So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

August 2nd


- Christian Feast Day:
- Day of Airborne Forces (Russia and Ukraine)
- Day of Azerbaijani cinema (Azerbaijan)
- Our Lady of the Angels Day (Costa Rica)
- Republic Day, also known as Ilinden. (Republic of Macedonia)

August 2nd


- 2005 - Air France Flight 358, landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, and ran off the runway causing the plane to burst into flames. There were 12 serious injuries and no fatalities.
- 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
- 1989 - Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restoring democracy for the first time since .
- 1989 - A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.
- 1985 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.
- 1980 - A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
- 1973 - A flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.
- 1968 - An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: Gulf of Tonkin Incident – North Vietnamese gunboats allegedly fire on the U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy.
- 1945 - World War II: the Potsdam Conference, at which the Allied Powers discuss the future of defeated Germany, is concluded.
- 1944 - ASNOM: birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in the Republic of Macedonia.
- 1943 - Rebellion in the Nazi death camp of Treblinka.
- 1943 - World War II: the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and sinks. Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. President, saves all but two of his crew.
- 1939 - Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan project to develop a nuclear weapon.
- 1937 - The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal.
- 1934 - Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
- 1932 - The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
- 1922 - A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China killing more than 50,000 people.
- 1918 - Japan announces that it is deploying troops to Siberia in the aftermath of World War I.
- 1916 - World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto.
- 1903 - Fall of the Ottoman Empire: an unsuccessful uprising led by the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization against Ottoman Turkey, also known as the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising, takes place.
- 1870 - Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London.
- 1869 - Japan's samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system (Shin?k?sh?) is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese date: June 25, 1869).
- 1798 - French Revolutionary Wars: the Battle of the Nile concludes in a British victory.
- 1790 - The first US Census is conducted.
- 1610 - Henry Hudson sails into what it is now known as Hudson Bay thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean.
- 1377 - Russian troops are defeated in the Battle on Pyana River because of drunkenness.
- -216 - Second Punic War: Battle of Cannae – The Carthaginian army lead by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army under command of consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro.
- -338 - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.

August 2nd


- 1992 - Hallie Kate Eisenberg, American actress
- 1991 - Evander Kane, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1991 - Zuleyka Silver, American model and actress
- 1988 - Brittany Hargest, American singer
- 1986 - Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian-born Malagasy skier
- 1985 - Harry Smith, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1985 - Britt Nicole, American Christian pop vocalist
- 1984 - Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer
- 1983 - Nick Diaz, American MMA fighter
- 1982 - Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer
- 1982 - Sara Foster, American actress
- 1982 - Kerry Rhodes, American football player
- 1982 - Grady Sizemore, American baseball player
- 1981 - Aleksander Emelianenko, Russian MMA fighter, brother of Fedor Emelianenko
- 1980 - Ivica Banovi?, Croatian footballer
- 1980 - Nadia Bjorlin, American actress
- 1980 - Dingdong Dantes, Filipino actor
- 1979 - Marco Bonura, Italian footballer
- 1979 - Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner
- 1979 - Donna Air, English television presenter
- 1978 - Goran Gavran?i?, Serbian footballer
- 1978 - Matt Guerrier, American baseball player
- 1977 - Edward Furlong, American actor
- 1976 - Reyes Estévez, Spanish mid-distance runner
- 1976 - Sam Worthington, Australian actor
- 1976 - Jay Heaps, American footballer
- 1976 - Michael Weiss, American figure skater
- 1976 - Mohammad Zahid, Pakistani cricketer
- 1975 - Mineiro, Brazilian footballer
- 1975 - Xu Huaiwen, Chinese-born German badminton player
- 1975 - Ingrid Rubio, Spanish actress
- 1974 - Angie Cepeda, Colombian actress
- 1973 - Hiroyuki Goto, Japanese game designer
- 1973 - Danie Keulder, Namibian cricketer
- 1973 - Susie O'Neill, Australian swimmer
- 1973 - Reyn Ouwehand, Dutch C=64 Composer
- 1972 - Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1972 - Jacinda Barrett, Australian model and actress
- 1972 - Daniele Nardello, Italian cyclist
- 1972 - Justyna Steczkowska, Polish singer
- 1971 - Alice Evans, English actress
- 1971 - Michael Hughes, Irish footballer
- 1970 - Tony Amonte, American ice hockey player
- 1970 - Kevin Smith, American director and screenwriter
- 1970 - Philo Wallace, Barbiadian West Indies cricketer
- 1969 - Cedric Ceballos, American basketball player
- 1969 - Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer
- 1969 - Jan Axel Blomberg Norwegian drummer (Dimmu Borgir, Winds, Mayhem)
- 1969 - Richard Hallebeek, Dutch jazz guitarist
- 1968 - Stefan Effenberg, German footballer
- 1968 - John Stanier, American drummer Helmet
- 1967 - Aaron Krickstein, American tennis player
- 1967 - Aline Brosh McKenna, American screenwriter
- 1966 - Takayuki Iizuka, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1966 - Tim Wakefield, American baseball player
- 1966 - M.V. Sridhar, Indian cricketer
- 1965 - Hisanobu Watanabe, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1964 - Frank Biela, German racing driver
- 1964 - Mary-Louise Parker, American actress
- 1963 - Daniel Pelosi, American convicted murderer
- 1963 - Laura Bennett, American architect and designer
- 1962 - Cynthia Stevenson, Canadian actress
- 1961 - Graham Dye, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Scarlet Party, The Alan Parsons Project)
- 1961 - Linda Fratianne, American figure skater
- 1961 - Cold 187um, American rapper (Above the Law)
- 1960 - Neal Morse, American keyboardist and vocalist (Spock's Beard, Transatlantic)
- 1960 - David Yow, American vocalist (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard)
- 1959 - Victoria Jackson, American comedian
- 1959 - Apollonia Kotero, American singer and actress
- 1958 - Arshad Ayub, Indian cricketer
- 1957 - Mojo Nixon, American singer, lyricist and actor
- 1957 - Butch Vig, American record producer and drummer (Garbage)
- 1956 - Fulvio Melia, Italian-born American physicist, astrophysicist and author
- 1956 - Jim Neidhart, American professional wrestler
- 1956 - Isabel Pantoja, Spanish singer
- 1955 - Caleb Carr, American novelist and military historian
- 1955 - Tim Dunigan, American actor
- 1955 - Tony Godden, English footballer
- 1954 - James Charles Kopp, American anti-abortion militant, murderer of Barnett Slepian
- 1954 - Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1953 - Butch Patrick, American actor
- 1953 - Marjo, Quebec singer
- 1951 - Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter
- 1951 - Joe Lynn Turner, American singer (Deep Purple, Rainbow)
- 1951 - Freddie Wadling, Swedish singer and musician (The Leather Nun, Fleshquartet)
- 1951 - Per Westerberg, Swedish politician
- 1950 - Lance Ito, American judge
- 1950 - Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate (d. 1994)
- 1949 - James Fallows, American journalist
- 1948 - Andy Fairweather Low, Welsh guitarist (Amen Corner)
- 1948 - Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author
- 1947 - Massiel, Spanish singer
- 1945 - Joanna Cassidy, American actress
- 1945 - Alex Jesaulenko, Australian rules footballer
- 1944 - Jim Capaldi, British drummer and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
- 1944 - Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian jazz percussionist and vocalist
- 1943 - Tom Burgmeier, American baseball player
- 1943 - Max Wright, American actor
- 1942 - Isabel Allende, Chilean author
- 1941 - Doris Coley, American singer (Shirelles) (d. 2000)
- 1940 - Will Tura, Belgian singer
- 1939 - Benjamin Barber, American political theorist
- 1939 - Wes Craven, American film director
- 1939 - John W. Snow, American 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1938 - Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
- 1938 - Pierre de Bané, French-Canadian politician
- 1938 - Terry Peck, Falkland Islands-born British soldier (d. 2006)
- 1937 - Billy Cannon, American football player
- 1937 - Garth Hudson, Canadian organist and keyboardist (The Band)
- 1935 - Hank Cochran, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1934 - Valery Bykovsky, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1933 - Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Greek politician
- 1932 - Peter O'Toole, Irish actor
- 1932 - Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (d. 2006)
- 1931 - Pierre DuMaine, American Catholic bishop
- 1931 - Viliam Schrojf, Slovak footballer (d. 2007)
- 1931 - Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer (d. 2008)
- 1930 - Vali Myers, Australian painter (d. 2003)
- 1928 - Malcolm Hilton, English cricketer (d. 1990)
- 1926 - Betsy Bloomingdale, American socialite
- 1925 - John Dexter, English stage and film director (d. 1990)
- 1925 - John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1925 - Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian dictator, 43rd President of Argentina
- 1925 - Alan Whicker, British journalist and broadcaster
- 1924 - James Baldwin, American writer (d. 1987)
- 1924 - Joe Harnell, American pianist, composer and arranger (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Carroll O'Connor, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1923 - Shimon Peres, Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel and the ninth President of the State of Israel
- 1920 - Louis Pauwels, French journalist and writer (d. 1997)
- 1919 - Nehemiah Persoff, American actor
- 1915 - Gary Merrill, American actor (d. 1990)
- 1914 - Félix Leclerc, Quebec singer, songwriter and writer (d. 1988)
- 1914 - Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1912 - Palle Huld, Danish actor
- 1912 - Ann Dvorak, American actress (d. 1979)
- 1912 - Vladimir Zerjavic, Croatian statistician (d. 2001)
- 1910 - Roger MacDougall, Scottish writer (d. 1993)
- 1907 - Mary Hamman, American writer (d. 1984)
- 1905 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (d. 1963)
- 1905 - Myrna Loy, American actress (d. 1993)
- 1902 - Helen Morgan, American actress (d. 1941)
- 1899 - Charles Bennett, British screenwriter (d. 1995)
- 1897 - Karl Otto Koch, German SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1897 - Max Weber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1974)
- 1896 - Lorenzo Herrera, Venezuelan singer and composer (d. 1960)
- 1895 - Matt Henderson, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1970)
- 1892 - Jack Warner, Canadian-born American film producer (d. 1978)
- 1891 - Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian and linguist (d. 1971)
- 1890 - Marin Sais, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1887 - Tommy Ward, South African cricketer (d. 1936)
- 1886 - John Alexander Douglas McCurdy Canadian aviator (d. 1961)
- 1884 - Rómulo Gallegos, 46th President of Venezuela (d. 1969)
- 1882 - Red Ames, American baseball player (d. 1936)
- 1878 - Aino Kallas, Finnish-born Estonian author (d. 1956)
- 1875 - Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian painter (d. 1957)
- 1872 - George E. Stewart, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1946)
- 1871 - John French Sloan, American artist (d. 1951)
- 1868 - King Constantine I of Greece (d. 1923)
- 1865 - Irving Babbitt, American literary critic (d. 1933)
- 1865 - John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (d. 1955)
- 1858 - Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1934)
- 1835 - Elisha Gray, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1901)
- 1834 - Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor (d. 1904)
- 1828 - Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general (d. 1895)
- 1820 - John Tyndall, British physicist (d. 1893)
- 1815 - Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German writer (d. 1894)
- 1788 - Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (d. 1853)
- 1740 - Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux, French general (d. 1817)
- 1703 - Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (d. 1775)
- 1702 - Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau, German Prince (d. 1769)
- 1696 - Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1754)
- 1674 - Philip II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France (d. 1723)
- 1672 - Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss scholar (d. 1733)
- 1612 - Saskia van Uylenburgh, wife of Rembrandt van Rijn (d. 1642)
- 1533 - Theodor Zwinger, Swiss scholar (d. 1588)
- 1455 - John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1499)