By Month: Historical Events in August

The mythical start date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. A a non-repeating base-20 and base-18 calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. The Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since the mythical creation date of August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6 on the Julian calendar. The Long Count calendar was widely used on monuments. More

The Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) captures Jerusalem, bringing it under Roman control.

Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, kills herself on either 10 or 12 August, in Alexandria, when she was 39 years old, following the defeat of her forces against Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome. According to popular belief, she died by allowing an Egyptian cobra to bite her, but others believe she either poisoned herself or was murdered. The location of Cleopatra's tomb is unknown. According to historians Suetonius and Plutarch, the Roman leader Octavian permitted their burial together after he had defeated them. Mark Antony, had stabbed himself with a sword, a few days before on August 1.

Octavian (later known as Augustus) celebrates three days of triumph in Rome, marking the end of the Final War of the Roman Republic.

Jerusalem falls to Roman forces, marking the collapse of the Jewish state.

Vesuvius, an active volcano in southern Italy, erupts and destroys the cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, Oplontis and Herculaneum and several other settlements. Although exact toll is unknown, more than 1,000 people are thought to have died in the eruption. The eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ashes and volcanic gases to a height of 21 miles (33 km). Vesuvius is the only volcano on Europe's mainland to have erupted in the last hundred years. It is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because 3 Million people live near enough to be affected by an eruption, with at least 600,000 in the danger zone. There has been Speculation that the eruption happened later than August, based on findings of autumnal fruits and heating braziers discovered in the ruins. More

The First Council of Nicaea ends. The Council was a meeting of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. It was specifically called to make a decision about Arianism—the belief that God created Jesus, and that Jesus was not eternal or one with God. Arianism was growing in popularity, even among church leaders threatening to tear the church apart. More

The Visigoths defeat a large Roman army led by Valens, the Roman emperor of the East, at the Battle of Adrianople (also known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis), in present-day Turkey. The battle was an overwhelming victory for the Visigoths ending with two-thirds of the Roman army, including Emperor Valens overrun and slaughtered. More

The Visigoths, led by King Alaric, sack the city of Rome, marking the first time in almost 800 years that the city falls to an enemy force.

Malcolm Canmore slains King Macbeth of Scotland at the Battle of Lumphananand. His father, King Duncan I, had been murdered by Macbeth 17 years earlier. Following the battle Macbeth's stepson, Lulach, was crowned King, before being killed by Malcolm who then recovered the Scottish throne as Malcolm III. All the kings of Scotland since Malcolm himself and all the kings of England since the accession of Henry II descend from Malcolm and his English wife Margaret, the grandchild of Edmund Ironside. More

The Fourth Crusade concludes with the sack of Constantinople, leading to the division and weakening of the Byzantine Empire.

The Massacre at Béziers takes place during the Albigensian Crusade, where the Catholic Crusaders sack the city of Béziers in southern France.

The Battle of Bouvines occurs during the Fourth Crusade, where the forces of Philip II of France defeat an alliance of European powers led by Emperor Otto IV.

Genghis Khan, (actually named Borjigin Temujin), the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, dies in Mongolia some time in late August. 1227. At the time of his death, the Mongol Empire was 2.5 times larger by territory than the Roman Empire. A study published in 2003 in The American Journal of Human Genetics suggested that Genghis Khan DNA can be found in one in 200 men today. The cause of his death is shrouded in mystery and it is now believed that it was caused by the bubonic plague.

The Seventh Crusade, led by King Louis IX of France, reaches Egypt and begins the siege of Damietta.

The Byzantine Empire recaptures the city of Constantinople from the Latin Empire, marking the end of the Fourth Crusade.

The Eighth Crusade, led by King Louis IX of France, departs from Aigues-Mortes, France, with the goal of conquering Tunis.

The Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty of China successfully repels a second invasion attempt by the Japanese forces in the Battle of Kōan.

Swiss National Day - Alliance against the Holy Roman Empire in 1291.

The Siege of Acre ends, resulting in the fall of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the complete expulsion of European Christian forces from the Holy Land.