Hurricane Katrina begins to make landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi in the afternoon, and brings the most severe damage to Slidell and New Orleans.

An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt.

Pakistan's National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the "Qur'an and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but the bill is defeated in the Senate.

Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce.

Collapse of the Soviet Union – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.

Ukraine declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.

The Plainfield Tornado: an F5 tornado hits in Plainfield, Illinois, and Joliet, Illinois, killing 28 people.

Ramstein airshow disaster: three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd. 75 are killed and 346 seriously injured.

United States Navy officer Jerry A. Whitworth is sentenced to 365 years imprisonment for espionage for the Soviet Union.

The National Centers for Disease Control announce a high incidence of pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men. These will soon be recognized as symptoms of an immune disorder, which will be called AIDS.

An IRA bomb explodes on the Grand Place in Brussels.

Riots in Chicago, Illinois, during the Democratic National Convention.

The Philadelphia race riot begins.

Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie are murdered in their Manhattan flat, prompting the events that would lead to the passing of the Miranda Rights.

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his ''I Have a Dream'' speech

Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes.

Black teenager Emmett Till is murdered in Mississippi, galvanizing the nascent American Civil Rights Movement.

Nippon Television broadcasts Japan's first television show, including its first TV advertisement.

World War II: Marseille and Toulon are liberated.

World War II: in Denmark, a general strike against the Nazi occupation is started.

Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.

France and Soviet Union sign a treaty of non-aggression.

The Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union.

Ten Suffragettes are arrested while picketing the White House.

World War I: Italy declares war on Germany.

World War I: Germany declares war on Romania.

World War I: the Royal Navy defeats the German fleet in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

World War I: German troops conquer Namur.

Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in The Hague.

Silliman University is founded in the Philippines. The first American private school in the country.

Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".

Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British.

The United States takes possession of the, at this point unoccupied, Midway Atoll.

American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas.

A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far away as Japan.

After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent, surrenders to Austria.

The first issue of ''Scientific American'' magazine is published.

The ''Tom Thumb'' presages the first railway service in the United States.

Battle of Grand Port – the French accept the surrender of a British Navy fleet.

William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn.

Second Bishop's War: King Charles I's English army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn.

Ferdinand II is elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay.

Turkish-Portuguese War (1538-1557)

The Ottoman Turks occupy Belgrade.

The Portuguese conquer Malacca.

6,000 Jews are killed in Mainz, accused of being the cause of the plague.

Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan

Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy.

The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.