August 15, 1969 – Woodstock began in a field near Yasgur’s Farm at Bethel, New York. The three-day concert featured 24 rock bands and drew a crowd of more than 300,000 young people. The event came to symbolize the counter-culture movement of the 1960’s.
August 16, 1896 – While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory, George Carmack spots what look like nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His discovery sparks the last great gold rush in the American West.
August 17, 1978 – The first transatlantic balloon trip was completed. Americans Max Anderson, Ben Abruzzo, and Larry Newman had departed from Maine 137 hours earlier in “Double Eagle II” and landed about 60 miles west of Paris.
August 19, 1920 – The 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is ratified giving women the right to vote.