On this day

August 1, 2008

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from August 1, 2008

Profit Data May Explain U.S. Gloom

By Floyd Norris

Corporate profits earned in the United States rose much more rapidly from 2005 through 2007 than had been earlier reported, making the subsequent fall seem even more precipitous.

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of July 30, 2008, covering August 1, 2008.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Untitled by Nas

    Untitled

    Nas

    Last week
    —
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    1
  2. 2
    Album cover for Tha Carter III by Lil Wayne

    Tha Carter III

    Lil Wayne

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    6
  3. 3
    Album cover for Mamma Mia! by Soundtrack

    Mamma Mia!

    Soundtrack

    Last week
    7
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    2
  4. 4
    Album cover for Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends by Coldplay

    Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends

    Coldplay

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    5
  5. 5
    Album cover for Camp Rock by Soundtrack

    Camp Rock

    Soundtrack

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    5

Notable Deaths

Gertan Klauber

2008Gertan Klauber, Czech-English actor (born 1932)[†]

George Gertan Klauber was a Czech-born British actor, known for playing various character parts in films and television programmes, particularly the Carry On comedies.

Harkishan Singh Surjeet

2008Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1916)[†]

Harkishan Singh Surjeet was an Indian Communist politician from Punjab, who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from 1992 to 2005 and was a member of the party's Polit Bureau from 1964 to 2008.

Historical Events

Beijing–Tianjin intercity railway

2008The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway begins operation as the fastest commuter rail system in the world.[†]

The Beijing–Tianjin intercity railway is a Chinese high-speed railway that runs 117 kilometres (72.7 mi) line between Beijing and Tianjin. Designed for passenger traffic only, the Chinese government built the line to accommodate trains traveling at a maximum speed of 350 km/h (217 mph), and currently carries CRH high-speed trains running speeds up to 350 km/h (217 mph) since August 2018.

2008 K2 disaster

2008Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth in the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering.[†]

The 2008 K2 disaster occurred on 1 August 2008, when 11 mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth. Three others were seriously injured. The series of deaths, over the course of the Friday ascent and Saturday descent, was the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering. Some of the specific details remain uncertain, with different plausible scenarios having been given about different climbers' timing and actions, and different versions reported later via survivors' eyewitness accounts or via radio communications of climbers who died later in the course of events on K2 that day.

Historical Context for August 1, 2008

In 2008, the world population was approximately 6,844,457,662 people[†]