THIS MONTH IN HISTORY

August 24, 79 AD VESUVIUS erupts, destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum in southern Italy.

August 2, 1939 ALBERT EINSTEIN writes a letter to US President Franklin D Roosevelt concerning the possible use of atomic weapons. ‘A single bomb of this type carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port, together with some of the surrounding territory.’ Six years and four days later, on 6 August 1945, the US drops the first atomic bomb on the Japanese port city of Hiroshima.

August 5, 1962 NELSON MANDELA is arrested at a roadblock just outside Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, and sentenced to five years in prison for incitement and leaving the country illegally. In 1964, he is placed on trial and sentenced to life in prison.

August 28, 1963 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR makes his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in front of 250 000 people at a civil rights rally in Washington, DC.

August 15, 1969 More than 400 000 people flock to WOODSTOCK in Bethal, New York to see 32 bands and musicians perform over three days. It becomes the single most iconic event of the 1960s counter-culture movement.

August 17, 1978 DOUBLE EAGLE II, the first helium balloon to cross the Atlantic, lands just outside Paris. It is piloted by three Americans, Max Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman, and the trip covers 4 800km in 137 hours.