August 24

August 24 in recent years

2024 (Saturday)

2023 (Thursday)

2022 (Wednesday)

2021 (Tuesday)

2020 (Monday)

2019 (Saturday)

2018 (Friday)

2017 (Thursday)

2016 (Wednesday)

2015 (Monday)

August 24 is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 129 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 49 BC – Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Battle of the Bagradas (49 BC) by the Numidians under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba of Numidia. Curio commits suicide to avoid capture.
• 79 AD – Mount Vesuvius erupts. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash (note: this traditional date has been challenged, and many scholars believe that the event occurred on October 24).
• 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father .
• 394 – The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, was written.
• 410 – The Visigoths under king Alaric I begin to pillage Rome.
• 455 – The Vandals, led by king Genseric, begin to plunder Rome. Pope Leo I requests Genseric not destroy the ancient city or murder its citizens. He agrees and the gates of Rome are opened. However, the Vandals loot a great amount of treasure.
• 1185 – Sack of Thessalonica by the Normans.
• 1200 – King John of England, signer of the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of Angoulême in Bordeaux Cathedral.
• 1215 – Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid.
• 1349 – Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.
• 1456 – The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed.
• 1482 – The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed is captured from Scotland by an English army
• 1516 – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Syria at the Battle of Marj Dabiq.
• 1561 – Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxony.
• 1608 – The first official English representative to India lands in Surat.
• 1662 – The Act of Uniformity requires England to accept the Book of Common Prayer.
• 1682 – William Penn receives the area that is now the state of Delaware, and adds it to his colony of Pennsylvania.
• 1690 – Job Charnock of the East India Company establishes a factory in Calcutta, an event formerly considered the founding of the city (in 2003 the Calcutta High Court ruled that the city's foundation date is unknown).
• 1781 – American Revolutionary War: A small force of Pennsylvania militia is ambushed and overwhelmed by an American Indian group, which forces George Rogers Clark to abandon his attempt to attack Detroit.
• 1812 – Peninsular War: A coalition of Spanish, British, and Portuguese forces succeed in lifting the two-and-a-half-year-long Siege of Cádiz.
• 1814 – British troops invade Washington, D.C. and during the Burning of Washington the White House, the Capitol and many other buildings are set ablaze.
• 1815 – The modern Constitution of the Netherlands is signed.
• 1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis is signed in St. Louis, Missouri.
• 1820 – Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, Portugal.
• 1821 – The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, now in Veracruz, Mexico, concluding the Mexican War of Independence from Spain.
• 1857 – The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.
• 1870 – The Wolseley expedition reaches Manitoba to end the Red River Rebellion.
• 1891 – Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.
• 1898 – Count Muravyov, Foreign Minister of Russia presents a rescript that convoked the First Hague Peace Conference.
• 1909 – Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal.
• 1911 – Manuel de Arriaga is elected and sworn-in as the first President of Portugal.
• 1914 – World War I: German troops capture Namur.
• 1914 – World War I: The Battle of Cer ends as the first Allied victory in the war.
• 1929 – Second day of two-day Hebron massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attacks on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, result in the death of 65–68 Jews; the remaining Jews are forced to flee the city.
• 1931 – France and the Soviet Union sign a neutrality pact.
• 1931 – Resignation of the United Kingdom's Second Labour Government. Formation of the UK National Government.
• 1932 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).
• 1933 – The Crescent Limited train derails in Washington, D.C., after the bridge it is crossing is washed out by the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane.
• 1936 – The Australian Antarctic Territory is created.
• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: the Basque Army surrenders to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie following the Santoña Agreement.
• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Sovereign Council of Asturias and León is proclaimed in Gijón.
• 1941 – Adolf Hitler orders the cessation of Nazi Germany's systematic T4 euthanasia program of the mentally ill and the handicapped due to protests, although killings continue for the remainder of the war.
• 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō is sunk, with the loss of seven officers and 113 crewmen. The US carrier USS Enterprise is heavily damaged.
• 1944 – World War II: Allied troops begin the attack on Paris.
• 1949 – The treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization goes into effect.
• 1950 – Edith Sampson becomes the first black U.S. delegate to the United Nations.
• 1954 – The Communist Control Act goes into effect, outlawing the American Communist Party.
• 1954 – Getúlio Vargas, president of Brazil, commits suicide and is succeeded by João Café Filho.
• 1963 – Buddhist crisis: As a result of the Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, the US State Department cables the United States Embassy, Saigon to encourage Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals to launch a coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm if he did not remove his brother Ngô Đình Nhu.
• 1967 – Led by Abbie Hoffman, the Youth International Party temporarily disrupts trading at the New York Stock Exchange by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing trading to cease as brokers scramble to grab them.
• 1970 – Vietnam War protesters bomb Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, leading to an international manhunt for the perpetrators.
• 1981 – Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.
• 1989 – Colombian drug barons declare "total war" on the Colombian government.
• 1989 – Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose is banned from baseball for gambling by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.
• 1989 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe.
• 1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• 1991 – Ukraine declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.
• 1992 – Hurricane Andrew makes landfall in Homestead, Florida as a Category 5 hurricane, causing up to $25 billion (1992 USD) in damages.
• 1994 – Initial accord between Israel and the PLO about partial self-rule of the Palestinians on the West Bank.
• 1995 – Microsoft Windows 95 was released to the public in North America.
• 1998 – First radio-frequency identification (RFID) human implantation tested in the United Kingdom.
• 2004 – Eighty-nine passengers die after two airliners explode after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions are caused by suicide bombers from Chechnya.
• 2006 – The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet.
• 2010 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 72 illegal immigrants are killed by Los Zetas and eventually found dead by Mexican authorities.
• 2016 – An earthquake strikes Central Italy with a magnitude of 6.2, with aftershocks felt as far as Rome and Florence.

Births

• 1016 – Fujiwara no Genshi, Japanese empress consort (d. 1039)
• 1113 – Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (d. 1151)
• 1198 – Alexander II of Scotland (d. 1249)
• 1358 – John I of Castile (d. 1390)
• 1393 – Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1458)
• 1423 – Thomas Rotherham, English cleric (d. 1500)
• 1498 – John, Hereditary Prince of Saxony (d. 1537)
• 1510 – Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen (d. 1558)
• 1552 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter and educator (d. 1614)
• 1556 – Sophia Brahe, Danish horticulturalist and astronomer (d. 1643)
• 1561 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (d. 1626)
• 1578 – John Taylor, English poet and author (d. 1653)
• 1591 – Robert Herrick, English poet and cleric (d. 1674)
• 1631 – Philip Henry, English minister (d. 1696)
• 1635 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish lawyer and politician (d. 1699)
• 1684 – Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet, British politician (d. 1746)
• 1714 – Alaungpaya, Burmese king (d. 1760)
• 1732 – Peter Ernst Wilde, German physician and journalist (d. 1785)
• 1758 – Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1794)
• 1759 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist and politician (d. 1833)
• 1772 – William I of the Netherlands (d. 1840)
• 1787 – James Weddell, Belgian-English sailor, hunter, and explorer (d. 1834)
• 1824 – Antonio Stoppani, Italian geologist and scholar (d. 1891)
• 1837 – Théodore Dubois, French organist, composer, and educator (d. 1924)
• 1843 – Boyd Dunlop Morehead, Australian politician, 10th Premier of Queensland (d. 1905)
• 1845 – James Calhoun, American lieutenant (d. 1876)
• 1851 – Tom Kendall, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 1924)
• 1860 – David Bowman, Australian lawyer and politician (d. 1916)
• 1863 – Dragutin Lerman, Croatian explorer (d. 1918)
• 1865 – Ferdinand I of Romania (d. 1927)
• 1872 – Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (d. 1956)
• 1884 – Earl Derr Biggers, American author and playwright (d. 1933)
• 1887 – Harry Hooper, American baseball player and Baseball Hall of Fame inductee (d. 1974)
• 1888 – Valentine Baker, Welsh co-founder of the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company (d. 1942)
• 1890 – Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer, actor, and surfer (d. 1968)
• 1890 – Jean Rhys, Dominican-English novelist (d. 1979)
• 1893 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer, German-Israeli biochemist and academic (d. 1978)
• 1895 – Richard Cushing, American cardinal (d. 1970)
• 1897 – Fred Rose, American pianist, songwriter, and publisher (d. 1954)
• 1898 – Malcolm Cowley, American novelist, poet, literary critic (d. 1989)
• 1899 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator (d. 1986)
• 1899 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• 1899 – Gaylord DuBois, American author and poet (d. 1993)
• 1900 – Maria Zubreeva, Soviet painter, graphic artist, and designer (d. 1991)
• 1901 – Preston Foster, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1902 – Fernand Braudel, French historian and academic (d. 1985)
• 1902 – Carlo Gambino, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1976)
• 1903 – Karl Hanke, German businessman and politician (d. 1945)
• 1904 – Ida Cook, English campaigner for Jewish refugees, and romantic novelist as Mary Burchell (d. 1986)
• 1905 – Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1974)
• 1905 – Siaka Stevens, Sierra Leonean police officer and politician, 1st President of Sierra Leone (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Bruno Giacometti, Swiss architect, designed the Hallenstadion (d. 2012)
• 1908 – Shivaram Rajguru, Indian activist (d. 1931)
• 1909 – Ronnie Grieveson, South African cricketer and soldier (d. 1998)
• 1911 – Durward Kirby, American television host and announcer (d. 2000)
• 1913 – Charles Snead Houston, American physician and mountaineer (d. 2009)
• 1915 – Wynonie Harris, American singer and guitarist (d. 1969)
• 1915 – James Tiptree, Jr., American psychologist and author (d. 1987)
• 1917 – Dennis James, American game show host (d. 1997)
• 1918 – Sikander Bakht, Indian field hockey player and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Enrique Llanes, Mexican wrestler (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Alex Colville, Canadian painter and academic (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Eric Simms, English ornithologist and conservationist (d. 2009)
• 1921 – Sam Tingle, English-Zimbabwean race car driver (d. 2008)
• 1922 – René Lévesque, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1987)
• 1922 – Howard Zinn, American historian, author, and activist (d. 2010)
• 1923 – Arthur Jensen, American psychologist and academic (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Alyn Ainsworth, English singer and conductor (d. 1990)
• 1924 – Louis Teicher, American pianist (Ferrante & Teicher) (d. 2008)
• 1926 – Nancy Spero, American painter and academic (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Anjali Devi, Indian actress and producer (d. 2014)
• 1927 – David Ireland, Australian author and playwright
• 1927 – Harry Markowitz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1929 – Yasser Arafat, Egyptian-Palestinian engineer and politician, 1st President of the Palestinian National Authority (d. 2004)
• 1929 – Betty Dodson, American author and educator
• 1930 – Jackie Brenston, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (d. 1979)
• 1930 – Roger McCluskey, American race car driver (d. 1993)
• 1932 – Robert D. Hales, American captain and religious leader (d. 2017)
• 1932 – Richard Meale, Australian pianist and composer (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, English cardinal (d. 2017)
• 1933 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English banker and manager (d. 2014)
• 1934 – Kenny Baker, English actor (d. 2016)
• 1936 – A. S. Byatt, English novelist and poet
• 1936 – Kenny Guinn, American banker and politician, 27th Governor of Nevada (d. 2010)
• 1936 – Arthur B. C. Walker, Jr., American physicist and academic (d. 2001)
• 1937 – Moshood Abiola, Nigerian businessman and politician (d. 1998)
• 1937 – Susan Sheehan, Austrian-American journalist and author
• 1938 – David Freiberg, American singer and bass player
• 1938 – Mason Williams, American guitarist and composer
• 1940 – Francine Lalonde, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Keith Savage, English rugby player
• 1941 – Alan M. Roberts, Professor of Zoology at the University of Bristol
• 1942 – Max Cleland, American captain and politician
• 1942 – Peter Gummer, Baron Chadlington, English businessman
• 1942 – Jimmy Soul, American pop-soul singer (d. 1988)
• 1943 – John Cipollina, American rock guitarist (Quicksilver Messenger Service) (d. 1989)
• 1944 – Henry Braden, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1944 – Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996)
• 1944 – Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1944 – Rocky Johnson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer
• 1945 – Ronee Blakley, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1945 – Molly Duncan, Scottish saxophonist (Average White Band)
• 1945 – Ken Hensley, English rock singer-songwriter and musician (Uriah Heep)
• 1945 – Marsha P. Johnson, African American gay liberation activist and drag queen
• 1945 – Vince McMahon, American wrestler, promoter, and entrepreneur; co-founded WWE
• 1947 – Anne Archer, American actress and producer
• 1947 – Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author and songwriter
• 1947 – Roger De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist and coach
• 1947 – Jim Fox, American rock drummer and organist (James Gang)
• 1947 – Joe Manchin, American politician, 34th Governor of West Virginia
• 1947 – Vladimir Masorin, Russian admiral
• 1948 – Kim Sung-il, South Korean commander and pilot
• 1948 – Jean Michel Jarre, French pianist, composer, and producer
• 1948 – Sauli Niinistö, Finnish captain and politician, 12th President of Finland
• 1948 – Alexander McCall Smith, Rhodesian-Scottish author and educator
• 1949 – Stephen Paulus, American composer and educator (d. 2014)
• 1949 – Charles Rocket, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1950 – John Banaszak, American football player and coach
• 1950 – Tim D. White, American paleoanthropologist and academic
• 1951 – Danny Joe Brown, American southern rock singer-songwriter and musician (Molly Hatchet) (d. 2005)
• 1951 – Orson Scott Card, American novelist, critic, public speaker, essayist, and columnist
• 1951 – Oscar Hijuelos, American author and academic (d. 2013)
• 1952 – Marion Bloem, Dutch author, director, and painter
• 1952 – Bob Corker, American businessman and politician
• 1952 – Carlo Curley, American organist and educator (d. 2012)
• 1952 – Ian Grob, English race car driver
• 1952 – Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jamaican dub poet
• 1952 – Mike Shanahan, American football player and coach
• 1953 – Ron Holloway, American saxophonist
• 1953 – Sam Torrance, Scottish golfer and sportscaster
• 1954 – Alain Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1954 – Heini Otto, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
• 1955 – Mike Huckabee, American minister and politician, 44th Governor of Arkansas
• 1956 – Gerry Cooney, American boxer
• 1956 – John Culberson, American lawyer and politician
• 1956 – Dick Lee, Singaporean singer-songwriter and playwright
• 1957 – Jeffrey Daniel, American singer-songwriter and dancer
• 1957 – Stephen Fry, English actor, journalist, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Steve Guttenberg, American actor and producer
• 1958 – Chris Offutt, American author and academic
• 1959 – Meg Munn, English social worker and politician
• 1960 – Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player and coach
• 1961 – Jared Harris, English actor
• 1962 – Major Garrett, American journalist and author
• 1962 – Emile Roemer, Dutch educator and politician
• 1963 – Hideo Kojima, Japanese director, screenwriter, video game designer and video game producer
• 1963 – Francis Pangilinan, Filipino lawyer and politician
• 1964 – Éric Bernard, French race car driver
• 1964 – Mark Cerny, American video game designer, programmer, producer and business executive
• 1964 – Salizhan Sharipov, Kyrgyzstani-Russian lieutenant, pilot, and astronaut
• 1965 – Marlee Matlin, American actress and producer
• 1965 – Reggie Miller, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1965 – Brian Rajadurai, Sri Lankan-Canadian cricketer
• 1966 – Nick Denton, English journalist and businessman, founded Gawker Media
• 1967 – Michael Thomas, English footballer
• 1968 – Benoît Brunet, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1968 – Shoichi Funaki, Japanese-American wrestler and sportscaster
• 1968 – Andreas Kisser, Brazilian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1968 – Tim Salmon, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1969 – Jans Koerts, Dutch cyclist
• 1970 – Rich Beem, American golfer
• 1970 – Tugay Kerimoğlu, Turkish footballer and manager
• 1972 – Jean-Luc Brassard, Canadian skier and radio host
• 1972 – Ava DuVernay, American director and screenwriter
• 1972 – Todd Young, American politician
• 1973 – Andrew Brunette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1973 – Dave Chappelle, American comedian, actor, producer and screenwriter
• 1973 – Inge de Bruijn, Dutch swimmer
• 1974 – Jennifer Lien, American actress
• 1975 – Roberto Colombo, Italian footballer
• 1975 – Mark de Vries, Surinamese-Dutch footballer
• 1976 – Funke Akindele, Nigerian actress
• 1976 – Simon Dennis, English rower and academic
• 1976 – Nordin Wooter, Surinamese-Dutch footballer
• 1977 – Denílson de Oliveira Araújo, Brazilian footballer
• 1977 – Robert Enke, German footballer (d. 2009)
• 1977 – Per Gade, Danish footballer
• 1977 – John Green, American author and vlogger
• 1977 – Jürgen Macho, Austrian footballer
• 1978 – Derek Morris, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Vahur Afanasjev, Estonian author and poet
• 1979 – Orlando Engelaar, Dutch footballer
• 1979 – Kaki King, American guitarist and composer
• 1979 – Michael Redd, American basketball player
• 1981 – Chad Michael Murray, American model and actor
• 1982 – José Bosingwa, Portuguese footballer
• 1982 – Kim Källström, Swedish footballer
• 1982 – Glen Atle Larsen, Norwegian footballer
• 1983 – Brett Gardner, American baseball player
• 1983 – Marcel Goc, German ice hockey player
• 1983 – George Perris, Greek-French singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1984 – Erin Molan, Australian journalist and sportscaster
• 1984 – Charlie Villanueva, American basketball player
• 1986 – Nick Adenhart, American baseball player (d. 2009)
• 1986 – Joseph Akpala, Nigerian footballer
• 1986 – Arian Foster, American football player
• 1986 – Fabiano Santacroce, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Anže Kopitar, Slovenian ice hockey player
• 1987 – Daichi Miura, Japanese singer-songwriter, dancer, and choreographer
• 1988 – Rupert Grint, English actor
• 1988 – Manu Ma'u, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1988 – Joel Thompson, Australian rugby league player
• 1988 – Maya Yoshida, Japanese footballer
• 1989 – Reynaldo, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Rocío Igarzábal, Argentinian actress and singer
• 1990 – Juan Pedro Lanzani, Argentinian actor and singer
• 1991 – Wang Zhen, Chinese race walker
• 1992 – Jemerson, Brazilian footballer
• 1993 – Allen Robinson, American football player
• 1995 – Lady Amelia Windsor, member of the British royal family
• 1996 – Camila Giangreco Campiz, Paraguayan tennis player

Deaths

• 691 – Fu Youyi, official of the Tang Dynasty
• 842 – Saga, Japanese emperor (b. 786)
• 895 – Guthred, king of Northumbria
• 927 – Doulu Ge, chancellor of Later Tang
• 927 – Wei Shuo, chancellor of Later Tang
• 942 – Liu, empress dowager of Later Jin
• 948 – Zhang Ye, Chinese general and chancellor
• 1042 – Michael V Kalaphates, Byzantine emperor (b. 1015)
• 1103 – Magnus Barefoot, Norwegian king (b. 1073)
• 1217 – Eustace the Monk, French pirate (b. 1170)
• 1313 – Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1275)
• 1372 – Casimir III, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1348)
• 1497 – Sophie of Pomerania, Duchess of Pomerania (b. 1435)
• 1507 – Cecily of York, English princess (b. 1469)
• 1540 – Parmigianino, Italian painter and etcher (b. 1503)
• 1542 – Gasparo Contarini, Italian cardinal (b. 1483)
• 1572 – Gaspard II de Coligny, French admiral (b. 1519)
• 1572 – Charles de Téligny, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1535)
• 1595 – Thomas Digges, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1546)
• 1617 – Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (b. 1586)
• 1647 – Nicholas Stone, English sculptor and architect (b. 1586)
• 1679 – Jean François Paul de Gondi, French cardinal and author (b. 1614)
• 1680 – Thomas Blood, Irish colonel (b. 1618)
• 1680 – Ferdinand Bol, Dutch painter and etcher (b. 1616)
• 1683 – John Owen, English theologian and academic (b. 1616)
• 1759 – Ewald Christian von Kleist, German poet and soldier (b. 1715)
• 1770 – Thomas Chatterton, English poet and prodigy (b. 1752)
• 1779 – Cosmas of Aetolia, Greek monk and saint (b. 1714)
• 1798 – Thomas Alcock, English priest and author (b. 1709)
• 1804 – Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (b. 1760)
• 1818 – James Carr, American lawyer and politician (b. 1777)
• 1821 – John William Polidori, English writer and physician (b. 1795)
• 1832 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French physicist and engineer (b. 1796)
• 1838 – Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet, critic, and politician (b. 1790)
• 1841 – Theodore Hook, English civil servant and composer (b. 1788)
• 1841 – John Ordronaux, French-American soldier (b. 1778)
• 1888 – Rudolf Clausius, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1822)
• 1895 – Albert F. Mummery, English mountaineer and author (b. 1855)
• 1923 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author and educator (b. 1856)
• 1930 – Tom Norman, English businessman and showman (b. 1860)
• 1932 – Kate M. Gordon, American activist (b. 1861)
• 1939 – Frederick Carl Frieseke, American painter and educator (b. 1874)
• 1940 – Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Polish-German technician and inventor, invented the Nipkow disk (b. 1860)
• 1943 – Antonio Alice, Argentinian painter and educator (b. 1886)
• 1943 – Simone Weil, French philosopher and activist (b. 1909)
• 1946 – James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge, 48th United States Attorney General (b. 1862)
• 1954 – Getúlio Vargas, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 14th President of Brazil (b. 1882)
• 1956 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
• 1958 – Paul Henry, Irish painter and educator (b. 1876)
• 1967 – Henry J. Kaiser, American businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards and Kaiser Aluminum (b. 1882)
• 1974 – Alexander P. de Seversky, Russian-American pilot and businessman, co-founded Republic Aviation (b. 1894)
• 1977 – Buddy O'Connor, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1916)
• 1978 – Louis Prima, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and actor (b. 1910)
• 1979 – Hanna Reitsch, German soldier and pilot (b. 1912)
• 1980 – Yootha Joyce, English actress (b. 1927)
• 1982 – Félix-Antoine Savard, Canadian priest and author (b. 1896)
• 1983 – Kalevi Kotkas, Estonian-Finnish high jumper and discus thrower (b. 1913)
• 1983 – Scott Nearing, American economist, educator, and activist (b. 1883)
• 1985 – Paul Creston, American composer and educator (b. 1906)
• 1987 – Malcolm Kirk, English rugby player and wrestler (b. 1936)
• 1990 – Sergei Dovlatov, Russian-American journalist and author (b. 1941)
• 1990 – Gely Abdel Rahman, Sudanese-Egyptian poet and academic (b. 1931)
• 1991 – Bernard Castro, Italian-American inventor (b. 1904)
• 1992 – André Donner, Dutch academic and judge (b. 1918)
• 1997 – Luigi Villoresi, Italian race car driver (b. 1907)
• 1998 – E. G. Marshall, American actor (b. 1910)
• 1999 – Mary Jane Croft, American actress (b. 1916)
• 1999 – Alexandre Lagoya, Egyptian guitarist and composer (b. 1929)
• 2000 – Andy Hug, Swiss martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1964)
• 2001 – Jane Greer, American actress (b. 1924)
• 2001 – Roman Matsov, Estonian violinist, pianist, and conductor (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Nikolay Guryanov, Russian priest and mystic (b. 1909)
• 2003 – Wilfred Thesiger, Ethiopian-English explorer and author (b. 1910)
• 2004 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1926)
• 2006 – Rocco Petrone, American soldier and engineer (b. 1926)
• 2006 – Léopold Simoneau, Canadian tenor and educator (b. 1916)
• 2007 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Aaron Russo, American director and producer (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Satoshi Kon, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1963)
• 2011 – Seyhan Erözçelik, Turkish poet and author (b. 1962)
• 2011 – Mike Flanagan, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1951)
• 2012 – Dadullah, Pakistani Taliban leader (b. 1965)
• 2012 – Pauli Ellefsen, Faroese surveyor and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Steve Franken, American actor (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Félix Miélli Venerando, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Gerry Baker, American soccer player and manager (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Nílton de Sordi, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Julie Harris, American actress (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Muriel Siebert, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Richard Attenborough, English actor, director, producer, and politician (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Antônio Ermírio de Moraes, Brazilian businessman (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Charlie Coffey, American football player and coach (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Joseph F. Traub, German-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1932)
• 2015 – Justin Wilson, English race car driver (b. 1978)
• 2016 – Walter Scheel, German politician, 4th President of Germany (b. 1919)
• 2017 – Jay Thomas, American actor, comedian, and radio talk show host (b. 1948)
• 2018 – Robin Leach, English entertainment reporter and writer (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Abbán of Ireland
  • Aurea of Ostia
  • Bartholomew the Apostle (Roman Catholic, Anglican)
  • Jeanne-Antide Thouret
  • Maria Micaela Desmaisieres
  • Massa Candida (Martyrs of Utica)
  • Owen (Audoin)
  • August 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Flag Day (Liberia)
• Independence Day or Den' Nezalezhnosti, celebrates the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991.
• International Strange Music Day
• National Waffle Day (United States)
• Nostalgia Night (Uruguay)
• Willka Raymi (Cusco, Peru)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada