Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have a Dream August 28, 1963 During his famous March on Washington, the civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaims "I have a dream." Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining mo...

Stevie Ray Vaughan Killed in Helicopter Crash August 27, 1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan and members of Eric Clapton's road crew are killed in a helicopter crash. They had just played at a concert with Clapton at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin. The helicopter took off headed for Chicago when it crashed into a ski...

Lake Emissions Kill 1,746 Villagers August 26, 1986 Lake Nyos suddenly releases a 100,000-300,000 tons of carbon dioxide, suffocating people and animals within 16 miles (25 kilometers) of the lake, killing 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock. A pocket of magma lies beneath the lake and leaks carbon dioxide into the water....

The Wizard of Oz August 25, 1939 The film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 book The Wizard of Oz is released, starring Judy Garland as Dorothy and Terry as Toto. It was the story of two women fighting over a pair of shoes. Buddy Ebsen was originally cast as the Tin Man, but had to quit because he had an allergic reac...

Hurricane Andrew August 24, 1992 Hurricane Andrew hits Miami. Andrew was a category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck The Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged or destroyed, and remained the costliest in financial terms until Hurricane I...