August 23, 1927 – Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartoloureo Vanzetti are executed in Massachusetts for the killing of two people during a factory payroll robbery. Prior to the executions, there are protests claiming unfair treatment of the pair because they had radical political leanings and were Italian.
August 24, 79 AD – Vesuvius, an active volcano in southern Italy, erupts and destroys the city of Pompeii and also the cities of Stabiae, Oplontis, and Herculaneum.
August 24 and 25, 1814 – During the War of 1812, Washington, D.C. is invaded by British forces who burn the Capitol, the White House, and other public buildings.
August 28, 1963 – The Civil Rights “March on Washington” occurs with over 250,000 attendees. It is at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King delivers his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.