On This Day: August 4th

Beirut Port explosion: At least 220 people are killed and over 5,000 are wounded when 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate explodes in Beirut, Lebanon.

Nine people are killed and 26 injured in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio. This comes only 13 hours after another mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where 23 people were killed.

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) expel the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the Iraq–Syria border, concluding the second phase of the Deir ez-Zor campaign.

Crisis in Venezuela: Seven people are injured when two drones detonate explosives on Avenida Bolívar, Caracas while president Nicolás Maduro is giving a speech to the Venezuelan National Guard.

NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is launched.

A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).

Operation Storm, the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence begins.

The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to give equal time to opposing views.

The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.

The Ariane 3 rocket is launched for the first time, carrying the Eutelsat I F-2 and Télécom 1A satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit.