• 1610 – Henry Hudson (pictured) sails into what it is now known as Hudson Bay, thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean.
• 1870 – Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London.
• 1980 – A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
• 1985 – Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.

More events: August 16 – August 17 – August 18