August 2nd
216 BCE: Battle of Cannae, in which Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, inflicted one of the worst ever defeats on the Roman army. 1921: Death, in Naples, of the tenor Enrico Caruso (b. 1873). 1980: A bomb exploded at Bologna's railway station killing 85 people and injuring 200. The attack was the deadliest in the period known as gli anni del piombo (the years of lead). |
August 3rd
1546: Death of the Florentine architect Antonio Sangallo the Younger (b. 1484). 1667: Death, in Rome, of the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini (b. 1599), who is buried in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. Borromini was honoured in 1652 by Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55) and made a knight of Christ. |
August 12th
1612: Death of the Venetian composer and organist Giovanni Gabrieli (b. 1557), who is buried in the church of Santo Stefano. 1633: Death, in Florence, of the composer Jacopo Peri (b. 1561), who is often credited with the invention of Opera. |
August 17th
1686: Birth of the Neapolitan composer and teacher of singing Nicola Porpora (b. 1768). His most famous students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. 1740: Election of Pope Benedict XIV (r. 1740-58). 1750: Birth of the composer Antonio Salieri (d. 1825). 1916: Death, in Verona, of the Futurist painter and sculptor Umberto Boccioni (b. 1882). |
August 18th
1559: Death of Pope Paul IV (r. 1555-59), who created the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. Paul IV is buried in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. 1642: Death, in Bologna, of the Baroque painter Guido Reni (b. 1575). |
August 31st
161 CE: Birth of Commodus, son of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-80) and Faustina. Commodus (r. 180-93) was the first Roman emperor to be born in the purple, in other words he was born during the reign of his father. 1870: Birth, in Chiaravalle, of Maria Montessori (d. 1952), the physician and educator. |