0 Holidays August 31 3 sources

Departure Day, celebrates the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan

Name: Departure Day, celebrates the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan
Start: 2000-08-31
End: 2000-08-31
Location: Histories Today Editorial Team

On August 31, in the year 0, Departure Day, celebrates the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. This event is recorded as a Holidays event in the history of August 31, one of 456 recorded events on this date across all of history.

Departure Day is a national holiday in Afghanistan that celebrates the 2021 withdrawal of United States troops from the country. The Taliban declared 31 August to be a public holiday in 2022 and later a national holiday in 2023. Departure Day is celebrated half a month after the similar Victory Day holiday on 15 August that celebrates the Taliban's 2021 capture of Kabul.

Key Facts

This event took place on August 31, 0 (AD era).
It is categorised as a Holidays event in recorded history.
Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
Wikipedia source last updated on 22 February 2026.

On This Date in History 456

Type	Year	Date	Event
Historical Events	2025	Aug 31	A landslide in the Darfur region of Sudan kills over 1000 people.
Historical Events	2025	Aug 31	An earthquake in eastern Afghanistan kills over 1400 people.
Historical Events	2024	Aug 31	A helicopter crashes in Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, killing all 22 occupants.
Notable Deaths	2024	Aug 31	Sol Bamba, Ivorian-French footballer (born 1985)
Notable Deaths	2021	Aug 31	Mahal, Filipino comedian and actress (born 1974)
Notable Deaths	2021	Aug 31	Francesco Morini, Italian footballer (born 1944)
Notable Deaths	2021	Aug 31	Michael Constantine, Greek-American actor (born 1927)
Notable Deaths	2021	Aug 31	Geronimo, British alpaca (born 2013)
Notable Deaths	2020	Aug 31	Pranab Mukherjee, Former President of India (born 1935)
Notable Deaths	2020	Aug 31	Tom Seaver, American baseball player (born 1944)
Notable Deaths	2019	Aug 31	Anthoine Hubert, French race car driver (born 1996)
Notable Deaths	2019	Aug 31	Alec Holowka, Canadian game developer (born 1983)
Selected Events	2019	Aug 31	A sightseeing helicopter crashed in the mountains of Skoddevarre in Alta, Norway, killing all six people on board.
Notable Deaths	2018	Aug 31	Carole Shelley, British-American actress (born 1939)
Historical Events	2016	Aug 31	Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is impeached and removed from office.
Notable Deaths	2015	Aug 31	Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, English politician, founded the National Motor Museum…
Notable Deaths	2015	Aug 31	Tom Scott, American football player (born 1930)
Notable Deaths	2014	Aug 31	Bapu, Indian director and screenwriter (born 1933)
Notable Deaths	2014	Aug 31	Ștefan Andrei, Romanian politician, 87th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1931)
Notable Deaths	2014	Aug 31	Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (born 1932)
Notable Deaths	2014	Aug 31	Carol Vadnais, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1945)
Notable Deaths	2013	Aug 31	Alan Carrington, English chemist and academic (born 1934)
Notable Deaths	2013	Aug 31	David Frost, English journalist and game show host (born 1939)
Notable Deaths	2013	Aug 31	Jimmy Greenhalgh, English footballer and manager (born 1923)
Notable Deaths	2013	Aug 31	Jan Camiel Willems, Belgian mathematician and theorist (born 1939)
Notable Deaths	2012	Aug 31	Max Bygraves, English actor (born 1922)
Notable Deaths	2012	Aug 31	Joe Lewis, American martial artist and actor (born 1944)
Notable Deaths	2012	Aug 31	Carlo Maria Martini, Italian cardinal (born 1927)
Notable Deaths	2012	Aug 31	Kashiram Rana, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1938)
Notable Deaths	2012	Aug 31	John C. Shabaz, American judge and politician (born 1931)
Notable Deaths	2012	Aug 31	Sergey Sokolov, Russian commander and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for The Soviet Union (born 1911)
Notable Deaths	2011	Aug 31	Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1976)
Notable Deaths	2010	Aug 31	Laurent Fignon, French cyclist (born 1960)
Selected Events	2010	Aug 31	The last episode of The Bill, the longest-running police drama in British television history, was broadcast.
Notable Deaths	2009	Aug 31	Eraño Manalo, Filipino religious minister and Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (born 1925)
Notable Deaths	2008	Aug 31	Ken Campbell, English actor and screenwriter (born 1941)
Notable Deaths	2008	Aug 31	Ike Pappas, American journalist (born 1933)
Notable Deaths	2008	Aug 31	Victor Yates, New Zealand rugby player (born 1939)
Notable Deaths	2007	Aug 31	Gay Brewer, American golfer (born 1932)
Notable Deaths	2007	Aug 31	Jean Jacques Paradis, Canadian general (born 1928)
Notable Deaths	2007	Aug 31	Sulev Vahtre, Estonian historian and academic (born 1926)
Historical Events	2006	Aug 31	Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream, stolen on August 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.
Notable Deaths	2006	Aug 31	Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian footballer (born 1983)
Notable Deaths	2006	Aug 31	Tom Delaney, English race car driver and businessman (born 1911)
Historical Events	2005	Aug 31	The 2005 Al-Aaimmah bridge stampede in Baghdad kills 953 people.
Notable Deaths	2005	Aug 31	Joseph Rotblat, Polish-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908)
Notable Births	2004	Aug 31	Jang Won-young, South Korean singer and model
Historical Events	2002	Aug 31	Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, makes landfall, killing at least 236 people.
Notable Deaths	2002	Aug 31	Lionel Hampton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1908)
Notable Deaths	2002	Aug 31	Farhad Mehrad, Persian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist (born 1944)