This Day in August
Bust of John Logie Baird, on the seafront at Helensburgh, the place of his birth, August 13, 1888.
Here is a snapshot of historical events which took place in the month of August, with links to pages with further information, where available on the Web.
August 1 1545
Birth of Andrew Melville, "true father of Presbyterianism in Scotland".August 1 1714
Death of Queen Anne; George I, Elector of Hanover becomes king.August 1 1747
Proscription Act introduced, banning tartan and the carrying of weapons. The penalty for a first offence was six months in jail and a second offence resulted in transportation for seven years.August 1 1967
University of Dundee which was incorporated into the University of St Andrews in 1890, constituted as a separate university.August 2 1894
Death duties introduced for the first time in Britain.August 2 1922
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, died in Nova Scotia.August 3 1573
Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange executed, after defending Edinburgh Castle on behalf of Mary Queen of Scots from May 1568 to May 1573.August 3 1460
King James II killed by an exploding cannon at the siege of Roxburgh Castle.August 3 1305
William Wallace betrayed and handed over to the English.August 4 1870
Birth of the entertainer Sir Harry Lauder.August 4 1900
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, born.August 5 1388
James, Earl Douglas, died out of sight of his army, in a bush, at Battle of Otterburn in which Scots defeat Henry Percy, (Hotspur) but with the loss of the Earl of Douglas.August 5 1695
The Scottish Parliament established a General Post Office.August 5 1704
Act of Security passed by the Scottish Parliament. This allowed Scotland to choose a successor to Queen Anne, other than the one elected by the English Parliament, if Scottish conditions were not met. This precipitated the demands in London for an Act of Union of the two parliaments.August 6 1678
First Glasgow/Edinburgh coach service began from White Horse Inn, Edinburgh.August 6 1820
Donald Alexander Smith - later Lord Strathcona - born in Forres. A pioneer of the Hudson Bay Company in the North-West, he later championed the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada and drove the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia.August 6 1881
Birth of Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin.August 6 1988
"Scotland on Sunday" newspaper, a sister paper of the "Scotsman", is published for the first time.August 8 1946
Former World flyweight boxing champion Benny Lynch died.August 8 1296
King Edward I removed to England the Stone of Destiny on which generations of Scottish kings had been crowned.August 8 1503
King James IV married Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England. The marriage was known as the Union of the Thistle and the Rose.August 9 1757
Civil engineer Thomas Telford born in Dumfries.August 9 1935
Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire opened after David McIntyre set up Scottish Aviation Ltd. Aircraft had been flying from the area since 1913.August 10 1460
King James III crowned at Kelso Abbey.August 10 1624
Death of Esther Inglis, calligrapher and minituarist.August 10 1872
Education (Scotland) Act passed, providing elementary education for all children.August 10 1935
Perth Museum and Art Gallery opened by the Duke and Duchess of York.August 11 1306
Battle of Dalry, Robert I, attacked and defeated John MacDougall of Lorne, kinsman of John Comyn.August 12 1332
Battle of Dupplin near Perth in which Edward Balliol defeated the Regent, Earl of Mar.August 11 1560
Latin Mass prohibited in Scotland by Parliament as Protestant faith gained the ascendancy.August 11 1892
Author and poet C M Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid) born at Langholm, Dumfriesshire.August 12 1922
Popular character actor Fulton McKay was born in Paisley.August 13 1826
Explorer Alexander Gordon Laing became the first Christian to reach Timbuctu, Africa.August 13 1888
Birth of John Logie Baird, developer of television.August 13 1957
Scotland's first nuclear power station at Dounreay went "critical" ushering in the generation of power from atomic reactions.August 14 1040
King Duncan I killed in battle at Pitgavney by Macbeth.August 14 1337
King Robert III born at Scone.August 14 1390
King Robert III crowned at the Augustinian abbey of Scone.August 14 1827
Foundation laid of George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. It was not completed until 1836 due to lack of funds.August 14 1964
University of Strathclyde was constituted in Glasgow, based on the Royal College of Science and Technology.August 15 1057
Macbeth killed in battle by Malcolm at Lumphanan.August 15 1771
Novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott born.August 15 1840
Foundation stone for the Monument to Sir Walter Scott laid in Princes Street Gardens.August 15 1856
Birth at Holytown of John Keir Hardie, coal miner and founder of the Labour Party.August 15 1963
The last hanging in Scotland - 21-year-old Henry Burnett who was executed at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen for the murder of seaman Thomas Guyan.August 16 1766
Birth of Carolina Oliphant (Lady Nairne), poet and author of many Jacobite songs, including "Charlie is my Darling". Her songs are second only in popularity to Burns.August 17 1472
The see of St Andrews became an archbishopric by a bull of Pope Sixtius IV.August 17/19 1648
Battle of Preston in which Duke of Hamilton at the head of an army of 20,000 crossed into England in support of Charles I. Scots defeated by Cromwell, 2,000 killed, 8,000 captured and Hamilton surrendered on 25 August (and beheaded in March 1649).August 17 1822
Visit of George IV to Edinburgh began, orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott.August 17 1947
First Edinburgh International Festival opened.August 18 1966
Tay Road Bridge opened.August 19 1561
Mary Queen of Scots lands at Leith on her return from France, after the death of her husband, King Francis IIAugust 19 1745
Charles Edward Stuart, raises his standard at Glenfinnan, at the start of the '45 uprising.August 19 1932
Scottish aviator Jim Mollinson landed after the first East/West solo flight of the Atlantic from Portmarnock, Ireland to Pennfield, New Brunswick.August 19 1994
Graham Obree, from Irvine in Ayrshire, broke the world record and became the world pursuit cycle champion over 4,000 metres in Hamar, Norway.August 20 1897
Ronald Ross, the first Scot to win a Nobel prize (in 1902) dissected a mosquito and established the link with malaria.August 21 1689
Battle of Dunkeld when the newly formed Cameronians defended the town against 3,000 Highlanders.August 21 1754
Birth of William Murdoch who pioneered the use of coal-gas lighting in 1792 in partnership with James Watt and Mathew Boulton.August 21 1930
Princess Margaret, daughter of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, born at Glamis Castle. She was the first Royal princess born in Scotland for 300 years and the last Royal birth to be witnessed by the Home Secretary (a tradition started by Queen Anne in the early 18th century).August 21 1937
Birth of Donald Dewar, former Secretary of State for Scotland and First Minister in the new Scottish Parliament.August 22 1138
Battle of the Standard at Northallerton in which King David I was defeated by the English.August 22 1282
Devorgilla, Countess of Galloway founded Balliol College, Oxford. She was mother of John Balliol (who acceded to the Scottish throne in 1292).August 22 1567
James Stewart, Earl of Moray and a half-brother of Mary Queen of Scots, proclaimed Regent of Scotland.August 22 1582
James VI abducted and taken to the Castle of Ruthven by the Earls of Mar and Gowrie - the so-called "Ruthven Raid".August 22 1642
King Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham, initiating a Civil War in England between the Royalists (also known as Cavaliers) and Parliament (Roundheads).August 22 1847
Birth of Sir Alexander Campbell MacKenzie, musician and composer.August 22 1960
"Beyond the Fringe", an influential satirical revue, opened in Edinburgh.August 23 1305
William Wallace executed.August 24 1482
Berwick on Tweed finally ceded to England (Edward IV) after changing hands 12 times.August 25 1776
Philosopher David Hume died.August 25 1819
James Watt, developer of steam power, died.August 25 1819
Birth in Glasgow of Alan Pinkerton, founder of the Chicago-based detective agency which bears his name.August 25 1930
Actor Sean Connery born.August 25 1931
Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government.August 25 1942
Prince George, the Duke of Kent, brother of King George VI, killed when his flying boat crashed into Eagle's Rock in Caithness, apparently en route to Iceland.August 26 1875
Novelist and statesman John Buchan born in Perth.August 27 1784
First balloon ascent in Britain by James Tytler, Edinburgh.August 27 1825
African explorer William Blake born.August 28 1296
Edward I of England held a parliament at Berwick to which he summoned all Scottish landholders to sign the Ragman Roll.August 28 1741
Earl of Wintoun died, aged 100.August 29 1797
"Battle of Tranent" in which a demonstration against conscription under the Militia Act was broken up by the Cinque Ports Dragoons and East Lothian Yeomanry with the death of 12 participants.August 29 1930
Island of St Kilda evacuated.August 30 1870
Birth of golf course designer Dr Alister Mackenzie; he was responsible for Augusta National and Cypress Point, among others.August 30 1901
Scottish born Hubert Cecil Booth patented his design for a vacuum cleaner which sucked in the dust and retained it by means of a filter.August 30 1991
Liz McColgan won the World Athletics Championship 10,000 metres in Tokyo by a margin of 20 seconds.
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