• 1943 – The USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for a black person, is commissioned.
• 1965 – The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy makes its first flight.
• 1986 – Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, United States, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
• 1999 – A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including 2 on the ground.

More events: August 15 – August 16 – August 17