August 14 in History

The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China established by Liu Bang, and preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and the interregnum known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC). It was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD) and also briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang. It is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). The Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, impacting Chinese identity in later periods. The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people", while spoken Chinese and written Chinese are referred to respectively as the "Han language" and "Han characters".

Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult and an era of imperial peace when the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict. The principate, a style of government in which the emperor showed nominal deference to the Senate, was established during his reign and lasted until the Crisis of the Third Century.

Abu Ja'far al-Mansur ibn al-Faḍl al-Mustarshid bi'llah (Arabic: أبو جعفر المنصور بن الفضل المسترشد بالله; 1109 – 6 June 1138) usually known by his regnal name Al-Rashid bi'llah (Arabic: الراشد بالله) was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1135 to 1136. He succeeded his father al-Mustarshid in the year 1135. He ruled for just one year from 1135 up to his deposition on 17 August 1136 when the populace of Baghdad rose in revolt against him.

Taira no Munemori (平 宗盛; 1147 – June 19, 1185) was heir to Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira clan's chief commanders in the Genpei War. As his father Taira no Kiyomori laid on his deathbed, Kiyomori declared, among his last wishes, that all affairs of the clan be placed in Munemori's hands. His eldest son, Shigemori, had already died two years earlier, so Munemori became next in line. In 1183, the rival Minamoto clan gained power, with Minamoto no Yoshinaka and Minamoto no Yukiie besieging the capital city. Following the defection of Emperor Go-Shirakawa to the Minamoto side, Munemori led his forces in capturing the capital city to the west, along with the young Emperor Antoku. In September that same year, the Taira established a temporary Court in Kyūshū, and then Yashima. Munemori took part in nearly every battle of the war, including the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185, where he was captured and executed a few days later.

The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a maritime republic with its capital in Venice, on the northeastern coast of Italy. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 by Paolo Lucio Anafesto, over the course of its 1,100 years of history it established itself as one of the major European commercial and naval powers. Initially extended in the Dogado area, during its history it annexed a large part of Northeast Italy, Istria, Dalmatia, the coasts of present-day Montenegro and Albania as well as numerous islands in the Adriatic and eastern Ionian seas. At the height of its expansion, between the 13th and 16th centuries, it also governed Crete, Cyprus, the Peloponnese, a number of Greek islands, as well as several cities and ports in the eastern Mediterranean.

The War of the Breton Succession or Breton Civil War was a conflict between the Counts of Blois and the Montforts of Brittany for control of the Duchy of Brittany. It was fought between 1341 and 12 April 1365. It is also known as the War of the Two Joans due to the involvement of two rival duchesses of that name, Joan of Flanders and Joan of Penthièvre.

Charles IV (German: Karl IV.; Czech: Karel IV.; Latin: Carolus IV; also known as Charles of Luxembourg German: Karl von Luxemburg; Czech: Karel Lucemburský; Latin: Carolus Luxemburgensis; Luxembourgish: Karel vu Lëtzebuerg; born Wenceslaus German: Wenzel; Czech: Václav; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1355 until his death in 1378. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1346 and became King of Bohemia (as Charles I) that same year. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his father's side and the Bohemian House of Přemysl from his mother's side; he emphasized the latter due to his lifelong affinity for the Bohemian side of his inheritance, and also because his direct ancestors in the Přemyslid line included two saints. He was the eldest son and heir of John of Bohemia, King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg, who died at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. His mother, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, was the sister of Wenceslaus III, King of Bohemia and Poland, the last of the male Přemyslid rulers of Bohemia. Charles inherited the County of Luxembourg from his father and was elected king of the Kingdom of Bohemia. On 2 September 1347, Charles was crowned King of Bohemia. On 11 July 1346, the prince-electors chose him as King of the Romans (rex Romanorum) in opposition to Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Wittelsbach. Charles was crowned on 26 November 1346 in Bonn. After his opponent died, he was re-elected in 1349 and crowned King of the Romans. In 1355, he was crowned King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. With his coronation as King of Burgundy at Arles in 1365, he became the crowned ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. Having played a key part in the political and cultural history of the Kingdom of Bohemia, he remains a popular historical figure in the Czech lands. The Golden Bull of 1356 marked a structural change in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire. Several aspects of his legacy remain contentious, however. The image of Charles as a wise, pious, peace-loving king (partly constructed by Charles himself) has proved influential until this day, supported by several artistic or scholarly projects produced during Charles's reign or afterwards.

An interregnum and a war of succession began in the Kingdom of Portugal in 1383 when King Ferdinand I died leaving no sons and ended when King John I was crowned in 1385 after his victory during the Battle of Aljubarrota. The Portuguese interpret the era as their earliest national resistance movement to counter Castilian intervention, and Robert Durand considers it as the "great revealer of national consciousness". The bourgeoisie and the nobility worked together to establish the Avis dynasty, a branch of the Portuguese House of Burgundy, securely on an independent throne. That contrasted with the lengthy civil wars in France (Hundred Years' War) and England (War of the Roses), which had aristocratic factions fighting powerfully against a centralised monarchy. In Portugal it is sometimes known simply as the Interregnum (or the First Interregnum, if the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis is counted as a "Second Interregnum"), the 1383–1385 crisis (Crise de 1383–1385) or the Avis Revolution (Revolução de Avis).

The Falkland Islands, commonly referred to as the Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about 300 mi (500 km) east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and 752 mi (1,210 km) from Cape Dubouzet at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at a latitude of about 52°S. The archipelago, with an area of 4,700 sq mi (12,000 km2), comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 smaller islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, while the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. The capital and largest settlement is Stanley on East Falkland.

The Nine Years' War (May 1593 – 30 March 1603) was a conflict in Ireland between a confederacy of Irish lords (with Spanish support) and the English-led government. The war was primarily a response to the English Crown's advances into territory traditionally owned by the Gaelic nobility. It was also part of the broader Anglo-Spanish War and the European wars of religion. The Kingdom of Ireland was established as an English client state in 1542, with various clans accepting English sovereignty under "surrender and regrant". By the early 1590s, widespread resentment against English rule developed amongst the Gaelic nobility, due to the execution of Gaelic lords, the pillaging of settlements by appointed sheriffs and Catholic persecution. The war is generally considered to have started in May 1593, when Irish lord Hugh Maguire revolted against the appointment of Humphrey Willis as sheriff of Fermanagh. Subsequently an Irish confederacy, led by lords Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Hugh Roe O'Donnell, was formed to resist English incursions into their territory. Across 1593 and 1594, the confederacy utilised guerrilla warfare against royal forces in Ulster and northern Connacht. The confederacy won numerous victories against the royal army, such as the Battle of Clontibret (1595) and the Battle of the Yellow Ford (1598). By 1599, the war engulfed the entire island and took on a religious and nationalist dimension. The confederacy suffered various military losses in 1600, such as the appointment of Charles Blount as Lord Deputy, the establishment of Henry Docwra in Derry and the defection of unsatisfied confederates. The confederacy were not able to secure Spanish reinforcements until the siege of Kinsale (1601–02), where royal forces decimated the confederacy. The war ended with Tyrone signing the Treaty of Mellifont (1603). In 1607, many of the defeated northern lords left Ireland to seek support for a new uprising in the Flight of the Earls, never to return. This marked the end of Gaelic Ireland and paved the way for the Plantation of Ulster. The Nine Years' War was the largest conflict fought by England in the Elizabethan era and also its costliest. At the height of the conflict (1600–1601) more than 18,000 soldiers were fighting in the English army in Ireland. By contrast, the English army assisting the Dutch during the Eighty Years' War was never more than 12,000 strong at any one time.

The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition intended to check New France's growing influence on the North American Great Plains, led by Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur. Pawnee and Otoe Indians attacked the expedition in Nebraska, killing 36 of the 40 Spaniards, 10 of their Indian allies, and a French guide. The survivors retreated to their base in New Mexico.

Russian colonization of North America describes colonies and territories claimed by the Russian Empire in the Pacific Coast region of North America from 1732 to 1867. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas were collectively known as Russian America from 1799 to 1867.

The Treaty of Värälä (sometimes known as the Treaty of Wereloe) was signed in Värälä, Elimäki Municipality, Finland, between Russia (represented by Otto Heinrich Igelström) and Sweden (represented by Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt). It was signed on 14 August 1790 and concluded the Russo-Swedish War. The treaty confirmed status quo ante bellum with respect to the borders; however, Russia's right to interfere with Swedish interior affairs from the Treaty of Nystad was expressly revoked. The provisions of the previous Treaty of Åbo were basically confirmed. A year later, on 19 October 1791, a convention was signed in Stockholm, whereby the countries pledged to assist each other in case of foreign attack. The treaty anticipated the First Coalition in its being directed against Revolutionary France. Catherine bound herself to pay her new ally annual subsidies amounting to 300,000 rubles. Gustav III had sent to his cousin, Catherine II of Russia, a letter in which he besought her to "forget the war as a passing cloud" and invoked their common blood as his claim to enjoy amitie with his cousin.

Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially known as Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, with its own constitution. The territory consists of the inhabited island Tristan da Cunha, which has a diameter of roughly 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) and an area of 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi); the wildlife reserves of Gough Island and Inaccessible Island; and the smaller, uninhabited Nightingale Islands. As of September 2026, the main island had 222 permanent inhabitants, all of whom hold British Overseas Territories citizenship. The other islands are uninhabited, except for the South African personnel at a weather station on Gough Island. The island has no airstrip; the only way to travel to or from Tristan is by ship. It is a six-day journey from Cape Town, South Africa, and some cruises depart from Ushuaia, Argentina. The island of Tristan da Cunha is considered to be the most remote inhabited place in the world.

The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were initially fought by European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States of America and Republic of Texas against various American Indian tribes in North America. These conflicts occurred from the time of the earliest colonial settlements in the 17th century until the end of the 19th century. The various conflicts resulted from a wide variety of factors, the most common being the desire of settlers and governments for tribal lands. The European powers and their colonies enlisted allied Indian tribes to help them conduct warfare against each other's colonial settlements. After the American Revolution, many conflicts were local to specific states or regions and frequently involved disputes over land use; many involved retaliatory violence. As American settlement expanded westward after the American Revolution, conflicts between the United States and Native American nations increased in scale and frequency. A major turning point came during the War of 1812, when Native confederacies in the Old Northwest and the Southern United States allied with the British against the United States. Following the war, armed resistance continued in some regions, but relations between the United States and Native nations were increasingly governed through treaties that transferred large areas of Indigenous land to the United States. Historians have noted that the United States frequently failed to uphold treaty obligations, contributing to recurring disputes and further conflict. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the president to negotiate treaties exchanging Native American lands east of the Mississippi River for lands in the west. Although the act itself provided for negotiated removals, federal and state authorities subsequently used a combination of treaties, political pressure, and coercion to relocate many Native nations from the southeastern United States to Indian Territory. The resulting removals, including the Trail of Tears, transferred millions of acres of Indigenous land to the United States and opened much of the Southeast to American settlement. As American settlement expanded across the Great Plains and the Western United States, the federal government increasingly confined Native peoples to Indian reservations through treaties, military campaigns, and congressional legislation. Native American tribes and confederacies often achieved significant military victories against American settlers and soldiers, but generally lacked the population, resources, and logistical capacity to sustain prolonged resistance against the expanding United States. Some scholars have characterized aspects of United States policies toward Native Americans, including forced removals, warfare, and reservation policies, as constituting genocide against Native Americans. Other scholars dispute the application of the term genocide to the American Indian Wars as a whole, arguing that the conflicts varied significantly across time and place.

The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries (see Oregon Country), Spanish "El Orejón" was part of the Nootka Territory (1789–1795). Later in the 19th century, the region was divided between the British Empire and the US in 1846. When established, the territory encompassed an area that included the current states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, as well as parts of Wyoming and Montana. The capital of the territory was first Oregon City, then Salem, followed briefly by Corvallis, then back to Salem, which became the state capital upon Oregon's admission to the Union.

The Expedition of the Thousand was an event of the unification of Italy that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto al Mare near Genoa and landed in Marsala, Sicily, in order to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, ruled by the Spanish House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. The name of the expedition derives from the initial number of participants, which was around 1,000 people.

Cologne Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 6 million people a year. At 157 m (515 ft), the cathedral is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the third tallest church in Europe after Sagrada Família and Ulm Minster, and the tallest cathedral in the world.

A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian, Pakistani, Australian, and New Zealand English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. All countries require registration plates for commercial road vehicles such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles, for hire. Whether they are required for other vehicles, such as bicycles, boats, or tractors, may vary by jurisdiction. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the vehicle or vehicle owner within the issuing region's vehicle register. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, while in others it is unique within a state or province. Whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. There are also electronic license plates.

The Battle of Peking (Chinese: 北京之戰), or historically the Relief of Peking (Chinese: 北京解圍戰), was the battle fought on 14–15 August 1900 in Beijing, in which the Eight-Nation Alliance relieved the siege of the Peking Legation Quarter during the Boxer Rebellion. From 20 June 1900, Boxers and Imperial Chinese Army troops had besieged foreign diplomats, citizens and soldiers within the legations of Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, The German Empire, Japan, Netherlands, The Russian Empire, Spain and the United States.

Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. Aircraft include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot air balloons and airships.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, World War I resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million deaths, including those in war crimes and genocides. The war also helped spread the Spanish flu pandemic. The conflict saw important developments in weaponry, including the first large-scale use of machine guns, artillery, aircraft, chemical weapons, and tanks.

The 1920 Summer Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; Dutch: Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; German: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (French: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; Dutch: Spelen van de VIIe Olympiade; German: Spiele der VII. Olympiade) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (French: Anvers 1920; Dutch and German: Antwerpen 1920), were an international multi-sport event held in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. In March 1912, during the 13th session of the IOC, Belgium's bid to host the 1920 Summer Olympics was made by Baron Édouard de Laveleye, president of the Belgian Olympic Committee and of the Royal Belgian Football Association. No fixed host city was proposed at the time. The 1916 Summer Olympics, to have been held in Berlin, capital of the German Empire, were cancelled due to World War I. When the Olympic Games resumed after the war, Antwerp was awarded the hosting rights to the 1920 Summer Games as a tribute to the Belgian people. The aftermath of the war and the Paris Peace Conference affected the Olympic Games not only due to new states being created but also by sanctions against the nations that lost the war and were blamed for starting it. Hungary, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire were banned from competing in the Games. Soviet Russia had just emerged from the Civil War and chose not to attend the Games. Germany did not return to Olympic competition until 1928 and instead hosted a series of games called Deutsche Kampfspiele, starting with the Winter edition of 1922 (which predated the first Winter Olympics). The United States won the most gold and overall medals at the 1920 Summer Games.

Tannu Uriankhai (Tuvan: Таңды Урянхай, [taŋˈdɤ urʲanˈχaj]; Mongolian: Тагна Урианхай, romanized: Tagna Urianhai, [ˈtʰaɢəɴ ʊrʲæŋˈχæɪ̯]; simplified Chinese: 唐努乌梁海; traditional Chinese: 唐努烏梁海; pinyin: Tángnǔ Wūliánghǎi) was a historical region of the Mongol Empire, its principal successor, the Yuan dynasty, and later the Qing dynasty. The territory of Tannu Uriankhai largely corresponds to the modern-day Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation, neighboring areas in Russia, and a small part of the modern state of Mongolia. Tannu designates the Tannu-ola Mountains in the region, and Uriankhai was the Mongolian name for the Tuvans (and accordingly their realm), which meant "the people living in the woods" (Chinese: 林中百姓; pinyin: Línzhōng Bǎixìng). After Mongolia (Outer Mongolia) declared independence from the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China in the early 20th century, the region of Tannu Uriankhai increasingly came under Russian influence and finally became an independent communist state, the Tuvan People's Republic, which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1944. Sovereignty over the area has not been officially renounced by the Republic of China since 1949. However, the Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement saying that "Outer Mongolia has never been part of its constitutionally claimed territory." The 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship states that the People's Republic of China (PRC), which controls Mainland China, and the Russian Federation, which controls Tuva, "have no remaining territorial claims". The PRC has official contacts with Tuva and regards it as part of Russia.

A wildfire, forest fire, brushfire or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire. Modern forest management often engages in prescribed burns to mitigate fire risk and promote natural forest cycles. Controlled burns can turn into wildfires if they escape containment lines.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving US president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on US involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.

Rainey Bethea, was the last person publicly executed in Kentucky. Bethea, who confessed to the rape and killing of a 70-year-old woman named Lishia Edwards, was convicted of her rape and publicly hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population in the world as of 2023. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and financial centre. Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country by area. Bounded by the Arabian Sea on the south, the Gulf of Oman on the southwest, and the Sir Creek on the southeast, it shares land borders with India to the east; Afghanistan to the west; Iran to the southwest; and China to the northeast. It shares a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman, and is separated from Tajikistan in the northwest by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is the Idaho state department which is responsible for preserving and managing Idaho's wildlife, including mammals, fish, birds, plants, and invertebrates.

The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL) and became that league's American Football Conference (AFC). The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence. It was more successful than earlier rivals to the NFL, including not only the organizations founded under the AFL name in 1926, 1936, and 1940, but also the later All-America Football Conference (AAFC), which existed between 1944 and 1950 but conducted operations only between 1946 and 1949.

The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967, shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or Marine Offences Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that came into force on 15 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 and the Broadcasting Act 1990. Its purpose was to extend the powers of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, beyond the territorial land area and territorial waters of the UK to cover airspace and external bodies of water.

The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although centred in Northern Ireland, violence at times spilled into the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. The conflict arose from political and nationalistic disputes with a strong ethnic and sectarian dimension. Unionists and loyalists, mostly Ulster Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom, while Irish nationalists and republicans, mostly Irish Catholics, wanted it to join a united Ireland. Despite the division between Protestants and Catholics, it was not a religious war.

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in the eastern part of Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. Situated near the western shore of the Persian Gulf, the country comprises a small archipelago of 33 natural islands and an additional 50 artificial islands, centred on Bahrain Island, which makes up around 80 percent of the country's landmass. Bahrain is situated between Qatar and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia, to which it is connected by the King Fahd Causeway. The population is 1,588,670 as of 2024, of whom 739,736 are Bahraini nationals, and 848,934 are expatriates. Bahrain spans some 760 square kilometres (290 sq mi) and is the third-smallest nation in Asia after Maldives and Singapore. The capital and largest city is Manama.

Interflug Flight 450 was a holiday charter flight to Burgas, Bulgaria operated by an Ilyushin Il-62 that crashed shortly after take-off from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport in Schönefeld, East Germany, on 14 August 1972. The accident was caused by a fire in the aft cargo bay which spread quickly, destroying the aircraft's structural integrity. All 156 passengers and crew died. To this day, it is the deadliest aviation accident to occur on German soil and the third deadliest accident involving an Ilyushin Il-62.

Turkey invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974 in an operation that progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-sponsored Cypriot coup d'état five days earlier, it led to the Turkish capture and occupation of the northern part of the island.

Lech Wałęsa is a Polish statesman, anticommunist dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratically elected president of Poland since 1922 and the first-ever Polish president elected by popular vote. An electrician by trade, Wałęsa became the leader of the opposition Solidarity movement and led a successful pro-democratic effort, which in 1989 ended Communist rule in Poland and ushered in the end of the Cold War.

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as Carlos the Jackal or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convict who conducted a series of assassinations and terrorist bombings from 1973 to 1985. A committed Marxist–Leninist, he was one of the most notorious political terrorists of his era, protected and supported by the Stasi and the KGB. After several bungled bombings, Carlos led the 1975 raid on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) headquarters in Vienna, during which three people were killed. He and five others demanded a plane and flew with a number of hostages to Libya.

Solomon Solomou was a Greek Cypriot who was shot and killed by a Turkish officer while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in Cyprus's United Nations Buffer Zone. The killing occurred in the aftermath of the funeral of Solomou's cousin Tassos Isaac, who had been murdered a few days earlier by Turkish nationalists belonging to the militant Grey Wolves organization.

The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and most parts of the Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, beginning just after 4:10 p.m. EDT.

Helios Airways Flight 522 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Prague, Czech Republic, with a stopover in Athens, Greece, operated by a Boeing 737-300. Shortly after takeoff on 14 August 2005, Nicosia air traffic control (ATC) lost contact with the pilots operating the flight; it eventually crashed near Grammatiko, Greece. All 121 passengers and crew on board were killed. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Greek history.

The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006 and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon. It marked the third Israeli invasion into Lebanon since 1978.

The Sri Lankan civil war was fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam led by Velupillai Prabhakaran. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island in response to continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the predominantly Sinhalese government of Sri Lanka.

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan and the Sahara to the south, and Libya to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital, largest city, and leading cultural centre, while Alexandria is the second-largest city and an important hub of industry and tourism. With over 107 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world, third-most populous country in Africa, and 15th-most populated in the world.

UPS Airlines Flight 1354 was a scheduled cargo flight from Louisville, Kentucky, to Birmingham, Alabama. On August 14, 2013, the Airbus A300 flying the route crashed and burst into flames short of the runway on approach to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport. Both pilots were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. They were the only people aboard the aircraft. It was the second fatal air crash for UPS Airlines.

The Embassy of the United States of America in Havana is the United States of America's diplomatic mission in Cuba. On January 3, 1961, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower severed relations following the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s. In 1977, U.S. president Jimmy Carter and Cuban leader Fidel Castro signed an Interests Sections Agreement that permitted each government to operate from its former embassy in Havana and Washington D.C., which were called Interests Sections; they were prohibited from flying their respective flags. First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Raúl Castro and U.S. president Barack Obama restored full diplomatic connections on July 20, 2015 during the Cuban thaw.

On 14 August 2018, around 11:36 CEST a section of the Ponte Morandi in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, collapsed during a rainstorm, killing forty-three people. The remains were demolished in June 2019. The replacement bridge, the Genoa-Saint George Bridge was inaugurated a year later.

At 08:29:09 EDT on 14 August 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Tiburon Peninsula of southern Haiti. It had a 10-kilometre-deep (6.2 mi) hypocenter near Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Tsunami warnings were briefly issued for the Haitian coast. At least 2,248 people were confirmed killed as of 1 September 2021 and more than 12,200 injured, mostly in the Sud Department. An estimated 650,000 people were in need of assistance. At least 137,500 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

On 14 August 2022, at 13:23 local time, a large explosion took place in the Surmalu shopping centre in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. It caused widespread destruction and fire, leaving dozens of dead and injured. The explosion killed 16 people and injured 63, with nine missing as of 20 August.

Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.