August 6

August 6 in recent years

2024 (Tuesday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Thursday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Saturday)

2015 (Thursday)

August 6 is the 218th day of the year (219th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 147 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 135 – The Roman Empire lays siege to Betar, effectively ending the Bar Kokhba revolt.
• 1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
• 1506 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Kletsk
• 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
• 1661 – The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The bloody Battle of Oriskany prevents American relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix.
• 1787 – Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1806 – Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates, ending the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1819 – Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
• 1824 – Battle of Junín Peru.
• 1825 – Bolivia gains independence from Spain.
• 1861 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos, Nigeria.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Wörth results in a decisive Prussian victory.
• 1890 – At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
• 1901 – Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
• 1912 – The Bull Moose Party meets at the Chicago Coliseum.
• 1914 – World War I: First Battle of the Atlantic: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.
• 1914 – World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia.
• 1915 – World War I: Battle of Sari Bair: The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
• 1917 – World War I: Battle of Mărășești between the Romanian and German armies begins.
• 1926 – Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
• 1926 – In New York City, the Warner Bros.' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
• 1930 – Judge Joseph Force Crater steps into a taxi in New York and disappears never to be seen again.
• 1940 – Estonia was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union.
• 1942 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
• 1944 – The Warsaw Uprising occurs on August 1. It is brutally suppressed and all able-bodied men in Kraków are detained afterwards to prevent a similar uprising, the Kraków Uprising, that was planned but never carried out.
• 1945 – World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning.
• 1956 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.
• 1960 – Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
• 1962 – Jamaica becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1965 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
• 1986 – A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• 1988 – The Tompkins Square Park Riot in New York City spurs a reform of the NYPD, held responsible for the event.
• 1990 – Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
• 1991 – Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.
• 1991 – Takako Doi, chair of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
• 1996 – The Ramones played their farewell concert at The Palace, Los Angeles, CA.
• 1996 – NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
• 1997 – Korean Air Flight 801 crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam killing 228 of 254 people on board.
• 2001 – Erwadi fire incident, 28 mentally ill persons tied to chain were burnt to death at a faith based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu.
• 2008 – A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
• 2010 – Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people.
• 2011 – War in Afghanistan: A United States military helicopter is shot down, killing 30 American special forces members and a working dog, 7 Afghan soldiers, and 1 Afghan civilian. It was the deadliest single event for the United States in the War in Afghanistan.
• 2012 – NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars.
• 2015 – A suicide bomb attack kills at least 15 people at a mosque in the south-western Saudi city of Abha.

Births

• 1180 – Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (d. 1239)
• 1504 – Matthew Parker, English archbishop (d. 1575)
• 1609 – Richard Bennett, English-American politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1675)
• 1619 – Barbara Strozzi, Italian composer and singer-songwriter (d. 1677)
• 1638 – Nicolas Malebranche, French priest and philosopher (d. 1715)
• 1644 – Louise de La Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710)
• 1656 – Claude de Forbin, French general (d. 1733)
• 1666 – Maria Sophia of Neuburg (d. 1699)
• 1667 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1748)
• 1697 – Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1745)
• 1715 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (d. 1747)
• 1765 – Petros Mavromichalis, Greek general and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1848)
• 1766 – William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist and physicist (d. 1828)
• 1768 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French general and politician (d. 1813)
• 1775 – Daniel O'Connell, Irish lawyer and politician, Lord Mayor of Dublin (d. 1847)
• 1809 – Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet (d. 1892)
• 1826 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (d. 1915)
• 1835 – Hjalmar Kiærskou, Danish botanist (d. 1900)
• 1844 – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1900)
• 1844 – James Henry Greathead, South African-English engineer (d. 1896)
• 1846 – Anna Haining Bates, Canadian-American giant (d. 1888)
• 1868 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (d. 1955)
• 1874 – Charles Fort, American author (d. 1932)
• 1877 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1952)
• 1880 – Hans Moser, Austrian actor and singer (d. 1964)
• 1881 – Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961)
• 1881 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
• 1881 – Louella Parsons, American journalist (d. 1972)
• 1883 – Scott Nearing, American economist and educator (d. 1983)
• 1886 – Edward Ballantine, American composer and academic (d. 1971)
• 1887 – Dudley Benjafield, English race car driver (d. 1957)
• 1888 – Heinrich Schlusnus, German singer (d. 1952)
• 1889 – George Kenney, Canadian-American general (d. 1977)
• 1889 – John Middleton Murry, English poet and author (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Wentworth Beaumont, 2nd Viscount Allendale, English captain and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland (d. 1956)
• 1891 – William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, English field marshal and politician, 13th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1970)
• 1892 – Hoot Gibson, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1962)
• 1893 – Wright Patman, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1976)
• 1895 – Ernesto Lecuona, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1963)
• 1900 – Cecil Howard Green, English-American geophysicist and businessman, co-founded Texas Instruments (d. 2003)
• 1902 – Dutch Schultz, American gangster (d. 1935)
• 1904 – Jean Dessès, Greek-Egyptian fashion designer (d. 1970)
• 1904 – Henry Iba, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993)
• 1906 – Vic Dickenson, American trombonist (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Helen Jacobs, American tennis player and commander (d. 1997)
• 1908 – Will Lee, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Lajos Vajda, Hungarian painter and illustrator (d. 1941)
• 1909 – Diana Keppel, Countess of Albemarle (d. 2013)
• 1910 – Charles Crichton, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Lucille Ball, American actress, television producer and businesswoman (d. 1989)
• 1911 – Norman Gordon, South African cricketer (d. 2014)
• 1911 – Constance Heaven, English author and actress (d. 1995)
• 1912 – Richard C. Miller, American photographer (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Gordon Freeth, Australian lawyer and politician, 24th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Richard Hofstadter, American historian and academic (d. 1970)
• 1916 – Dom Mintoff, Maltese journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 2012)
• 1917 – Barbara Cooney, American author and illustrator (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1918 – Norman Granz, American-Swiss record producer and manager (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (d. 2011)
• 1920 – Selma Diamond, Canadian-American actress and screenwriter (d. 1985)
• 1920 – John Graves, American author (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Ella Raines, American actress (d. 1988)
• 1922 – Freddie Laker, English businessman, founded Laker Airways (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Dan Walker, American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Illinois (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Jess Collins, American painter (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Paul Hellyer, Canadian engineer and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of Defence
• 1924 – Samuel Bowers, American activist, co-founded the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (d. 2006)
• 1926 – Elisabeth Beresford, French-English journalist and author (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Frank Finlay, English actor (d. 2016)
• 1926 – Clem Labine, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
• 1926 – János Rózsás, Hungarian author (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Norman Wexler, American screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1927 – Inga Landgré, Swedish actress
• 1928 – Herb Moford, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Andy Warhol, American painter and photographer (d. 1987)
• 1929 – Mike Elliott, Jamaican saxophonist
• 1929 – Roch La Salle, Canadian politician, 42nd Canadian Minister of Public Works (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Abbey Lincoln, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2010)
• 1931 – Chalmers Johnson, American scholar and author (d. 2010)
• 1932 – Michael Deeley, English screenwriter and producer
• 1932 – Howard Hodgkin, English painter
• 1932 – Ahmet Mekin, Turkish actor
• 1932 – Charles Wood, English playwright and screenwriter
• 1933 – A. G. Kripal Singh, Indian cricketer (d. 1987)
• 1934 – Piers Anthony, English-American soldier and author
• 1934 – Chris Bonington, English mountaineer and author
• 1934 – Billy Boston, Welsh rugby player and soldier
• 1935 – Fortunato Baldelli, Italian cardinal (d. 2012)
• 1935 – Octavio Getino, Spanish-Argentinian director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 2000)
• 1937 – Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Barbara Windsor, English actress and singer
• 1938 – Paul Bartel, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
• 1938 – Peter Bonerz, American actor and director
• 1938 – Bert Yancey, American golfer (d. 1994)
• 1940 – Mukhu Aliyev, Russian philologist and politician, 2nd President of Dagestan
• 1940 – Egil Kapstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
• 1940 – Louise Sorel, American actress
• 1941 – Lyle Berman, American businessman and poker player
• 1941 – Ray Culp, American baseball player
• 1941 – Andrew Green, Baron Green of Deddington, English diplomat
• 1942 – George Jung, American drug trafficker
• 1942 – Byard Lancaster, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Jon Postel, American computer scientist and academic (d. 1998)
• 1944 – Inday Badiday, Filipino journalist and actress (d. 2003)
• 1944 – Michael Mingos, English chemist and academic
• 1944 – Martin Wharton, English bishop
• 1945 – Ron Jones, English director and production manager (d. 1993)
• 1945 – Andy Messersmith, American baseball player and coach
• 1946 – Judy Craig, American singer
• 1946 – Allan Holdsworth, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1947 – Radhia Cousot, French computer scientist and academic
• 1947 – Tony Dell, English-Australian cricketer and soldier
• 1948 – William McCrea, Irish soldier and politician
• 1949 – Dino Bravo, Italian-Canadian wrestler (d. 1993)
• 1949 – Richard Prince, American painter and photographer
• 1949 – Clarence Richard Silva, American bishop
• 1950 – Dorian Harewood, American actor
• 1951 – Catherine Hicks, American actress
• 1951 – Daryl Somers, Australian singer, television host, and producer
• 1952 – Pat MacDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1952 – David McLetchie, Scottish lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1952 – Ton Scherpenzeel, Dutch keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
• 1952 – Vinnie Vincent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1956 – Bill Emmott, English journalist and author
• 1957 – Bob Horner, American baseball player
• 1957 – Jim McGreevey, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New Jersey
• 1958 – Randy DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1959 – Rajendra Singh, Indian environmentalist
• 1960 – Dale Ellis, American basketball player
• 1961 – Mary Ann Sieghart, English journalist and radio host
• 1962 – Michelle Yeoh, Malaysian-Hong Kong actress and producer
• 1963 – Charles Ingram, English soldier, author, and game show contestant
• 1963 – Kevin Mitnick, American computer hacker and author
• 1964 – Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, Nigerian journalist, activist, social media expert, and pharmacist
• 1964 – Gary Valenciano, Filipino singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1965 – Ravi Coltrane, American saxophonist
• 1965 – Yuki Kajiura, Japanese pianist and composer
• 1965 – David Robinson, American basketball player and lieutenant
• 1965 – Vince Wells, English cricketer
• 1967 – Lorna Fitzsimons, English businesswoman and politician
• 1967 – Mike Greenberg, American journalist and sportscaster
• 1967 – Julie Snyder, Canadian talk show host and producer
• 1968 – Jack de Gier, Dutch footballer
• 1969 – Simon Doull, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
• 1969 – Elliott Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
• 1970 – M. Night Shyamalan, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Erwin Thijs, Belgian cyclist
• 1971 – Merrin Dungey, American actress
• 1971 – Scott Minto, English footballer and sportscaster
• 1971 – Piyal Wijetunge, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1972 – Paolo Bacigalupi, American author
• 1972 – Darren Eales, English footballer and lawyer
• 1972 – Geri Halliwell, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
• 1972 – Ray Lucas, American football player and sportscaster
• 1973 – Vera Farmiga, American actress
• 1973 – Monica Goodling, American lawyer
• 1973 – Max Kellerman, American sportscaster and radio host
• 1973 – Iain Morris, English screenwriter and producer
• 1973 – Stuart O'Grady, Australian cyclist
• 1974 – Bobby Petta, Dutch footballer
• 1974 – Luis Vizcaíno, Dominican baseball player
• 1974 – Alvin Williams, American basketball player and coach
• 1975 – Jason Crump, English-Australian motorcycle racer
• 1975 – Renate Götschl, Austrian skier
• 1975 – Jamie McGonnigal, American voice actor and producer
• 1975 – Víctor Zambrano, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1976 – Soleil Moon Frye, American actress and producer
• 1976 – Melissa George, Australian-American actress
• 1976 – Adam Ritson, Australian rugby league player
• 1976 – Shaun Timmins, Australian rugby league player
• 1977 – Leandro Amaral, Brazilian footballer
• 1977 – Jimmy Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager
• 1977 – Luciano Zavagno, Argentinian footballer
• 1978 – Marisa Miller, American model and actress
• 1978 – Reuben Rox, American actor, director, and producer
• 1978 – Marvel Smith, American football player
• 1979 – Francesco Bellotti, Italian cyclist
• 1979 – Jaime Correa, Mexican footballer
• 1979 – Travis Reed, American basketball player
• 1980 – Danny Collins, English-Welsh footballer
• 1980 – Seneca Wallace, American football player
• 1980 – Roman Weidenfeller, German footballer
• 1981 – Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italian race car driver
• 1981 – Diána Póth, Hungarian figure skater
• 1982 – Jordis Unga, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1982 – Kevin van der Perren, Belgian figure skater
• 1983 – Neil Harvey, English-Barbadian footballer
• 1983 – C. J. Mosley, American football player
• 1983 – Robin van Persie, Dutch footballer
• 1984 – Vedad Ibišević, Bosnian footballer
• 1984 – Jesse Ryder, New Zealand cricketer
• 1985 – Viktoria Baškite, Estonian chess player
• 1985 – Mickaël Delage, French cyclist
• 1985 – Bafétimbi Gomis, French footballer
• 1985 – Garrett Weber-Gale, American swimmer
• 1986 – Mehmet Akgün, Turkish footballer
• 1986 – Raphael Pyrasch, German rugby player
• 1991 – Jiao Liuyang, Chinese swimmer
• 1992 – Tara Moore, British tennis player
• 1995 – Rebecca Peterson, Swedish tennis player
• 1997 – Kristína Schmiedlová, Slovak tennis player
• 2001 – Ty Simpkins, American actor

Deaths

• 258 – Pope Sixtus II
• 523 – Pope Hormisdas (b. 450)
• 750 – Marwan II, Umayyad general and caliph (b. 688)
• 1162 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (b. 1113)
• 1221 – Saint Dominic, Spanish priest, founded the Dominican Order (b. 1170)
• 1272 – Stephen V of Hungary (b. 1239)
• 1414 – Ladislaus of Naples (b. 1377)
• 1458 – Pope Callixtus III (b. 1378)
• 1628 – Johannes Junius, German lawyer and politician (b. 1573)
• 1637 – Ben Jonson, English poet and playwright (b. 1572)
• 1645 – Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, English merchant and politician (b. 1575)
• 1657 – Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian soldier and politician, 1st Hetman of Zaporizhian Host (b. 1595)
• 1660 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1599)
• 1679 – John Snell, Scottish-English soldier and philanthropist, founded the Snell Exhibition (b. 1629)
• 1694 – Antoine Arnauld, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1612)
• 1695 – François de Harlay de Champvallon, French archbishop (b. 1625)
• 1753 – Georg Wilhelm Richmann, Estonian-Russian physicist and academic (b. 1711)
• 1757 – Ádám Mányoki, Hungarian painter (b. 1673)
• 1794 – Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
• 1815 – James A. Bayard, American lawyer and politician (b. 1767)
• 1828 – Konstantin von Benckendorff, Russian general and diplomat (b. 1785)
• 1850 – Edward Walsh, Irish poet and songwriter (b. 1805)
• 1866 – John Mason Neale, English priest, scholar, and hymnwriter (b. 1818)
• 1881 – James Springer White, American religious leader, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (b. 1821)
• 1884 – Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1812)
• 1893 – Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1811)
• 1904 – Eduard Hanslick, Austrian author and critic (b. 1825)
• 1920 – Stefan Bastyr, Polish pilot and author (b. 1890)
• 1925 – Surendranath Banerjee, Indian academic and politician (b. 1848)
• 1931 – Bix Beiderbecke, American cornet player, pianist, and composer (b. 1903)
• 1945 – Richard Bong, American soldier and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1920)
• 1945 – Hiram Johnson, American lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of California (b. 1866)
• 1946 – Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player and coach (b. 1903)
• 1959 – Preston Sturges, American director, screenwriter, and playwright (b. 1898)
• 1963 – Houseley Stevenson, American actor (b. 1879)
• 1964 – Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (b. 1893)
• 1969 – Theodor W. Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903)
• 1970 – Nikos Tsiforos, Greek director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 1973 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (b. 1901)
• 1976 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian-American cellist and educator (b. 1903)
• 1978 – Pope Paul VI (b. 1897)
• 1978 – Edward Durell Stone, American architect, designed Radio City Music Hall and the Kennedy Center (b. 1902)
• 1979 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 1983 – Klaus Nomi, German singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1944)
• 1985 – William Anstruther-Gray, Baron Kilmany, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1905)
• 1985 – Forbes Burnham, Guyanese politician, 2nd President of Guyana (b. 1923)
• 1986 – Emilio Fernández, Mexican actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
• 1987 – Ira C. Eaker, American general (b. 1896)
• 1990 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (b. 1912)
• 1991 – Shapour Bakhtiar, Iranian soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1915)
• 1991 – Roland Michener, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Governor General of Canada (b. 1900)
• 1991 – Harry Reasoner, American journalist, co-created 60 Minutes (b. 1923)
• 1992 – Leszek Błażyński, Polish boxer (b. 1949)
• 1993 – Tex Hughson, American baseball player (b. 1916)
• 1994 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter and politician (b. 1928)
• 1997 – Shin Ki-ha, South Korean lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
• 1998 – André Weil, French-American mathematician and academic (b. 1906)
• 2001 – Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist and poet (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Wilhelm Mohnke, German general (b. 1911)
• 2001 – Shan Ratnam, Sri Lankan physician and academic (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Dorothy Tutin, English actress (b. 1930)
• 2002 – Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch physicist, computer scientist, and academic (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Julius Baker, American flute player and educator (b. 1915)
• 2004 – Rick James, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1948)
• 2004 – Donald Justice, American poet and academic (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (b. 1946)
• 2005 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Heinz Barth, German lieutenant (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (b. 1969)
• 2008 – Angelos Kitsos, Greek lawyer and author (b. 1934)
• 2009 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer and author (b. 1909)
• 2009 – Willy DeVille, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
• 2009 – John Hughes, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1950)
• 2011 – Fe del Mundo, Filipino pediatrician and educator (b. 1911)
• 2012 – Richard Cragun, American-Brazilian ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Marvin Hamlisch, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Robert Hughes, Australian-American author and critic (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Bernard Lovell, English physicist and astronomer (b. 1913)
• 2012 – Mark O'Donnell, American playwright (b. 1954)
• 2012 – Ruggiero Ricci, American violinist and educator (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (b. 1953)
• 2013 – Jeremy Geidt, English-American actor and educator (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Stan Lynde, American author and illustrator (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Mava Lee Thomas, American baseball player (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Jerry Wolman, American businessman (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Ralph Bryans, Northern Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Ananda W.P. Guruge, Sri Lankan scholar and diplomat (b. 1928)
• 2014 – John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Andrey Stenin, Russian photographer and journalist (b. 1980)
• 2014 – Smita Talwalkar, Indian actress and producer (b. 1954)
• 2015 – Ray Hill, American football player (b. 1975)
• 2015 – Frederick R. Payne, Jr., American general and pilot (b. 1911)
• 2015 – Orna Porat, German-Israeli actress (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances

• • Justus and Pastor
  • August 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Accession Day. (United Arab Emirates)
• Independence Day (Bolivia), celebrates the independence of Bolivia from Spain in 1825.
• Independence Day (Jamaica), celebrates the independence of Jamaica from the United Kingdom in 1962.
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony (Hiroshima, Japan)
• Russian Railway Troops Day (Russia)

External links

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