House out for summer

August 11: Before lawmakers return to their districts to campaign for reelection during the House of Representatives' traditional August recess, Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will be staging a full-court press to pass some sort of legislation that can be pitched to cost-weary constituents as a solution to high gas prices.

Final Round of the 90th PGA Championship

August 12: This will be the field's second and last chance to win a major championship without Tiger on its tail. Recovering from knee surgery, Tiger Woods bowed out of both the British Open and the PGA Championship, allowing other pro golfers to tee off without having to check the leaderboard to spy Woods' position. Woods plans to return for the 2009 season.

Phelps swims for 8th gold

August 17: If U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps is to break Mark Spitz's record tally of seven gold medals, he'll do it in his eighth event, the men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay on Aug. 17. Meanwhile on the track, American sprinter Lauryn Williams will angle for 100 meter gold after taking home the silver in 2004.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade

August 23: Historians look to Aug. 23, 1791, as the beginning of the end of the Atlantic slave trade. On that day, a slave revolt in Santo Domingo touched off the Haitian Revolution. The expulsion of the French from Haiti helped shatter the paradigm of Triangular Trade and gave abolitionists like William Wilberforce more powder in their fight to squelch the slave trade.

Democratic National Convention begins

August 25: The fall presidential campaign officially gets underway as Democratic delegates gather in Denver to nominate Barack Obama and his running mate. The convention runs through Aug. 28. The Republican convention runs from Sept. 1 through Sept. 4.