Polish government signs accord with Gdansk shipyard workers

Born on This Day

Fredric March

1897 - 1975

Versatile actor known for roles in The Best Years of Our Lives, A Star is Born and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Van Morrison

1945 -

Northern Irish singer-songwriter whose hits “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Into the Mystic” blended blues, jazz and Celtic music.

Chris Tucker

1971 -

Stand-up comedian and actor best known for his roles in the Rush Hour movie series alongside co-star Jackie Chan.

Fredric MarchGetty Images

Chris TuckerCorbis via Getty Images

1798

AUG31

America’s first bank robbery takes place at the Bank of Philadelphia, an inside job that netted the enormous sum of $162,821. In a bonehead move, the culprit began depositing the missing money in the very bank he had robbed.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on August 31st

Earthquake shakes Charleston, South Carolina

An earthquake near Charleston, South Carolina, on August 31, 1886 leaves more than 100 people dead and hundreds of buildings destroyed. This was the largest recorded earthquake in the history of the southeastern United States. The earthquake was preceded by foreshocks felt in Summerville, South Carolina, on August 27 and 28 but, still, no one […]

Jack the Ripper’s first victim murdered

Prostitute Mary Ann Nichols, the first known victim of London serial killer “Jack the Ripper,” is found murdered and mutilated in the city’s Whitechapel district. London saw four more victims of the murderer during the next few months, but no suspect was ever found. In Victorian England, London’s East End was a teeming slum occupied […]

Thomas Edison patents the Kinetograph

Thomas Edison receives a patent for his movie camera, the Kinetograph. Edison had developed the camera and its viewer in the early 1890s and staged several demonstrations. The camera was based on photographic principles discovered by still-photograph pioneers Joseph Nicephone Niepce and Louis Daguerre of France. In 1877, inventor Edward Muybridge developed a primitive form […]

American soldier Harry Butters killed in the Battle of the Somme

On August 31, 1916, Harry Butters, an American soldier serving in the British army during World War I, is killed by a German shell during the Battle of the Somme, while fighting to secure the town of Guillemont, France. The son of a prominent San Francisco industrialist, Butters was raised partially in England and schooled […]

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera” premieres in Berlin

Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) receives its world premiere in Berlin on August 31, 1928. “I think I’ve written a good piece and that several numbers in it, at least musically, have the best prospects for becoming popular very quickly.” This was the assessment offered by the German composer Kurt Weill in a letter to […]

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FDR signs Neutrality Act

On August 31, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Neutrality Act, or Senate Joint Resolution No. 173, which he calls an “expression of the desire…to avoid any action which might involve [the U.S.] in war.” The signing came at a time when newly installed fascist governments in Europe were beginning to beat the drums […]

General Motors demonstrates first solar-powered car

On August 31, 1955, William G. Cobb of the General Motors Corp. (GM) demonstrates his “Sunmobile,” the world’s first solar-powered automobile, at the General Motors Powerama auto show held in Chicago, Illinois. The vehicle was 15 inches long. Cobb’s Sunmobile introduced, however briefly, the field of photovoltaics—the process by which the sun’s rays are converted […]

Los Angeles mob attacks “Night Stalker” serial killer

Richard Ramirez, the notorious “Night Stalker,” is captured and nearly killed by a mob in East Los Angeles, California, after being recognized from a photograph shown both on television and in newspapers. Recently identified as the serial killer, Ramirez was pulled from the enraged mob by police officers. During the summer of 1985, the city […]

Princess Diana dies in a car crash

Princess Diana died following a car accident in Paris at the age of 36. The Princess of Wales, or Lady Di, was a very popular public figure and her death was met with a massive outpouring of grief.

Destiny's Child honored as the best-selling female group of all time

They'd sold more than 50 million records globally.

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Angela Merkel says “Wir schaffen das” on accepting refugees

Igniting a heated debate within her nation and across the globe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declares “Wir schaffen das” (“We can do this”) on August 31, 2015, as she commits to accepting a mass influx of refugees amid Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Merkel’s controversial stance involved providing humanitarian support to approximately […]

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