August 5: The Netherlands stops all political actions in Indonesia.

August 7: Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101 day, 4,300 mile, voyage across the Eastern Pacific Ocean, proving that pre-historic peoples could hypothetically have traveled to the Central Pacific islands from South America. - The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

August 14: The Muslim majority region formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire and adopts the name Pakistan. While the transition is officially at midnight on this day, Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, compared with India on the 15th, because the Pakistan Standard Time is 30 minutes behind the standard time of India. - Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes the first Governor General of Pakistan. Liaqat Ali Khan takes office as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan

August 15: The greater Indian subcontinent with a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, etc. formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire and retains the name India. - Louis Mountbatten becomes the first Governor General of India. Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister of India.

August 16: In Greece, General Markos Vafiadis takes over the government.

August 23: The Prime Minister of Greece, Dimitrios Maximos, resigns.

August 27: The French government lowers the daily bread ration to 200 grams, causing riots in Verdun and in Le Mans.

August 30: A fire at a movie theater in Rueil, a suburb of Paris, France kills 87 people.

August 31: The communists seize power in Hungary. (source: Wikipedia)