Editing August 23 (section)

===1901–present===
*[[1904]] &ndash; The [[tire chain|automobile tire chain]] is patented.
*[[1914]] &ndash; [[World War I]]: The British Expeditionary Force and the French Fifth Army begin their [[Great Retreat]] before the German Army.
*  1914   &ndash; World War I: [[Japan during World War I|Japan declares war on Germany]].
*[[1921]] &ndash; British [[R38-class airship|airship R-38]] experiences structural failure over [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] in England and crashes in the [[Humber Estuary]]; of her 49 British and American training crew, only four survive.
*[[1923]] &ndash; [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] [[Lowell Smith]] and [[Lieutenant]] John P. Richter perform the first [[mid-air refueling]] on [[De Havilland DH-4B]], setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours.
*[[1927]] &ndash; Italian anarchists [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] are executed after a lengthy, controversial trial.
*[[1929]] &ndash; [[1929 Hebron massacre|Hebron Massacre]] during the [[1929 Palestine riots]]: [[Palestinian people|Arab]] attacks on the Jewish community in [[Hebron]] in the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]] occur, continuing until the next day, resulting in the death of 65–68 Jews and the remaining Jews being forced to leave the city.
*[[1939]] &ndash; [[World War II]]: [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] sign the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]. In a secret protocol to the pact, [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], [[Finland]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] are divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence".<ref name="mrtext">{{cite web |title=Internet Modern History Sourcebook The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 1939 |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1939pact.asp |website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu |publisher=Fordham |access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
*[[1942]] &ndash; World War II: Beginning of the [[Battle of Stalingrad]].
*[[1943]] &ndash; World War II: [[Kharkiv]] is liberated by the Soviet [[Red Army]] for the second time after the [[Battle of Kursk]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zabecki |first1=David T. |title=The German War Machine in World War II: An Encyclopedia |date= 2019 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-6918-1 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uD_BDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[1944]] &ndash; World War II: [[Marseille]] is [[Liberation of Marseille|liberated]] by the Allied forces.
*  1944   &ndash; World War II: [[Michael I of Romania|King Michael of Romania]] [[1944 Romanian coup d'état|dismisses]] the pro-[[Nazism|Nazi]] government of [[Ion Antonescu|Marshal Antonescu]], who is later arrested. [[Romania]] switches sides from the [[Axis powers|Axis]] to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]].
*  1944   &ndash; [[Freckleton air disaster]]: A [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberator]] bomber crashes into a school in [[Freckleton]], England, killing 61 people.
*[[1945]] &ndash; World War II: [[Soviet–Japanese War]]: The [[USSR State Defense Committee]] issues Decree no. 9898cc "About Receiving, Accommodation, and Labor Utilization of the [[Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|Japanese Army Prisoners of War]]".
*[[1946]] &ndash; [[Ordinance No. 46]] of the British Military Government constitutes the German ''[[states of Germany|Länder]]'' (states) of [[State of Hanover|Hanover]] and [[Schleswig-Holstein]].
*[[1948]] &ndash; The [[World Council of Churches]] is formed by 147 churches from 44 countries.
*[[1954]] &ndash; The first flight of the [[Lockheed C-130]] multi-role aircraft takes place.
*1954 &ndash; The [[Cruise of the Kings]], a royal cruise organised by the [[Queen Consort of Greece]], [[Frederica of Hanover]], departs from Marseille, France.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Julián|last=Cortes Cavanillas|title=The Court Greetings, the Only Protocol Detail of the 'Cruise of the Kings'|journal=ABC (Seville)|issue=15917|date=28 August 1954|pages=11|url=http://hemeroteca.abcdesevilla.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1954/08/28/011.html|access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref>
*[[1958]] &ndash; [[Chinese Civil War]]: The [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]] begins with the [[People's Liberation Army]]'s bombardment of [[Quemoy]].
*[[1966]] &ndash; [[Lunar Orbiter 1]] takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the [[Moon]].
*[[1970]] &ndash; Organized by [[Mexican American]] [[trade union|labor union]] leader [[César Chávez]], the [[Salad Bowl strike]], the largest farm worker [[strike action|strike]] in U.S. history, begins.
*[[1973]] &ndash; A [[Norrmalmstorg robbery|bank robbery gone wrong]] in [[Stockholm]], Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their captors, leading to the term "[[Stockholm syndrome]]".
*[[1975]] &ndash; The start of the [[Wave Hill walk-off]] by [[Gurindji people]] in Australia, lasting eight years, a landmark event in the history of [[Indigenous land rights in Australia]], commemorated in a 1991 [[Paul Kelly (Australian musician)|Paul Kelly]] song and an annual celebration.<ref name=timeline>{{cite web | last1=Lawford | first1=Elliana | last2=Zillman | first2=Stephanie | title=Timeline: From Wave Hill protest to land handbacks | website=ABC News | date=18 August 2016 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-18/timeline-of-wave-hill-land-rights/7760300 | access-date=13 August 2020}}</ref>
*  1975   &ndash; The [[Pontiac Silverdome]] opens in [[Pontiac, Michigan]], {{Convert|30|mi|km}} northwest of [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]
*[[1985]] &ndash; [[Hans Tiedge]], top [[counter-spy]] of West Germany, defects to [[East Germany]].
*[[1989]] &ndash; [[Singing Revolution]]: Two million people from [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] stand on the [[Vilnius]]–[[Tallinn]] road, [[Baltic Way|holding hands]]. 
*[[1990]] &ndash; [[Saddam Hussein]] appears on [[Iraq]]i state television with a number of [[Western world|Western]] "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the [[Gulf War]].
*  1990   &ndash; [[Armenia]] declares [[Declaration of State Sovereignty of Armenia|its independence]] from the [[Soviet Union]].
*  1990   &ndash; West and East Germany announce that they will [[German reunification|reunite]] on October 3.
*[[1991]] &ndash; The [[World Wide Web]] is opened to the public.
*[[1994]] &ndash; [[Eugene Bullard]], the only [[African Americans|African American]] pilot in World War I, is posthumously commissioned as [[Second Lieutenant]] in the [[United States Air Force]].
*[[2000]] &ndash; [[Gulf Air Flight 072]] crashes into the [[Persian Gulf]] near [[Manama, Bahrain]], killing 143.
*[[2006]] &ndash; [[Natascha Kampusch]], who had been abducted at the age of ten, escapes from her captor [[Wolfgang Přiklopil]], after eight years of captivity.
*[[2007]] &ndash; The skeletal remains of Russia's last royal family members [[Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia]], and his sister [[Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia|Grand Duchess Anastasia]] are discovered near [[Yekaterinburg]], Russia.
*[[2010]] &ndash; The [[Manila hostage crisis]] occurred near the [[Quirino Grandstand]] in Manila, Philippines killing 9 people including the perpetrator while injuring 9 others.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/August/international_August1258.xml&section=international |title=9 killed in Manila hostage drama |first=Gina |last=Abuyuan |publisher=Khaleej Times |date=August 23, 2010 |access-date=April 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828022851/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/August/international_August1258.xml&section=international |archive-date=August 28, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[2011]] &ndash; A magnitude 5.8 (class: moderate) [[2011 Virginia earthquake|earthquake]] occurs in [[Virginia]]. Damage occurs to monuments and structures in Washington, D.C. and the resulted damage is estimated at 200&nbsp;million–300&nbsp;million USD.
*  2011   &ndash; Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] is overthrown after the [[National Transitional Council]] forces take control of [[Bab al-Azizia]] compound during the [[Libyan Civil War (2011)|Libyan Civil War]].
*[[2012]] &ndash; A hot-air balloon [[2012 Ljubljana Marshes hot air balloon crash|crashes]] near the Slovenian capital of [[Ljubljana]], killing six people and injuring 28 others.
*[[2013]] &ndash; A [[2013 Palmasola prison riot|riot]] at the [[Palmasola]] prison complex in [[Santa Cruz de la Sierra|Santa Cruz, Bolivia]] kills 31 people.
*[[2023]] &ndash; [[Chandrayaan-3]] mission initiated first Moon landing in [[India]]n history.<ref>{{cite tweet|title=Chandrayaan-3 mission|number=1693181653273940240|user=isro|date=2023-08-20|access-date=2023-08-20}}</ref>
*2023 &ndash; A business jet carrying key leadership members of the Russian private military company [[Wagner Group]] [[2023 Wagner Group plane crash|crashes]], killing all ten people on board.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gardner |first1=Frank |author-link=Frank Gardner (journalist) |last2=Greenall |first2=Robert |last3=Lukiv |first3=Jaroslav |date=23 August 2023 |title=Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in plane crash in Russia |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66599733 |access-date=25 August 2023}}</ref>