The experimental Zeppelin Dirigible III

Today in History

• Union General William Tecumseh Sherman launches his assault on Atlanta (1864)
• The first confirmed victim of Jack the Ripper is murdered (1888)
• Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his “navigable balloon” (1895)
• Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector (1897)
• Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream, stolen 22 August 2004, is recovered.

Birthdays

• Caligula, Roman emperor (12)
• Commodus, Roman emperor (161)
• Maria Montessori, educator (1870)
• Alma Mahler, composer (1879)
• DuBose Heyward, playwright (1885)
• Frederic March, actor and singer (1897)
• Arthur Godfrey, radio and TV host (1903)
• William Saroyan, author (1908)
• Richard Basehart, actor (1914)
• Daniel Schorr, television journalist (1916)
• Alan Jay Lerner, musical theater composer (1918)
• Buddy Hackett, comedian (1924)
• James Coburn, actor (1928)
• Roy Castle, dancer (1932)
• Eldridge Cleaver, activist and author (1935)
• Frank Robinson, baseball player and manager (1935)
• Warren Berlinger, actor (1937)
• Van Morrison, singer-songwriter (1945)
• Itzhak Perlman, conductor (1945)
• Tom Coughlin, football coach (1946)
• Richard Gere, actor (1949)
• Julie Brown, actress (1954)
• Debbie Gibson, singer-songwriter (1970)
• Chris Tucker, actor and comedian (1971)

Deaths

• Theodora, Byzantine empress (1056)
• Henry V, English monarch (1422)
• John Bunyan, theologian and author (1688)
• E. E. Smith, science fiction writer (1965)
• Rocky Marciano, boxer (1969)
• John Ford, filmmaker (1973)
• Sally Rand, fan dancer (1979)
• Princess Diana, divorced royal consort (1997)
• Dodi Fayed, film producer (1997)
• Lionel Hampton, bandleader (2002)
• David Frost, journalist and television personality (2013)

Holidays and Observances

• Baloch-Pakhtun Unity Day
• Day of Solidarity and Freedom (Poland)
• Independence Day (Kyrgyzstan, Malaya, Trinidad and Tobago)
• National Language Day (Moldova)
• National Matchmaker Day (US)
• National Trail Mix Day (US)
• North Borneo Self-Government Day (North Borneo)
• World Daffodil Day

August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years). There are 122 days remaining until the end of the year.