August 7, 1947 – Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl captains the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki to completion of a 4,300-mile, 101-day journey from Peru to an island near Tahiti to prove his theory that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian Islands. His account of the journey became an international best-selling book and a film documentary of the journey would win an academy award in 1951.
August 9, 1974 – Effective at noon, Richard M. Nixon resigned from the Presidency as a result of the Watergate scandal.
August 9, 1936 – African American track star Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal of the 1936 Berlin Olympics striking a propaganda blow against Nazi leader Adolf Hitler who was touting Aryan superiority.
August 11, 1965 – Six days of riots begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles triggered by a traffic stop and subsequent fight between an African American motorist and a white member of the California Highway Patrol. The rioting results in 34 deaths, more than 3,000 people arrested, and damage to property listed at $40 million.