18th August

Today: - International Lighthouse Day

Famous Brithday: 1967 Daler Mehndi, Indian bhangra/pop singer

Today in History: 1997 Shanvac-B, India's first genetically engineered vaccine for Hepatitis B was launched

17th August

Today: - Independence Day – Indonesia

Famous Brithday: Ketan Desai, Indian Film maker | Sean Penn, US Actor

Today in History: 1982 The first Compact Discs (CD's) were released to the public in Germany

16th August

Today: - Xicolatada is celebrated in Palau-de-Cerdagne

Famous Brithday: 1886 Sri Ramakrishna, Bengali saint | 1970 Manisha Koirala, Indian actress | 1970 Saif Ali Khan, Indian actor

Today in History: 1958 Pather Panchali' won the top five awards, including feature length motion picture, and got a honorary mention at the Vancouver International Film Festival

15th August

Today: - Independence Day INDIA

Famous Brithday: 1972 Ben Affleck, American actor | 1947 Raakhee Gulzar, Indian actress

Today in History: India became independent after 163 years of British Raj and was partitioned. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister and Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the first president of free India

14th August

Today: - Pakistan - Independence Day | United States - National Creamsicles Day

Famous Brithday: 1959 Magic Johnson, American basketball player | 1966 Halle Berry, American actress | Johny Lever Indian Comedy Actor

Today in History: 1893 France introduces motor vehicle registration | 1908 First beauty contest held in Folkestone, England

13th August

Today: - International Lefthanders Day

Famous Brithday: 1975 Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistani cricketer | 1963 Sridevi, Indian actress | 1899 Alfred Hitchcock, English film director

Today in History: 1913 Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley

12th August

Today: - International Youth Day - United Nations

Famous Brithday: 1971 Pete Sampras, American tennis player

Today in History: 1981 - The IBM Personal Computer is released | 1966 Mihir Sen swam Dadenelis

11th August

Today: -

Famous Brithday: 1954 Yashpal Sharma, Indian Cricketer | Sunil Shetty, Indian Actor

Today in History: 2000 Koneru Humpy was crowned the youngest British Ladies chess champion | 1984 Carl Lewis won his fourth gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics

10th August

Today: - Independence Day in Ecuador | Roman festivals - Opalia

Famous Brithday: 1960 Antonio Banderas, American Actor

Today in History: 1869 The motion picture projector was patented by O.B. Brown | 1885 The first electric streetcar, to be used commercially, was operated in Baltimore, MD, by Leo Daft

9th August

Today: - International Day of the World's Indigenous People | National Day - Singapore | National Women's Day in South Africa

Famous Brithday: 1974 Mahesh Babu, Indian film actor | 1963 Whitney Houston, American diva and actress

Today in History: 1173 Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete | 1963 India is the first country to add its signature to the test-ban treaty at Moscow

8th August

Today: - Civic Holiday - Canada | National Holiday in Colombia

Famous Brithday: 1981 Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player

Today in History: 1839 Beta Theta Pi is founded in Oxford, Ohio | 1947 Pakistan's National Flag is approved | 1942 Quit India resolution was passed by the Bombay session of the AICC | 1908 Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France

7th August

Today: - Civic Holiday - Canada | National Holiday in Colombia

Famous Brithday: 1975 Charlize Theron, South African actress | 1960 David Duchovny, US Actor | 1876 Mata Hari, Famous Dutch Spy

Today in History: 1944 IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator known best as the Harvard Mark I | 1906 First Tricoloured National Flag hoisted at Green Park in Calcutta by Surendranath Baner

6th August

Today: - Independence Day - Jamaica & Bolivia

Famous Brithday: 1970 Manoj Night Shyamalan, Indian-born American film director producer and screenwriter

Today in History: 1920 Film Censor Board at Bombay started working. The first film censored and granted a Censor Certificate No. 1 was a short film of 600 ft., produced by Gaumont Company and it was titled as 'Gaumont Graphic No. 963-964'. The Regional Film Censor Boards were also set-up in Calcutta, Madras and Rangoon

5th August

Today: - Children's Day - Chile

Famous Brithday: 1930 Neil Armstrong, American astronaut | 1969 Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad, Indian cricketer

Today in History: 1912 Japan's first taxicab service begins in Ginza, Tokyo

4th August

Today: New Brunswick Day - Canada

Famous Brithday: 1929 Kishore Kumar Ganguly (real name Abhas Kumar Ganguly) Indian Singer, Actor, Composer, lyric writer, film maker and a great performer

Today in History: 1947 The Supreme Court of Japan is established | 1956 Apsara, India's first large scale Atomic Energy Nuclear Reactor and first in the East World, was commissioned in Trombay, Bombay

3rd August

Today: Friendship Day

Famous Brithday: 1886 Maithili Sharan Gupta, first man of modern Hindi poetry, literature, writer, patriot, social worker | 1916 Shakeel Badayuni, Indian poet & lyricist

Today in History: 1949 - National Basketball Association is founded in the United States | 1958 The Billboard Hot 100 is founded | 1954 Atomic Energy Department established in India

2nd August

Today: Day of Airborne Forces in Russia | Day of Azerbaijani cinema

Famous Brithday: 1861 Parafulla Chandra Ray, chemical expert and great patriot | 1922 Gangaprasad Birla, great industrialist

Today in History: 1790 The first US Census is conducted | 1870 Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London

1st August

Today: National Farming and Agriculture Day - United Kingdom | United States - Colorado statehood day | Armed Forces Day - Angola | Emancipation Day - Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica and Tobago | Switzerland - National Day

Famous Brithday: 1932 Meena Kumari, Indian film actress | 1927 Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza, famous Hindi litterateur | 1955 Arun Lal, Cricketer

Today in History: 1498 Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit Venezuela | 1907 First Scout camp opens on Brownsea Island | 1941 The first Jeep is produced