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The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992 replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The Commission could be ordered by the Secretary of State to undertake 'structural reviews' in specified areas and recommend the creation of unitary authorities in the two-tier shire counties of England. The Commission, chaired by John Banham, conducted a review of all the non-metropolitan counties of England from 1993 to 1994, making various recommendations on their future. After much political debate and several legal challenges, the Commission's proposals resulted in the abolition of Berkshire county council and the counties of Avon, Cleveland, Hereford and Worcester and Humberside. Combined with a second wave of reviews in 1995, under the chairmanship of David Cooksey, the Commission's proposals led to the creation of unitary authorities covering many urban areas of England. It was replaced by the Boundary Committee for England in 2002, which finished this review cycle in 2004. (more...)

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• ... that the 1864 Banning House (pictured) reportedly hosted "the first yachting party on the West Coast" and has been called "one of the best examples of Greek Revival architecture in the west"?
• ... that former Olympic champion Ángel Matos received a lifetime ban from the World Taekwondo Federation after attacking a referee in a bronze medal match at the 2008 Olympics?
• ... that people with kidney ailments used to crawl on all fours three times round the sarcophagus of Saint Nonnosus in Freising Cathedral?
• ... that four Mk-82 500-pound bombs are missing in the American west after the mysterious crash of an A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft piloted by Craig D. Button in 1997?
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• ... that Chika Chukwumerije had financial backing unavailable to most Nigerian athletes because of his father Uche Chukwumerije?
  
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• John McCain chooses Sarah Palin (pictured), the Republican Governor of Alaska, as his vice-presidential running mate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
• Hurricane Gustav, responsible for at least 59 deaths in Haiti and 8 more in the Dominican Republic, makes landfall on the island of Jamaica.
• Russia officially recognizes the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
• Over 1.2 million people in Bihar, India are affected by flooding as the Koshi River changes its course.
• Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 crashes upon takeoff near Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, killing 68 people.
• The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing come to an end after 16 days of competition.
• At least 60 people die following twin suicide bombings outside the Pakistan Ordnance Factories in Wah, Pakistan.
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August 30: St. Rose of Lima's Day in Peru; Victory Day in Turkey

• 1791 – HMS Pandora sank after running aground on the outer Great Barrier Reef the previous day, claiming the lives of 31 crew and four prisoners.
• 1813 – Napoleonic Wars: Forces of the Sixth Coalition under Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (pictured) captured French General Dominique Vandamme and thousands of his soldiers at the Battle of Kulm.
• 1835 – European settlers landing on the north banks of the Yarra River in Southern Australia founded the city of Melbourne.
• 1862 – American Civil War: James Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson led their Confederate troops to a decisive victory against John Pope's Union Army at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Prince William County, Virginia.
• 1918 – Fanny Kaplan shot and wounded Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, helping to spark the Red Terror in the Soviet Union, a repression against Socialist-Revolutionary Party members and other political opponents.

• More events: August 29 – August 30 – August 31

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