The month of August has been home to many historical events over the years. Here’s a look at some that helped to shape the world in August 1926.
A thrown dagger narrowly misses the head of Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera on August 1 in Barcelona. A 34-year-old anarchist is arrested for the failed assassination attempt.
The French passenger ship S.S. Lotus strikes the Turkish freighter S.S. Bozkourt on August 2. Eight passengers drown, and the captain of the Lotus is eventually charged with liability for the deaths by Turkish authorities.
On August 3, the Mount Batur volcano on the island of Bali erupts for the first time since 1917. The village of Karang Anyar is destroyed during the eruption, but all residents safely evacuate.
Shortly before noon on August 3, the first traffic lights in London come into operation at Piccadilly Circus.
Sultan bin Zayed Khalifa Al Nahyan is killed by his half-brother, Saqr bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on August 4. Four years prior to his death, Sultan bin Zayed had teamed up with Saqr bin Zayed to kill their brother, Emir Hamdan bin Zeyed, and seize the throne of Abu Dhabi.
Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini survives being sealed in a coffin and lowered into a swimming pool at a New York City hotel on August 5. Houdini, who would die from peritonitis less than three months after the stunt, used controlled breathing to remain conscious within the coffin for one hour and 31 minutes.
The first British Grand Prix is held at the Brooklands motor racing circuit near Surrey, England, on August 7. Frenchman Louis Wagner wins the inaugural race.
A hurricane strikes Nova Scotia on August 10. Two fishing boats capsize during the storm, claiming the lives of 48 individuals.
Richard Reese Whittemore, the leader of a group of bank robbers active in the mid-Atlantic and eastern United States in the mid-1920s, is hanged on August 13. Whittemore’s wife, Margaret, also was arrested but was never convicted for her role in the robberies.
Father Luis Batis Sainz is arrested by Mexican government agents in the state of Zacatecas on August 14. The arrest is part of a government-orchestrated purge of Roman Catholic clerics, and Batis is executed by firing squad the next day.
A coffin brought from Norway arrives in London on August 16. The coffin is believed to contain the remains of British Army officer and colonial administrator Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, but the coroner finds the coffin contains only tar upon opening it in the presence of police. The stunt is later deemed a hoax.
Marshal Jozef Pilsudski conducts a purge of the Polish military on August 21. The purge is conducted to remove any potential challenges to Pilsudski’s authority.
A bloodless coup overthrows Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos on August 22. The coup is led by General Georgios Kondylis, who places Pangalos on the naval destroyer Pergamos.
Popular Italian film actor Rudolph Valentino dies in New York on August 23. Valentino, just 31 at the time of his death, underwent emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix eight days prior to his death but was stricken with a case of then-untreatable pleuritis while convalescing on August 21.
Forty-four coal miners are killed after an explosion at a Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation mine in Clymer, Pennsylvania, on August 26.
Dutch Levsen of the Cleveland Indians starts and wins both games of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox on August 28. Levsen is the last pitcher in Major League Baseball to start and win each game of a twin bill. Levsen, who won just 21 games over the course of his six-year career, also is the last pitcher to throw two nine-inning complete games on the same day.
The last voting rights of Italians are removed when the Fascist government abolishes the popular elections of municipal officials on August 30.
