August 14th

The First Youth Olympics Begins. he Olympic-style games meet was organized by the International Olympic Committee and was held in Singapore. Like the games, the Youth Olympics are held every 4 years and have both summer and winter versions. The first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck, Austria in January 2012. Only athletes aged 14 to 18 years are allowed to compete in these games.

Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, a Charles Manson follower who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975, was released from a Texas prison hospital after more than three decades behind bars.

Israel halted its offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas as a U.N.-imposed cease-fire went into effect after a month of warfare that killed more than 900 people.

The largest blackout in North American history hit the northeast.

An unrepentant Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.

The Republican National Convention in San Diego nominated Bob Dole for president and Jack Kemp for vice president.

Shannon Faulkner became the first female cadet at the Citadel, the state military college of South Carolina.

Workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland - a job action that resulted in the creation of the Solidarity labor movement.

U.S. bombing of Cambodia came to a halt.

Stanford prison experiments begin. The controversial Stanford prison experiments to study the effects of authority in a prison setting began. The experiment had to be shut down by the 6th day because of the adverse effect on the subjects.

British troops arrived in Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst died in Beverly Hills, California.

Pakistan becomes Independent from British rule. The South Asian country was part of British India Empire, until August 14, 1947, when the region held by the British was partitioned into India and Pakistan. The new country became a part of the commonwealth and appointed Liaquat Ali Khan as its first Prime Minister.

President Harry S. Truman announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, a statement of principles that renounced aggression.

Social Security Act is Signed into Law in the United States. The act, which was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, provided benefits to the unemployed, retirees, and the disabled.

China declared war on Germany and Austria during World War I.

Battle of Ulsan begins. Also known as the Battle of the Japanese Sea, the conflict took place between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War.

International forces entered Beijing, China, in an effort to suppress the antiforeign uprising known as the Boxer Rebellion.

The Oregon Territory was established.

Second Seminole War declared over by Colonel Worth. Indians go on to be removed from Florida to Oklahoma

During Kublai Khan's Second Invasion of Japan his invading Chinese fleet of 3,500 vessels disappears in a typhoon near Japan.