador's gaining independence from Spain in 1830 as part of the movement led by Simón Bolívar.

Pueblo Revolt (1680) : American Indian. On this date the Pueblo peoples of the colony of New Mexico rose in revolt against the Spanish friars, soldiers, and colonists who had seized their lands, enslaved them, and forced them to renounce their ancestral gods. Inspired by a medicine man named Popé, Pueblo leaders planned a coordinated uprising, which began on this day with simultaneous attacks on many Spanish settlements and came to an end on August 21, when the governor and his remaining forces abandoned Santa Fe and began a retreat south. The victorious Indians restored their shrines and resumed practicing their religion. In the next decade drought, hunger, and disease brought renewed hardships and fueled factional disputes among the Pueblos, and the Spanish reconquered the territory by 1692.

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August 11

Accession of King Hussein : Jordan. This marks the day in 1952 that Ibn Talal Hussein became King of Jordan at the age of 17. He ruled from 1952 until his death in 1999.

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August 12

Metacomet (Philip) (c. 1639–1676) : American Indian (Wampanoag). Political and military leader. Metacomet became leader of his people in 1662. The expansion of European settlements into Indian lands and the persistent efforts of the settlers to subjugate the Indians led to increasing tensions. After fighting broke out in June of 1675, the conflict spread to most of New England. Metacomet led his own people, allied with the neighboring Narragansetts and Nipmucks, in the 14 months of bloody conflict that have come to be known as "King Philip's War." More than 1,000 colonists were killed, crops and settlements were destroyed on both sides, and uncounted Indians were killed or sold into slavery. Betrayed by an informer, his wife and child captured and enslaved, Metacomet was hunted down and killed on this date in 1676.

Birthday of Queen Sirikit : Thailand. Public holiday.

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August 13

Women's Day : Tunisia. Public holiday.

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August 14

Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941) : African American. Scientist. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, and a graduate of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, Just became a zoologist with an international reputation for his research in marine biology. He was a Professor of Zoology at Howard University from 1912 to 1929 and directed the physiology department at its medical school. He wrote Biology of the Cell Surface and founded Omega Psi Phi, one of the country's largest Black fraternities. In February 1996, he was honored with a United States Postal Service commemorative stamp as part of the Black Heritage Stamp series.

Independence Day : Pakistan. Public holiday.

Reunification Day : Morocco. Public holiday.

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August 15

Anniversary of the Founding of Panama City : Panama. Public holiday.

Independence Day : India. This marks the day in 1947 that India became a self-governing country within the British Commonwealth. This was one of the critical steps that led to full independence in 1950.

Liberation Day : Korea. In North Korea, this commemorates the surrender of Japan in 1945, ending World War II and the Japanese occupation of Korea. In South Korea, it marks both the Japanese surrender and the creation in 1948 of an independent South Korean government.

National Mourning Day : Bangladesh. Public holiday.

Feast of the Assumption : Roman Catholic. This celebrates the belief by Roman Catholics in Mary's assumption to heaven.

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August 16

Death of General José de San Martín observed : Argentina. Public holiday. (See entry for February 25.) (m)

Restoration Day : Dominican Republic. Public holiday.

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August 17

Marcus Garvey (1887–1940) : West Indian. Political activist. Born in Jamaica, Garvey was a Black nationalist leader who founded a movement advocating self-help, racial separation, and the liberation of Africa from White colonial rule. His Universal Negro Improvement Association, established in 1914, moved in 1916 from Jamaica to New York City, where he began publishing a weekly paper, Negro World. His movement at its height claimed nearly a million followers, but its numbers declined after 1923, when Garvey was convicted on charges of mail fraud stemming from his methods of selling stock in the steamship line he had founded to link Black communities throughout the world.

Charlotte Forten Grimké (1837–1914) : African American. Teacher and writer. Daughter, granddaughter, and niece of prominent abolitionists, Charlotte Forten Grimké made her own contribution to the advancement of her people through her service during the Civil War as a teacher of former slaves on the islands off Georgia and South Carolina. She wrote vivid accounts of her experience in magazine articles published at the time and in a journal published after her death.

Independence Day : Indonesia. Nationalists declared Indonesia an independent nation after the withdrawal of the Japanese in 1949. The Netherlands, which had ruled Indonesia, ceded sovereignty to an independent government on this day. Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country and has the world's largest Muslim population.

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August 18

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) : Puerto Rican. Baseball player. An outstanding hitter, base runner, and fielder during his 18-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Clemente led the National League in batting four times and had a lifetime batting average of .317, with a total of 3,000 major league hits. He was voted Most Valuable Player of the National League in 1969 and Most Valuable Player of the 1971 World Series. Clemente died in a plane crash in December of 1972 while on a humanitarian mission to carry relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

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August 19

Manuel Quezon (1876–1944) : Filipino. Political leader. An attorney who became majority leader of the first Philippine Assembly under U.S. rule in 1907, Quezon later served as resident commissioner in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he advocated independence for his country. As president of the Philippine Senate from 1916 to 1935, he helped to craft the 1934 laws that granted commonwealth status to the Philippines and promised full political independence in ten years. In 1935 he was elected president of the commonwealth.

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August 20

Rose Hum Lee (1904–1964) : Chinese American. Educator and writer. Rose Hum Lee was a sociologist who produced pioneering studies of Chinese-American communities in the United States, including the 1960 book The Chinese in the United States of America. She taught at several institutions, including Roosevelt University and Phoenix College, and was active during World War II in relief organizations that sent aid to people in China.

Constitution Day : Hungary. This day commemorates the adoption of the first Hungarian constitution in 1920.

Independence Day : Senegal. Public holiday.

Revolution Day : Morocco. Public holiday.

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August 22

Seventh Night (Ch'i-hsi) : China. Seventh Night (Ch'i-hsi), or Weaving Maid and Herd Boy Festival, is a romantic festival based on a tale of a couple who disobeyed the chief deity and are, therefore, held in the sky as stars on either side of the Milky Way. On this night, magpies fly up from earth and join their wings to form a bridge over the Milky Way so that the lovers can meet. (m)

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August 23

Joyce Chen (1918–1994) : Chinese American. Chef, restauranteur, and writer. After immigrating to the United States with her family in 1949, Joyce Chen developed a career from her knowledge of classic Mandarin cooking. Through her restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, her Joyce Chen Cookbook, and eventually her nationally broadcast PBS program Joyce Chen Cooks, she popularized Mandarin cuisine in the United States, expanding Americans' knowledge and appreciation of Chinese cooking beyond the Cantonese dishes that had been the standard fare of Chinese restaurants in this country. She died on this date.

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August 24

Independence Day : Ukraine. This day commemorates the Ukraine's gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.

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August 26

Women's Equality Day : United States. A law passed by Congress in 1974 sets this day aside to mark the certification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting discrimination in voting based on sex.

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August 28

James Wong Howe (1898–1976) : Chinese American. Cinematographer. During his 53-year career in films, James Wong Howe became known as one of the most innovative and skillful cinematographers in the industry. In pursuit of realistic and vivid images, he experimented with using a hand-held camera, rather than a camera mounted on a wheeled stand, and even filmed with the camera underwater. He won Academy Awards for his work in the films The Rose Tattoo (1955) and Hud (1962).

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August 30

Bank Holiday : Great Britain (except Scotland). Public holiday.

Victory Day : Turkey. This holiday commemorates the end of the war of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1922.

Ghost Festival (Kui chieh) : China. A special ceremony is performed in temples with offerings of food to the lonely ghosts of those who are not cared for in their family's ancestral rituals. This ritual protects the community from harm by the lonely ghosts. This festival is celebrated in communities outside the People's Republic of China. (m)

St. Rosa of Lima : Peru. Public holiday.

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August 31

National Day : Malaysia. This marks the day Malaysia achieved independence from Great Britain in 1957.

National Heroes Day : Philippines. Public holiday.

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