Holidays Calendar for August 2, 2023
Our Lady of the Angels Day is a public holiday in Costa Rica celebrated on August 2. It is the feast day of Virgen de los Angeles (the Virgin of the Angels or Our Lady of the Angels), the patron saint of Costa Rica.
August 2 is a major public and religious holiday in the Republic of North Macedonia. It is known as Republic Day or Ilinden (the feast of Saint Elija). The holiday commemorates two important events in the country's history.
Congolese Genocide Memorial Day (Journée commémorative du génocide Congolais) is observed the Democratic Republic of the Congo on August 2. It honors the memory of all those who lost their lives during the many conflicts that have plagued the country over the years.
Tu b'Av is a minor Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av. In modern Israel it has become a holiday of love, somewhat similar to Valentine's Day.
Vassa, also referred to as Buddhist Lent or Rains Retreat, is the three-month annual retreat observed by the practitioners of Theravada Buddhism. The first day of Vassa is a public holiday in Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
International Observances →
Croatia,
Ukraine,
Lithuania,
Poland,
European Union,
Czech Republic,
Slovakia
Roma Holocaust Memorial Day
Roma Holocaust Memorial Day is a solemn remembrance day observed in Poland and some other European countries on August 2. It was established in 1996 by leaders of Roma organizations from ten European countries and the United States. The day homors the memory of the Roma and Sinti victims of the Nazi regime.
On August 2, some former Soviet Republics celebrate Airborne Forces Day. Such a date was chosen to commemorate the first parachute jump of the Soviet Airborne Troops that took place on August 2, 1930 in the Moscow Military District.
Day of Azerbaijani Cinema is celebrated in August 2. This holiday was established by President Heydar Aliyev in 2000. The date of August 2 was chosen to commemorate the first public film screening in Azerbaijan that took place in 1898.
Aviation Day is a professional holiday celebrated in the Slovenian Armed Forces on August 2. It honors the personnel of the Slovenian Air Force and Air Defense (Brigada zračne obrambe in letalstva Slovenske vojske, BRZOL).
On August 2, Ukrainian Armed Forces observe the Day of Commemoration of the Fallen Warriors of the Airborne Assault Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, also known as simply Fallen Paratroopers Remembrance Day.
Butuan City Charter Day (Adlaw Hong Butuan) is a special non-working holiday in the Philippine city of Butuan, Agusan del Norte. It commemorates the day in 1950 when Butuan was converted from a municipality into a city.
Kabankalan City Charter Day (Adlaw Kabankalan) is a special non-working holiday in the Philippine city of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental. It is celebrated annually on August 2 to commemorate the day when Kabankalan was converted from a municipality to a city.
National Ice Cream Sandwich Day is celebrated every year on August 2. An ice cream sandwich is indeed a perfect treat for a hot August day.
Coloring books can be so much fun regardless of how old you are. National Coloring Book Day is celebrated annually on August 2 to raise awareness of the benefits of coloring and encourage people of all ages to pick up a coloring book to de-stress and give their creativity a boost.
Festivals on August 2, 2023
- Locarno Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland
- Viagem Medieval (Medieval Journey) in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal
- World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal
- Great British Beer Festival in London, United Kingdom
- Varna International Arts and Crafts Fair in Varna, Bulgaria
- Spicemas (Grenada Carnival) in St. George’s, Grenada
- Gabala International Music Festival in Gabala, Azerbaijan
- Pichelsteiner Festival in Regen, Germany
- National Balloon Classic in Indianola, USA
- Festival of the Flowers in Medellín in Medellín, Colombia
- Antigua Carnival in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
- Crop Over in Bridgetown, Barbados
- Boryeong Mud Festival in Boryeong, South Korea
- Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada
- Jazz in Marciac in Marciac, France
This Day in History
- 2005 Air France Flight 358 en route from Paris, France, to Toronto, Canada, crashed at Pearson Airport in Toronto. All passengers and the crew survived.
- 1998 The Second Congo War (sometimes referred to as the African World War or the Great African War) began. It ended in July 2003, when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power.
- 1992 Born: Charlie XCX (stage name of Charlotte Emma Aitchison), English singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in 2012, collaborating with Swedish duo Icona Pop on "I Love It".
- 1990 Iraq launched the invasion of Kuwait by bombing its capital, Kuwait City, thus beginning the Gulf War. The war ended in February 1991.
- 1986 Born: Lily Gladstone, American actress. She earned critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for portraying Mollie Kyle in Martin Scorsese's crime drama film Killers of the Flower Moon.
- 1985 Delta Air Lines Flight 191 en route from Florida to Los Angeles, USA, crashed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. 136 of 152 passengers and 11 members of the crew died.
- 1980 The Central Station in Bologna, Italy was attacked by a terrorist. The terrorist detonated a bomb, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
- 1978 Died: Antony Noghès, French businessman, best known as the founder of the Monaco Grand Prix, one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world.
- 1977 Born: Edward Furlong, American actor and singer, who rose to prominence after performance as John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He also starred in American Heart, A Home of Our Own, American History X.
- 1976 Born: Sam Worthington, Australian actor. He is known for playing Jake Sully in the Avatar franchise, Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation, and Perseus in Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans.
- 1976 Died: Fritz Lang, Austrian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States. His best known films include Metropolis and M.
- 1973 Died: Jean-Pierre Melville, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, a prominent person of the French Resistance during World War II.
- 1970 Born: Kevin Smith, American director, producer, writer, and actor. His best known films include Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and others.
- 1964 Born: Mary-Louise Parker, American actress. She came to prominence for her film roles in Grand Canyon, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Client, and Bullets over Broadway.
- 1951 Born: Joe Lynn Turner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for working with numerous rock bands, including Rainbow, Fandango, Deep Purple, Mother's Army, Hughes Turner Project.
- 1947 A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashed into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. The wreckage would not be found for over 50 years.
- 1941 Born: Jules A. Hoffmann, Luxembourg-born French biologist and academic. In 2010, he shared a Nobel Prize with American immunologist and geneticist Bruce Beutler for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.
- 1939 Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd wrote a letter to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons.
- 1934 Died: Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and politician, the 2nd President of Germany. After his death, presidency in Germany was abolished, and Adolf Hitler became Führer of the state.
- 1932 Born: Lamar Hunt, American sportsman and businessman. He promoted soccer, basketball, tennis, ice hockey, and football in the USA, and became the principal founder of the American Football League and World Championship Tennis.
- 1932 Born: Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor of stage and film. He rose to fame playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. He is also known for roles in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Lion in Winter, Becket, The Stunt Man, My Favorite Year.
- 1923 Died: Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, the 29th President of the United States, who served in office from 1921 until his death. His presidency featured many scandals, earning him a bottom-tier ranking from historians.
- 1923 Born: Shimon Peres, Polish-born Israeli politician, the 9th President of Israel, serving in office from 2007 till retirement in 2014. His political work was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
- 1922 Died: Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, inventor and innovator. His best known invention is the telephone that he patented in 1876.
- 1922 A powerful and disastrous typhoon hit Shantou, Republic of China. More than 50,000 people were killed, making it one of the deadliest known typhoons in history.
- 1921 Died: Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor. He sang to great acclaim in major opera houses of Europe and the USA. From 1902 to 1920 he made 290 commercially released recordings that are still available today as digital downloads.
- 1905 Born: Myrna Loy, American actress and singer. She rose to fame after playing the role of Nora Charles in The Thin Man. She received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her life's work both onscreen and off.
- 1892 Born: Jack Warner, Canadian-born American production manager and producer, one of the co-founders of Warner Bros. After founding the company, he became its president and main driving force.
- 1870 The world's first underground tube railway, Tower Subway, opened in London. The tunnel was closed in 1898; today it is used for water mains.
- 1834 Born: Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, best known for designing the Statue of Liberty in New York City, which was a gift to the United States from France.
- 1820 Born: John Tyndall, Irish-English physicist and mountaineer, who is widely known for his study of diamagnetism. He also made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the properties of air.
- 1810 Died: Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor. Together with his brother Joseph-Michel he invented the hot air balloon. They also succeeded in launching its first manned ascent, carrying Étienne into the sky.
- 1788 Died: Thomas Gainsborough, English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century.
- 1644 Died: Bernardo Strozzi, Italian Baroque painter and engraver. A canvas and fresco artist, his wide subject range included history, allegorical, genre and portrait paintings as well as still lifes.
- 1610 Henry Hudson sailed into what is now known as Hudson Bay, thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean.