AUGUST 6

1637: English writer Ben Jonson dies1911: American actress Lucille Ball is born1926: Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping1945: The first atomic bomb used in warfare is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan1953: Pakistani cricketer Iqbal Qasim is born1976: Pakistani Prime Mini-ster Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lays the foundation stone of Port Qasim, Karachi1990: Pakistani President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s government over corruption allegations1990: Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi becomes caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan2003: Arnold Schwarzenegger announces candidacy to replace Gray Davis as governor of California to Jay Leno on the Tonight Show

AUGUST 7

1948: Australian cricketer Greg Chappell is born1959: The United States launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of Earth1960: American actor David Duchovny is born1964: Prometheus, a bristlecone pine and the world’s oldest tree, is cut down1975: South African actress Charlize Theron is born1977: Ashraf Aman becomes first Pakistani to reach the peak of K21981: Pakistani climber Nazir Sabir summits K21987: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union

AUGUST 8

1786: Dr Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat become the first to climb Mont Blanc1854: American manufacturers Smith & Wesson patent metal bullet cartridges1899: The refrigerator is patented by A.T. Marshall1900: The first Davis Cup tennis tournament begins at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts1908: Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers’ first public flight1937: American actor Dustin Hoffman is born1942: Walt Disney’s animated film, Bambi premieres in the UK.1973: Australian cricketer Shane Lee is born1974: US President Richard Nixon announces his resignation following the Watergate Scandal1977: Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Wasim is born1981: Swiss tennis star Roger Federer is born1990: Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq2005: Islamic scholar Ahmed Deedat dies

AUGUST 9

1892: Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph1936: Jesse Owens becomes the first American to win four gold medals in one Olympics1942: Gandhi was arrested in Bombay by British forces, launching the Quit India Movement1945: The United States explodes a nuclear bomb over Nagasaki, Japan, killing an estimated 74,000 people1982: American sprinter Tyson Gay is born

AUGUST 10

1943: Pakistani cricketer Shafqat Rana is born1948: Candid Camera debuts on television1960: Spanish actor Antonio Banderas is born2003: Yuri Malenchenko becomes the first person to marry in space

AUGUST 11

1897: English author Enid Blyton is born1952: King Hussein of Jordan ascends the throne after his father is declared mentally unfit1953: American professional wrestler Hulk Hogan is born1977: English cricketer Geoffrey Boycott makes his 100th first-class hundred1994: British actor Peter Cushing dies2003: NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history

AUGUST 12

1851: Isaac Merritt Singer isgranted a patent for his sewing machine1865: British surgeon Joseph Lister becomes the first doctor to use an antiseptic during surgery1924: Former Pakistani President Ziaul Haq is born1971: American tennis star Pete Sampras is born1972: The last American combat troops leave Vietnam1976: West Indian fast bowler Pedro Collins is born1981: The IBM Personal Computer is released— OA