Human Saga

On August 25

No pivotal events are recorded on exactly August 25 in the Human Saga — here is the surrounding week in history.

This week in history (Aug 22 – Aug 28)

26 August 1071Battle of Manzikert Opens Anatolia to the TurksMilitary & conflict

On 26 August 1071, near Manzikert (modern Malazgirt in eastern Anatolia), the Byzantine army under Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes was decisively defeated by the Seljuk forces of Sultan Alp Arslan.

22 August 1791The Haitian Revolution begins in Saint-DomingueSocial & demographic

On the night of 22 August 1791, following a clandestine vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman associated with the leader Dutty Boukman, enslaved people across the northern plain of Saint-Domingue rose in revolt, burning plantations and seizing…

28 August 1833 (in force 1 August 1834)The Slavery Abolition Act ends slavery across the British EmpirePolitics & governance

Receiving royal assent on 28 August 1833 and taking effect on 1 August 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act abolished slavery throughout most of the British Empire, freeing some 800,000 enslaved people, chiefly in the Caribbean, Mauritius and…

23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943Battle of StalingradMilitary & conflict

The Battle of Stalingrad was fought from 23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943 between German and Soviet forces for control of the city on the Volga.

79 CE (traditionally 24 August)Eruption of Vesuvius buries Pompeii and HerculaneumEnvironment & climate

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE buried the Campanian towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae under metres of ash, pumice and pyroclastic surges, killing thousands and freezing daily Roman life in place.

24 August 410 CEVisigoths under Alaric sack RomeMilitary & conflict

On 24 August 410 CE the Visigoths under their king Alaric entered Rome and plundered the city for three days, the first time Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy in nearly 800 years.

23 August 1514Battle of ChaldiranMilitary & conflict

On 23 August 1514 the Ottoman Sultan Selim I crushed the Safavid army of Shah Ismail I at Chaldiran in northwestern Iran.

24 August 1572St Bartholomew's Day MassacreReligion & ideology

Beginning at dawn on 24 August 1572 in Paris, Catholic mobs and royal forces slaughtered French Protestants (Huguenots) who had gathered for the wedding of the Protestant Henry of Navarre to Margaret of Valois.

On 26 August 1789 the French National Constituent Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a foundational statement of the principles of the French Revolution.

28 August 1963March on Washington for Jobs and FreedomSocial & demographic

On 28 August 1963 more than a quarter of a million people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, one of the largest political demonstrations in U.S. history to that point.

22 August 1948Founding of the World Council of ChurchesReligion & ideology

On 22 August 1948, representatives of 147 churches from 44 countries gathered in Amsterdam to inaugurate the World Council of Churches (WCC), a fellowship of churches affirming Jesus Christ as God and Saviour.

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