August 31 in history — On This Day

A photograph taken after the 1871 fire can make Chicago look as though its future had been decided by a wall of flame. A view from around 1905 tells a different story: tall offices, busy transport routes and commercial streets crowded again.

Explore the frame →

Collections

Explore by Topic

People Places Eras Science

My Birthday in History

See what happened on your date.

August

SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Watch in 30 Seconds

Big moments, short videos.

Browse videos →

Explore the Archive

Choose a dateSurprise me

Mary Ann Nichols is killed in Whitechapel

This Week in History

India tests a scramjet in flight

The assault on Kinshasa is repelled

Pakistan’s lower house advances the Fifteenth Amendment

Argentina issues a decree to make military service voluntary

AI History Recreations

Politics

Argentina issues a decree to make military service voluntary

War & Conflict

The assault on Kinshasa is repelled

Space

India’s Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon

Technology

India tests a scramjet in flight

History

Scientific American begins publication

Stanislav Petrov Assesses a False Nuclear Alarm

Atlanta’s WERD begins broadcasting

Crime & Justice

Mary Ann Nichols is killed in Whitechapel

France uses the guillotine for the last time

Britain carries out its final executions

Science

CERN circulates the first beam in the Large Hadron Collider

Galle and d’Arrest identify Neptune at Berlin Observatory

Eight People Entered Biosphere 2

Medicine & Health

An electron microscope reveals the shape of Ebola virus

Ether Day: The Demonstration That Changed Surgery

Surgeons Perform the First Partial Face Transplant

Nature & Disasters

Scientists announce the identification of the olinguito

A Wyoming Discovery Brings the Black-Footed Ferret Back Into View

The Night the Peshtigo Fire Overwhelmed a Wisconsin Town

Exploration

The First Flight Around the World Returns to Seattle

Cabrillo Enters San Diego Bay

Stanley Meets Livingstone at Ujiji

Sport

Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland 0: The Game Behind the Impossible Score

Don Larsen’s Perfect Game: No Hits, No Walks, No Baserunners

Reggie Jackson’s Three Home Runs Seal a World Series

Art & Literature

Jeeves and Bertie appear in an early Wodehouse story

The rebuilt Covent Garden theater opens in London

Tolkien’s The Hobbit is published

Music

Wagner’s Lohengrin premieres in Weimar

The Kennedy Center opens with Bernstein’s Mass

Bach premieres the solo cantata BWV 35

Film & TV

Pather Panchali opens in Calcutta

Star Trek makes its American network debut

The Wizard of Oz has its Hollywood premiere

The Story Behind the Photo

Chicago After the Fire: From Burned Blocks to a New Skyline

Collections

The Road to the Moon

Fires That Changed Cities

The Age of Invention

Explore by Topic

My Birthday in History

Watch in 30 Seconds

Explore the Archive