The history of the taxonomy of lemurs dates back to 1758 when Carl Linnaeus first classified them. Having undergone independent evolution on Madagascar, lemurs have occupied niches filled elsewhere by other mammals, and approximately 70 to 100species and subspecies are recognized today. They include the smallest primates in the world, and once included some of the largest. Currently living lemur species are divided into five families and 15 genera. Since the arrival of humans around 2000years ago, lemurs have become restricted to 10% of the island, and many face extinction. The recent steep increase in species numbers is due to improved genetic analysis, a push to encourage the protection of isolated lemur populations, and the elevation of existing subspecies to full species status. Concerns over lemur conservation have also affected their taxonomy, since distinct species receive increased conservation attention. (Full article...)

• ... that Bruce McCandless II(pictured) flew in space for the first time in February 1984, nearly eighteen years after being chosen as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 5?
• ... that Vicky Knight, who played an acid-attack victim in her debut film role, works as a healthcare assistant in the hospital where she was treated as a child?
• ... that Mexican drug lord Carlos Landín Martínez was arrested while buying watermelons?
• ... that the Vel blood group was discovered when a patient experienced a severe transfusion reaction, and her blood type was found to be incompatible with all but five out of ten thousand blood donors?
• ... that Tong Daoming wrote plays without antagonists?
• ... that the chase scene from the 1968 Steve McQueen film Bullitt starts on Cesar Chavez Street (then Army Street) before continuing through San Francisco?
• ... that Tonic Trouble, released in 1999, was the first video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal?
• ... that John Pierce has performed Wagner roles internationally, such as Tannhäuser and Lohengrin at the Stadttheater Minden, and Tristan in Prague, Rotterdam, and Rio de Janeiro?
• ... that FreeConferenceCall.com faced a public backlash for trying to change its hold music?

• Brazil's National Institute for Space Research announces that it has detected more than 80,000 wildfires in the country(satellite rendering shown) since January, at least 40,000 of which have occurred in the Amazon rainforest.
• At least 80 people are killed and 160 others injured in a bombing at a wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan.
• All 233 people on board Ural Airlines Flight 178 survive a crash following bird strikes in both engines of an Airbus A321.

August 31: Independence Day in Malaysia (1957)

• 1888 – The body of Mary Ann Nichols was found in Buck's Row, London, allegedly the first victim of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.
• 1897 – Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the Kinetoscope, a precursor to the movie projector.
• 1959 – A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam, failed to kill Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
• 1969 – On the final day of the Isle of Wight Festival, an event attended by approximately 150,000 people over three days, Bob Dylan appeared in his first gig since 1966.
• 2016 – President Dilma Rousseff(pictured) of Brazil was impeached and removed from office.

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (b. 1842) ·Alma Mahler (b. 1879) ·Mickie James (b. 1979)