August 7

August 7 is the 219th day of the year (220th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 146 days remaining until the end of the year.

This day marks the approximate midpoint of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and of winter in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the June solstice).

Events

• 322 BC – Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedonia.
• 461 – Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the magister militum Ricimer.
• 626 – The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Constantinople.
• 936 – Coronation of King Otto I of Germany.
• 1420 – Construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore begins in Florence.
• 1427 – The Visconti of Milan's fleet is destroyed by the Venetians on the Po River.
• 1461 – The Ming dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor.
• 1679 – The brigantine Le Griffon, commissioned by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the south-eastern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America.
• 1714 – The Battle of Gangut: The first important victory of the Russian Navy.
• 1782 – George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart.
• 1789 – The United States Department of War is established.
• 1791 – American troops destroy the Miami town of Kenapacomaqua near the site of present-day Logansport, Indiana in the Northwest Indian War.
• 1794 – U.S. President George Washington invokes the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
• 1819 – Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá.
• 1858 – The first Australian rules football match is played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College.
• 1879 – The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester, England.
• 1890 – Anna Månsdotter becomes the last woman in Sweden to be executed, for the 1889 Yngsjö murder.
• 1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York, New York to San Francisco, California.
• 1927 – The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.
• 1930 – The last confirmed lynching of blacks in the Northern United States occurs in Marion, Indiana. Two men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, are killed.
• 1933 – The Simele massacre: The Iraqi government slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele. The day becomes known as Assyrian Martyrs Day.
• 1938 – The Holocaust: The building of Mauthausen concentration camp begins.
• 1940 – World War II: Alsace-Lorraine is annexed by the Third Reich.
• 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins as the United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
• 1944 – IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
• 1946 – The government of the Soviet Union presented a note to its Turkish counterparts which refuted the latter's sovereignty over the Turkish Straits, thus beginning the Turkish Straits crisis.
• 1947 – Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.
• 1947 – The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).
• 1955 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, sells its first transistor radios in Japan.
• 1959 – The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design, and was minted until 2008.
• 1959 – Explorer program: Explorer 6 launches from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1960 – Ivory Coast becomes independent from France.
• 1962 – Canadian-born American pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey awarded the U.S. President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for her refusal to authorize thalidomide.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
• 1966 – Race riots occur in Lansing, Michigan.
• 1970 – California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
• 1974 – Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the twin towers of the World Trade Center 1,368 feet (417 m) in the air.
• 1976 – Viking program: Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars.
• 1978 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently.
• 1979 – Several tornadoes strike the city of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada and the surrounding communities.
• 1981 – The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
• 1985 – Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
• 1985 – The White House Farm murders took place near the English village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, England.
• 1987 – Lynne Cox becomes first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union
• 1989 – U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
• 1998 – The United States embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya kill approximately 212 people.
• 1999 – The Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade invades neighboring Dagestan.
• 2008 – The start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia.
• 2012 – Three gunmen kill 19 people in a church near Okene, Nigeria.
• 2013 – A bombing in a market in Karachi, Pakistan, kills eleven people.

Births

• 317 – Constantius II, Roman emperor (d. 361)
• 1282 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (d. 1316)
• 1533 – Alonso de Ercilla, Spanish soldier and poet (d. 1595)
• 1560 – Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian serial killer (d. 1614)
• 1571 – Thomas Lupo, English viol player and composer (d. 1627)
• 1574 – Robert Dudley, English explorer and cartographer (d. 1649)
• 1598 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet and linguist (d. 1672)
• 1726 – James Bowdoin, American banker and politician, 2nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1790)
• 1734 – Duchess Maria Anna Josepha of Bavaria (d. 1776)
• 1742 – Nathanael Greene, American general (d. 1786)
• 1751 – Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange (d. 1820)
• 1779 – Louis de Freycinet, French navigator and explorer (d. 1842)
• 1779 – Carl Ritter, German geographer and academic (d. 1859)
• 1783 – Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom (d. 1810)
• 1844 – Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist and author (d. 1911)
• 1860 – Alan Leo, English astrologer and author (d. 1917)
• 1862 – Victoria of Baden (d. 1931)
• 1867 – Emil Nolde, Danish-German painter and illustrator (d. 1956)
• 1868 – Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian-German economist and statistician (d. 1931)
• 1876 – Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (d. 1917)
• 1877 – Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (d. 1949)
• 1879 – Johannes Kotze, South African cricketer (d. 1931)
• 1884 – Billie Burke, American actress and singer (d. 1970)
• 1884 – Nikolai Triik, Estonian painter and illustrator (d. 1940)
• 1887 – Anna Elisabet Weirauch, German author and playwright (d. 1970)
• 1890 – Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, American author and activist (d. 1964)
• 1901 – Ann Harding, American actress and singer (d. 1981)
• 1903 – Louis Leakey, Kenyan-English palaeontologist and archaeologist (d. 1972)
• 1904 – Ralph Bunche, American political scientist, academic, and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1907 – Albert Kotin, Belarusian-American soldier and painter (d. 1980)
• 1910 – Freddie Slack, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1965)
• 1911 – István Bibó, Hungarian lawyer and politician (d. 1979)
• 1911 – Nicholas Ray, American director and screenwriter (d. 1979)
• 1913 – George Van Eps, American guitarist (d. 1998)
• 1916 – Kermit Love, American actor, puppeteer, and costume designer (d. 2008)
• 1917 – Budd Lynch, Canadian-American sportscaster (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Poni Adams, American actress (d. 2014)
• 1918 – C. Buddingh', Dutch poet and translator (d. 1985)
• 1918 – Gordon Zahn, American sociologist and author (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Manitas de Plata, French guitarist (d. 2014)
• 1921 – Karel Husa, Czech-American composer and conductor
• 1924 – Kenneth Kendall, Indian-English journalist and actor (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (d. 2003)
• 1925 – M. S. Swaminathan, Indian geneticist and academic
• 1926 – Stan Freberg, American puppeteer, voice actor, and singer (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Rocky Bridges, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Edwin Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 50th Governor of Louisiana
• 1927 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (d. 2003)
• 1927 – Carl Switzer, American actor and singer (d. 1959)
• 1928 – Betsy Byars, American author and academic
• 1928 – Owen Luder, English architect, designed Tricorn Centre and Trinity Square
• 1928 – Romeo Muller, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1992)
• 1928 – James Randi, Canadian-American magician, actor, and author
• 1928 – Herb Reed, American singer (The Platters) (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Don Larsen, American baseball player
• 1930 – Togrul Narimanbekov, Azerbaijani-French painter and academic (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Veljo Tormis, Estonian composer and educator
• 1931 – Jack Good, British television producer
• 1931 – Charles E. Rice, American scholar and author (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian runner (d. 1973)
• 1932 – Edward Hardwicke, English actor (d. 2011)
• 1932 – Rien Poortvliet, Dutch painter and illustrator (d. 1995)
• 1932 – Maurice Rabb, Jr., American ophthalmologist and academic (d. 2005)
• 1933 – Eddie Firmani, South African footballer and manager
• 1933 – Elinor Ostrom, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Jerry Pournelle, American journalist and author
• 1934 – Sándor Simó, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
• 1935 – Rahsaan Roland Kirk, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1977)
• 1937 – Zoltán Berczik, Hungarian table tennis player and coach (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Don Wilson, English cricketer and coach (d. 2012)
• 1939 – Anjanette Comer, American actress
• 1939 – Verna Bloom, American actress
• 1940 – Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian lawyer and politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014)
• 1941 – Matthew Evans, Baron Evans of Temple Guiting, English publisher and politician
• 1942 – Tobin Bell, American actor and producer
• 1942 – Garrison Keillor, American author and radio host
• 1942 – Carlos Monzón, Argentinian boxer and actor (d. 1995)
• 1942 – Richard Sykes, English biochemist and academic
• 1942 – B. J. Thomas, American singer and actor
• 1942 – Caetano Veloso, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – Mohammed Badie, Egyptian religious leader
• 1943 – Lana Cantrell, Australian-American singer and lawyer
• 1943 – Alain Corneau, French director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
• 1944 – John Glover, American actor and singer
• 1944 – Robert Mueller, American soldier and lawyer, 6th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• 1944 – David Rasche, American actor
• 1945 – Kenny Ireland, Scottish actor and director (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Alan Page, American football player and jurist
• 1946 – Ed Seykota, American businessman and academic
• 1947 – Suthivelu, Indian actor (d. 2012)
• 1947 – Franciscus Henri, Dutch-Australian singer-songwriter
• 1947 – Sofia Rotaru, Ukrainian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1948 – Marty Appel, American businessman and author
• 1948 – Greg Chappell, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1948 – Antonis Vardis, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1949 – Walid Jumblatt, Lebanese journalist and politician
• 1949 – Matthew Parris, South African-English journalist and politician
• 1950 – Rodney Crowell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Notorious Cherry Bombs)
• 1950 – Alan Keyes, American politician and diplomat, 16th Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
• 1950 – S. Thandayuthapani, Sri Lankan educator and politician
• 1952 – Kees Kist, Dutch footballer
• 1952 – Alexei Sayle, English comedian, actor, and author
• 1953 – Anne Fadiman, American journalist and author
• 1954 – Jonathan Pollard, American-Israeli spy
• 1954 – Alan Reid, Scottish politician
• 1955 – Diane Downs, American murderer
• 1955 – Wayne Knight, American actor
• 1955 – Greg Nickels, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Seattle
• 1955 – Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez, Cuban librarian
• 1955 – Vladimir Sorokin, Russian author and playwright
• 1955 – Gregoris Valtinos, Greek actor and director
• 1956 – Sharon Isbin, American guitarist
• 1957 – Caroline Aaron, American actress and producer
• 1957 – Daire Brehan, Irish journalist, lawyer, and actress (d. 2012)
• 1957 – Alexander Dityatin, Russian gymnast and colonel
• 1958 – Russell Baze, Canadian-American jockey
• 1958 – Bruce Dickinson, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Iron Maiden and Samson)
• 1958 – Alberto Salazar, Cuban-American runner and coach
• 1959 – Koenraad Elst, Belgian orientalist and author
• 1959 – Ali Shah, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
• 1960 – David Duchovny, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1960 – Jacquie O'Sullivan, English singer-songwriter (Bananarama and Shillelagh Sisters)
• 1960 – Rosana Pastor, Spanish actress
• 1961 – Brian Conley, English actor and singer
• 1961 – Yelena Davydova, Russian gymnast
• 1961 – Walter Swinburn, English jockey and trainer
• 1961 – Maggie Wheeler, American actress
• 1962 – Alison Brown, American banjo player, songwriter, and producer (Northern Lights)
• 1962 – Bruno Pelletier, Canadian singer and actor
• 1962 – Alain Robert, French rock climber
• 1963 – Paul Dunn, Australian rugby player
• 1963 – Nick Gillespie, American journalist and author
• 1963 – Hiroaki Hirata, Japanese voice actor
• 1963 – Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, American son of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
• 1963 – Harold Perrineau, American actor and producer
• 1963 – Marcus Roberts, American pianist and educator
• 1964 – John Birmingham, English-Australian journalist and author
• 1964 – Peter Niven, Scottish jockey
• 1966 – David Cairns, Scottish laicised priest and politician, Minister of State for Scotland (d. 2011)
• 1966 – Shobna Gulati, English actress and dancer
• 1966 – Kristin Hersh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave)
• 1966 – Jimmy Wales, American businessman, co-founded Wikipedia
• 1967 – Jason Grimsley, American baseball player
• 1968 – Big Mello, American rapper (Screwed Up Click) (d. 2002)
• 1968 – Francesca Gregorini, Italian-American director and screenwriter
• 1968 – Trevor Hendy, Australian surfer and coach
• 1968 – Lynn Strait, American singer-songwriter (Snot) (d. 1998)
• 1969 – Paul Lambert, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1970 – Eric Namesnik, American swimmer (d. 2006)
• 1971 – Dominic Cork, England cricketer and sportscaster
• 1971 – Sydney Penny, American actress and producer
• 1971 – Rachel York, American actress and singer
• 1972 – Brad Patton, Australian-Dutch porn actor
• 1972 – Gerry Peñalosa, Filipino boxer and promoter
• 1972 – Greg Serano, American actor
• 1973 – Mikhail Gorsheniov, Russian singer-songwriter (Korol i Shut) (d. 2013)
• 1973 – Danny Graves, Vietnamese-American baseball player
• 1973 – Zane Lowe, New Zealand radio and television host
• 1973 – Kevin Muscat, English-Australian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1974 – Chico Benymon, American actor
• 1974 – Michael Shannon, American actor
• 1975 – Koray Candemir, Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Kargo)
• 1975 – Gerard Denton, Australian cricketer
• 1975 – Gaahl, Norwegian singer-songwriter (God Seed, Gaahlskagg, Wardruna, and Trelldom)
• 1975 – David Hicks, Australian criminal
• 1975 – Ray Hill, American football player (d. 2015)
• 1975 – Rebecca Kleefisch, American journalist and politician, 44th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
• 1975 – Hans Matheson, Scottish actor
• 1975 – Edgar Rentería, Colombian baseball player
• 1975 – Charlize Theron, South African-American actress and producer
• 1976 – Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Greek footballer and manager
• 1976 – Shane Lechler, American football player
• 1977 – Charlotte Ronson, English-American fashion designer
• 1977 – Samantha Ronson, English singer-songwriter and DJ
• 1977 – Vanessa Stacey, New Zealand actress
• 1978 – Alexandre Aja, French director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1978 – Jamey Jasta, American singer-songwriter (Hatebreed, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Icepick)
• 1978 – Cirroc Lofton, American actor
• 1978 – Mark McCammon, English-Barbadian footballer
• 1978 – Vanness Wu, American-Taiwanese singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (F4 and Kangta & Vanness)
• 1978 – Shirley Yeung, Hong Kong actress and singer
• 1979 – Eric Johnson, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1979 – Miguel Llera, Spanish footballer
• 1979 – Jason Ruta, Canadian actor
• 1979 – Nicole Tubiola, American actress
• 1979 – Birgit Zotz, Austrian anthropologist and author
• 1980 – Carsten Busch, German footballer
• 1980 – Aurélie Claudel, French model and actress
• 1980 – Tácio Caetano Cruz Queiroz, Brazilian footballer
• 1980 – Seiichiro Maki, Japanese footballer
• 1981 – David Testo, American soccer player
• 1981 – Randy Wayne, American actor and producer
• 1982 – Ángeles Balbiani, Argentinian actress and singer
• 1982 – Abbie Cornish, Australian actress
• 1982 – Edwin Dewees, American mixed martial artist
• 1982 – Juan Martín Hernández, Argentinian rugby player
• 1982 – Marquise Hill, American football player (d. 2007)
• 1982 – Yana Klochkova, Ukrainian swimmer
• 1982 – Jasmin Mäntylä, Finnish model and singer
• 1982 – Brit Marling, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1982 – Marco Melandri, Italian motorcycle racer
• 1982 – Vassilis Spanoulis, Greek basketball player
• 1982 – Martin Vučić, Macedonian singer and drummer
• 1983 – Christian Chávez, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor (RBD)
• 1983 – Murat Dalkılıç, Turkish singer-songwriter
• 1983 – Andriy Hryvko, Ukrainian cyclist
• 1983 – Tina O'Brien, English actress
• 1983 – Mark Pettini, English cricketer and journalist
• 1984 – Stratos Perperoglou, Greek basketball player
• 1984 – Tooba Siddiqui, Pakistani model and actress
• 1984 – Yun Hyon-seok, South Korean poet and author (d. 2003)
• 1986 – Paul Biedermann, German swimmer
• 1986 – Valter Birsa, Slovenian footballer
• 1986 – Altair Jarabo, Mexican model and actress
• 1986 – Sten Olmre, Estonian volleyball player
• 1986 – Juan de la Rosa, Mexican boxer
• 1987 – Sidney Crosby, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1987 – Mustapha Dumbuya, Sierra Leonean footballer
• 1987 – Ryan Lavarnway, American baseball player
• 1987 – Mimi Paley, American actress
• 1987 – Rouven Sattelmaier, German footballer
• 1988 – Anikka Albrite, American porn actress
• 1988 – Liz Cochran, American model, Miss Alabama 2009
• 1988 – Mohamed Coulibaly, Senegalese footballer
• 1988 – Melody Oliveria, American blogger
• 1988 – Erik Pieters, Dutch footballer
• 1988 – Beanie Wells, American football player
• 1989 – DeMar DeRozan, American basketball player
• 1990 – Helen Flanagan, English actress
• 1991 – Luis Salom, Spanish motorcycle racer
• 1991 – Mitchell te Vrede, Dutch footballer
• 1991 – Mike Trout, American baseball player
• 1992 – Ariel Camacho, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
• 1992 – Adam Yates, English cyclist
• 1992 – Yusuf Erdoğan, Turkish footballer
• 1993 – Martti Nõmme, Estonian ski jumper
• 1993 – Zaur Sizo, Russian footballer
• 1993 – Karol Zalewski, Polish sprinter
• 1996 – Tessa Allen, American actress
• 1996 – Liam James, Canadian actor

Deaths

• 461 – Majorian, Roman emperor (b. 420)
• 1106 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1050)
• 1385 – Joan of Kent (b. 1328)
• 1485 – Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany (b. 1454)
• 1613 – Thomas Fleming, English judge and politician, Lord Chief Justice of England (b. 1544)
• 1616 – Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect, designed Teatro Olimpico (b. 1548)
• 1632 – Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford, English soldier (b. 1575)
• 1635 – Friedrich Spee, German poet and academic (b. 1591)
• 1639 – Martin van den Hove, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (b. 1605)
• 1661 – Jin Shengtan, Chinese journalist and critic (b. 1608)
• 1817 – Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French economist and politician (b. 1739)
• 1823 – Mátyás Laáb, Croatian priest and translator (b. 1746)
• 1834 – Joseph Marie Jacquard, French weaver and inventor, invented the Jacquard loom (b. 1752)
• 1848 – Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist and academic (b. 1779)
• 1855 – Mariano Arista, Mexican general and politician, 19th President of Mexico (b. 1802)
• 1864 – Li Xiucheng, Chinese field marshal (b. 1823)
• 1893 – Alfredo Catalani, Italian composer and academic (b. 1854)
• 1899 – Jacob Maris, Dutch painter and educator (b. 1837)
• 1900 – Wilhelm Liebknecht, German lawyer and politician (b. 1826)
• 1912 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and academic (b. 1841)
• 1917 – Edwin Harris Dunning, South African-English commander and pilot (b. 1891)
• 1938 – Konstantin Stanislavsky, Russian actor and director (b. 1863)
• 1941 – Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
• 1945 – Yi Wu, Korean colonel (b. 1912)
• 1948 – Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director (b. 1879)
• 1953 – Abner Powell, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
• 1957 – Oliver Hardy, American actor, singer, and director (b. 1892)
• 1958 – Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, American author and educator (b. 1892)
• 1960 – Luis Ángel Firpo, Argentinian boxer (b. 1894)
• 1968 – Giovanni Bracco, Italian race car driver (b. 1908)
• 1969 – Jean Bastien, French professional footballer (b. 1915)
• 1969 – Joseph Kosma, Hungarian-French composer (b. 1905)
• 1970 – Harold Haley, American lawyer and judge (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Jonathan P. Jackson, American bodyguard (b. 1953)
• 1972 – Joi Lansing, American model, actress, and singer (b. 1928)
• 1972 – Aspasia Manos, Greek wife of Alexander of Greece (b. 1896)
• 1973 – Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (b. 1895)
• 1974 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet and author (b. 1925)
• 1974 – Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1902)
• 1981 – Gunnar Uusi, Estonian chess player (b. 1931)
• 1984 – Esther Phillips, American singer (b. 1935)
• 1984 – Baha Gelenbevi, Turkish film artist (d. 1907)
• 1985 – Grayson Hall, American actress (b. 1923)
• 1987 – Camille Chamoun, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (b. 1900)
• 1989 – Mickey Leland, American lawyer and politician (b. 1944)
• 1991 – Billy T. James, New Zealand comedian and actor (b. 1944)
• 1992 – John Anderson, American actor and director (b. 1922)
• 1994 – Larry Martyn, English actor (b. 1934)
• 1995 – Brigid Brophy, English author and critic (b. 1929)
• 1999 – Brion James, American actor (b. 1945)
• 2001 – Algirdas Lauritėnas, Lithuanian basketball player (b. 1932)
• 2003 – K. D. Arulpragasam, Sri Lankan zoologist and academic (b. 1931)
• 2003 – Mickey McDermott, American baseball player and coach (b. 1929)
• 2004 – Red Adair, American firefighter (b. 1915)
• 2004 – Colin Bibby, English ornithologist and academic (b. 1948)
• 2005 – Peter Jennings, Canadian-American journalist and author (b. 1938)
• 2006 – Mary Anderson Bain, American lawyer and politician (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Lois January, American actress (b. 1913)
• 2007 – Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director, and producer (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Hal Fishman, American journalist and actor (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Angus Tait, New Zealand businessman, founded Tait Communications (b. 1919)
• 2008 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Andrea Pininfarina, Italian engineer and businessman (b. 1957)
• 2009 – Louis E. Saavedra, American educator and politician, 48th Mayor of Albuquerque (b. 1933)
• 2009 – Mike Seeger, American singer-songwriter (New Lost City Ramblers) (b. 1933)
• 2010 – Roberto Cantoral, Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1935)
• 2010 – John Nelder, English mathematician and statistician (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Mark Hatfield, American soldier, academic, and politician, 29th Governor of Oregon (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Nancy Wake, New Zealand-English captain (b. 1912)
• 2011 – Joe Yamanaka, Japanese singer and actor (Flower Travellin' Band and The Wailers Band) (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Murtuz Alasgarov, Azerbaijani academic and politician, Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Judith Crist, American critic and academic (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Vladimir Kobzev, Russian footballer and coach (b. 1959)
• 2012 – Anna Piaggi, Italian journalist and author (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Marvin Lee Wilson, American murderer (b. 1958)
• 2012 – Mayer Zald, American sociologist and academic (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Dušan Zbavitel, Czech indologist and author (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Samuel G. Armistead, American linguist, historian, and academic (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Almir Kayumov, Russian footballer (b. 1964)
• 2013 – Anthony Pawson, English-Canadian biologist, chemist, and academic (b. 1952)
• 2013 – Margaret Pellegrini, American actress and dancer (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Sean Sasser, American chef, educator, and activist (b. 1968)
• 2013 – Meeli Truu, Estonian architect (d. 1946)
• 2013 – Alexander Yagubkin, Russian boxer (b. 1961)
• 2014 – Cristina Deutekom, Dutch soprano and actress (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Víctor Fayad, Argentinian lawyer and politician (b. 1955)
• 2014 – Perry Moss, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Henry Stone, American record producer (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Uggie, American acting dog (b. 2002)
• 2015 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Terrence Evans, American actor (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Frances Oldham Kelsey, Canadian pharmacologist and physician (b. 1914)
• 2015 – Louise Suggs, American golfer, co-founded LPGA (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Albert of Trapani
  • Cajetan of Thienna
  • Carpophorus
  • Dometius of Persia
  • Donatus of Arezzo
  • John Mason Neale and Catherine Winkworth (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Nantovinus
  • Pope Sixtus II
  • August 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Assyrian Martyrs Day (Assyrian community)
• Battle of Boyacá Day (Colombia)
• Emancipation Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
• Republic Day (Ivory Coast)
• Youth Day (Kiribati)

External links

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