August 19. East Coast Newspapers start California Gold Rush in 1939.
August 18. Women gain right to vote in United States in 1920.
August 17. Confederate held Fort Sumter, South Carolina attacked by Northern forces in 1863.
August 16. Ray Chapman is killed by a pitched ball in 1920.
August 15. Panama Canal opens in 1914.
August 14. Start of the Tillamook Burn, a forest fire destroying 1/4 million acres in 1933.
August 13. Mock battle secures Manila from rebel Filipinos in 1898.
August 12. King Philip's Indian War ends with death of Metacomet in 1676.
August 11. Babe Ruth hits home run number 500, the first to do so, in 1929.
