1828 | The Hindi reform movement and the Brahmo Samaj were founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Calcutta (now Kolkata).

1905 | Sun Yat-sen, the Chinese revolutionary leader formed the first chapter of T'ung Meng Hui, a union of all secret societies with an aim to bring down the Manchus (Qing dynasty).

1944 | Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20 in Bombay (now Mumbai). He was just three when India became independent and his grandfather became Prime Minister.

1968 | The Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia happened during the night as 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops marched in.

1974 | The fifth President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was elected.

1975 | NASA’s Viking 1 was launched to orbit Mars and make a soft landing later to explore the surface of the planet.

1977 | NASA’s Voyager 2 was launched towards Jupiter, Saturn, and was later diverted towards Uranus and Neptune too.

1979 | India Prime Minister Charan Singh resigned just after 23 day in office.

1988 | The armed conflict between Iran-Iraq War officially came to an end after 7 years.

2008 | Star Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the 100/200m double and set a new 200m world record 19.30s at the Beijing Olympics.