August 8: On This Day

Events, births, deaths, holidays and observances for August 8.

Events 62

685 BC – Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as the new Duke of Qi – but is defeated at Qianshi by Jiu's brother and rival claimant, the newly inaugurated Duke Huan of Qi.
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.
1164 – Hassan II of Alamut proclaims the qiyāma, according to which Ismaili practice would change from traditional Islamic practice.
1220 – Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
1264 – Mudéjar revolt: Muslim rebel forces take 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.
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 sultan.
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.
1794 – Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
1831 – Four hundred Shawnee people agree to relinquish their lands in Ohio in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River in the Treaty of Wapakoneta.
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).
1863 – Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee, despite them being exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, now commemorated as Emancipation Day in the state.
1870 – The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.
1876 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
1897 – Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinates Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.
1903 – Black Saturday occurs, killing 12 in a stadium collapse in Philadelphia.
1908 – Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight, at a racecourse at Le Mans, France.
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 for the mobilization of German forces for the invasion of the Soviet Union 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.
1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
1946 – First flight of the nuclear capable Convair B-36, heaviest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft at the time.
1956 – Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium. 262 coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, are killed in one of the largest mining accidents in Belgian history.
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.
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.
1988 – The first night baseball game in the history of Chicago's Wrigley Field (game was rained out in the fourth inning).
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, then the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
1993 – The 7.8 Mw 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 – The 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.
2001 – Albanian rebels ambush a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia near Tetovo, killing 10 soldiers.
2004 – A tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumps approximately 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat full of passengers.
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.
2007 – Space Shuttle program: STS-118 Mission: Endeavour takes off on a mission to the International Space Station.
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 modern summer Olympic Games take place in Beijing, China until August 24.
2009 – A Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil and Piper PA-32R collide over the Hudson River, killing nine people.
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.
2019 – An explosion at the State Central Navy Testing Range in Nyonoksa, Russia, kills five people.
2022 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida.
2023 – Hawaii wildfires: Seventeen thousand acres of land are burned and at least 101 people are killed, with two others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
2024 – Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus takes oath as Chief Adviser to form an interim government in Bangladesh.

Births 266

422 – Casper, ruler of the Maya city of Palenque
1079 – Emperor Horikawa of Japan (died 1107)
1170 – Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominicans (died 1221)
1306 – Rudolf II, Duke of Bavaria (died 1353)
1492 – Matteo Tafuri, Italian alchemist (died 1582)
1518 – Conrad Lycosthenes, French-German scholar and author (died 1561)
1558 – George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, English noble (died 1605)
1605 – Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, English lawyer and politician, Governor of Newfoundland (died 1675)
1640 – Amalia Catharina, German poet and composer (died 1697)
1646 – Godfrey Kneller, German-English painter (died 1723)
1673 – John Ker, Scottish spy (died 1726)
1693 – Laurent Belissen, French composer (died 1762)
1694 – Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher and academic (died 1746)
1706 – Johan Augustin Mannerheim, Swedish nobleman and military leader (died 1778)
1709 – Hermann Anton Gelinek, German-Italian monk and violinist (died 1779)
1720 – Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish general and politician (died 1796)
1754 – Hipólito Ruiz López, Spanish botanist (died 1816)
1758 – Friedrich Georg Weitsch, German painter (died 1828)
1790 – Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet, critic, and politician (died 1838)
1807 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish author (died 1892)
1814 – Esther Hobart Morris, American suffragette and judge (died 1902)
1822 – George Stoneman, Jr., United States Army cavalry officer (died 1894)
1839 – Nelson A. Miles, American general (died 1925)
1851 – George Turner, Australian politician, 18th Premier of Victoria (died 1916)
1856 – Thomas Anstey Guthrie, English journalist and author (died 1934)
1857 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (died 1944)
1861 – William Bateson, English biologist (originator of term "genetics") (died 1926)
1863 – Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, American painter (died 1930)
1866 – Matthew Henson, American explorer (died 1955)
1874 – Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, English businessman and politician, President of the Board of Trade (died 1948)
1875 – Artur Bernardes, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 12th President of Brazil (died 1955)
1876 – Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly, Indian-Syrian priest, founded the Sisters of the Destitute (died 1929)
1879 – Bob Smith, American physician and surgeon, co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous (died 1950)
1879 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general and politician (died 1919)
1880 – Earle Page, Australian lawyer, academic, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1961)
1881 – Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (died 1954)
1882 – Ladislas Starevich, Russian-French animator, screenwriter, and cinematographer (died 1965)
1884 – Sara Teasdale, American poet and educator (died 1933)
1889 – Hans Egede Budtz, Danish actor (died 1968)
1889 – Jack Ryder, Australian cricketer (died 1977)
1891 – Adolf Busch, German violinist and composer (died 1952)
1896 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author and academic (died 1953)
1898 – Marguerite Bise, French chef (died 1965)
1901 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
1902 – Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984)
1904 – Achille Varzi, Italian racing driver (died 1948)
1905 – André Jolivet, French composer (died 1974)
1907 – Benny Carter, American saxophonist, trumpet player, and composer (died 2003)
1907 – Jimmy Steele (Irish republican), lifelong militant and editor (died 1970)
1908 – Arthur Goldberg, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (died 1990)
1909 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English cricketer and politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (died 1977)
1909 – Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (died 1987)
1909 – Bill Voce, England cricketer and coach (died 1984)
1910 – Lucky Millinder, American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader (died 1966)
1910 – Jimmy Murphy, Welsh-English footballer and manager (died 1989)
1910 – Sylvia Sidney, American actress (died 1999)
1911 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (died 2002)
1915 – James Elliott, American runner and coach (died 1981)
1919 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian actor and producer (died 2010)
1919 – John David Wilson, English animator and producer (died 2013)
1920 – Leo Chiosso, Italian songwriter and producer (died 2006)
1920 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American jump blues singer (died 1997)
1921 – William Asher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)
1921 – Webb Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1991)
1921 – Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (died 2013)
1922 – Rory Calhoun, American actor (died 1999)
1922 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the Monokini (died 1985)
1922 – Gertrude Himmelfarb, American historian, author, and academic (died 2019)
1922 – Károly Reich, Hungarian illustrator (died 1988)
1925 – Alija Izetbegović, Bosnian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (died 2003)
1925 – Aziz Sattar, Malaysian actor, comedian, singer and director (died 2014)
1926 – Richard Anderson, American actor and producer (died 2017)
1927 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and coach (died 1994)
1927 – Maia Wojciechowska, Polish-American author (died 2002)
1928 – Don Burrows, Australian saxophonist, clarinet player, and flute player (died 2020)
1929 – Larisa Bogoraz, Russian linguist and activist (died 2004)
1929 – Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian general and politician, 68th President of Bolivia (died 2018)
1929 – Ronnie Biggs, English criminal (died 2013)
1930 – Terry Nation, Welsh-American author and screenwriter (died 1997)
1930 – Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (died 2015)
1931 – Roger Penrose, English physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Mel Tillis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2017)
1933 – Joe Tex, American soul singer-songwriter (died 1982)
1934 – Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2014)
1935 – Donald P. Bellisario, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1935 – John Laws, Papua New Guinean-born Australian singer and radio host (died 2025)
1936 – Frank Howard, American baseball player and manager (died 2023)
1936 – Jan Pieńkowski, Polish-English author and illustrator (died 2022)
1937 – Dustin Hoffman, American actor and director
1937 – Sheila Varian, American horse breeder (died 2016)
1937 – Cornelis Vreeswijk, Dutch-Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 1987)
1938 – Jack Baldwin, English chemist and academic (died 2020)
1938 – Jacques Hétu, Canadian composer and educator (died 2010)
1938 – Connie Stevens, American actress and businesswoman
1939 – Jana Andrsová, Czech actress and ballerina (died 2023)
1939 – Viorica Viscopoleanu, Romanian long jumper
1939 – Alexander Watson, American diplomat, United States Ambassador to Peru
1940 – Dilip Sardesai, Indian cricketer (died 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 (died 2014)
1942 – Vardo Rumessen, Estonian pianist and musicologist (died 2015)
1944 – John C. Holmes, American film actor (died 1988)
1944 – Michael Johnson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2017)
1944 – John Renbourn, English-Scottish guitarist and songwriter (died 2015)
1944 – Simon Taylor, English journalist and author
1946 – Joe Bethancourt, American singer-songwriter (died 2014)
1947 – Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player, lawyer, and politician (died 2025)
1947 – Larry Wilcox, American actor, director, and producer
1948 – Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian engineer and astronaut
1948 – Margaret Urban Walker, American philosopher
1948 – Wincey Willis, British broadcaster (died 2024)
1949 – Terry Burnham, American actress (died 2013)
1949 – Keith Carradine, American actor
1949 – Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver (died 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 (died 2022)
1951 – Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian engineer, academic, and politician, 5th President of Egypt (died 2019)
1951 – Mamoru Oshii, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
1951 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (died 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 – Lloyd Austin, American general, 1st black Secretary of Defense
1953 – Nigel Mansell, English racing driver
1953 – Don Most, American actor and singer
1954 – Nick Holtam, English bishop
1955 – Diddú, Icelandic singer-songwriter
1955 – Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer and manager
1955 – Michael Roe, Irish racing 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 and game show host
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, White House Chief of Staff
1961 – Bruce Matthews, American football player and coach
1961 – Rikki Rockett, American glam rock drummer
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 (died 2024)
1963 – Rika Fukami, Japanese voice actress and singer
1963 – Jon Turteltaub, American director and producer
1963 – Stephen Walkom, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and manager
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
1966 – Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia
1967 – Marcelo Balboa, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster
1967 – Yūki Amami, Japanese theater and film actress
1968 – Yvie Burnett, Scottish soprano
1968 – Aldo Calderón van Dyke, Honduran journalist (died 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 (died 2019)
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
1972 – Liina Vahtrik, Estonian actress
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 racing 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 (died 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 – Shayna Baszler, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
1980 – Craig Breslow, American baseball pitcher and executive
1980 – Jack Cassel, American baseball player
1980 – Denisse Guerrero, Mexican singer-songwriter
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 racing 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 – Jackie Cruz, Dominican-American actress and singer
1986 – Pierre Garçon, American football player
1986 – Chris Pressley, American football player
1987 – Pierre Boulanger, French actor
1987 – Katie Leung, Scottish actress
1987 – Tatjana Maria, German tennis player
1988 – Princess Beatrice, British royal
1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player
1988 – Rinku Singh, Indian baseball player and wrestler
1988 – Laura Slade Wiggins, American actress and singer
1988 – Agata Sobczyk (born 1988), Polish economist and politician
1989 – Ken Baumann, American actor and author
1989 – Anthony Rizzo, American baseball player
1989 – Hannah Miley, English-Scottish swimmer
1989 – Prajakta Mali, Indian actress
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 – Yandy Díaz, Cuban baseball player
1991 – Nélson Oliveira, Portuguese footballer
1991 – Tyrone Peachey, Australian rugby league player
1991 – Joël Matip, Cameroonian footballer
1992 – Josip Drmić, Swiss footballer
1992 – Casey Cott, American actor
1993 – Emilie Mehl, Norwegian politician
1994 – Cameron Payne, American basketball player
1995 – S.Coups, South Korean rapper and singer
1996 – A'ja Wilson, American basketball player
1997 – Karim Walid, Egyptian footballer
1997 – Panipak Wongpattanakit, Thai taekwondo athlete
1998 – Ryan Garcia, American boxer
1998 – Shawn Mendes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1999 – Xiaojun, Chinese singer
2000 – Félix Auger-Aliassime, Canadian tennis player
2005 – Alysa Liu, American figure skater

Deaths 104

117 – Trajan, Roman emperor (born 53)
753 – Hildegar, bishop of Cologne
869 – Lothair II, Frankish king (born 835)
998 – Sŏ Hŭi, Korean politician and diplomat (born 942)
1002 – Almanzor, chief minister and de facto ruler of Córdoba
1171 – Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester (born 1111)
1303 – Henry of Castile the Senator, Spanish nobleman (born 1230)
1533 – Lucas van Leyden, Dutch artist (born 1494)
1555 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician and cartographer (born 1494)
1588 – Alonso Sánchez Coello, Spanish painter (born 1532)
1604 – Horio Tadauji, Japanese daimyō (born 1578)
1616 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (born 1548)
1631 – Konstantinas Sirvydas, Lithuanian priest, lexicographer, and academic (born 1579)
1684 – George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer, English politician (born 1622)
1724 – Christoph Ludwig Agricola, German painter (born 1665)
1747 – Madeleine de Verchères, Canadian raid leader (born 1678)
1746 – Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher (born 1694)
1759 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (born 1704)
1827 – George Canning, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1770)
1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish botanist and psychologist (born 1743)
1858 – Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, Haitian Empress (born 1758)
1863 – Angus MacAskill, Scottish-Canadian giant (born 1825)
1879 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (born 1797)
1887 – Alexander William Doniphan, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (born 1808)
1897 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (born 1818)
1898 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (born 1824)
1902 – James Tissot, French painter and illustrator (born 1836)
1902 – John Henry Twachtman, American painter and academic (born 1853)
1909 – Mary MacKillop, Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (born 1842)
1911 – William P. Frye, American lawyer and politician (born 1830)
1920 – Eduard Birnbaum, Polish-born German cantor (born 1855)
1921 – Juhani Aho, Finnish journalist and author (born 1861)
1928 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian politician (born 1871)
1930 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish wrestler and weightlifter (born 1874)
1934 – Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1863)
1937 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (born 1897)
1940 – Johnny Dodds, American clarinet player and saxophonist (born 1892)
1944 – Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (born 1881)
1944 – Michael Wittmann, German commander (born 1914)
1950 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman, founded Qantas (born 1879)
1959 – Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (born 1902)
1965 – Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer (born 1916)
1969 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German biologist and eugenicist (born 1896)
1971 – Freddie Spencer Chapman, English lieutenant (born 1907)
1973 – Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish historian and author (born 1898)
1974 – Elisabeth Abegg, German anti-Nazi resistance fighter (born 1882)
1975 – Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist (born 1928)
1979 – Nicholas Monsarrat, English lieutenant and author (born 1910)
1980 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1910)
1981 – Thomas McElwee, Provisional Irish Republican Army, died on hunger strike (born 1957)
1982 – Eric Brandon, English racing driver and businessman (born 1920)
1984 – Richard Deacon, American actor (born 1921)
1984 – Ellen Raskin, American author and illustrator (born 1928)
1985 – Louise Brooks, American actress (born 1906)
1987 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician and physicist (born 1903)
1988 – Félix Leclerc, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1914)
1988 – Alan Napier, English actor (born 1903)
1991 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut, eighth man to walk on the moon (born 1930)
1992 – Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Iranian religious leader and scholar (born 1899)
1996 – Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)
1996 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (born 1927)
1998 – Mahmoud Saremi, Iranian journalist (born 1968)
2003 – Dirk Hoogendam, Dutch-German SS officer and war criminal (born 1922)
2003 – Falaba Issa Traoré, Malian director and playwright (born 1930)
2004 – Leon Golub, American painter and academic (born 1922)
2004 – Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress (born 1907)
2005 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (born 1922)
2005 – Ahmed Deedat, South African missionary and author (born 1918)
2005 – John H. Johnson, American publisher, founded the Johnson Publishing Company (born 1918)
2005 – Gene Mauch, American baseball player and manager (born 1925)
2005 – Dean Rockwell, American commander, wrestler, and coach (born 1912)
2005 – Monica Sjöö, Swedish-English painter (born 1938)
2007 – Ma Lik, Chinese journalist and politician (born 1952)
2007 – Melville Shavelson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1917)
2008 – Orville Moody, American golfer (born 1933)
2009 – Daniel Jarque, Spanish footballer (born 1983)
2010 – Patricia Neal, American actress (born 1926)
2012 – Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, German-American physicist and academic (born 1926)
2012 – Ruth Etchells, English poet and academic (born 1931)
2012 – Surya Lesmana, Indonesian footballer and manager (born 1944)
2012 – Kurt Maetzig, German director and screenwriter (born 1911)
2013 – Karen Black, American actress (born 1939)
2013 – Johannes Bluyssen, Dutch bishop (born 1926)
2013 – Fernando Castro Pacheco, Mexican painter, engraver, and illustrator (born 1918)
2013 – Igor Kurnosov, Russian chess player (born 1985)
2013 – Regina Resnik, American soprano and actress (born 1922)
2014 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (born 1929)
2014 – Charles Keating, English-American actor (born 1941)
2014 – Leonardo Legaspi, Filipino archbishop (born 1935)
2014 – Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer and conductor (born 1929)
2014 – Red Wilson, American football and baseball player (born 1929)
2015 – Sean Price, American rapper (born 1972)
2015 – Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1925)
2017 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1936)
2018 – Nicholas Bett, Kenyan track and field athlete (born 1990)
2020 – Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, Colombian football player and manager (born 1929)
2020 – Alfredo Lim, former Philippine senator and Mayor of Manila (born 1929)
2021 – Bill Davis, Canadian politician, 18th premier of Ontario (born 1929)
2022 – Olivia Newton-John, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress (born 1948)
2023 – Rodriguez, American singer and songwriter (born 1942)
2024 – Issa Hayatou, Cameroonian basketball player and football executive (born 1946)
2024 – Mitzi McCall, American actress (born 1930)
2024 – Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Puerto Rican professional golfer (born 1935)
2024 – Steve Symms, American politician and lobbyist (born 1938)

Holidays and observances 17

Ceasefire Day (end of Iran–Iraq War) (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Christian Feast Day: Altmann of Passau Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro Cyriacus and companions Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order. Four Crowned Martyrs Blessed Maria Anna Rosa Caiani Mary MacKillop Severus of Vienne August 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Altmann of Passau
Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro
Cyriacus and companions
Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order.
Four Crowned Martyrs
Blessed Maria Anna Rosa Caiani
Mary MacKillop
Severus of Vienne
August 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
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)