On this day in history, August 20, 2017, legendary comedian Jerry Lewis dies at 91

1934 – The German referendum of 1934 approves Adolf Hitler's appointment as head of state with the title of Führer.

On this day in history, August 19, 1812, Old Ironsides legend born in smashing victory over Royal Navy

2019 – One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5 km2).

1977 – Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.

1958 – Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.

On this day in history, August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment is ratified, granting women the right to vote

1585 – A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.

On this day in history, August 17, 1945, George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' is published

On this day in history, August 16, American legends Aretha Franklin, Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley died

1998 – Apple introduces the iMac computer.

1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.

1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.

1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.

1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.

1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.

On this day in history, August 15, 1935, entertainer Will Rogers, aviator Wiley Post killed in plane crash

2023 – Former U.S. President Donald Trump is charged in Georgia along with 18 others in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state, his fourth indictment of 2023.

On this day in history, August 14, 1935, Social Security is signed into law by FDR

1942 – Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the "Development of Substitute Materials" project, better known as the Manhattan Project.