Dashed left edge = started before August 2019 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond August 2019
Events in August 2019 11
1925 – 2019D.A. Pennebaker (1925-2019)Died 1 August 2019, aged 94D.A. Pennebaker was an American documentary filmmaker and pioneer of the direct cinema movement, known for Dont Look Back, his film on Bob Dylan, and Monterey Pop. He received an honorary Academy Award in 2013 for his lifetime contribution to documentary filmmaking. He died at his home in New York.
1931 – 2019Toni Morrison (1931-2019)Died 5 August 2019, aged 88Toni Morrison was an American novelist and Nobel laureate whose novels, including Beloved and Song of Solomon, explored African American identity and history. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, the first Black woman to receive it. She died in New York after a brief illness.
1939 – 2019Valerie Harper (1939-2019)Died 30 August 2019, aged 80Valerie Harper was an American actress best known for playing Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off Rhoda, winning four Emmy Awards. She continued acting and advocacy after a 2013 terminal brain cancer diagnosis. She died in Los Angeles.
1940 – 2019Peter Fonda (1940-2019)Died 16 August 2019, aged 79Peter Fonda was an American actor and filmmaker who co-wrote, produced, and starred in the 1969 counterculture film Easy Rider. He came from a celebrated acting family, the son of Henry Fonda and brother of Jane Fonda. He died at his home in Los Angeles from complications of lung cancer.
1942 – 2019Felice GimondiThe PhoenixWinner of all three Grand Tours; competed in the era of Merckx.
1953 – 2019Jeffrey Epstein (1953-2019)Died 10 August 2019, aged 66Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier who was facing federal sex trafficking charges involving the abuse of underage girls at the time of his death. He was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, in a death ruled a suicide that prompted widespread scrutiny. His case implicated numerous prominent associates.
2019US Open 2019Men: Rafael Nadal · Women: Bianca AndreescuAndreescu beat Serena Williams — Canada's first Grand Slam.
2019Amazon rainforest firesRecord wildfires spark global alarm over deforestationA sharp rise in fires across the Brazilian Amazon, many linked to land-clearing for agriculture, drew international condemnation and pledges of aid. Smoke darkened skies over Sao Paulo more than 2,000 kilometers away. The crisis intensified scrutiny of President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policies.
2019"Old Town Road" sets chart longevity recordLil Nas X single becomes longest-running number oneLil Nas X's genre-blending single "Old Town Road", featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, surpassed the previous record for longest-running number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It eventually spent 19 weeks atop the chart. The song's viral rise via TikTok made it a landmark case study in social-media-driven music success.
2019El Paso and Dayton mass shootingsTwo shootings kill 32 people within 13 hoursA gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in an attack targeting Hispanic shoppers, followed less than a day later by a shooting that killed 9 people in Dayton, Ohio. The back-to-back attacks intensified national debate over gun control and domestic extremism in the United States. The El Paso attack was investigated as domestic terrorism.
2019India revokes Article 370 in KashmirSpecial constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir endedIndia's government revoked Article 370, which had granted Jammu and Kashmir a degree of autonomy and special status since 1949. The region was split into two federally administered territories and placed under a communications lockdown. The move drew strong condemnation from Pakistan and raised tensions in the disputed region.