August 8

"August 8th" redirects here. For the 2012 film, see August Eighth.

August 8 in recent years

2024 (Thursday)

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Saturday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Monday)

2015 (Saturday)

August 8 is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 145 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 870 – Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald partition the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions.
• 1220 – Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
• 1264 – Mudéjar revolt: Muslim rebel forces took the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera after defeating the Castilian garrison.
• 1503 – King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• 1509 – Krishnadeva Raya is crowned Emperor of Vijayanagara at Chittoor.
• 1576 – The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on the island of Hven.
• 1585 – John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage.
• 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England.
• 1605 – The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.
• 1647 – The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungan's Hill: English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.
• 1648 – Mehmed IV (1648–1687) succeeds Ibrahim I (1640–1648) as Ottoman Emperor.
• 1709 – Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the king of Portugal in Lisbon, Portugal.
• 1786 – Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
• 1793 – The insurrection of Lyon occurs during the French Revolution.
• 1794 – Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
• 1844 – The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
• 1863 – American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).
• 1870 – The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.
• 1876 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
• 1908 – Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers' first public flight.
• 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).
• 1919 – The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 is signed. It establishes peaceful relations between Afghanistan and the UK, and confirms the Durand line as the mutual border. In return, the UK is no longer obligated to subsidize the Afghan government.
• 1929 – The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.
• 1940 – The "Aufbau Ost" directive is signed by Wilhelm Keitel.
• 1942 – Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for swaraj or complete independence.
• 1945 – The London Charter is signed by France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, establishing the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials.
• 1946 – First flight of the Convair B-36, the world's first mass-produced nuclear weapon delivery vehicle, the heaviest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft, with the longest wingspan of any military aircraft, and the first bomber with intercontinental range.
• 1963 – Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes.
• 1963 – The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the current ruling party of Zimbabwe, is formed by a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union.
• 1967 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• 1969 – At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.
• 1969 – The Manson Family commits the Tate murders.
• 1973 – Kim Dae-jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.
• 1974 – President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.
• 1988 – The 8888 Uprising begins in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Led by students, hundreds of thousands join in nationwide protests against the one-party regime. On September 18, the demonstrations end in a military crackdown, killing thousands.
• 1989 – Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission: Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
• 1990 – Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.
• 1991 – The Warsaw radio mast, at one time the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
• 1993 – The 7.8 M_w  Guam earthquake shakes the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing around $250 million in damage and injuring up to 71 people.
• 1998 – Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan is raided by Taliban leading to the deaths of ten Iranian diplomats and a journalist.
• 2000 – Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence.
• 2007 – An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.
• 2008 – A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others.
• 2008 – The 29th Olympic Games opened in Beijing, China.
• 2010 – China Floods: A mudslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu, China, kills more than 1,400 people.
• 2013 – A suicide bombing at a funeral in the Pakistani city of Quetta kills at least 31 people.
• 2015 – Eight people are killed in a shooting in Harris County, Texas.
• 2016 – Terrorists attack a government hospital in Quetta, Pakistan with a suicide blast and shooting, killing between 70 and 94 people, and injuring around 130 others.

Births

• 422 – Casper, ruler of the Maya city of Palenque
• 1079 – Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107)
• 1170 – Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominicans (d. 1221)
• 1306 – Rudolf II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1353)
• 1492 – Matteo Tafuri, Italian alchemist (d. 1582)
• 1518 – Conrad Lycosthenes, French-German scholar and author (d. 1561)
• 1558 – George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, English noble (d. 1605)
• 1605 – Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, English lawyer and politician, Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1675)
• 1640 – Amalia Catharina, German poet and composer (d. 1697)
• 1646 – Godfrey Kneller, German-English painter (d. 1723)
• 1673 – John Ker, Scottish spy (d. 1726)
• 1693 – Laurent Belissen, French composer (d. 1762)
• 1694 – Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher and academic (d. 1746)
• 1709 – Hermann Anton Gelinek, German-Italian monk and violinist (d. 1779)
• 1720 – Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish general and politician (d. 1796)
• 1754 – Hipólito Ruiz López, Spanish botanist (d. 1816)
• 1758 – Friedrich Georg Weitsch, German painter (d. 1828)
• 1790 – Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet, critic, and politician (d. 1838)
• 1807 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish author (d. 1892)
• 1814 – Esther Hobart Morris, American lawyer and judge (d. 1902)
• 1822 – George Stoneman, Jr., United States Army cavalry officer (d. 1894)
• 1839 – Nelson A. Miles, American general (d. 1925)
• 1851 – George Turner, Australian politician, 18th Premier of Victoria (d. 1916)
• 1856 – Thomas Anstey Guthrie, English journalist and author (d. 1934)
• 1857 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (d. 1944)
• 1866 – Matthew Henson, American explorer (d. 1955)
• 1874 – Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, English businessman and politician, President of the Board of Trade (d. 1948)
• 1875 – Arthur Bernardes, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 12th President of Brazil (d. 1955)
• 1876 – Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly, Indian-Syrian priest, founded the Sisters of the Destitute (d. 1929)
• 1879 – Bob Smith, American physician and surgeon, co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1950)
• 1879 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general and politician (d. 1919)
• 1880 – Earle Page, Australian lawyer, academic, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1961)
• 1881 – Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (d. 1954)
• 1882 – Ladislas Starevich, Russian-French animator, screenwriter, and cinematographer (d. 1965)
• 1884 – Sara Teasdale, American poet and educator (d. 1933)
• 1889 – Hans Egede Budtz, Danish actor (d. 1968)
• 1889 – Jack Ryder, Australian cricketer (d. 1977)
• 1891 – Adolf Busch, German violinist and composer (d. 1952)
• 1896 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author and academic (d. 1953)
• 1898 – Marguerite Bise, French chef (d. 1965)
• 1901 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1902 – Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1904 – Achille Varzi, Italian race car driver (d. 1948)
• 1905 – André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974)
• 1907 – Benny Carter, American saxophonist, trumpet player, and composer (d. 2003)
• 1908 – Arthur Goldberg, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1990)
• 1909 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English cricketer and politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1977)
• 1909 – Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1987)
• 1909 – Bill Voce, England cricketer and coach (d. 1984)
• 1910 – Jimmy Murphy, Welsh-English footballer and manager (d. 1989)
• 1910 – Sylvia Sidney, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (d. 2002)
• 1915 – James Elliott, American runner and coach (d. 1981)
• 1919 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian actor and producer (d. 2010)
• 1919 – John David Wilson, English animator and producer (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Leo Chiosso, Italian songwriter and producer (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American jump blues singer (d. 1997)
• 1921 – William Asher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1921 – Webb Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Rory Calhoun, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the Monokini (d. 1985)
• 1922 – Gertrude Himmelfarb, American historian, author, and academic
• 1922 – Károly Reich, Hungarian illustrator (d. 1988)
• 1925 – Alija Izetbegović, Bosnian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Aziz Sattar, Malaysian actor, comedian, singer and director (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Richard Anderson, American actor and producer (d. 2017)
• 1927 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and coach (d. 1994)
• 1927 – Maia Wojciechowska, Polish-American author (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Don Burrows, Australian saxophonist, clarinet player, and flute player
• 1929 – Larisa Bogoraz, Russian linguist and activist (d. 2004)
• 1929 – Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian general and politician, 68th President of Bolivia (d. 2018)
• 1930 – Terry Nation, Welsh-American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
• 1930 – Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Roger Penrose, English physicist, mathematician, and philosopher
• 1932 – Mel Tillis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
• 1933 – Joe Tex, American soul singer-songwriter (d. 1982)
• 1934 – Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Donald P. Bellisario, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1935 – John Laws, Papua New Guinean-Australian singer and radio host
• 1936 – Frank Howard, American baseball player and manager
• 1936 – Jan Pieńkowski, Polish-English author and illustrator
• 1937 – Dustin Hoffman, American actor and director
• 1937 – Sheila Varian, American horse breeder (d. 2016)
• 1937 – Cornelis Vreeswijk, Dutch-Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 1987)
• 1938 – Jack Baldwin, English chemist and academic
• 1938 – Jacques Hétu, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Connie Stevens, American actress and businesswoman
• 1939 – Jana Andrsová, Czech actress and ballerina
• 1939 – Viorica Viscopoleanu, Romanian long jumper
• 1939 – Alexander Watson, American diplomat, United States Ambassador to Peru
• 1940 – Dilip Sardesai, Arjuna Award winning Indian cricketer (d. 2007)
• 1940 – Dennis Tito, American engineer and businessman, founded Wilshire Associates
• 1942 – James Blanchard, American diplomat and politician, 45th Governor of Michigan
• 1942 – Dennis Canavan, Scottish educator and politician
• 1942 – John Gustafson, English singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2014)
• 1942 – Vardo Rumessen, Estonian pianist and musicologist (d. 2015)
• 1944 – John C. Holmes, American film actor (d. 1988)
• 1944 – Michael Johnson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
• 1944 – John Renbourn, English-Scottish guitarist and songwriter (d. 2015)
• 1944 – Simon Taylor, English journalist and author
• 1945 – Tom O'Carroll, British paedophilia advocate
• 1946 – Joe Bethancourt, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1947 – Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player, lawyer, and politician
• 1947 – Larry Wilcox, American actor, director, and producer
• 1948 – Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian engineer and astronaut
• 1948 – Margaret Urban Walker, American philosopher
• 1949 – Keith Carradine, American actor
• 1949 – Ricardo Londoño, Colombian race car driver (d. 2009)
• 1950 – Willie Hall, American drummer and producer
• 1950 – Ken Kutaragi, Japanese businessman, created PlayStation
• 1951 – Martin Brest, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1951 – Phil Carlson, Australian cricketer
• 1951 – Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian engineer, academic, and politician, 5th President of Egypt
• 1951 – Mamoru Oshii, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1951 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
• 1951 – Louis van Gaal, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1952 – Anton Fig, South African-American drummer
• 1952 – Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
• 1952 – Doug Melvin, Canadian baseball player and manager
• 1952 – Robin Quivers, American nurse, radio host/personality, and author
• 1952 – Sudhakar Rao, Indian cricketer
• 1953 – Mark Lazarowicz, English politician
• 1953 – Nigel Mansell, English race car driver
• 1953 – Don Most, American actor and director
• 1954 – Nick Holtam, English bishop
• 1955 – Diddú, Icelandic singer-songwriter
• 1955 – Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer and manager
• 1955 – Michael Roe, Irish race car driver
• 1956 – Chris Foreman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1956 – David Grant, English singer
• 1956 – Cecilia Roth, Argentinian actress
• 1957 – Dennis Drew, American keyboard player
• 1958 – Deborah Norville, American journalist
• 1959 – Caroline Ansink, Dutch flute player, composer, and educator
• 1960 – Mustafa Balbay, Turkish journalist and politician
• 1960 – Ulrich Maly, German politician, 16th Mayor of Nuremberg
• 1961 – The Edge, British-Irish musician, singer and songwriter
• 1961 – Daniel House, American bass player and producer
• 1961 – Ron Klain, American lawyer and politician, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States
• 1961 – Bruce Matthews, American football player and coach
• 1961 – Rikki Rockett, American glam rock drummer (Poison)
• 1962 – Kool Moe Dee, American musician, singer and actor
• 1963 – Hur Jin-ho, South Korean director and screenwriter
• 1963 – Ron Karkovice, American baseball player and manager
• 1963 – Emi Shinohara, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1963 – Jon Turteltaub, American director and producer
• 1963 – Stephen Walkom, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and manager
• 1964 – Anastasia M. Ashman, American blogger and author
• 1964 – Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy
• 1964 – Scott Sandelin, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1964 – Paul Taylor, English cricketer
• 1965 – Angus Fraser, English cricketer, manager, and journalist
• 1965 – Kate Langbroek, Australian talk show host
• 1966 – Chris Eubank, English boxer
• 1966 – John Hudek, American baseball player and coach
• 1967 – Marcelo Balboa, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1968 – Yvie Burnett, Scottish soprano
• 1968 – Aldo Calderón van Dyke, Honduran journalist (d. 2013)
• 1968 – Abey Kuruvilla, Indian cricketer and coach
• 1968 – Huey Morgan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1969 – Monika Tsõganova, Estonian chess player
• 1969 – Faye Wong, Chinese singer-songwriter and actress
• 1970 – Trev Alberts, American football player and journalist
• 1970 – Ben G. Davis, English chemist and academic
• 1970 – José Francisco Molina, Spanish footballer and manager
• 1970 – Chester Williams, South African rugby player and coach
• 1971 – Johnny Balentina, Dutch baseball player
• 1972 – Joely Collins, Canadian actress and producer
• 1972 – Andrea de Rossi, Italian rugby player and coach
• 1972 – Axel Merckx, Belgian cyclist
• 1972 – Steven Tweed, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1973 – Shane Lee, Australian cricketer and guitarist
• 1973 – Gert Olesk, Estonian footballer and manager
• 1973 – Scott Stapp, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1973 – Mark Wills, American singer-songwriter
• 1973 – Ilka Agricola, German mathematician
• 1974 – Manjul Bhargava, Canadian-American mathematician and academic
• 1974 – Scott D'Amore, Canadian wrestler and manager
• 1974 – Brian Harvey, English singer-songwriter
• 1974 – Andy Priaulx, Guernseyan race car driver
• 1975 – Mick Moss, English singer-songwriter
• 1976 – JC Chasez, American singer and dancer
• 1976 – Drew Lachey, American singer and actor
• 1977 – Lindsay Sloane, American actress
• 1977 – Darren Manzella, American sergeant (d. 2013)
• 1977 – Rocky Thompson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1977 – Nicolas Vogondy, French cyclist
• 1977 – Mohammad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer
• 1978 – Alan Maybury, Irish footballer and coach
• 1978 – Louis Saha, French footballer
• 1978 – Miho Shiraishi, Japanese actress
• 1979 – Richard Harwood, English cellist
• 1979 – Rashard Lewis, American basketball player
• 1979 – Richard Lyons, Northern Irish racing driver
• 1980 – Craig Breslow, American baseball player
• 1980 – Jack Cassel, American baseball player
• 1980 – Denisse Guerrero, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1980 – Mike Hindert, American singer and bass player
• 1980 – Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player
• 1980 – Diego Markwell, Dutch baseball player
• 1980 – Pat Noonan, American soccer player
• 1980 – Michael Urie, American actor, director, and producer
• 1981 – Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1981 – Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
• 1981 – Meagan Good, American actress and producer
• 1981 – Harel Skaat, Israeli singer-songwriter
• 1982 – David Florence, English canoe racer
• 1982 – Ross Ohlendorf, American baseball player
• 1983 – Guy Burnet, English actor and producer
• 1983 – Willie Tonga, Australian rugby league player
• 1984 – Kirk Broadfoot, Scottish footballer
• 1984 – Norbert Michelisz, Hungarian race car driver
• 1984 – Martrez Milner, American football player
• 1985 – Toby Flood, English rugby player
• 1985 – Ryan Koolwijk, Dutch footballer
• 1985 – James Morgan, Welsh actor and producer
• 1985 – Brett Ratliff, American football player
• 1985 – Anita Włodarczyk, Polish track and field athlete
• 1986 – Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukrainian tennis player
• 1986 – Pierre Garçon, American football player
• 1986 – Chris Pressley, American football player
• 1987 – Pierre Boulanger, French actor
• 1987 – Tatjana Malek, German tennis player
• 1988 – Princess Beatrice of York
• 1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player
• 1988 – Rinku Singh, Indian baseball player
• 1988 – Laura Slade Wiggins, American actress and singer
• 1989 – Ken Baumann, American actor and author
• 1989 – Anthony Rizzo, American baseball player
• 1989 – Hannah Miley, English-Scottish swimmer
• 1990 – Vladimír Darida, Czech footballer
• 1990 – Parker Kligerman, American race car driver
• 1990 – Aleksandra Szwed, Polish actress and singer
• 1990 – Kane Williamson, New Zealand cricket captain
• 1991 – Nélson Oliveira, Portuguese footballer
• 1991 – Tyrone Peachey, Australian rugby league player
• 1992 – Josip Drmić, Swiss footballer
• 1998 – Shawn Mendes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1998 – Ronan Parke, English singer-songwriter
• 2000 – Félix Auger-Aliassime, Canadian tennis player

Deaths

• 117 – Trajan, Roman emperor (b. 53)
• 753 – Hildegar, bishop of Cologne
• 869 – Lothair II, Frankish king (b. 835)
• 998 – Seo Hui, Korean politician and diplomat (b. 942)
• 1002 – Almanzor, chief minister and de facto ruler of Córdoba
• 1171 – Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester (b. 1111)
• 1303 – Henry of Castile the Senator, Spanish nobleman (b. 1230)
• 1533 – Lucas van Leyden, Dutch artist (b. 1494)
• 1555 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician and cartographer (b. 1494)
• 1588 – Alonso Sánchez Coello, Spanish painter (b. 1532)
• 1604 – Horio Tadauji, Japanese daimyō (b. 1578)
• 1616 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (b. 1548)
• 1631 – Konstantinas Sirvydas, Lithuanian priest, lexicographer, and academic (b. 1579)
• 1684 – George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer, English politician (b. 1622)
• 1719 – Christoph Ludwig Agricola, German painter (b. 1667)
• 1747 – Madeleine de Verchères, Canadian raid leader (b. 1678)
• 1746 – Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher (b. 1694)
• 1759 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (b. 1704)
• 1827 – George Canning, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770)
• 1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish botanist and psychologist (b. 1743)
• 1858 – Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, Hatian Empress (b. 1758)
• 1863 – Angus MacAskill, Scottish-Canadian giant (b. 1825)
• 1879 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (b. 1797)
• 1887 – Alexander William Doniphan, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1808)
• 1897 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (b. 1818)
• 1898 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (b. 1824)
• 1902 – James Tissot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1836)
• 1902 – John Henry Twachtman, American painter and academic (b. 1853)
• 1909 – Mary MacKillop, Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (b. 1842)
• 1911 – William P. Frye, American lawyer and politician (b. 1830)
• 1921 – Juhani Aho, Finnish journalist and author (b. 1861)
• 1928 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian politician (b. 1871)
• 1930 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish wrestler and weightlifter (b. 1874)
• 1934 – Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1863)
• 1937 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motor cycle racer (b. 1897)
• 1940 – Johnny Dodds, American clarinet player and saxophonist (b. 1892)
• 1944 – Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (b. 1881)
• 1944 – Michael Wittmann, German commander (b. 1914)
• 1947 – Anton Denikin, Russian general (b. 1872)
• 1950 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman, founded Qantas (b. 1879)
• 1959 – Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (b. 1902)
• 1965 – Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1916)
• 1969 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German biologist and eugenicist (b. 1896)
• 1971 – Freddie Spencer Chapman, English lieutenant (b. 1907)
• 1973 – Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish historian and author (b. 1898)
• 1975 – Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist (b. 1928)
• 1979 – Nicholas Monsarrat, English lieutenant and author (b. 1910)
• 1980 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1910)
• 1981 – Thomas McElwee, Irish republican and PIRA volunteer (b. 1957)
• 1982 – Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1920)
• 1984 – Richard Deacon, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1984 – Ellen Raskin, American author and illustrator (b. 1928)
• 1985 – Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906)
• 1987 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)
• 1988 – Félix Leclerc, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914)
• 1988 – Alan Napier, English actor (b. 1903)
• 1991 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 1992 – Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Iranian religious leader and scholar (b. 1899)
• 1996 – Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
• 1996 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (b. 1927)
• 1998 – Mahmoud Saremi, Iranian journalist (b. 1968)
• 2003 – Dirk Hoogendam, Dutch-German SS officer (b. 1922)
• 2003 – Falaba Issa Traoré, Malian director and playwright (b. 1930)
• 2004 – Leon Golub, American painter and academic (b. 1922)
• 2004 – Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress (b. 1907)
• 2005 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Ahmed Deedat, South African missionary and author (b. 1918)
• 2005 – John H. Johnson, American publisher, founded the Johnson Publishing Company (b. 1918)
• 2005 – Gene Mauch, American baseball player and manager (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Dean Rockwell, American commander, wrestler, and coach (b. 1912)
• 2005 – Monica Sjöö, Swedish-English painter (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Ma Lik, Chinese journalist and politician (b. 1952)
• 2007 – Melville Shavelson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Orville Moody, American golfer (b. 1933)
• 2009 – Daniel Jarque, Spanish footballer (b. 1983)
• 2010 – Patricia Neal, American actress (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, German-American physicist and academic (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Ruth Etchells, English poet and academic (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Surya Lesmana, Indonesian footballer and manager (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Kurt Maetzig, German director and screenwriter (b. 1911)
• 2013 – Karen Black, American actress (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Johannes Bluyssen, Dutch bishop (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Fernando Castro Pacheco, Mexican painter, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Igor Kurnosov, Russian chess player (b. 1985)
• 2013 – Regina Resnik, American soprano and actress (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Charles Keating, English-American actor (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Leonardo Legaspi, Filipino archbishop (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer and conductor (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Red Wilson, American football and baseball player (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Christopher Marshall, English physician and biologist (b. 1948)
• 2015 – Sean Price, American rapper (b. 1972)
• 2015 – Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Sam S. Walker, American general (b. 1925)
• 2017 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1936)
• 2018 – Nicholas Bett, Kenyan track and field athlete (b. 1990)
• 2018 – John Glines, American playwright and theater producer (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances

• Ceasefire Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Altmann of Passau
  • Cyriacus
  • Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order.
  • Four Crowned Martyrs
  • Pope Hormisdas
  • Largus
  • Mary MacKillop
  • Smaragdus (and companions)
  • August 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, while August 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday in August. (Argentina)
• Earliest day on which Defence Forces Day can fall, while August 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Tuesday in August. (Zimbabwe)
• Earliest day on which Father's Day can fall, while August 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday in August. (Brazil, Samoa)
• Earliest day on which Heroes' Day can fall, while August 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in August. (Zimbabwe)
• Earliest day on which Melon Day can fall, while August 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday in August. (Turkmenistan)
• Earliest day on which Sports Day can fall, while August 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in August. (Russia)
• Father's Day or Bā bā Day (爸爸節), Bā Bā is Mandarin for "father" and "8-8", or August 8. (Mongolia, Taiwan)
• Happiness Happens Day
• International Cat Day
• Namesday of the Queen (Sweden)
• Nane Nane Day (Tanzania)
• Signal Troops Day (Ukraine)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History