History of Today 22 August: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 22 August. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 22 August. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 22 August 2026, 01:00 AM

Important Events on 22 August in History

22 Aug 2012: Ethnic clashes over grazing rights for cattle in Kenya's Tana River District result in more than 52 deaths. Read more
22 Aug 2007: The Texas Rangers defeat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history. Read more
22 Aug 2006: Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border over eastern Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board. Read more
22 Aug 2006: Grigori Perelman is awarded the Fields Medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture in mathematics but refuses to accept the medal. Read more
22 Aug 2004: Versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway. Read more
22 Aug 2003: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama Roy Moore is suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building. Read more
22 Aug 1999: China Airlines Flight 642 crashes at Hong Kong International Airport, killing three people and injuring 208 more. Read more
22 Aug 1992: FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shoots and kills Vicki Weaver during an 11-day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Read more
22 Aug 1991: Iceland is the first nation in the world to recognize the independence of the Baltic states. Read more
22 Aug 1989: Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts. Read more
22 Aug 1985: British Airtours Flight 28M suffers an engine fire during takeoff at Manchester Airport. The pilots abort but due to inefficient evacuation procedures 55 people are killed, mostly from smoke inhalation. Read more
22 Aug 1981: Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes in Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan. All 110 people on board are killed. Read more
22 Aug 1978: Nicaraguan Revolution: The FSLN seizes the National Congress of Nicaragua, along with over a thousand hostages. Read more
22 Aug 1978: The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment is passed by the U.S. Congress, although it is never ratified by a sufficient number of states. Read more
22 Aug 1973: The Congress of Chile votes in favour of a resolution condemning President Salvador Allende's government and demands that he resign or else be unseated through force and new elections. Read more
22 Aug 1972: Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies. Read more
22 Aug 1971: J. Edgar Hoover and John Mitchell announce the arrest of 20 of the Camden 28. Read more
22 Aug 1968: Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America. Read more
22 Aug 1966: Labor movements NFWA and AWOC merge to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), the predecessor of the United Farm Workers. Read more
22 Aug 1965: Juan Marichal, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, strikes John Roseboro, catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, on the head with a bat, sparking a 14-minute brawl, one of the most violent on-field incidents in sports history. Read more
22 Aug 1963: X-15 Flight 91 reaches the highest altitude of the X-15 program (107.96 km (67.08 mi) (354,200 feet)). Read more
22 Aug 1962: The OAS attempts to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle. Read more
22 Aug 1953: The penal colony on Devil's Island is permanently closed. Read more
22 Aug 1949: The Queen Charlotte earthquake is Canada's strongest since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. Read more
22 Aug 1944: World War II: Holocaust of Kedros in Crete by German forces. Read more
22 Aug 1942: Brazil declares war on Germany, Japan and Italy. Read more
22 Aug 1934: Bill Woodfull of Australia becomes the only test cricket captain to twice regain The Ashes. Read more
22 Aug 1922: Michael Collins, Commander-in-chief of the Irish Free State Army, is shot dead in an ambush during the Irish Civil War. Read more
22 Aug 1902: The Cadillac Motor Company is founded. Read more
22 Aug 1902: Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile. Read more
22 Aug 1902: At least 6,000 people are killed by the magnitude 7.7 Kashgar earthquake in the Tien Shan mountains. Read more
22 Aug 1894: Mahatma Gandhi forms the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal. Read more
22 Aug 1875: The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands. Read more
22 Aug 1864: Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention, establishing the rules of protection of the victims of armed conflicts. Read more
22 Aug 1851: The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America. Read more
22 Aug 1849: Passaleão incident: João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, the governor of Portuguese Macau, is assassinated by a group of Chinese locals, triggering a military confrontation between China and Portugal at the Battle of Passaleão three days after. Read more
22 Aug 1846: The Second Federal Republic of Mexico is established. Read more
22 Aug 1827: José de La Mar becomes President of Peru. Read more

Famous Births on 22 August

22 Aug 2005: Stiliana Nikolova, Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast Stiliana Nikolova is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2024 European all-around champion, the 2025 and 2026 World all-around silver medalist, 2022 World all-around bronze medalist and hoop, clubs, and ribbon silver medalist, the 2023 World ball bronze medalist and team competition champion, and a two-time European all-around bronze medalist and champion in the team competition. She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where she came in 11th place in all-around qualifications. At the junior level, she is the 2020 European Junior ribbon champion and ball silver medalist. Read more
22 Aug 2003: Cooper Connolly, Australian cricketer Cooper Patrick Leonard Connolly is an Australian International cricketer who represents the Australian national cricket team in all forms of this game. He is a left-handed batter and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler, who plays for Western Australia in domestic cricket, Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League and Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League. Read more
22 Aug 2001: LaMelo Ball, American basketball player LaMelo LaFrance Ball is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and named an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022. Read more
22 Aug 1997: Maxx Crosby, American football player Maxx Robert Crosby is an American professional football defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Eastern Michigan Eagles and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft. Read more
22 Aug 1997: Fanum, American streamer Roberto Escanio, known online as Fanum, is an American streamer and content creator. Fanum emerged online around 2016. He is known for originating the term "Fanum tax". He won "Breakout Streamer of the Year" at the 13th Streamy Awards and the "Best Roleplay Streamer" of the year award at the 2022 Streamer Awards and 2023 Streamer Awards. He is a member of the streamer group Any Means Possible (AMP). Read more
22 Aug 1997: Lautaro Martínez, Argentine footballer Lautaro Javier Martínez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan, which he captains, and the Argentina national team. Known for his work rate, clinical finishing, and tactical ability, he is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world. Read more
22 Aug 1996: Jessica-Jane Applegate, British Paralympic swimmer Jessica-Jane Applegate MBE is a retired British Paralympic swimmer. Applegate competed in the S14 classification for swimmers with intellectual disabilities, mainly freestyle and backstroke preferring shorter distances. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics and on 2 September, Applegate won the gold setting a Paralympic record in the S14 200m freestyle. Read more
22 Aug 1996: Jeon So-min, South Korean singer-songwriter Jeon So-min, known professionally as Somin (소민), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and composer signed under DSP Media. She is a member of the co-ed group Kard, and a former member of South Korean girl groups Puretty and April. Somin made her solo debut with the EP Unveil, released on April 2, 2026. Read more
22 Aug 1995: Dua Lipa, English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa is an English singer and songwriter. Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Read more
22 Aug 1994: Israel Broussard, American actor Isaiah Israel Broussard is an American actor. He made his film debut in the comedy-drama Flipped, and is known for his roles in the crime film The Bling Ring (2013), the drama Perfect High (2015), the thriller H8RZ (2015), the comedy Good Kids (2016), the slasher film Happy Death Day (2017) as well as its 2019 sequel Happy Death Day 2U, and the teen romance film To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018). Read more
22 Aug 1994: Olli Määttä, Finnish ice hockey player Olli Määttä is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2012 NHL entry draft. Määttä has also played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Utah Mammoth, and Calgary Flames. Read more
22 Aug 1993: Laura Dahlmeier, German biathlete (died 2025) Laura Dahlmeier was a German biathlete. Dahlmeier started in her first World Cup races in the 2012–13 season. In 2014, she participated in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. She won a record of five gold medals at the World Championships of 2017. In 2018, she became the first woman to win the biathlon sprint and pursuit in the same Olympics. During her career she won a total of two golds and one bronze at the Olympics, seven gold medals, three silver medals and five bronze medals at World Championships, one overall World Cup and two discipline World Cup titles. Read more
22 Aug 1993: Dillon Danis, American mixed martial artist Dillon Danis is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in Misfits as part of their MMA division, where he is the current Misfits MMA Light Heavyweight (175lbs) Champion. Danis is also signed to the Cruiserweight division of Real American Freestyle (RAF). Read more
22 Aug 1992: Ema Burgić Bucko, Bosnian tennis player Ema Burgić is a Bosnian professional tennis player. Read more
22 Aug 1991: Federico Macheda, Italian footballer Federico Macheda is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Greece club Asteras Tripolis. Read more
22 Aug 1991: Brayden Schenn, Canadian ice hockey player Brayden Michael Schenn is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the former captain of the St. Louis Blues. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings fifth overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft. He also played for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2011 to 2017 before being traded to the Blues in 2017. Read more
22 Aug 1990: Randall Cobb, American football player Randall Ladonald Cobb II is an American former professional football wide receiver who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats, earning All-American honors in 2010. Cobb was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft. He also played one season each for the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, and New York Jets. Read more
22 Aug 1990: Drew Hutchison, American baseball player Andrew Scott Hutchison is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers. Read more
22 Aug 1990: Robbie Rochow, Australian rugby league player Robbie Rochow is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row forward in the 2010s. Read more
22 Aug 1990: Adam Thielen, American football player Adam John Thielen is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota State Mavericks and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2013, playing for them for 10 seasons. Thielen holds several NFL records, including eight straight games over 100+ yards receiving, and 74 receptions in the first half of a season. Thielen also played in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Read more
22 Aug 1989: Giacomo Bonaventura, Italian footballer Giacomo "Jack" Bonaventura is an Italian former professional footballer. Read more
22 Aug 1989: Aleksandra Gajewska, Polish politician and businessperson Aleksandra Małgorzata Gajewska is a Polish politician and businessperson. She has been a member a member of the Sejm of Poland since 2019, and the secretary of state of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy since 2023. Gajewska belongs to the Civic Coalition party. Read more
22 Aug 1987: Apollo Crews, American wrestler Sesugh Isaac Uhaa is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under the ring name Uhaa Nation. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Apollo Crews. Read more
22 Aug 1986: Stephen Ireland, Irish footballer Stephen James Ireland is an Irish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Read more
22 Aug 1986: Tokushōryū Makoto, Japanese sumo wrestler Tokushōryū Makoto is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Nara. An amateur sumo competitor while studying at Kinki University, he joined Kise stable and made his professional debut in January 2009. He won championships in the jonokuchi, sandanme and jūryō divisions, and first reached the top makuuchi division in July 2013. After spending most of 2018 and 2019 in the second tier, Tokushōryū returned to makuuchi in January 2020 and recorded 14 wins to take an upset top-division championship victory at the age of 33. He retired from competition in September 2023 and is now coaching, first at Kise stable and then at Nishikido stable, as an elder. His highest rank was maegashira 2, and he earned one kinboshi and two special prizes in his career. Read more
22 Aug 1985: Luke Russert, American journalist Luke Orth Russert is an American author and broadcast news correspondent who works for MS NOW. He previously worked for NBC News from 2008 to 2016. His reporting has been shown on NBC Nightly News, TODAY, NBCNews.com, and MSNBC. He has been a guest anchor on various MSNBC programs, including Morning Joe and Way Too Early with Jonathan Lemire. Read more
22 Aug 1985: Jey Uso, Samoan-American wrestler Joshua Samuel Fatu, better known by the ring name Jey Uso, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and is one-half of The Usos with his brother Jimmy as members of The Bloodline. He is also a member of the Anoaʻi family of professional wrestlers. Read more
22 Aug 1985: Jimmy Uso, Samoan-American wrestler Jonathan Solofa Fatu, better known by his ring name Jimmy Uso, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and is a one-half of The Usos with his twin brother Jey Uso as members of The Bloodline. He is a member of the Anoaʻi family of professional wrestlers. Read more
22 Aug 1985: Salih Yoluç, Turkish race car driver Ahmet Salih Yoluç is a Turkish racing driver. As a bronze-ranked competitor, Yoluç has taken notable accolades in sportscar racing, including the 2020 LMGTE Am class victory at Le Mans, the Pro-Am title in the 2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, as well as the 2022 European Le Mans Series and 2023 Asian Le Mans Series championships in the LMP2 category. Read more
22 Aug 1984: Lee Camp, English footballer Lee Michael John Camp is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a spell as a youth coach at Blackpool, he became Professional Development Phase Coach at Accrington Stanley. Read more
22 Aug 1984: Lawrence Quaye, Ghanaian-Qatari footballer Lawrence Awuley Quaye is a former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. Read more
22 Aug 1983: Theo Bos, Dutch cyclist Theo Bos is a Dutch former professional road and track cyclist. An Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion, he is the brother of Olympic medalist in speed skating Jan Bos. Read more
22 Aug 1983: Jahri Evans, American football player Jahri Divine Evans is an American football coach and former football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL). He currently serves as the assistant offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the Bloomsburg Huskies. Evans was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft and won Super Bowl XLIV with the team over the Indianapolis Colts. He has also been a member of the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers. Read more
22 Aug 1982: Sean Rash, American bowler Sean Rash is an American professional ten-pin bowler who has been one of the top players on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. He currently owns 18 PBA Tour titles, including two major championships, and was the 2011–12 PBA Player of the Year. Rash has rolled two of his 30 career PBA perfect 300 games on television, making him the first player in history with multiple perfect games in the TV finals of a PBA Tour event. Canadian François Lavoie, American Chris Via, and Australian Jason Belmonte have since joined Rash in this exclusive club. Rash has also been on the losing end of four televised 300 games, more than any other player. He owns ten PBA Regional Tour titles. Read more
22 Aug 1981: Alex Holmes, American football player Alex Holmes is an American former professional football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL). Read more
22 Aug 1981: Jang Hyun-kyu, South Korean footballer (died 2012) Jang Hyun-Kyu was a South Korean footballer. Read more
22 Aug 1981: Christina Obergföll, German javelin athlete Christina Obergföll is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. She was World Champion in 2013. Her personal best throw of 70.20 m is the German record. It also ranks her fifth on the overall list. Read more
22 Aug 1980: Roland Benschneider, German footballer Roland Benschneider is a German former professional footballer, who works as sports director at FC Energie Cottbus. Read more
22 Aug 1980: Nicolas Macrozonaris, Canadian sprinter Nicolas Macrozonaris is a Canadian Olympic track and field athlete of Greek descent, who has won the 100 metre national title four times and once in the 200 metre. Read more
22 Aug 1980: Seiko Yamamoto, Japanese wrestler Seiko Yamamoto is a Japanese wrestler and submission grappler. She is a four time World Wrestling Champion, two time Asian Wrestling Champion and an ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship medallist. Read more
22 Aug 1979: Brandon Adams, American actor Brandon Quintin Adams is an American actor, known for having played Jesse Hall in the first two Mighty Ducks movies and Kenny DeNunez in The Sandlot. He also played Jimmy Bean in the 1989 film Polly. Read more
22 Aug 1979: Matt Walters, American football player Matthew Jeremy Walters is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). Read more
22 Aug 1978: James Corden, English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter James Kimberley Corden is an English actor, comedian, writer, producer, singer, and television host. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. In the United States, he gained recognition as the host of The Late Late Show with James Corden, a late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. Read more
22 Aug 1978: Ioannis Gagaloudis, Greek basketball player Ioannis "Gaga" Gagaloudis is a Greek professional basketball player for Esperos Kallitheas B.C. of the Greek B Basket League. He is 1.92 m tall and 86 kg (190 lbs.) in weight. Born in Athens, Greece, he can play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions. Read more
22 Aug 1977: Heiðar Helguson, Icelandic footballer Heiðar Helguson is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
22 Aug 1977: Keren Cytter, Israeli visual artist and writer Keren Cytter is an Israeli visual artist and writer. Read more
22 Aug 1976: Marius Bezykornovas, Lithuanian footballer Marius Bezykornovas is a Lithuanian footballer. Read more
22 Aug 1976: Bryn Davies, American bassist, cellist, and pianist Bryn Davies is an American bassist, cellist, and occasional pianist. Read more
22 Aug 1976: Laurent Hernu, French decathlete Laurent Hernu is a French decathlete. In 2015, Hernu coached about 20 other athletes, including French sprint athlete Marie Gayot. Read more
22 Aug 1976: Jeff Weaver, American baseball player Jeffrey Charles Weaver is an American former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. During his career, he pitched for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, St. Louis Cardinals, and Seattle Mariners. He is the older brother of fellow MLB pitcher Jered Weaver. Read more
22 Aug 1976: Randy Wolf, American baseball player Randall Christopher Wolf, nicknamed "Wolfie", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, and Detroit Tigers. Read more
22 Aug 1975: Clint Bolton, Australian footballer Clint Brian Bolton is an Australian former goalkeeper. He was one of the most experienced goalkeepers in the history of the National Soccer League, which preceded the A-League. He played over 300 games for Brisbane Strikers, Sydney Olympic FC and Parramatta Power, and won two A-League championships with Sydney FC. Read more
22 Aug 1975: Rodrigo Santoro, Brazilian actor Rodrigo Junqueira Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor. He is known in Brazil for his appearances on local telenovelas, and internationally for his portrayal of the Persian king Xerxes I in the film 300 (2006) and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). Other credits include Brainstorm (2001), Carandiru (2003), Love Actually (2003), Che (2008), I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), and Rio (2011), What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012). He also appeared on the television series Lost in 2006, portraying the character Paulo, and on HBO's Westworld (2016–2020). Read more
22 Aug 1974: Cory Gardner, American politician Cory Scott Gardner is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2015 and a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011. As of 2026, he is the last Republican to serve Colorado in the U.S. Senate. Read more
22 Aug 1974: Jenna Leigh Green, American actress and singer Jenna Leigh Green is an American actress and singer best known for her performances as Libby Chessler on the television show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as well as for roles on tour in the musical Wicked and later in the Broadway production. Read more
22 Aug 1974: Agustín Pichot, Argentinian rugby player Agustín Pichot is an Argentine retired rugby union player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club Bristol. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides Stade Français and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997. In 2011, he was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. He was Vice-Chairman of World Rugby between 2016 and 2020. Read more
22 Aug 1973: Roslina Bakar, Malaysian sport shooter Roslina Bakar is a Malaysian sport shooter. Read more
22 Aug 1973: Howie Dorough, American singer-songwriter and dancer Howard Dwaine Dorough, also known as Howie D, is an American singer and actor. He is a member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys. Read more
22 Aug 1973: Kristen Wiig, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Wiig achieved stardom in the late 2000s for her seven-season tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 2005 to 2012. Read more
22 Aug 1973: Eurelijus Žukauskas, Lithuanian basketball player Eurelijus Žukauskas is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player. At a height of 2.18 m tall, and a weight of 118 kg (260 lb), he played at the center position. Read more
22 Aug 1972: Okkert Brits, South African pole vaulter Okkert Brits is a former South African track and field athlete who specialised in the pole vault. He was the silver medallist at the World Championships in Athletics in 2003. He was a four-time champion at the African Championships in Athletics and twice champion at the All-Africa Games. He was a gold medallist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and took bronze at the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Read more
22 Aug 1972: Paul Doucette, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer Paul John Doucette is an American musician best known for being the drummer, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the band Matchbox Twenty. Doucette is also known as a film composer and as the frontman of his own band The Break and Repair Method. He was married to Moon Zappa from 2002 to 2014. Read more
22 Aug 1972: Max Wilson, German-Brazilian race car driver Max Wilson Ferreira de Lima is a racing driver of Brazilian parentage. He won the Stock Car Brasil title in 2010, claimed seven podiums at the International Formula 3000 Championship, and also competed in CART and V8 Supercars. Read more
22 Aug 1971: Richard Armitage, English actor Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor and author. He received recognition in the UK with his first leading role as John Thornton in the British television programme North & South (2004). His role as dwarf king and leader Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's film trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit brought him international recognition. Read more
22 Aug 1971: Craig Finn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Craig A. Finn is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the frontman of the American indie rock band the Hold Steady, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums. Prior to forming the Hold Steady, Finn was the frontman of Lifter Puller. Read more
22 Aug 1971: Rick Yune, American actor Richard Yune is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and martial artist of Korean descent. His most notable roles have been in the movies Snow Falling on Cedars, the first Fast & Furious film The Fast and the Furious, the James Bond movie Die Another Day, and Olympus Has Fallen. He was part of the main cast of the Netflix original series Marco Polo. He made his debut in the Indian cinema in the 2025 Indian-Malayalam language film L2: Empuraan, which he played a cameo role. Read more
22 Aug 1970: Charlie Connelly, English author and broadcaster Charlie Connelly is an author of popular non-fiction books. In addition to being a writer, Connelly also appears as a presenter on radio and television shows. Read more
22 Aug 1970: Giada De Laurentiis, Italian-American chef and author Giada Pamela De Laurentiis is an Italian-American chef, entrepreneur, writer, and television personality. She was the host of Food Network's program called Giada at Home. She also appears regularly as a contributor and guest co-host on NBC's program entitled Today. De Laurentiis is the founder of the catering business GDL Foods. She is a winner of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle Host and the Gracie Award for Best Television Host. She was also recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as one of the Global 100 in Hospitality, a list featuring the 100 Most Powerful People in Global Hospitality. Read more
22 Aug 1970: Tímea Nagy, Hungarian fencer Tímea Nagy is a Hungarian right-handed épée fencer, three-time Olympian, 2006 individual world champion, and two-time Olympic champion. Read more
22 Aug 1968: Casper Christensen, Danish comedian, actor, and screenwriter Casper Lindholm Christensen is a Danish comedian. He has hosted many shows including Casper & Mandrilaftalen, the Danish airing of Shooting Stars and Don't Forget Your Toothbrush, and the Danish version of Deal or No Deal. He also had a leading role in the Danish sit-coms Langt fra Las Vegas and the long running series Klovn (Clown/Fool). Read more
22 Aug 1968: Aleksandr Mostovoi, Russian footballer Aleksandr Vladimirovich Mostovoi is a Russian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Read more
22 Aug 1968: Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian businesswoman Elisabeth Murdoch is an Australian-born British and American media executive based in the United Kingdom. She was a non-executive chairperson of Shine Group, the UK-based TV programme production company she founded in 2001, until the company's parent 21st Century Fox merged its Shine Group division with Apollo Global Management's Endemol and Core Media production houses, to specialise in reality TV, in 2015. She is the daughter of the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and is widely believed to be the inspiration for the character Shiv Roy in the television series Succession. Read more
22 Aug 1968: Horst Skoff, Austrian tennis player (died 2008) Horst Skoff was a professional tennis player from Austria, who won four tournaments at the top-level. Read more
22 Aug 1967: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, English actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor. On television, he is best known for his roles as Simon Adebisi in Oz (1997–2000), Mr. Eko in Lost (2005–2006), and Alamo Brown in Euphoria (2026). Notable film roles include Hitu in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), Lock-Nah in The Mummy Returns (2001), Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity (2002), Heavy Duty in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Kurse in Thor: The Dark World (2013), Dave Duerson in Concussion (2015), and Killer Croc in Suicide Squad (2016). Read more
22 Aug 1967: Ty Burrell, American actor and comedian Tyler Gerald Burrell is an American actor. Burrell is best known for playing Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009–2020), for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. Read more
22 Aug 1967: Paul Colman, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist Paul Colman is a British-Australian pop-rock guitarist, vocalist, pianist, and composer. He has earned recognition as a Christian musician both independently and as part of his band, the Paul Colman Trio, as a solo artist, and with the band Newsboys. His songwriting talents have been recognized with a Grammy nomination and several Dove Awards. Read more
22 Aug 1967: Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (died 2002) Layne Thomas Staley was an American singer-songwriter. He was the original lead vocalist of Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part of Seattle's grunge movement. He was known for his distinctive vocal style as well as his harmonizing with bandmate Jerry Cantrell. Before his success with Alice in Chains, Staley was also a member of the glam metal bands Sleze and Alice N' Chains. He was also a part of the supergroups Mad Season and Class of '99. Read more
22 Aug 1966: GZA, American rapper and producer Gary Eldridge Grice, better known by his stage names GZA and the Genius, is an American rapper. A founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both the first member in the group to receive a record deal and being the oldest member. He has appeared on his fellow Wu-Tang members' solo projects, and has maintained a successful solo career starting with his second album Liquid Swords (1995). Read more
22 Aug 1966: Rob Witschge, Dutch footballer and manager Robert Witschge is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Read more
22 Aug 1965: Wendy Botha, South African-Australian surfer Wendy Botha is a four-time world surfing champion. She won her first title as a South African citizen in 1987, then she became an Australian citizen and won three more titles in 1989, 1991, and 1992. She also posed nude for Australian Playboy for the September issue of 1992.
Botha married New Zealand rugby league international and television star Brent Todd in 1993.
They had two children, Jessica and Ethan, and split in about 2005. Read more
22 Aug 1965: David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (died 2004) David Reimer was a Canadian boy raised as a girl following medical advice and intervention after his penis was severely injured during a botched circumcision in infancy. Read more
22 Aug 1964: Mats Wilander, Swedish-American tennis player and coach Mats Arne Olof Wilander is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 20 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 1988. Wilander won 33 career singles titles, including seven majors, and seven career doubles titles, including a major in men's doubles at Wimbledon. Read more
22 Aug 1963: Tori Amos, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer Tori Amos is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. A child prodigy, Amos entered the Peabody Institute's preparatory division at five, but left at eleven, coming of age as a pianist in Washington, D.C. bars. Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop-rock group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion. Read more
22 Aug 1963: James DeBarge, American R&B/soul singer James Curtis DeBarge is an American R&B/soul singer. He was one of the members of the singing family vocal group DeBarge who became famous with their mid-1980s songs "All This Love", "Love Me in a Special Way", "Rhythm of the Night", and "Who's Holding Donna Now". Read more
22 Aug 1962: Stefano Tilli, Italian sprinter Stefano Tilli is a former Italian sprinter who specialized in the 100 and 200 m, twice European indoor champion, three-time semi-finalist at the Olympic Games, and was the world record holder in the 200 m indoor. Read more
22 Aug 1961: Andrés Calamaro, Argentine singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Andrés Calamaro is an Argentine musician, composer and Latin Grammy winner. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential rock artists in Spanish. He is also one of the most complete artists for his wide range of musical styles, including funk, reggae, ballads, boleros, tangos and jazz. His former band Los Rodríguez was a major success in Spain and throughout Latin America mainly during the 1990s. He is multi-instrumentalist and became one of the main icons of Argentine rock, selling over 1.3 million records to date. Read more
22 Aug 1961: Roland Orzabal, English singer and musician Roland Jaime Orzábal De La Quintana is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and author. He is the guitarist, co-lead vocalist, principal songwriter, co-founder, and only constant member of Tears for Fears. He is also a producer of artists such as Oleta Adams. In 2014, Orzabal published his first novel, Sex, Drugs & Opera, a romantic comedy. Read more
22 Aug 1960: Holger Gehrke, German footballer and manager Holger Andreas Gehrke is a former professional German football player and manager. Read more
22 Aug 1960: Collin Raye, American country music singer Floyd Elliot Wray, known professionally as Collin Raye and previously as Bubba Wray, is an American country music singer. He initially recorded as a member of the band The Wrays between 1983 and 1987. He made his solo debut in 1991 as Collin Raye with the album All I Can Be, which produced his first Number One hit in "Love, Me". All I Can Be was the first of four consecutive albums released by Raye to achieve platinum certification in the United States for sales of one million copies each. Raye maintained several Top Ten hits throughout the rest of the decade and into 2000. 2001's Can't Back Down was his first album that did not produce a Top 40 country hit, and he was dropped by his record label soon afterward. He did not record another studio album until 2005's Twenty Years and Change, released on an independent label. Read more
22 Aug 1960: Regina Taylor, American actress and playwright Regina Taylor is an American actress and playwright. She has won several awards throughout her career, including a Golden Globe Award and NAACP Image Award. In July 2017, Taylor was announced as the new Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theater at Fordham University. Read more
22 Aug 1959: Juan Croucier, Cuban-American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer Juan Croucier is a Cuban-born American musician. He is best known as the bassist for the hard rock/glam metal band Ratt. Read more
22 Aug 1959: Pia Gjellerup, Danish lawyer and politician, Danish Minister of Finance Pia Gjellerup is a Danish politician representing the Social Democrats. She has been a Member of Parliament (Folketinget) since 8 September 1987 and has occupied three different cabinet positions: Justice Minister, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Finance Minister. Read more
22 Aug 1959: Mark Williams, English actor Mark Williams is an English actor, comedian, presenter and screenwriter. He first achieved widespread recognition as one of the central performers in the BBC sketch show The Fast Show. His film roles include Horace in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and Arthur Weasley in seven of the Harry Potter films. He appeared in Doctor Who and Red Dwarf. Since 2013, Williams has portrayed the title character in the long-running BBC series loosely based on the Father Brown short stories by G. K. Chesterton. Read more
22 Aug 1958: Colm Feore, American-Canadian actor Colm Joseph Feore is a Canadian actor. A 15-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known in Canada for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries Trudeau (2002), his portrayal of Glenn Gould in Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), and for playing Detective Martin Ward in Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) and its sequel Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2 (2017). Read more
22 Aug 1958: Stevie Ray, American wrestler Laslon "Lash" Steven Huffman is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Stevie Ray. Stevie Ray is best known for his seven-year tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 2000, where he was one-half of the tag team Harlem Heat, with his younger brother Booker T. Huffman, better known as Booker T. They won the WCW World Tag Team Championship a record ten times. Read more
22 Aug 1958: Vernon Reid, English-born American guitarist and songwriter Vernon Alphonsus Reid is a British-born American guitarist, producer, and songwriter best known as the founder of the rock band Living Colour. Reid was named No. 66 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, and in August 2023, was ranked No. 42 in Rolling Stone's top 250 Greatest Guitarists of all time. Critic Steve Huey writes, "[Reid's] rampant eclecticism encompasses everything from heavy metal and punk to funk, R&B and avant-garde jazz, and his anarchic, lightning-fast solos have become something of a hallmark as well." Read more
22 Aug 1957: Steve Davis, English snooker player, sportscaster, and author Steve Davis is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He first turned professional in 1978 and dominated the sport in the 1980s, when he reached eight World Snooker Championship finals in nine years, won six world titles and held the world number one ranking for seven consecutive seasons. He also won the UK Championship six times and the Masters three times for a total of 15 Triple Crown titles, placing him third all time. He won a total of 28 ranking titles during his career, placing him fifth on the all-time list. He is the only snooker player to have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, which he received in 1988. He was made an MBE in the 1988 Birthday Honours and elevated to OBE in the 2000 New Year Honours. Read more
22 Aug 1957: Holly Dunn, American country music singer-songwriter (died 2016) Holly Suzette Dunn was an American country music singer and songwriter. Dunn recorded for MTM Records between 1985 and 1988, Warner Bros. Records between 1988 and 1993, and River North Records between 1995 and 1997. She released 10 albums and charted 19 singles, plus two duets on the Hot Country Songs charts. Two of her single releases, "Are You Ever Gonna Love Me" and "You Really Had Me Going", went to No. 1 on that chart. Other songs for which she is known include "Daddy's Hands" and "Maybe I Mean Yes". Dunn's brother, Chris Waters, is a songwriter and record producer, having worked with both his sister and other artists in these capacities. Dunn retired from music in 2003, and died of ovarian cancer in 2016. Read more
22 Aug 1956: Paul Molitor, American baseball player and coach Paul Leo Molitor, nicknamed "Mollie" and "the Ignitor", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. During his 21-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1978–1992), Toronto Blue Jays (1993–1995), and Minnesota Twins (1996–1998). He was known for his exceptional hitting and speed. He made seven All-Star Game appearances, and was the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1993. Molitor ranks tenth on the all-time MLB career hits list with 3,319. He is one of only five players in history with 3,000+ hits, a lifetime .300+ batting average, and 500+ career stolen bases. Read more
22 Aug 1956: Peter Taylor, Australian cricketer Peter Laurence Taylor is a former Australian cricketer who played in 13 Test matches and 83 One Day Internationals between 1987 and 1992. He became a Test match selector for Australia in the late 1990s. Taylor was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup. Read more
22 Aug 1955: Chiranjeevi, Indian film actor, producer and politician Konidela Chiranjeevi is an Indian actor, philanthropist and former politician known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known as Mega Star, he is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. He is also celebrated as one of the finest dancers in Indian cinema. He has received numerous honours, including the Padma Bhushan in 2006 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2024 from the Government of India, as well as the IFFI Indian Film Personality of the Year Award in 2022. His other accolades include the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, three Nandi Awards, and nine Filmfare Awards South, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Honorary Award. In 2013, CNN-IBN recognized him as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema". In 2024, he was honoured with a Guinness World Record as the most prolific actor-dancer in the Indian film industry. Read more
22 Aug 1953: Paul Ellering, American weightlifter, wrestler, and manager Paul Ellering is an American professional wrestling manager and retired professional wrestler. Read more
22 Aug 1952: Peter Laughner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1977) Peter Laughner was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer. Read more
22 Aug 1950: Ray Burris, American baseball player and coach Bertram Ray Burris is an American former pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB), and the current rehabilitation pitching coordinator in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He played in MLB from 1973 through 1987 for seven different teams. Listed at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) and 200 pounds (91 kg), he threw and batted right-handed. Read more
22 Aug 1950: Scooter Libby, American lawyer and politician, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. He became known as a high-ranking staff person to be indicted by a grand jury on charges related to an intelligence investigation. He was convicted but later granted clemency by Republican president George W. Bush and fully pardoned by Republican president Donald Trump. Read more
22 Aug 1949: Joop Donkervoort, Dutch businessman Joop A. Donkervoort is a Dutch businessman and founder of Donkervoort car manufacturer of Netherlands. Read more
22 Aug 1949: Diana Nyad, American swimmer and author Diana Nyad is an American author, journalist, motivational speaker, and long-distance swimmer. Nyad gained national attention in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan in record time. Read more
22 Aug 1948: David Marks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist David Lee Marks is an American guitarist who was an early and latter-era member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a frequent participant at their family get-togethers. Following his departure from the group, Marks fronted the Marksmen and performed and recorded as a session musician. Read more
22 Aug 1948: Carolyn L. Mazloomi, American art historian and quilter Carolyn L. Mazloomi is an American curator, quilter, author, art historian, and aerospace engineer. She is a strong advocate for presenting and documenting African-American-made quilts. Her quilts are designed to tell complex stories around African-American heritage and contemporary experiences. Read more
22 Aug 1947: Cindy Williams, American actress and producer (died 2023) Cynthia Jane Williams was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcoms Happy Days (1975–1979), and Laverne & Shirley (1976–1982). She also appeared in American Graffiti (1973), The Conversation (1974), Mr. Ricco (1975), and More American Graffiti (1979). Read more
22 Aug 1945: David Chase, American screenwriter and producer David Henry Chase is an American writer, producer, and director. A recipient of seven Primetime Emmy Awards, he is best known for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the HBO drama The Sopranos, which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for shows such as The Rockford Files, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure. He created the original series Almost Grown which aired for 10 episodes in 1988 and 1989. Chase's film debut came in 1972 with Grave of the Vampire, and his later filmography includes Not Fade Away (2012) and The Many Saints of Newark (2021), a prequel film to the TV series The Sopranos. Read more
22 Aug 1945: Ron Dante, American singer-songwriter and producer Carmine John Granito, known professionally as Ron Dante, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Dante is best known as the real-life lead singer of the fictional cartoon band the Archies; he was also the vocalist of the Cuff Links and co-produced Barry Manilow's first nine albums. Read more
22 Aug 1944: Roger Cashmore, English physicist and academic Roger John Cashmore is the chair of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Previously he was principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, and professor of experimental physics at the University of Oxford.
His interests include the origin of the masses of particles and the Higgs boson. Read more
22 Aug 1943: Alun Michael, Welsh police commissioner and politician, inaugural First Minister of Wales Alun Edward Michael is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative retired politician. He served as Secretary of State for Wales from 1998 to 1999 and then as the first First Secretary of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 1999 to 2000. He went on to serve as South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 to 2024. Read more
22 Aug 1943: Masatoshi Shima, Japanese computer scientist and engineer, co-designed the Intel 4004 Masatoshi Shima is a Japanese electronics engineer. He was one of the architects of the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. In 1968, Shima worked for Busicom in Japan, and did the logic design for a specialized CPU to be translated into three-chip custom chips. In 1969, he worked with Intel's Ted Hoff and Stanley Mazor to reduce the three-chip Busicom proposal into a one-chip architecture. In 1970, that architecture was transformed into a silicon chip, the Intel 4004, by Federico Faggin, with Shima's assistance in logic design. Read more
22 Aug 1941: Bill Parcells, American football player and coach Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He came to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 to 1990, winning two Super Bowl titles. Parcells was later the head coach of the New England Patriots from 1993 to 1996, the New York Jets from 1997 to 2000, and the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006. Nicknamed "the Big Tuna", he is the only NFL coach to lead four different franchises to the playoffs and three to a conference championship game. Read more
22 Aug 1940: Bill McCartney, American football player and coach (died 2025) William Paul McCartney was an American college football coach who was the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes for 13 seasons (1982–1994). He compiled a 93–55–5 (.624) record, and won three consecutive Big Eight Conference titles (1989–1991). McCartney's 1990 team was crowned as national champions by the Associated Press, splitting the title with Georgia Tech, who was first in the final Coaches' Poll. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2013. Read more
22 Aug 1939: Valerie Harper, American actress (died 2019) Valerie Kathryn Harper was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical Li'l Abner. She played Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) and its spin-off Rhoda (1974–1978). For her work on Mary Tyler Moore, she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series three times, and later received the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Rhoda. Read more
22 Aug 1939: Carl Yastrzemski, American baseball player Carl Michael Yastrzemski Sr., nicknamed "Yaz", is an American former professional baseball player who played his entire 23-year career with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He started his career primarily as a left fielder, but also played 33 games as a third baseman. Later in his career, he was mainly a first baseman and designated hitter. Read more
22 Aug 1938: Jean Berkey, American businesswoman and politician (died 2013) Jean Louise Berkey was an American politician who served as a Washington State Senator from Washington's 38th legislative district from 2005 to 2011. Her career ended due to the Moxie Media scandal: in the 2010 primary election, her fellow Democrat, Nick Harper, bankrolled ads for a third candidate in an effort to "Squeeze The Middle" and prevent the moderate incumbent Berkey from running in the general election. The state's election watchdog committee unanimously voted to refer the case to the state Attorney General Rob McKenna, who promptly "filed suit, alleging multiple campaign-finance violations." Berkey placed third in the primary, and despite a call several former state senators to hold another election, was prevented from running in the general election per Washington state's 'top two' primary system. Her term ended in January 2011. Read more
22 Aug 1936: Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2012) Charles Louis Brown was an American guitarist, bandleader, and singer known as "The Godfather of Go-Go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed around the Washington, D.C., area in the mid-1970s. While its musical classification, influences, and origins are debated, Brown is regarded as the fundamental force behind the creation of go-go music. Read more
22 Aug 1936: John Callaway, American journalist and producer (died 2009) John Callaway was an American journalist, who appeared on radio and television as a host, interviewer and moderator. He was the original host of Chicago Tonight, a nightly news program broadcast on the Chicago, Illinois television station WTTW, serving in that role from 1984 to 1999. Read more
22 Aug 1936: Dale Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2010) Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Read more
22 Aug 1936: Werner Stengel, German roller coaster designer and engineer, designed the Maverick roller coaster Werner Stengel is a German roller coaster designer and engineer. Stengel is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH. Read more
22 Aug 1935: Annie Proulx, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist Edna Ann Proulx is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E. A. Proulx. Read more
22 Aug 1934: Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., American general and engineer (died 2012) Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was a United States Army general. While serving as the commander of United States Central Command, he led all coalition forces in the Gulf War against Ba'athist Iraq. Read more
22 Aug 1933: Sylva Koscina, Italian actress (died 1994) Sylva Koscina was a Yugoslav-born Italian actress, best known for her role as Iole, the bride of Hercules in Hercules (1958) and Hercules Unchained (1960). She also played Paul Newman's romantic interest in The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968). Read more
22 Aug 1932: Gerald P. Carr, American engineer, colonel, and astronaut (died 2020) Gerald Paul Carr was an American mechanical and aeronautical engineer, United States Marine Corps officer and aviator, and NASA astronaut. He was commander of Skylab 4, the third and final crewed visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop, from November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974. Read more
22 Aug 1930: Gylmar dos Santos Neves, Brazilian footballer (died 2013) Gylmar dos Santos Neves, known simply as Gilmar, was a Brazilian footballer who played goalkeeper for Corinthians and Santos and was a member of the Brazil national team in three World Cups. He was elected the best Brazilian goalkeeper of the 20th century and one of the best in the world by the IFFHS. He is remembered for his sober style on the pitch and his peaceful personality. Read more
22 Aug 1929: Valery Alekseyev, Russian anthropologist and author (died 1991) Valery Pavlovich Alekseyev, sometimes Alexeev was a Soviet anthropologist, director of the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow (1987–1991) and member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, exceptionally without having been a member of the Communist Party. Read more
22 Aug 1929: Roy Clay, American computer scientist (died 2024) Roy Lee Clay Sr. was an African American computer scientist and inventor. He was a founding member of the computer division at Hewlett-Packard, where he led the team that created the HP 2116A 16-bit minicomputer. He served as Chief Executive Officer of ROD-L Electronics, an electrical-safety test equipment manufacturer. Read more
22 Aug 1929: Ulrich Wegener, German police officer and general (died 2017) Ulrich Klaus Wegener was a German police officer of the Federal Border Guard. He was also the commander and founding member of the federal counter-terrorism force GSG 9. Read more
22 Aug 1928: Tinga Seisay, Sierra Leonean academic and diplomat (died 2015) Samuel Tinga Khendekha Seisay was a Sierra Leonean diplomat and pro-democracy activist. Read more
22 Aug 1928: Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (died 2007) Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundbreaking work in electronic music, having been called the "father of electronic music", for introducing controlled chance into serial composition, and for musical spatialization. Read more
22 Aug 1926: Marc Bohan, French fashion designer (died 2023) Roger Maurice Louis Bohan was a French fashion designer, best known for his 30-year career at the house of Dior. Read more
22 Aug 1926: Bob Flanigan, American pop singer (died 2011) Robert Lee Flanigan was an American tenor vocalist and founding member of The Four Freshmen, a jazz vocal group. Read more
22 Aug 1925: Honor Blackman, English actress and republican (died 2020) Honor Blackman was an English actress and singer, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers (1962–1964), "Bond girl" Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964), Julia Daggett in Shalako (1968), and Hera in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). She is also known for her role as Laura West in the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand (1990–1996). Read more
22 Aug 1924: James Kirkwood, Jr., American playwright and author (died 1989) James Kirkwood Jr. was an American playwright, author and actor. In 1976 he received the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the Broadway hit A Chorus Line. Read more
22 Aug 1924: Harishankar Parsai, Indian writer, satirist and humorist (died 1995) Harishankar Parsai was an Indian writer who wrote in Hindi. He was a noted satirist and humorist of modern Hindi literature and is known for his simple and direct style. He wrote vyangya (satire), which described human values and nature. They reflected his critical thinking and humorous way of describing simple things with huge meanings. Parsai won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1982, for his satire, Viklaang Shraddha ka daur. Read more
22 Aug 1922: Roberto Aizenberg, Argentine painter and sculptor (died 1996) Roberto Aizenberg, nicknamed "Bobby", was an Argentine painter and sculptor. He was considered the best-known orthodox surrealist painter in Argentina. Read more
22 Aug 1922: Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (died 2011) Theoni V. Aldredge was a Greek-American stage and screen costume designer. During her career she won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and three Tony Awards, as well as was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Read more
22 Aug 1922: Frank Kelly Freas, American science fiction and fantasy artist (died 2005) Frank Kelly Freas was an American artist known for his work in science fiction and fantasy, with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" and he was the second artist inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Read more
22 Aug 1921: Dinos Dimopoulos, Greek director and screenwriter (died 2003) Dinos Dimopoulos was a Greek actor, film director, screenwriter and theatre director. He directed more than 40 films between 1953 and 1993. Read more
22 Aug 1921: Tony Pawson, English cricketer, footballer, and journalist (died 2012) Henry Anthony Pawson was an English sportsman who played cricket and association football and was a leading fly fisherman. He worked as a cricket writer and journalist. He was the son of Guy Pawson, and father of scientist Anthony Pawson. Read more
22 Aug 1920: Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (died 2012) Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction. Read more
22 Aug 1920: Denton Cooley, American surgeon and scientist (died 2016) Denton Arthur Cooley was an American cardiothoracic surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart. Cooley was also the founder and surgeon in-chief of The Texas Heart Institute, chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at clinical partner Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, consultant in Cardiovascular Surgery at Texas Children's Hospital and a clinical professor of Surgery at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Read more
22 Aug 1918: Mary McGrory, American journalist and author (died 2004) Mary McGrory was an American journalist and columnist. She specialized in American politics, and was noted for her detailed coverage of political maneuverings. She wrote over 8,000 columns, but no books, and made very few media or lecture appearances. Read more
22 Aug 1917: John Lee Hooker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2001) John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he developed in Detroit. Hooker often incorporated other elements, including talking blues and early North Mississippi hill country blues. He developed his own driving-rhythm boogie style, distinct from the 1930s–1940s piano-derived boogie-woogie. Hooker was ranked 35 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of 100 greatest guitarists, and has been cited as one of the greatest male blues vocalists of all time. Read more
22 Aug 1915: David Dellinger, American activist (died 2004) David T. Dellinger was an American pacifist and an activist for nonviolent social change. Although active beginning in the early 1940s, Dellinger reached peak prominence as one of the Chicago Seven, who were put on trial in 1969. Read more
22 Aug 1915: James Hillier, Canadian-American scientist, co-designed the electron microscope (died 2007) James Hillier, was a Canadian-American scientist and inventor who designed and built, with Albert Prebus, the first successful high-resolution electron microscope in North America in 1938. Read more
22 Aug 1915: Edward Szczepanik, Polish economist and politician, 15th Prime Minister of the Polish Republic in Exile (died 2005) Edward Franciszek Szczepanik was a Polish economist and the last Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile. Read more
22 Aug 1914: Jack Dunphy, American author and playwright (died 1992) John Paul Dunphy was an American novelist and playwright. He was widely known as the partner of author Truman Capote. Read more
22 Aug 1914: Connie B. Gay, American businessman, co-founded the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (died 1989) Connie Barriot Gay was an American music entrepreneur who is renowned as a "founding father" and "major force" in country music. He is credited with coining the country music genre, which had previously been called hillbilly music. Gay was the founding president of the Country Music Association (CMA) and co-founder of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The CMA established the Connie B. Gay Award to recognize outstanding service to the CMA by a member not serving on the board of directors. Read more
22 Aug 1913: Leonard Pagliero, English businessman and pilot (died 2008) Leonard Pagliero OBE was Director of the Stationers Association and Chairman of The Kennel Club. During World War II, he served as a pilot for RAF Transport Command. He was also a dog show judge and judged several times at Crufts. He became Master of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers, and was given the Freedom of the City of London. Read more
22 Aug 1913: Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian physicist and academic (died 1993) Bruno Pontecorvo was an Italian–Russian nuclear physicist, an early assistant of Enrico Fermi and the author of numerous studies in high energy physics, especially on neutrinos. A convinced communist, he defected to the Soviet Union in 1950, where he continued his research on the decay of the muon and on neutrinos. The prestigious Pontecorvo Prize was instituted in his memory in 1995. Read more
22 Aug 1909: Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter and producer (died 2000) Julius J. Epstein was an American screenwriter, who had a long career, best remembered for his screenplay, written with his twin brother, Philip, and Howard E. Koch, of the film Casablanca (1942), for which the writers won an Academy Award. It was adapted from an unpublished play, Everybody Comes to Rick's, written by Murray Bennett and Joan Alison. Read more
22 Aug 1909: Mel Hein, American football player and coach (died 1992) Melvin Jack Hein, nicknamed "Old Indestructible", was an American professional football player. In the era of one-platoon football, he played as a center and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 as part of the first class of inductees. He was also named to the National Football League (NFL) 75th, and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams. Read more
22 Aug 1908: Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer and painter (died 2004) Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French humanist photographer and artist. He was considered a master of candid photography, and was an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography and viewed capturing what he named the decisive moment as the essence of the very best pictures. Read more
22 Aug 1908: Erwin Thiesies, German rugby player and coach (died 1993) Erwin Thiesies was a German international rugby union player, playing for the Berliner SV 92 Rugby and the Germany national rugby union team. Read more
22 Aug 1904: Deng Xiaoping, Chinese soldier and politician, paramount leader and 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 1997) Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1978 to 1989. Emerging as China's most influential figure after Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng consolidated political power and guided the country into an era of reform and opening up that transitioned the nation toward a socialist market economy. Credited as the "architect of modern China", he is recognized for shaping both socialism with Chinese characteristics and Deng Xiaoping Theory. Read more
22 Aug 1903: Jerry Iger, American cartoonist, co-founded Eisner & Iger (died 1990) Samuel Maxwell "Jerry" Iger was an American cartoonist and art-studio entrepreneur. With business partner Will Eisner, he co-founded Eisner & Iger, a comic book packager that produced comics on demand for new publishers during the late-1930s and 1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Read more
22 Aug 1902: Thomas Pelly, American lawyer and politician (died 1973) Thomas Minor Pelly was an American politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from the state of Washington between 1953 and 1973. Read more
22 Aug 1902: Leni Riefenstahl, German actress, film director and propagandist (died 2003) Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German filmmaker, photographer, and actress. She is considered one of the most controversial personalities in film history. Regarded by many critics as an "innovative filmmaker and creative aesthete", she is also criticized for her works in the service of propaganda during the Nazi era. Read more
22 Aug 1902: Edward Rowe Snow, American historian and author (died 1982) Edward Rowe Snow was an American writer and historian. Read more
22 Aug 1900: Lisy Fischer, Swiss-born pianist and child prodigy (died 1999) Elisabeth (Lisy) Fischer was a Swiss pianist from a talented Jewish family. Born to parents Arthur Fischer and Bertha Hochstetter, she was a child prodigy giving piano recitals from 11 years of age first in Geneva and afterwards in Paris under the tutelage of Lucien Grou de Flagny and later Charles Barbier. Read more
22 Aug 1897: Bill Woodfull, Australian cricketer and educator (died 1965) William Maldon Woodfull was an Australian cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s. He captained both Victoria and Australia, and was best known for his dignified and moral conduct during the tumultuous bodyline series in 1932–33. Trained as a schoolteacher, Woodfull was known for his benevolent attitude towards his players, and his patience and defensive technique as an opening batsman. His opening pairing with fellow Victorian Bill Ponsford for both his state and Australia remains one of the most successful in history. While not known for his tactical skills, Woodfull was widely admired by his players and observers for his sportsmanship and ability to mould a successful and loyal team through the strength of his character. Read more
22 Aug 1896: Laurence McKinley Gould, American geologist, educator, and polar explorer (died 1995) Laurence McKinley Gould was an American geologist, educator, and polar explorer. He made expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctic, and was chief scientist on Richard Evelyn Byrd's first Antarctic expedition, which Gould described in his 1931 book Cold: the Record of an Antarctic Sledge Journey. He served as president of Carleton College from 1945 to 1962, and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1964. His namesakes include the research vessel Laurence M. Gould as well as Antarctic features including Gould Bay, Gould Coast, and Mount Gould. Read more
22 Aug 1895: László Almásy, Hungarian captain, pilot, and explorer (died 1951) László Adolf Ede György Mária Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós was a Hungarian aristocrat, motorist, desert explorer, aviator, Scout-leader, and sportsman. Read more
22 Aug 1895: Paul Comtois, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (died 1966) Paul Comtois was a Canadian politician. Read more
22 Aug 1893: Wilfred Kitching, English 7th General of The Salvation Army (died 1977) Wilfred Kitching CBE was a British Salvation Army officer who was their seventh General between 1954 and 1963. Read more
22 Aug 1893: Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (died 1967) Dorothy Parker was an American poet, literary critic and writer of fiction. Based in New York, she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Read more
22 Aug 1893: Ernest H. Volwiler, American chemist (died 1992) Ernest Henry Volwiler was an American chemist. He spent his career at Abbott Laboratories working his way from staff chemist to CEO. He was a pioneer in the field of anesthetic pharmacology, assisting in the development of two breakthrough drugs, Nembutal and Pentothal. Volwiler also helped Abbott Laboratories to achieve commercial success for its pharmaceutical products including the commercialization of penicillin and sulfa drugs during World War II. Read more
22 Aug 1891: Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer (died 1983) Brigadier Henry Bachtold, was an Australian soldier and railway engineer. He fought during the First World War as an engineer with the 1st Field Company at the Gallipoli Campaign, where he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross. He commanded the 14th Field Company at the Battle of Polygon Wood, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. Bachtold commanded the engineers of the 5th Australian Division in 1917–18 and the engineers of the 3rd Australian Division in 1918. He was mentioned in despatches four times during the First World War and ended the war as a lieutenant colonel. During 1942 and 1943, Bachtold was the Chief Engineer of II Corps, after which he was placed in reserve with the honorary rank of brigadier. Bachtold retired from the Department of Railways New South Wales in 1962 and died on 9 May 1983. Read more
22 Aug 1891: Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-Italian sculptor (died 1973) Jacques Lipchitz was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, dominated by a synthetic style of Crystal Cubism. In 1920 Lipchitz held his first solo exhibition, at Léonce Rosenberg's Galerie L'Effort Moderne in Paris where he was counted as part of the School of Paris. Fleeing the Nazis he moved to the US and settled in New York City and eventually Hastings-on-Hudson. While in the US, he created a number of his best-known works, including the outdoor sculptures The Song of the Vowels, Birth of the Muses, and Bellerophon Taming Pegasus, the last of which was completed after his death. Read more
22 Aug 1890: Cecil Kellaway, South African actor (died 1973) Cecil Lauriston Kellaway was a South African-British character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for The Luck of the Irish (1948) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). Read more
22 Aug 1887: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and politician, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1977) Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf Schwerin von Krosigk was a German senior government official who served as the minister of finance of Germany from 1932 to 1945 and de facto chancellor of Germany during May 1945. Read more
22 Aug 1882: Raymonde de Laroche, French pilot (died 1919) Raymonde de Laroche was a French pilot who became the world's first licensed female pilot on 8 March 1910. She is thought to be the first woman to pilot a plane. Read more
22 Aug 1881: Bede Jarrett, English Dominican priest (died 1934) Bede Jarrett OP was an English Dominican friar and Catholic priest who was also a noted historian and author. Known for works including Mediæval Socialism and The Emperor Charles IV, Jarrett also founded Blackfriars Priory at the University of Oxford in 1921, formally reinstating the Dominican Order at that university for the first time since the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII. Read more
22 Aug 1881: James Newland, Australian soldier and policeman (died 1949) James Ernest Newland, VC was an Australian soldier, policeman and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Newland was awarded the Victoria Cross following three separate actions in April 1917, during attacks against German forces retreating to the Hindenburg Line. While in command of a company, Newland successfully led his men in several assaults on German positions and repulsed subsequent counter-attacks. Read more
22 Aug 1880: Gorch Fock, German author and poet (died 1916) Johann Wilhelm Kinau, better known by his pseudonym Gorch Fock, was a German author. Other pseudonyms he used were Jakob Holst and Giorgio Focco. Read more
22 Aug 1880: George Herriman, American cartoonist (died 1944) George Joseph Herriman III was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip Krazy Kat (1913–1944). More influential than popular, Krazy Kat had an appreciative audience among those in the arts. Gilbert Seldes' article "The Krazy Kat Who Walks by Himself" was the earliest example of a critic from the high arts giving serious attention to a comic strip. The Comics Journal placed the strip first on its list of the greatest comics of the 20th century. Herriman's work has been a primary influence on cartoonists such as Elzie C. Segar, Will Eisner, Walt Kelly, Charles M. Schulz, Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Bill Watterson, and Chris Ware. Read more
22 Aug 1874: Max Scheler, German philosopher and author (died 1928) Max Ferdinand Scheler was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology. Considered in his lifetime one of the most prominent German philosophers, Scheler developed the philosophical method of Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology. Read more
22 Aug 1873: Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician and philosopher (died 1928) Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov, born Alexander Malinovsky, was a Russian and later Soviet physician, philosopher, science fiction writer, and Bolshevik revolutionary. He was a polymath who pioneered blood transfusion, as well as general systems theory, and made important contributions to cybernetics. Read more
22 Aug 1868: Willis R. Whitney, American chemist (died 1958) Willis Rodney Whitney was an American chemist and founder of the research laboratory of the General Electric Company. He is known as the "father of industrial research" in the United States for blending the worlds of research and industry together; which at the time, were two very distinct careers. He is also known for his corrosion theory of iron which he developed after studying at M.I.T. and the University of Leipzig. Whitney was also a professor at M.I.T. for some time before his career transition into research directing. He received many awards, including the Willard Gibbs medal, the Franklin medal, the Perkin medal, the Edison medal, the John Fritz medal, the Chandler medal, and many others. He was an astute believer in researching and experimenting for pleasure and voiced his belief at various science conferences. Read more
22 Aug 1867: Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (died 1939) Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, M.D. was a Swiss physician and a pioneer nutritionist credited for popularizing muesli and raw food vegetarianism. Read more
22 Aug 1867: Charles Francis Jenkins, American inventor (died 1934) Charles Francis Jenkins was an American engineer who was a pioneer of early cinema and one of the inventors of television, though he used mechanical rather than electronic technologies. His businesses included Charles Jenkins Laboratories and Jenkins Television Corporation. Over 400 patents were issued to Jenkins, many for his inventions related to motion pictures and television. Read more
22 Aug 1862: Claude Debussy, French pianist and composer (died 1918) Achille Claude Debussy was a French composer, born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Read more
22 Aug 1860: Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Polish-German technician and inventor, created the Nipkow disk (died 1940) Paul Julius Gottlieb Nipkow was a German electrical engineer and inventor. He invented the Nipkow disk, which laid the foundation of television, since his disk was a fundamental component in the first televisions. Hundreds of stations experimented with television broadcasting using his disk in the 1920s and 1930s, until it was superseded by all-electronic systems in the 1940s. Read more
22 Aug 1860: Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (died 1940) Alfred Ploetz was a German physician, biologist, Social Darwinist, and eugenicist known for coining the term racial hygiene (Rassenhygiene), a form of eugenics, and for promoting the concept in Germany. Read more
22 Aug 1857: Ned Hanlon, American baseball player and manager (died 1937) Edward Hugh Hanlon, also known as "Foxy Ned", and sometimes referred to as "the Father of Modern Baseball", was an American professional baseball player and manager whose career spanned from 1876 to 1914. He was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996 by the Veterans Committee. Read more
22 Aug 1854: Milan I of Serbia (died 1901) Milan Obrenović IV reigned as the Prince of Serbia from 10 June 1868 until 1882, and then King of Serbia, a title he held until his abdication on 6 March 1889. Most important events during Milan's reign was the First and Second Serbian–Ottoman War and the Serbo-Bulgarian War. At the beginning of his reign, the Principality of Serbia was still de jure part of the Ottoman Empire, but became fully independent in 1878 with the Treaty of Berlin (1878). In 1882, the Principality was elevated to the status of a kingdom, and Milan became a king. Read more
22 Aug 1848: Melville Elijah Stone, American publisher, founded the Chicago Daily News (died 1929) Melville Elijah Stone was an American newspaper publisher, the founder of the Chicago Daily News, and was the general manager of the reorganized Associated Press. Read more
22 Aug 1847: John Forrest, Australian politician, 1st Premier of Western Australia (died 1918) Sir John Forrest was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in federal politics. Read more
22 Aug 1845: William Lewis Douglas, American businessman and politician, 42nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1924) William Lewis Douglas was an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He served as the 42nd governor of Massachusetts from 1905 until 1906. He also founded and oversaw the growth of the W. L. Douglas Shoe Company, a highly successful Brockton, Massachusetts, business that became one of the world's largest shoe manufacturers. He also opened the first nationwide chain of shoe stores devoted to selling the company's products. Read more
22 Aug 1844: George W. De Long, American Naval officer and explorer (died 1881) George Washington De Long was a United States Navy officer and explorer who led the ill-fated Jeannette expedition of 1879–1881, in search of the Open Polar Sea. Read more
22 Aug 1836: Archibald Willard, American soldier and painter (died 1918) Archibald MacNeal Willard was an American painter who was born and raised in Bedford, Ohio. His most famous work is "The Spirit of '76". Read more
22 Aug 1834: Samuel Pierpont Langley, American physicist and astronomer (died 1906) Samuel Pierpont Langley was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was the director of the Allegheny Observatory. Read more
22 Aug 1827: Ezra Butler Eddy, Canadian businessman and politician (died 1906) Ezra Butler Eddy was a Canadian businessman and political figure. Born in Vermont, Eddy moved to Canada, where he founded the E. B. Eddy Company, which produced matches and related wood products, later diversifying into pulp and paper and expanding to become a major manufacturer. Eddy later became a politician, serving as mayor of Hull, Quebec and as a Quebec legislator. Read more
22 Aug 1818: Rudolf von Jhering, German jurist (died 1892) Caspar Rudolph von Jhering was a German jurist. He is best known for his 1872 book Der Kampf ums Recht, as a legal scholar, and as the founder of a modern sociological and historical school of law. His ideas were important to the subsequent development of the "jurisprudence of interests" in Germany. Read more
22 Aug 1800: Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian poet and scholar (died 1865) Samuel David Luzzatto, also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal, was an Italian-Austrian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. Read more

Notable Deaths on 22 August

22 Aug 2024: Arthur J. Gregg, American military officer (born 1928) Arthur James Gregg was an American military officer who on July 1, 1977, became the first African American in the U.S. Army to reach the rank of lieutenant general. Previously, he was the first African American brigadier general in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps on October 1, 1972. He served in the U.S. Army for over 30 years with his final assignment as the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff (Logistics) and retired on July 24, 1981. Read more
22 Aug 2023: Toto Cutugno, Italian singer-songwriter (born 1943) Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno was an Italian pop singer-songwriter, musician, and television presenter. He was best known for his worldwide hit song, "L'Italiano", released on his 1983 album of the same title. Cutugno also won the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 held in Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia, with the song "Insieme: 1992", for which he wrote both the lyrics and music. He has been described as "one of the most popular singers in Italy and a symbol of Italian melody abroad", as well as "one of the most popular Italian performers on a global scale" and "one of the most successful Italian songwriters of all time", selling over 100 million records worldwide. Read more
22 Aug 2021: Rod Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1941) Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played his entire career for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as "Mr. Ranger", he played right wing on the GAG line with Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, and was the first player in Rangers history to have his number retired. After his playing career, he became president of the Rangers' alumni association. Read more
22 Aug 2018: Ed King, American musician (born 1949) Edward Calhoun King was an American musician. He was a guitarist for the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and guitarist and bassist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 to 1975, and again from 1987 to 1996. Read more
22 Aug 2018: Krishna Reddy, Indian printmaker, sculptor and teacher (born 1925) Krishna Reddy was an Indian master printmaker, sculptor, and teacher. He was considered a master intaglio printer and known for viscosity printing. Read more
22 Aug 2017: Michael J. C. Gordon, British Computer scientist (born 1948) Michael John Caldwell Gordon was a British computer scientist. Read more
22 Aug 2016: S. R. Nathan, 6th President of Singapore (born 1924) Sellapan Ramanathan, often known as S. R. Nathan, was a Singaporean civil servant, diplomat and politician who served as the sixth president of Singapore between 1999 and 2011. He was the longest-serving president in the country's history, holding office for two full terms. Prior to his presidency, Nathan held various key positions in the public service, including roles in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Security and Intelligence Division (SID). He also served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia and Ambassador to the United States. Read more
22 Aug 2016: Toots Thielemans, Belgian and American jazz musician (born 1922) Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans, known professionally as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and whistling skills, and composing. According to jazz historian Ted Gioia, his most important contribution was in "championing the humble harmonica", which Thielemans made into a "legitimate voice in jazz". He eventually became the "preeminent" jazz harmonica player. Read more
22 Aug 2015: Arthur Morris, Australian cricketer and journalist (born 1922) Arthur Robert Morris was an Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of England in 1948. He was the leading scorer in the Tests on the tour, with three centuries. His efforts in the Fourth Test at Headingley helped Australia to reach a world record victory target of 404 on the final day. Morris was named in the Australian Cricket Board's Team of the Century in 2000 and was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2001. Read more
22 Aug 2015: Ieng Thirith, Cambodian academic and politician (born 1932) Ieng Thirith was an influential intellectual and politician in the Khmer Rouge, although she was neither a member of the Khmer Rouge Standing Committee nor of the Central Committee. Ieng Thirith was the wife of Ieng Sary, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea's Khmer Rouge regime. She served as Minister of Social Affairs from October 1975 until the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Read more
22 Aug 2015: Eric Thompson, English race car driver and book dealer (born 1919) Eric David Thompson was a British racing driver, book dealer and insurance broker. He participated in sports car racing between 1949 and 1955 taking his greatest success by finishing third in the 1951 Les 24 Heures du Mans and took part in the 1952 RAC British Grand Prix. Read more
22 Aug 2014: U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and playwright (born 1932) Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy was an Indian contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. In 1994, he became the sixth Kannada writer to be honored with the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India. In 1998, he received the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India. He was the vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during the late 1980s. He was one of the finalists of Man Booker International Prize for the year 2013. He remained a fervent critic of nationalistic political parties until his death from kidney failure and cardiac arrest on 22 August 2014. Read more
22 Aug 2014: Emmanuel Kriaras, Greek lexicographer and philologist (born 1906) Emmanuel G. Kriaras was a Greek lexicographer, philologist, professor and linguist. He was Professor Emeritus of the School of Philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He was a student of Jean Psychari and the practice and ideology of demotic Greek. Read more
22 Aug 2014: Pete Ladygo, American football player and coach (born 1928) Peter Glenn Ladygo was an American football player. He played as a guard and linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 to 1954, and as a guard for the Ottawa Rough Riders in the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 1955. Ladygo played college football for the University of Maryland. Read more
22 Aug 2014: Noella Leduc, American baseball player (born 1933) Noella Leduc was an American pitcher and outfielder who played from 1951 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m), 130 lb, Leduc batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Graniteville, Westford, Massachusetts. Read more
22 Aug 2014: John Sperling, American businessman, founded the University of Phoenix (born 1921) John Glen Sperling was an American billionaire businessman who is credited with having led the contemporary for-profit education movement in the United States The fortune he amassed was based on his founding of the for-profit University of Phoenix in 1976, which became part of the publicly traded Apollo Group. Sperling brought the business model of higher education to the forefront, a model that employed the scientific management of higher education to the forefront: diminishing the power and importance of labor, increasing the importance of technology, marketing and advertising, and as University of Phoenix cofounder John D. Murphy explained, maximizing profit. For ventures ranging from pet cloning to green energy, he has widely been described as an "eccentric" self-made man by The Washington Post and other media. Read more
22 Aug 2014: John S. Waugh, American chemist and academic (born 1929) John Stewart Waugh was an American chemist and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is known for developing average hamiltonian theory and using it to extend NMR spectroscopy, previously limited to liquids, to the solid state. He is the author of ANTIOPE, a freeware general purpose Windows-based simulator of the spectra and dynamics of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). He has also used systems of a few coupled spins to illustrate the general requirements for equilibrium and ergodicity in isolated systems. Read more
22 Aug 2013: Paul Poberezny, American pilot and businessman, founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (born 1921) Paul Howard Poberezny was an American aviator, entrepreneur, and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting homebuilt aircraft. Read more
22 Aug 2012: Nina Bawden, English author (born 1925) Nina Mary Bawden CBE, FRSL, JP was an English novelist and children's writer. Read more
22 Aug 2012: Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, Taiwanese cardinal (born 1923) Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, S.J. was a cardinal in the Catholic Church. He was at times the bishop of Hualien and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and the chairman of Fu Jen Catholic University. Read more
22 Aug 2012: Jeffrey Stone, American actor and screenwriter (born 1926) Jeffrey Stone was an American actor and voice-over artist. Stone was the model and inspiration for Prince Charming in the 1950 Walt Disney animated feature film, Cinderella. While he did not voice the character in the film, Stone did provide some of the film's additional voices. Read more
22 Aug 2011: Nick Ashford, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1942) Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Read more
22 Aug 2011: Jack Layton, Canadian academic and politician (born 1950) John Gilbert Layton was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on the Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of acting mayor or deputy mayor of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. Layton was the member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death. Read more
22 Aug 2011: Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (born 1922) Casey Ribicoff was an American philanthropist, socialite and the second wife and widow of United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and later United States Senator from Connecticut, Abraham Ribicoff. Ribicoff was the President of the ladies auxiliary of Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida and in 1963 became the first woman to be selected to serve on the hospital's board of trustees. Read more
22 Aug 2011: Yao Yuanjun, Chinese border police officer (born 1993) Yao Yuanjun was a border police officer with the rank of Private who served in the People's Armed Police Border Defense Corps. Yao drowned in the Shweli river while attempting to arrest a drug trafficker on the China-Myanmar Border. Read more
22 Aug 2010: Stjepan Bobek, Croatian footballer and manager (born 1923) Stjepan Bobek was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional football striker and later football manager. Read more
22 Aug 2009: Muriel Duckworth, Canadian pacifist, feminist, and activist (born 1908) Muriel Helen Duckworth was a Canadian pacifist, feminist, and social and community activist. She was a practising Quaker, a religious denomination committed to non-violence. Duckworth maintained that war, with its systematic violence against women and children, is a major obstacle to social justice. She argued that money spent on armaments perpetuates poverty while reinforcing the power of privileged elites. She believed that "war is stupid" and she steadfastly refused to accept popular distinctions between "good" and "bad" wars. Read more
22 Aug 2009: Elmer Kelton, American journalist and author (born 1926) Elmer Kelton was an American author, known for his Westerns. He was born in Andrews County, Texas. Read more
22 Aug 2008: Gladys Powers, English-Canadian soldier (born 1899) Gladys Stokes Luxford Powers was thought to be, at age 109, the last female veteran of the First World War following the 27 March 2007 death of fellow 109-year-old Charlotte Winters from the US. However the subsequent discovery of fellow Britons Ivy Campany, who died on 19 December 2008, and Florence Green has disproved this. Regardless, Powers was the last veteran living in Canada, following the death of Dwight Wilson on 9 May 2007, the day before Powers' 108th birthday. The last Canadian-born veteran, 109-year-old John Babcock, later moved to the United States where he lived until his death on 18 February 2010. Read more
22 Aug 2007: Grace Paley, American short story writer and poet (born 1922) Grace Paley, née Goodside, was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist. Read more
22 Aug 2005: Luc Ferrari, French-Italian director and composer (born 1929) Lucien Ferrari was a French composer and pioneer in musique concrète and electroacoustic music. He was a founding member of RTF's Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRMC), working alongside composers such as Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry. Read more
22 Aug 2005: Ernest Kirkendall, American chemist and metallurgist (born 1914) Ernest Oliver Kirkendall was an American chemist and metallurgist. He is known for his 1947 discovery of the Kirkendall effect. Read more
22 Aug 2004: Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player and trainer (born 1960) Konstantin Aseev was a Russian chess Grandmaster and trainer. Read more
22 Aug 2004: Angus Bethune, Australian soldier and politician, 33rd Premier of Tasmania (born 1908) Sir Walter Angus Bethune was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. He was Premier of Tasmania from 26 May 1969 to 3 May 1972. Read more
22 Aug 2004: Daniel Petrie, Canadian director and producer (born 1920) Daniel Mannix Petrie was a Canadian film, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dramas often dealing with taboo subject matter. He was one of several Canadian-born expatriate filmmakers, including Norman Jewison and Sidney J. Furie, to find critical and commercial success overseas in the 1960s due to the limited opportunities in the Canadian film industry at the time. He was the patriarch of the Petrie filmmaking family, with four of his children working in the film industry. Read more
22 Aug 2003: Arnold Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater and coach (born 1914) Arnold Gerschwiler OBE was a Swiss figure skating coach. Read more
22 Aug 2000: Abulfaz Elchibey, 2nd President of Azerbaijan (born 1938) Abulfaz Gadirgulu oghlu Aliyev, commonly known as Abulfaz Elchibey, was a Pan-Turkist Azerbaijani nationalist, politician and Soviet dissident who was the first and, as of early 2026, only democratically elected President in post-Soviet Azerbaijan. He served from 17 June 1992 until his ouster in a 24 June 1993 military coup backed by Russia that led to the installation of Heydar Aliyev as president. Read more
22 Aug 1996: Erwin Komenda, Austrian car designer and engineer (born 1904) Erwin Komenda was an Austrian automobile designer and Porsche employee, and a lead contributor to the design of the bodies for the VW Beetle and various Porsche sports cars. Read more
22 Aug 1995: Johnny Carey, Irish footballer and manager (born 1919) John Joseph Carey was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 1953. He was also a dual internationalist, playing for and captaining both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. In 1947 he also captained a Europe XI which played a Great Britain XI at Hampden Park. In 1949 he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and in the same year captained the FAI XI that defeated England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. Carey was also the first non-UK player and the first Irishman to captain a winning team in both an FA Cup Final and the First Division. Like his contemporary Con Martin, Carey was an extremely versatile footballer and played in nine different positions throughout his career. He even played in goal for United on one occasion. Read more
22 Aug 1994: Gilles Groulx, Canadian director and screenwriter (born 1931) Gilles Groulx was a Canadian film director. He grew up in a working-class family with 14 children. After studying business in school, he went to work in an office but found the white-collar environment wasn't for him. He attended the École du meuble de Montréal for a time and was a supporter of Borduas' automatiste movement. His 8 mm amateur films, landed him a job as picture editor in the news department of the CBC. He was later hired by the National Film Board (NFB) during the beginning of the candid eye movement in 1956. Read more
22 Aug 1994: Allan Houser, American sculptor and painter (born 1914) Allan Capron Houser or Haozous was a Chiricahua Apache sculptor, painter, and book illustrator born in Oklahoma. He was one of the most renowned Native American painters and Modernist sculptors of the 20th century. Read more
22 Aug 1991: Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian-American actress (born 1924) Colleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles. She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early dramas on live television, and performances in Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. One of her last roles was playing Marilla Cuthbert in the Kevin Sullivan television adaptations of the Anne of Green Gables series and her reprisal of the role in the subsequent TV series Road to Avonlea. In the United States, Dewhurst won two Tony Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards for her stage and television work. In addition to other Canadian honors over the years, Dewhurst won two Gemini Awards for her portrayal of Marilla Cuthbert; once in 1986 and again in 1988. Read more
22 Aug 1991: Boris Pugo, Russian soldier and politician, Soviet Minister of Interior (born 1937) Boris Karlovich Pugo was a Soviet communist politician of Latvian origin. Read more
22 Aug 1989: Robert Grondelaers, Belgian cyclist (born 1933) Robert Grondelaers was a road cyclist from Belgium. He won the silver medal in the men's individual road race at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. At the same tournament he claimed the title in the men's team road race, alongside André Noyelle and Lucien Victor. He was a professional rider from 1954 to 1962. Read more
22 Aug 1989: Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (born 1942) Huey Percy Newton was an African American revolutionary and political activist who co-founded the Marxist–Leninist political and militant organization the Black Panther Party (BPP) with fellow activist Bobby Seale in 1966. He ran the party as its main leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with Seale. Under his leadership, the party organized numerous social programs and community events and advocated for collective defense. Read more
22 Aug 1987: Joseph P. Lash, American author and journalist (born 1909) Joseph Paul Lash was an American radical political activist, journalist, and writer. A close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lash won both the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the National Book Award in Biography for Eleanor and Franklin (1971), the first of two volumes he wrote about the former First Lady. Read more
22 Aug 1986: Celâl Bayar, Turkish lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Turkey (born 1883) Mahmut Celâlettin "Celâl" Bayar was a Turkish economist and politician who was the president of Turkey from 1950 to 1960. He previously served as the prime minister of Turkey from 1937 to 1939. Read more
22 Aug 1985: Charles Gibson, historian of Mexico and its Indians, president of the American Historical Association (born 1920) Charles Gibson was an American ethnohistorian who wrote foundational works on the Nahua peoples of colonial Mexico and was elected President of the American Historical Association in 1977. Read more
22 Aug 1981: Vicente Manansala, Filipino painter (born 1910) Vicente Silva Manansala was a Filipino cubist painter and illustrator. One of the first Abstractionists on the Philippine art scene, Manansala is also credited with bridging the gap between the city and the suburbs, between the rural and cosmopolitan ways of life. His paintings depict a nation in transition, an allusion to the new culture brought by the Americans. Manansala, together with Fabian de la Rosa, are among the best-selling Philippine artists in the West. Read more
22 Aug 1980: James Smith McDonnell, American pilot, engineer, and businessman, founded McDonnell Aircraft (born 1899) James Smith "Mac" McDonnell Jr. was an American aviator, engineer, and businessman. He was an aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, later McDonnell Douglas, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation. Read more
22 Aug 1979: James T. Farrell, American novelist, short-story writer, and poet (born 1904) James Thomas Farrell was an American novelist, short story writer and poet. Read more
22 Aug 1978: Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan politician, 1st President of Kenya (born 1894) Jomo Kenyatta was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He played a significant role in the transformation of Kenya from a colony of the British Empire into an independent republic. Ideologically an African nationalist and a conservative, he led the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party from 1961 until his death. Read more
22 Aug 1977: Sebastian Cabot, English actor (born 1918) Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was a British actor. He is best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman Giles French in the CBS-TV sitcom Family Affair (1966–1971). He was also known for playing the Wazir in the film Kismet (1955) and Dr. Carl Hyatt in the CBS-TV series Checkmate (1960–1962). Read more
22 Aug 1977: Chunseong, Korean monk, philosopher and writer (born 1891) Lee Chang-rim, also known by his Dharma name Chunseong and the art name Muaedoin, was a Korean Buddhist monk, scholar, poet, writer, and philosopher. Read more
22 Aug 1977: Rex Connor, Australian politician (born 1907) Reginald Francis Xavier Connor was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1963 until he died in 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was the Minister for Minerals and Energy in the Whitlam government from 1972 to 1975. Read more
22 Aug 1976: Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (born 1913) Gina Bachauer was a Greek classical pianist who toured extensively in the United States and Europe. Interested in piano at a young age, Bachauer graduated from the Athens Conservatory and studied under Alfred Cortot and Sergei Rachmaninoff. She is best known for playing Romantic piano concertos. She played hundreds of concerts for the Allied troops in the Middle East during World War II while she lived in Egypt. She spent a lot of time touring the United States and Europe, giving over 100 concerts each year. Bachauer also recorded extensively, both as a soloist and with orchestras. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Utah. During her career she was called the "queen of pianists". The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation was named in honor of her contributions to the musical world. In her personal life, Bachauer married music conductor Alec Sherman, who became her manager. She died at the age of 63 at the Athens Festival. Read more
22 Aug 1976: Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazilian physician and politician, 21st President of Brazil (born 1902) Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, also known by his initials JK, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. Kubitschek's government plan, dubbed "50 years in 5", was centered on economic and social development. During his term the country experienced a period of notable economic growth and relative political stability. However, there was also a significant increase in external debt, inflation, income concentration and wage erosion. At the time, there was no re-election and, on 31 January 1961, he was succeeded by Jânio Quadros, supported by the UDN. Kubitschek is best known for the construction of Brazil's new capital, Brasília, which was inaugurated on 21 April 1960, replacing Rio de Janeiro. Read more
22 Aug 1974: Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician, biologist, and author (born 1908) Jacob Bronowski was a Polish-British mathematician and philosopher. He is best known for developing a humanistic approach to science, and as the presenter and writer of the thirteen-part 1973 BBC television documentary series, and accompanying book, The Ascent of Man. He was widely regarded as "one of the most revered intellectuals on the global stage." Read more
22 Aug 1971: Birger Nerman, Swedish archaeologist (born 1888) Birger Nerman was a Swedish archaeologist, historian and philologist who specialized in the history and culture of Iron Age Sweden. Read more
22 Aug 1970: Vladimir Propp, Russian philologist and scholar (born 1895) Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp was a Russian and Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest, irreducible structural units. Read more
22 Aug 1967: Gregory Goodwin Pincus, American biologist and academic, co-created the birth-control pill (born 1903) Gregory Goodwin Pincus was an American biologist and researcher who co-invented the combined oral contraceptive pill. Read more
22 Aug 1963: William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Morris Motors (born 1877) William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, was an English motor manufacturer and philanthropist. He was the founder of Morris Motors Limited and is remembered for establishing the Nuffield Foundation, the Nuffield Trust and Nuffield College, Oxford, as well as being involved in his role as president of Bupa in creating what is now Nuffield Health. He took his title from the village of Nuffield, Oxfordshire, where he lived. Read more
22 Aug 1960: Johannes Sikkar, Estonian soldier and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (born 1897) Johannes Sikkar was the first head of the Estonian government in exile as Acting Prime Minister. Read more
22 Aug 1958: Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1881) Roger Martin du Gard was a French novelist, winner of the 1937 Nobel Prize in Literature. Read more
22 Aug 1953: Jim Tabor, American baseball player (born 1916) James Reubin Tabor, nicknamed "Rawhide", was an American Major League Baseball player, a third baseman for the Boston Red Sox (1938–44) and Philadelphia Phillies (1946–47). Born in New Hope, Alabama, he batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). Read more
22 Aug 1951: Jack Bickell, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (born 1884) John Paris Bickell was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and sports team owner. He is best known for his long-time association with the Toronto Maple Leafs professional ice hockey team as the owner, president, chairman and director 1924–1951. Read more
22 Aug 1950: Kirk Bryan, American geologist and academic (born 1888) Kirk Bryan was an American geologist on the faculty of Harvard University from 1925 until his death in 1950. Read more
22 Aug 1946: Döme Sztójay, Hungarian general and politician, 35th Prime Minister of Hungary (born 1883) Döme Sztójay was a Hungarian soldier and diplomat of Serb origin, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1944, during World War II. Read more
22 Aug 1942: Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (born 1880) Michael Fokine was a Russian choreographer and dancer. He is considered the founder of modern ballet. Read more
22 Aug 1940: Oliver Lodge, English physicist and academic (born 1851) Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge was an English physicist and electrical engineer whose investigations into electromagnetic radiation (EMR) contributed to the development of radio. He identified EMR independent of Heinrich Hertz's proof. In his 1894 Royal Institution lecture, The Work of Hertz and Some of His Successors, Lodge's demonstrations on methods to transmit and detect radio waves included an improved early radio receiver he named the coherer. His work led to his holding key patents in early radio communication, his "syntonic" patents. Read more
22 Aug 1940: Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (born 1861) Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland, 6th Count della Catena, 1st Baron Strickland,, usually known between 1897 and January 1928 as Sir Gerald Strickland, was a Maltese and British politician and, eventually, peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the Leeward Islands, Governor of Tasmania, Governor of Western Australia and Governor of New South Wales, in addition to sitting in the House of Commons and later in the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Read more
22 Aug 1937: Pedro Durruti, Spanish anarchist and Falangist revolutionary (born 1911) Marciano Pedro Durruti Domingo was a Spanish anarchist and Falangist revolutionary. The younger brother of Buenaventura Durruti, he followed him into the Spanish anarchist movement, becoming a local leader of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) in the Leonese country. After a series of arrests for his anarchist activism, he moved to Madrid, where he came under the influence of Falangism. He attempted to create a synthesis of anarchism and Falangism, and encourage the merger of anarchist and Falangist organisations. In 1936, he joined the Falange Española de las JONS and attempted to set up a meeting between his brother and the Falange's leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera, but his brother rejected his overtures. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he was briefly imprisoned by the Republicans in the Cárcel Modelo, but he was released following an appeal and managed to make his way to the Nationalist zone. There he was implicated in an anti-Francoist conspiracy by Falangist leader Manuel Hedilla, and Durruti himself attempted to organise a coup d'état to overthrow Francisco Franco's military junta and seize power for the Falange. After being found guilty of rebellion by a military tribunal, he was executed by a firing squad made up of other Falangists. The motivations for Durruti's execution have been questioned by historians, who largely conclude that he was executed because of his relation to his brother. Read more
22 Aug 1933: Alexandros Kontoulis, Greek general and diplomat (born 1858) Alexandros Kontoulis was a Greek military officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the Hellenic Army. He was among the driving minds behind the Macedonian Struggle and was involved in the Albanian national movement, with the nom de guerre of Kapetan Skourtis. Kontoulis fought with distinction in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the First Balkan War, where he was heavily wounded. In the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, he commanded the I Army Corps on the southern sector of the Greek front from February 1921 to June 1922. After his retirement, he served as ambassador to Albania. Read more
22 Aug 1926: Charles William Eliot, American academic (born 1834) Charles William Eliot was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909, the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transformed Harvard from a respected provincial college into America's preeminent research university.
Theodore Roosevelt called him "the only man in the world I envy." Read more
22 Aug 1922: Michael Collins, Irish rebel, counter-intelligence and military tactician, and politician; 2nd Irish Minister of Finance (born 1890) Michael Collins was an Irish revolutionary, soldier and politician who was a leading figure in the early-20th century struggle for Irish independence. During the War of Independence he was Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He served in the government of the Irish Republic as the Minister for Home Affairs and later as the Minister for Finance. Collins was Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State from January 1922 and commander-in-chief of the National Army from July until he died in an ambush in August 1922, during the Civil War. Read more
22 Aug 1920: Anders Zorn, Swedish artist (born 1860) Anders Leonard Zorn was a Swedish artist who attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist. His portrait subjects include King Oscar II of Sweden and three American Presidents: Grover Cleveland, William H. Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt. At the end of his life in 1920, he established the Swedish literary Bellman Prize. Read more
22 Aug 1918: Korbinian Brodmann, German neurologist and academic (born 1868) Korbinian Brodmann was a German neuropsychiatrist who is known for mapping the cerebral cortex and defining 52 distinct regions, known as Brodmann areas, based on their cytoarchitectonic (histological) characteristics. Read more
22 Aug 1914: Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi, Italian bishop and academic (born 1859) Giacomo Maria Radini-Tedeschi was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bergamo. Today he is famous for his strong involvement in social issues at the beginning of 20th century. Read more
22 Aug 1909: Henry Radcliffe Crocker, English dermatologist and author (born 1846) Henry Radcliffe Crocker, FRCP was an English dermatologist. Originally from Hove in Sussex, England, Crocker started his working life as an apprentice to a general practitioner before going to London to attend the University College Hospital medical school. Working as a resident medical officer with William Tilbury Fox, Crocker began a lifelong career in dermatology. With his 1888 book Diseases of the Skin: their Description, Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment, he became known as a leading figure of dermatology. Read more
22 Aug 1904: Kate Chopin, American novelist and poet (born 1850) Kate Chopin was an American author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. She is considered by scholars to have been a forerunner of American 20th-century feminist authors of Southern or Catholic background, such as Zelda Fitzgerald, and she is among the most frequently read and recognized writers of Louisiana Creole heritage. She is best known today for her 1899 novel The Awakening. Read more
22 Aug 1903: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1830) Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen years. He was also Foreign Secretary before and during most of his tenure. He avoided international alignments or alliances, maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation". Read more
22 Aug 1891: Jan Neruda, Czech journalist, author, and poet (born 1834) Jan Nepomuk Neruda was a Czech journalist, writer, poet and art critic; one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the "May School". Read more
22 Aug 1888: Ágoston Trefort, Hungarian jurist and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (born 1817) Dr. Ágoston Trefort was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education from 1872 until his death. He was the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 1885. Read more
22 Aug 1861: Xianfeng, Emperor of China (born 1831) The Xianfeng Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing, personal name Yizhu, was the eighth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper. During his reign, the Qing dynasty experienced several wars and rebellions including the Taiping Rebellion, the Nian Rebellion, and the Second Opium War. He was the last Chinese emperor to exercise sole power. Read more
22 Aug 1850: Nikolaus Lenau, Romanian-Austrian poet and author (born 1802) Nikolaus Lenau was the pen name of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau, a German-language Austrian poet. Read more
22 Aug 1828: Franz Joseph Gall, Austrian neuroanatomist and physiologist (born 1758) Franz Joseph Gall or Franz Josef Gall was a German neuroanatomist, physiologist, and pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain. Read more
22 Aug 1818: Warren Hastings, English lawyer and politician, 1st Governor-General of Bengal (born 1732) Warren Hastings was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-general of Bengal in 1772–1785. He and Robert Clive are credited with laying the foundation of the British Empire in India. He was an energetic organizer and reformer. In 1779–1784, he led forces of the East India Company against a coalition of native states and the French. In the end, the well-organised British side held its own, while France lost influence in India. In 1787, he was accused of corruption and impeached, but he was eventually acquitted in 1795 after a long trial. He was made a privy councillor in 1814. Read more
22 Aug 1806: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter and illustrator (born 1732) Jean-Honoré Fragonard was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific artists active in the last decades of the Ancien Régime, Fragonard produced more than 550 paintings, of which only five are dated. Among his most popular works are genre paintings conveying an atmosphere of intimacy and veiled eroticism. Read more

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