August 1: Lughnasadh (Northern Hemisphere); Imbolc(Southern Hemisphere); Independence Day in Benin (1960);Lammas in England and Scotland
- 902 – Led by Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya, theAghlabids captured the Byzantine stronghold of Taormina, concluding the Muslim conquest of Sicily.
- 1774 – British scientist Joseph Priestley liberated oxygen gas, corroborating the discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
- 1834 – The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 came into force, officially abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire.
- 1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discovered the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire,North West England.
- 2007 – Bridge 9340, carrying Interstate 35W across theMississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, suffered acatastrophic failure and collapsed (pictured), killing 13 people and injuring 145.