August 14 in History

Former U.S. president Donald Trump is charged in Georgia along with 18 others in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state, his fourth indictment of 2023.

An explosion destroys a market in Armenia, killing six people and injuring dozens.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes southwestern Haiti, killing at least 2,248 people and causing a humanitarian crisis.

The collapse of the Ponte Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy, left 16 people injured and 43 people killed.

The U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba re-opens after 54 years of being closed when Cuba–United States relations were broken off.

Egypt declares a state of emergency as security forces kill hundreds of demonstrators supporting former president Mohamed Morsi.

UPS Airlines Flight 1354 crashes short of the runway at Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport, killing both crew members on board.

The Kahtaniya bombings kill at least 500 people.

Lebanon War: A ceasefire takes effect three days after the United Nations Security Council's approval of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, formally ending hostilities between Lebanon and Israel.

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sixty-one schoolgirls killed in Chencholai bombing by Sri Lanka Air Force air strike.

Helios Airways Flight 522, en route from Larnaca, Cyprus to Prague, Czech Republic via Athens, crashes in the hills near Grammatiko, Greece, killing 121 passengers and crew.

A widescale power blackout affects the northeast United States and Canada.

Greek Cypriot refugee Solomos Solomou is shot and killed by a Turkish security officer while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus.

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as "Carlos the Jackal", is captured.

Lech Wałęsa leads strikes at the Gdańsk, Poland shipyards.

Turkey launches the second phase of the invasion of Cyprus, which eventually resulted in the Turkish occupation of 37% of Cyprus.

An Ilyushin Il-62 airliner crashes near Königs Wusterhausen, East Germany killing 156 people.

Bahrain declares independence from Britain.

The Troubles: British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland as political and sectarian violence breaks out, marking the start of the 37-year Operation Banner.

UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal.

Founding and first official meeting of the American Football League.

An Idaho Department of Fish and Game program to relocate beavers known as Beaver drop occurred. This program relocated beavers from Northwestern Idaho to Central Idaho by airplane and then parachuting the beavers into the Chamberlain Basin.

Pakistan gains independence from the British Empire as the Dominion of Pakistan, due to the partition of India.

World War II: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter of war stating postwar aims.

Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last known public execution in the United States.

Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, creating a government pension system for the retired.

Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn; destroying 240,000 acres (970 km2) of land.

Tannu Uriankhai, later Tuvan People's Republic is established as a completely independent country (which is supported by Soviet Russia).

The 1920 Summer Olympics, having started four months earlier, officially open in Antwerp, Belgium, with the newly adopted Olympic flag and the Olympic oath being raised and taken at the Opening Ceremony for the first time in Olympic history.

World War I: The Republic of China, which had heretofore been shipping labourers to Europe to assist in the war effort, officially declares war on the Central Powers, although it will continue to send to Europe labourers instead of combatants for the remaining duration of the war.

World War I: Start of the Battle of Lorraine, an unsuccessful French offensive.

The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21.

Battle of Peking: The Eight-Nation Alliance occupies Beijing, China, in a campaign to end the bloody Boxer Rebellion in China.

France becomes the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration.

Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.

Construction of Cologne Cathedral, the most famous landmark in Cologne, Germany, is completed.

Oregon Territory is organized by act of Congress.

Pica Law (Legge Pica), a form of martial law, is established as the Italian government passes this anti-brigandage law to suppress resistance to Italian Unification.

American Indian Wars: Second Seminole War ends, with the Seminoles forced from Florida.

The United Kingdom formally annexes the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, administering the islands from the Cape Colony in South Africa.

A cease fire agreement, called the Convention of Moss, ended the Swedish–Norwegian War.

Slaves from plantations in Saint-Domingue hold a Vodou ceremony led by houngan Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, marking the start of the Haitian Revolution.

The Treaty of Wereloe ended the 1788–1790 Russo-Swedish War.

Russian colonization of North America: Awa'uq Massacre: The Russian fur trader Grigory Shelikhov storms a Kodiak Island Alutiit refuge rock on Sitkalidak Island, killing 500+ Alutiit.

The Spanish military Villasur expedition is defeated by Pawnee and Otoe warriors near present-day Columbus, Nebraska.

Nine Years' War: Battle of the Yellow Ford: Irish forces under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, defeat an English expeditionary force under Henry Bagenal.

The first sighting of the Falkland Islands by John Davis.

Portuguese Crisis of 1383–85: Battle of Aljubarrota: Portuguese forces commanded by John I of Portugal defeat the Castilian army of John I of Castile.

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, grants city privileges to Karlovy Vary.

War of the Breton Succession: Anglo-Bretons defeat the French in the Battle of Mauron.

After tricking the Venetian galley fleet into sailing east to the Levant, the Genoese capture an entire Venetian trade convoy at the Battle of Saseno.

Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures and flee to western Japan to escape pursuit by the Minamoto clan.

Abbasid Caliph al-Rashid Billah flees from Bagdhad, which had been besieged by an army of the Seljuk Turks under Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud for fifty days.

King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.

Octavian holds the second of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes.

Gaius Verres is found guilty of corruption after his defense lawyer Quintus Hortensius abandons the case as hopeless.

A group of officials, led by the Western Han minister Huo Guang, present articles of impeachment against the new emperor, Liu He, to the imperial regent, Empress Dowager Shangguan.

Marsai Martin, American actress and producer

Johan Rojas, Dominican baseball player

Doechii, American rapper

Greet Minnen, Belgian tennis player

Léolia Jeanjean, French tennis player

Maya Jama, British TV presenter.

Richard Freitag, German ski jumper

Giovanny Gallegos, Mexican baseball player

Ander Herrera, Spanish footballer

Kyle Turris, Canadian ice hockey player

Johnny Gargano, American wrestler

David Peralta, Venezuelan baseball player

Tim Tebow, American football and baseball player and sportscaster

Braian Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer

Christian Gentner, German footballer

Shea Weber, Canadian ice hockey player

Eva Birnerová, Czech tennis player

Clay Buchholz, American baseball player

Giorgio Chiellini, Italian footballer

Josh Gorges, Canadian ice hockey player

Nick Grimshaw, English radio and television host

Nicola Slater, Scottish tennis player

Robin Söderling, Swedish tennis player

Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (died 2014)

Mila Kunis, Ukrainian-American actress

Lamorne Morris, American actor and comedian

Spencer Pratt, American television personality

Earl Barron, American basketball player

Paul Gallen, Australian rugby league player, boxer, and sportscaster

Julius Jones, American football player

Kofi Kingston, Ghanaian-American wrestler

Scott Lipsky, American tennis player

Peter Malinauskas, Australian politician, 47th Premier of South Australia

Paul Burgess, Australian pole vaulter

Anastasios Kyriakos, Greek footballer

Greg Rawlinson, New Zealand rugby player

Juan Pierre, American baseball player

Fabrizio Donato, Italian triple jumper

Mike Vrabel, American football player

Chucky Atkins, American basketball player

Christopher Gorham, American actor

Jared Borgetti, Mexican footballer

Kieren Perkins, Australian swimmer

Laurent Lamothe, Haitian businessman and politician, Prime Minister of Haiti

Raoul Bova, Italian actor, producer, and screenwriter

Benito Carbone, Italian footballer

Peter Franzén, Finnish actor

Mark Loretta, American baseball player

Kevin Cadogan, American rock guitarist: 2005

Tracy Caldwell Dyson, American chemist and astronaut

Stig Tøfting, Danish footballer

Ben Bass, American actor

Catherine Bell, English-American actress and producer

Darren Clarke, Northern Irish golfer

Jason Leonard, English rugby player

Halle Berry, American model, actress, and producer

Karl Petter Løken, Swedish-Norwegian footballer

Paul Broadhurst, English golfer

Neal Anderson, American football player and coach

Jason Dunstall, Australian footballer

José Cóceres, Argentinian golfer

Mark Gubicza, American baseball player

Susan Olsen, American actress and radio host

Sarah Brightman, English singer and actress

Fred Roberts, American basketball player

Frank Brickowski, American basketball player

Marcia Gay Harden, American actress

Magic Johnson, American basketball player and coach

Peter Costello, Australian lawyer and politician

Jackée Harry, American actress and television personality

Andy King, English footballer and manager (died 2015)

Rusty Wallace, American race car driver

Mark Fidrych, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2009)

Stanley A. McChrystal, American general

James Horner, American composer and conductor (died 2015)

Debbie Meyer, American swimmer

Slim Dunlap, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2024)

Carl Lumbly, American actor

Gary Larson, American cartoonist

Bob Backlund, American wrestler

Morten Olsen, Danish footballer

Maddy Prior, English folk singer

Danielle Steel, American author

Joop van Daele, Dutch footballer (died 2025)

Antonio Fargas, American actor

Larry Graham, American soul/funk bass player and singer-songwriter

Susan Saint James, American actress

Tom Walkinshaw, Scottish race car driver and businessman (died 2010)

Steve Martin, American actor, comedian, musician, producer, and screenwriter

Wim Wenders, German director, producer, and screenwriter

Ahad Hosseini, Iranian Azerbaijani artist

Ronnie Campbell, English miner and politician (died 2024)

Ben Sidran, American jazz and rock keyboardist

Willie Dunn, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer (died 2013)

David Crosby, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2023)

Connie Smith, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist

Bennie Muller, Dutch footballer (died 2024)

John Brodie, American football player

Richard R. Ernst, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021)

Lee Hoffman, American author (died 2007)

Frederic Raphael, American journalist, author, and screenwriter

Arthur Latham, British politician and Member of Parliament (died 2016)

Earl Weaver, American baseball player and manager (died 2013)

Giacomo Capuzzi, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lodi from 1989 to 2005 (died 2021).

Dick Tiger, Nigerian boxer (died 1971)

Lina Wertmüller, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2021)

René Goscinny, French author and illustrator (died 1977)

Buddy Greco, American singer and pianist (died 2017)

Russell Baker, American critic and essayist (died 2019)

Sverre Fehn, Norwegian architect, designed the Hedmark Museum (died 2009)

Georges Prêtre, French conductor (died 2017)

Alice Ghostley, American actress (died 2007)

Frank and John Craighead, American naturalists (twins, Frank d. 2001, John d. 2016)

Wellington Mara, American businessman (died 2005)

B. A. Santamaria, Australian political activist and publisher (died 1998)

Herman Branson, American physicist, chemist, and academic (died 1995)

Hector Crawford, Australian director and producer (died 1991)

Paul Dean, American baseball player (died 1981)

Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (died 1985)

Nüzhet Gökdoğan, Turkish astronomer and mathematician (died 2003)

Willy Ronis, French photographer (died 2009)

Pierre Schaeffer, French composer and producer (died 1995)

Margret Boveri, German journalist (died 1975)

Albert Ball, English fighter pilot (died 1917)

Theodor Luts, Estonian director and cinematographer (died 1980)

Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (died 1973)

Amaza Lee Meredith, American architect (died 1984)

Frank Burge, Australian rugby league player and coach (died 1958)

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English pianist, composer, and critic (died 1988)

Bruno Tesch, German chemist and businessman (died 1946)

Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (died 1976)

Arthur Jeffrey Dempster, Canadian-American physicist and academic (died 1950)

Ernest Everett Just, American biologist and academic (died 1941)

Francis Ford, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1953)

Alexander I of Serbia (died 1903)

Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian painter and illustrator (died 1957)

Guangxu Emperor of China (died 1908)

Cupid Childs, American baseball player (died 1912)

John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1933)

Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (died 1962)

Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician and academic (died 1952)

Ernest Thayer, American poet and author (died 1940)

Ernest Thompson Seton, American author, artist, and naturalist (died 1946)

Doc Holliday, American dentist and gambler (died 1887)

Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer and author (died 1915)

Robert Comtesse, Swiss lawyer and politician (died 1922)

Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German-Austrian psychologist and author (died 1902)

Alexander H. Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and politician (died 1874)

Charlotte Fowler Wells, American phrenologist and publisher (died 1901)

Letitia Elizabeth Landon, English poet and novelist (died 1838)

Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (died 1851)

Carle Vernet, French painter and lithographer (died 1836)

Pope Pius VII (died 1823)

Leopold Hofmann, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1793)

Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (died 1789)

Frederick William I of Prussia (died 1740)

Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, English colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica (died 1688)

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (died 1723)

Méric Casaubon, Swiss-English scholar and author (died 1671)

Paolo Sarpi, Italian writer (died 1623)

Giambattista Benedetti, Italian mathematician and physicist (died 1590)

Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter (died 1550)

John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English politician (died 1526)

Catherine of York (died 1527)

Mike Castle, American politician, 69th Governor of Delaware (born 1939)

Gena Rowlands, American actress (born 1930)

Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Bangladeshi Islamic lecturer, politician (born 1940)

Michael Aung-Thwin, American historian and scholar of Burmese and Southeast Asian history (born 1946)

Julian Bream, English classical guitarist and lutenist (born 1933)

Angela Buxton, British tennis player (born 1934)

James R. Thompson, American politician, Governor of Illinois (born 1936)

Polly Farmer, Australian footballer and coach (born 1935)

Jill Janus, American singer (born 1975)

Fyvush Finkel, American actor (born 1922)

Bob Johnston, American songwriter and producer (born 1932)

Leonard Fein, American journalist and academic, co-founded Moment Magazine (born 1934)

George V. Hansen, American politician (born 1930)

Jack Germond, American journalist and author (born 1928)

Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of Maharashtra (born 1945)

Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian chess player (born 1923)

Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (born 1919)

Herman Leonard, American photographer (born 1923)

Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian pianist and composer (born 1913)

Bruno Kirby, American actor (born 1949)

Czesław Miłosz, Polish-born American novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)

Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (born 1918)

Helmut Rahn, German footballer (born 1929)

Larry Rivers, American painter and sculptor (born 1923)

Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1918)

Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor and composer (born 1912)

Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-Swiss author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)

Alice Childress, American actress, playwright, and author (born 1912)

John Sirica, American lawyer and judge (born 1904)

Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (born 1920)

Roy Buchanan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1939)

Robert Calvert, South African-English singer-songwriter and playwright (born 1945): 1712

Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (born 1898)

Gale Sondergaard, American actress (born 1899)

Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1904)

J. B. Priestley, English novelist and playwright (born 1894)

Mahasi Sayadaw, Burmese monk and philosopher (born 1904)

Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor and director (born 1894)

Dudley Nourse, South African cricketer (born 1910)

Dorothy Stratten, Canadian-American model and actress (born 1960)

Nicolas Bentley, English author and illustrator (born 1907)

Fred Gipson, American journalist and author (born 1908)

Oscar Levant, American actor, pianist, and composer (born 1906)

Jules Romains, French author and poet (born 1885)

Bob Anderson, English motorcycle racer and race car driver (born 1931)

Vello Kaaristo, Estonian skier (born 1911)

Johnny Burnette, American singer-songwriter (born 1934)

Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1906)

Frédéric Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1900)

Bertolt Brecht, German poet, playwright, and director (born 1898)

Konstantin von Neurath, German lawyer and politician, Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1873)

Herbert Putnam, American lawyer and publisher, Librarian of Congress (born 1861)

Hugo Eckener, German pilot and airship designer (born 1868)

William Randolph Hearst, American publisher and politician, founded the Hearst Corporation (born 1863)

Eliška Misáková, Czech gymnast (born 1926)

Joe Kelley, American baseball player and manager (born 1871)

Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (born 1894)

Paul Sabatier, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1854)

Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer and accountant (born 1876)

Klabund, German author and poet (born 1890)

Rebecca Cole, American physician and social reformer (born 1846)

William Stanley, British engineer and author (born 1829)

Simeon Solomon, English soldier and painter (born 1840)

Sarah Childress Polk, First Lady of the United States (born 1803)

Michael J. McGivney, American priest, founded the Knights of Columbus (born 1852)

David Farragut, American admiral (born 1801)

André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist and entomologist (born 1774)

Carl Carl, Polish-born actor and theatre director (born 1787)

Margaret Taylor, First Lady of the United States (born 1788)

Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Irish-born English painter and academic (born 1718)

Johann Jakob Reiske, German physician and scholar (born 1716)

William Croft, English organist and composer (born 1678)

Madre María Rosa, Capuchin nun from Spain, to Peru (born 1660)

Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, Irish soldier and politician (born 1630)

Saitō Tatsuoki, Japanese daimyō (born 1548)

Pope Pius II (born 1405)

John I of Portugal (born 1357)

Minamoto no Yoriie, second Shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate

Rainald of Dassel, Italian archbishop

Duncan I of Scotland

Tiberius II Constantine, Byzantine emperor