History of Today 02 August: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 02 August. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 02 August. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 02 August 2026, 01:03 AM

Important Events on 02 August in History

02 Aug 2014: At least 146 people were killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China. Read more
02 Aug 2005: Air France Flight 358 lands at Toronto Pearson International Airport and runs off the runway, causing the plane to burst into flames, leaving 12 injuries and no fatalities. Read more
02 Aug 1999: The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India. Read more
02 Aug 1991: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-43 to deploy the TDRS-5 satellite. Read more
02 Aug 1990: Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: Iraq invades Kuwait and temporarily establishes the Republic of Kuwait puppet state on the orders of Saddam Hussein, eventually leading to the Gulf War. Read more
02 Aug 1989: Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972. Read more
02 Aug 1989: A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians. Read more
02 Aug 1985: Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137. Read more
02 Aug 1982: The Helsinki Metro, the first rapid transit system of Finland, is opened to the general public. Read more
02 Aug 1980: A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200. Read more
02 Aug 1973: A flash fire kills 50 people at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man. Read more
02 Aug 1968: An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261. Read more
02 Aug 1947: A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. The wreckage would not be found until 1998. Read more
02 Aug 1945: World War II: The Potsdam Conference ends. Read more
02 Aug 1944: ASNOM: Birth of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, celebrated as Day of the Republic in North Macedonia. Read more
02 Aug 1944: World War II: The largest trade convoy of the world wars arrives safely in the Western Approaches. Read more
02 Aug 1943: The Holocaust: Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months. Read more
02 Aug 1943: World War II: After the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. president, saves all but two of his crew. Read more
02 Aug 1939: Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon. Read more
02 Aug 1937: The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, the effect of which is to render marijuana and all its by-products illegal. Read more
02 Aug 1934: Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. Read more
02 Aug 1932: The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson. Read more
02 Aug 1923: U.S. Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of President Warren G. Harding. Read more
02 Aug 1922: A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China, killing more than 50,000 people. Read more
02 Aug 1918: The first general strike in Canadian history takes place in Vancouver. Read more
02 Aug 1916: World War I: Austrian sabotage causes the sinking of the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto. Read more
02 Aug 1914: World War I: The German occupation of Luxembourg begins. Read more
02 Aug 1909: End of the Tragic Week in Barcelona, a series of antiwar and antigovernment protests in Spain and especially in Barcelona. Read more
02 Aug 1903: The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Empire begins. Read more
02 Aug 1897: Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states. Read more
02 Aug 1873: The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco's famous cable car system. Read more
02 Aug 1870: Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom. Read more
02 Aug 1869: Japan's Edo society class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. Read more
02 Aug 1858: The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj. Read more
02 Aug 1830: July Revolution: Charles X of France abdicates the throne in favor of his grandson Henri. Read more

Famous Births on 02 August

02 Aug 2006: Héctor Fort, Spanish footballer Héctor Fort García is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for La Liga club Barcelona. Read more
02 Aug 2000: Varvara Gracheva, Russian tennis player Varvara Andreyevna Gracheva is a Russian-born French professional tennis player.
Gracheva has a career-high WTA singles ranking of 39, achieved on 8 January 2024. She has won seven singles titles on the ITF Circuit. Read more
02 Aug 2000: Mohammed Kudus, Ghanaian footballer Mohammed Kudus is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Ghana national team. Read more
02 Aug 1999: Mark Lee, Korean-Canadian singer Mark Lee is a Canadian rapper and singer based in South Korea. He is a former member of the South Korean boy band NCT and its fixed sub-units NCT 127 and NCT Dream, as well as the supergroup SuperM. Mark made his solo debut on April 7, 2025, with his first studio album The Firstfruit. On April 3, 2026, Mark departed from NCT and SM Entertainment following the expiration of his contract on April 8. On June 3, he announced his new label, Upper Room. Read more
02 Aug 1997: Austin Theory, American wrestler Austin Tyler White is an American professional wrestler. As of August 2019, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Austin Theory. He is a member of The Vision stable and is one-half of the reigning World Tag Team Champions with stablemate Bron Breakker in their second reign. Read more
02 Aug 1996: Keston Hiura, American baseball player Keston Wee Hing Natsuo Hiura is an American professional baseball first baseman and second baseman for the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, and Colorado Rockies. Read more
02 Aug 1996: Simone Manuel, American swimmer Simone Ashley Manuel is an American professional swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter medley, and silver in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In winning the 100-meter freestyle, a tie with Penny Oleksiak of Canada, Manuel became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming and set an Olympic record and an American record. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won a bronze medal as the anchor of the American 4×100-meter freestyle relay team. Read more
02 Aug 1995: Kristaps Porziņģis, Latvian basketball player Kristaps Porziņģis is a Latvian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Unicorn" for his ability to make plays and shoot three-pointers as a center, Porziņģis is listed at 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) and plays as a power forward and center. Read more
02 Aug 1995: Vikkstar123, English internet personality Vikram Singh Barn, better known as Vikkstar123 or simply Vikkstar, is an English YouTuber and DJ. He is a member of the YouTube group the Sidemen. Read more
02 Aug 1994: Cr1TiKaL, American YouTuber and streamer Charles Christopher White Jr., better known as Cr1TiKaL, MoistCr1TiKaL, or penguinz0, is an American YouTuber, streamer and actor. He is best known for his commentary videos and live streams covering internet culture and video games. His content is mostly characterized by his monotonous voice, white shirt, deadpan comedic style, and long hair, which has earned him the nickname of "Internet Jesus". In addition, White was the co-founder and co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports, is currently the co-owner of Shopify Rebellion and is also a co-founder and member of the musical duo the Gentle Men. Read more
02 Aug 1994: Laura Pigossi, Brazilian tennis player Laura Pigossi Herrmann de Andrade is a Brazilian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of No. 100 by the WTA, achieved on 29 August 2022, and a best doubles ranking of world No. 80, reached on 1 December 2025. Her most notable achievement was a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in doubles, with Luisa Stefani. Read more
02 Aug 1994: Laremy Tunsil, American football player Laremy Alexander Tunsil is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels and was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. Tunsil was traded to the Houston Texans in 2019, making five Pro Bowls with them before being traded to the Commanders in 2025. Read more
02 Aug 1993: Gael Bussa, Congolese politician Gael Bussa Obambule is a Congolese lawyer and politician. He was elected National Deputy in the constituency of Budjala, in the province of South-Ubangi, in the 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election. Read more
02 Aug 1993: Joey Florez, American scholar and cultural critic Jose Luis Florez Betancourt, also known as Joey Florez, is an American scholar and cultural critic. Read more
02 Aug 1992: Charli XCX, English singer-songwriter Charlotte Emma Aitchison, known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer, songwriter, and actress. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Records in 2010, Charli XCX released a series of singles and mixtapes in the early 2010s. In 2012, she co-wrote and was featured on Icona Pop's "I Love It", which became her first number-one song in the UK and received global success, but her debut album, True Romance (2013), failed to meet commercial expectations. Read more
02 Aug 1991: Evander Kane, Canadian ice hockey player Evander Frank Kane is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who is an unrestricted free agent. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. Kane was selected fourth overall by the Thrashers in the first round of the 2009 NHL entry draft. Read more
02 Aug 1990: Ima Bohush, Belarusian tennis player Ima Anatolevna Bohush is a retired Belarusian tennis player. Read more
02 Aug 1990: Vitalia Diatchenko, Russian tennis player Vitalia Anatolyevna Diatchenko is a Russian tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 71, achieved on 17 November 2014. On 21 February 2011, she peaked at No. 60 in the WTA doubles rankings. Read more
02 Aug 1990: Skylar Diggins, American basketball player Skylar Kierra Diggins is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Lunar Owls of Unrivaled. Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA draft. In high school, she was the National Gatorade Player of the Year and the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year. She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and led the team to three consecutive Final Fours and two consecutive NCAA championship appearances. She finished her Notre Dame career ranked first in points and steals, second in assists, and as a two-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the nation. Read more
02 Aug 1989: Nacer Chadli, Belgian footballer Nacer Chadli is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a winger. Read more
02 Aug 1988: Rob Kwiet, Canadian ice hockey player Rob Kwiet is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Read more
02 Aug 1988: Golden Tate, American football player Golden Herman Tate III is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning unanimous All-American honors and winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award in 2009. Tate was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft. He later played for the Detroit Lions, with whom he made a Pro Bowl appearance. He also played a season for the Philadelphia Eagles and two seasons for the New York Giants. Read more
02 Aug 1986: Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian skier Mathieu Razanakolona is a Malagasy-Canadian alpine skier, born to a Quebecois mother and a father from Madagascar, currently residing in Canada. Read more
02 Aug 1986: Lily Gladstone, American actress Lily Catherine Gladstone is an American actress. Raised on the Blackfeet Reservation, Gladstone is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce, and European heritage. She earned critical acclaim for portraying Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman who survived the Osage Indian murders, in Martin Scorsese's crime drama film Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), receiving several accolades; she became the first Native American to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Read more
02 Aug 1985: Stephen Ferris, Irish rugby player Stephen Ferris is a retired Irish rugby union player who played for Ulster and represented Ireland internationally. Ferris played club rugby with Dungannon. He is from Maghaberry and attended Friends' School Lisburn. He played for Ulster and Ireland in all three backrow positions. Ferris retired from rugby in June 2014 after a long-standing ankle injury ended his career. Read more
02 Aug 1985: David Hart Smith, Canadian wrestler Harry Francis Smith, better known by his ring name Davey Boy Smith Jr., is a Canadian professional wrestler and catch wrestler. He currently performs for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a two-time Opera Cup winner and a former two-time MLW World Tag Team Champion, and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a former three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion as part of the Killer Elite Squad with Lance Archer, as well as being a two-time GHC Tag Team Champion in Pro Wrestling Noah due to NJPW's working relationship with Pro Wrestling Noah. Read more
02 Aug 1984: Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer Giampaolo Pazzini, nicknamed Il Pazzo after his surname, is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
02 Aug 1984: JD Vance, American politician, 50th vice president of the United States James David Vance is an American politician, author, and venture capitalist serving as the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the state of Ohio in the United States Senate from 2023 to 2025. Read more
02 Aug 1983: Michel Bastos, Brazilian footballer Michel Fernandes Bastos is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who mainly played as a left winger. Read more
02 Aug 1983: Huston Street, American baseball player Huston Lowell Street is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels. Read more
02 Aug 1982: Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
02 Aug 1982: Kerry Rhodes, American football player Kerry Rhodes is an American actor and former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL draft, and most recently played for the Arizona Cardinals in 2012. Rhodes was named to All-Pro teams by three publications after the 2006 NFL season. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals. Read more
02 Aug 1982: Grady Sizemore, American baseball player Grady Sizemore is an American former professional baseball center fielder, coach and manager who currently serves as the first base coach and the outfield and base running instructor for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians from 2004 through 2011, but did not play in the majors for the following two years after a series of injuries. He returned in 2014 with the Boston Red Sox and played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2014 to 2015 before finishing 2015 with the Tampa Bay Rays. He was a three-time MLB All-Star and a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and also won a Silver Slugger Award. Read more
02 Aug 1981: Alexander Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist and boxer Alexander Vladimirovich Emelianenko is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He is a three-time Russian national Combat Sambo champion and three-time world Combat Sambo champion in the absolute division. He is a younger brother of Fedor Emelianenko. Read more
02 Aug 1981: Tim Murtagh, English-Irish cricketer Timothy James Murtagh is a retired English-born Irish cricketer who played for Middlesex County Cricket Club. Read more
02 Aug 1980: Ivica Banović, Croatian footballer Ivica Banović is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. An NK Zagreb youth product, he spent most of his career in Germany. At international level, he earned two caps with the Croatia national team. Read more
02 Aug 1979: Marco Bonura, Italian footballer Marco Bonura is an Italian retired footballer and manager, currently in charge of Italian Serie D club Sansepolcro Read more
02 Aug 1979: Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan runner Reuben Seroney Kosgei, is a middle and long distance athlete most famous for 3000 m steeplechase in which he became the youngest ever winner of an Olympic gold medal in the event, when, at the age of 21, he ran to victory in Sydney 2000 with a winning time of 8 minutes 21.43 seconds. Read more
02 Aug 1978: Goran Gavrančić, Serbian footballer Goran Gavrančić is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a defender. Read more
02 Aug 1978: Matt Guerrier, American baseball player Matthew Olson Guerrier is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs. Read more
02 Aug 1978: Deividas Šemberas, Lithuanian footballer Deividas Šemberas is a Lithuanian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Between 1996 and 2013, he earned 82 international caps for Lithuania. Read more
02 Aug 1978: Dragan Vukmir, Serbian footballer Dragan Vukmir is a Serbian professional football manager and a former defender. He is the manager of Hungarian club BVSC-Zugló. He was capped once for Serbia and Montenegro. Read more
02 Aug 1977: Edward Furlong, American actor Edward Walter Furlong is an American actor. He won a Saturn and an MTV Movie Award for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's 1991 science fiction action film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Read more
02 Aug 1976: Reyes Estévez, Spanish runner Reyes Estévez López is a Spanish 1500 metres runner. He won the European Championships' final 1998 in Budapest. In addition, he won bronze medals at the 1997 World Championships, 1999 World Championships and 2005 European Indoor Championships and silver medals at the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2002 European Championships. Read more
02 Aug 1976: Jay Heaps, American soccer player and coach John Franklin "Jay" Heaps is an American former soccer player who currently serves as general manager and head coach of Birmingham Legion FC. He is a former head coach for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer. Read more
02 Aug 1976: Michael Weiss, American figure skater Michael Weiss is an American former competitive and currently professional figure skater. He is in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame and is a three-time national champion a two-time World bronze medalist, and a two-time Olympic team member. Read more
02 Aug 1976: Pritam Singh, Singaporean lawyer and politician Pritam Singh is a Singaporean politician, author and lawyer who was the leader of the opposition from 2020 to 2026. He has been the secretary-general of the Workers' Party (WP) since 2018 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Eunos division of Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) since 2011. Singh was the first de jure leader of the opposition in post-independence Singapore. Read more
02 Aug 1976: Sam Worthington, English-Australian actor and producer Samuel Henry John Worthington is an Australian actor who has worked in both independent Australian cinema and Hollywood. He rose to prominence in Australia with performances in the films Bootmen (2000) and Somersault (2004), receiving Australia Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role nominations for both films and winning the latter, and gained further recognition through his role in the TV series Love My Way. Worthington achieved international fame as protagonist Jake Sully in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009), the highest-grossing film of all time, and received a second AFI award for the film; he reprised his role in its sequels. Read more
02 Aug 1976: Mohammad Zahid, Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Zahid is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. Read more
02 Aug 1975: Mineiro, Brazilian footballer Carlos Luciano da Silva, nicknamed Mineiro, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Read more
02 Aug 1975: Xu Huaiwen, Chinese-German badminton player and coach Huaiwen Xu is a German badminton player. Born in Guiyang, Guizhou, China, she decided to play for Germany because the Chinese thought that she was too short to play professional world badminton. Read more
02 Aug 1975: Tamás Molnár, Hungarian water polo player Tamás Molnár is a Hungarian former water polo player, who played on the gold medal squads at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. He is one of ten male athletes who won three Olympic gold medals in water polo. He made his debut for the national team in 1997, and was named Hungarian Water Polo Player of the Year in 1998. Read more
02 Aug 1974: Phil Williams, English journalist and radio host Phil Williams is a British radio news reporter and presenter who worked for 18 years on BBC Radio 5 Live until 2019. Read more
02 Aug 1973: Danie Keulder, Namibian cricketer Danie Keulder is a former Namibian cricketer, who has played for Namibia's national cricket team from 1994 until 2005. He first appeared for Namibia in the 1994 ICC Trophy, against Canada in a match that his team lost by eight wickets, having put a mere 51 runs on the board. Read more
02 Aug 1973: Miguel Mendonça, Zimbabwean journalist and author Miguel Mendonça is an Anglo-Azorean writer and musician based in Bristol, England. Read more
02 Aug 1973: Susie O'Neill, Australian swimmer Susan O'Neill, is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career. Read more
02 Aug 1972: Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi Arabian footballer Mohamed Abdullaziz Al-Deayea Al-Shammari, also known as Mohammed Deayea al-Shammari, is a Saudi Arabian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He participated in four FIFA World Cups for the Saudi Arabia national team and earned a total of 173 officially recognised caps. Al-Deayea played for al-Tai FC and al-Hilal SFC and was represented in all Saudi national teams. He is considered one of the prominent goalkeepers in the history of Saudi sports. Read more
02 Aug 1972: Muriel Bowser, American politician, Mayor of Washington, D.C. Muriel Elizabeth Bowser is an American politician who has served as the mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt. Since taking office in 2015, she has secured three consecutive mayoral victories—the first African‑American woman to do so. Read more
02 Aug 1971: Jason Bell, Australian rugby league player Jason Bell is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s in the National Rugby League. His position of preference was at five-eighth. Read more
02 Aug 1971: Michael Hughes, Irish footballer and manager Michael Eamon Hughes is a Northern Irish football manager and former footballer who is a majority shareholder and co-owner of NIFL Premiership side Carrick Rangers. Read more
02 Aug 1970: Tony Amonte, American ice hockey player and coach Anthony Lewis Amonte is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played right wing over 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers and the Calgary Flames. He previously served as the head coach of the Thayer Academy men's varsity hockey team. He is currently a scout with the Florida Panthers. Read more
02 Aug 1970: Kevin Smith, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Kevin Patrick Smith is an American filmmaker. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy film Clerks (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, co-edited, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob. These characters also appeared in Smith's later films Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Clerks II (2006), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and Clerks III (2022), which are set primarily in his home state of New Jersey. While not strictly sequential, the films have crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon known as the "View Askewniverse", named after Smith's production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier. Read more
02 Aug 1970: Philo Wallace, Barbadian cricketer Philo Alphonso Wallace is a Barbadian cricketer who played for the West Indies. Read more
02 Aug 1969: Cedric Ceballos, American basketball player Cedric Zelos Ceballos is an American former professional basketball player. As a small forward, he played mostly for the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers, later finishing his National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, and Miami Heat. Read more
02 Aug 1969: Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer and manager Fernando Manuel Silva Couto is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Read more
02 Aug 1968: Stefan Effenberg, German footballer and sportscaster Stefan Effenberg is a German football pundit and former professional player. Nicknamed Der Tiger, he was known for his leadership skills, passing range, long-range shooting and physical strength as an iconic midfielder of his time, but was also a temperamental and controversial character. Read more
02 Aug 1968: Chrystia Freeland, Canadian politician and journalist Christina Alexandra Freeland is a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the tenth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Liberal Party, she was first elected as the member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto Centre in 2013 and represented University—Rosedale from 2015 to 2026. Freeland served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2025 during the premierships of Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney. Read more
02 Aug 1967: Aaron Krickstein, American tennis player Aaron Krickstein, nicknamed "Marathon Man", is an American former professional tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. He currently competes on the Outback Champions Series Over-30 tour. Read more
02 Aug 1967: Aline Brosh McKenna, American screenwriter and producer Aline Brosh McKenna is an American filmmaker. Her credits include writing The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and its 2026 sequel, 27 Dresses (2008), Morning Glory (2010), We Bought a Zoo (2011) and co-creating The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Read more
02 Aug 1966: Takashi Iizuka, Japanese wrestler Takayuki Iizuka , better known by his ring name Takashi Iizuka , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his 33-year career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. He has also worked for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion. Read more
02 Aug 1966: Grainne Leahy, Irish cricketer Grainne Maire Leahy née O'Brien is an Irish international cricketer who debuted for the Ireland national side in 1997. A top order batter, she played 11 One Day International matches. Read more
02 Aug 1966: Tim Wakefield, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2023) Timothy Stephen Wakefield was an American professional baseball knuckleball pitcher. Wakefield began his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-year tenure with the Boston Red Sox, where he was a part of two World Series championships in 2004 and 2007. When he retired at age 45 after 19 seasons in MLB, Wakefield was the oldest active player in the major leagues. Read more
02 Aug 1965: Joe Hockey, Australian lawyer and politician, 38th Treasurer of Australia Joseph Benedict Hockey is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott government from 18 September 2013 until September 2015 when he resigned from Cabinet, having refused an alternative offer from the incoming prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. He previously served as the Minister for Human Services and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the Howard government. He also served as Ambassador of Australia to the United States from January 2016 until January 2020. Read more
02 Aug 1965: Hisanobu Watanabe, Japanese baseball player and coach Hisanobu Watanabe nicknamed "Nabe-Q", is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Seibu Lions and Yakult Swallows, and in the Taiwan Major League (TML) for the Chiayi-Tainan Luka. Read more
02 Aug 1964: Frank Biela, German race car driver Frank Stanley Biela is a German auto racing driver, mainly competing in touring cars and sportscar racing. He has raced exclusively in cars manufactured by the Audi marque since 1990. Biela notably won the 1991 Deutsche Tourenwagen Miesterschaft and the 1996 British Touring Car Championship, as well as the 24 Hours of Le mans five times and the 12 Hours of Sebring four times between 2000 and 2007. Biela also won the 1996 Macau Guia Race in the Super Touring class. Read more
02 Aug 1964: Mary-Louise Parker, American actress Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss in 1990, Parker came to prominence for film roles in Grand Canyon (1991), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), The Client (1994), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), A Place for Annie (1994), Boys on the Side (1995), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), and The Maker (1997). Read more
02 Aug 1963: Laura Bennett, American architect and fashion designer Laura Eugenia Bennett is an American architect and fashion designer. She was one of the four finalists for the third season of a competitive reality television series Project Runway, which originally aired on Bravo network. Read more
02 Aug 1963: Uğur Tütüneker, Turkish footballer and manager Uğur Tütüneker is a Turkish former footballer and manager who most recently served as the manager of Adana Demirspor. After migrating to Germany with his family, he started playing football at Bayern Munich youth academy. Read more
02 Aug 1962: Lee Mavers, English singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Antony Mavers is an English musician, best known for being the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in the La's. Read more
02 Aug 1962: Cynthia Stevenson, American actress Cynthia Stevenson is an American actress. She first played a leading role in the single season of the syndicated parody comedy series My Talk Show (1990–91), before starring in a number of sitcoms, including Bob, Hope & Gloria, and Oh Baby. Read more
02 Aug 1961: Pete de Freitas, Trinidadian-British drummer and producer (died 1989) Peter Louis Vincent de Freitas was an English musician and producer. He was the drummer in Echo & the Bunnymen, and performed on their first five albums. Read more
02 Aug 1961: Cui Jian, Chinese singer-songwriter Cui Jian is a Chinese singer-songwriter and musician. Known for his countercultural impact, he has launched a ground-breaking musical trend of Chinese rock and pop, dubbed the "Godfather of Chinese Rock". With poetic, socially conscious lyrics, his experimental approach features multiple traditional instruments, eclectic musical elements and cultural references from different eras. Cui is widely deemed the most influential rock musician in China as well as one of the greatest and most prominent figures in Chinese music. Read more
02 Aug 1960: Linda Fratianne, American figure skater Linda Sue Fratianne is an American former figure skater known for winning two world-championship titles, four consecutive U.S. championships (1977–1980) and a silver medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Read more
02 Aug 1960: Neal Morse, American singer and keyboard player Neal Morse is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. In 1999, he joined Dream Theater's co-founder and drummer Mike Portnoy, the Flower Kings' Roine Stolt, and Marillion's Pete Trewavas to form the supergroup Transatlantic. In 2002, Neal Morse became a born again Christian, left Spock's Beard and began a Christian rock solo career, releasing many progressive rock concept albums about his new religious faith. In the meantime, he continued to play with Transatlantic and formed three new bands with Portnoy, Yellow Matter Custard, Flying Colors, and the Neal Morse Band. Read more
02 Aug 1960: David Yow, American singer-songwriter David Lambeth Yow is an American musician and actor born in Las Vegas, Nevada and best known as the vocalist for the noise rock bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard. Yow's debut solo album, Tonight You Look Like a Spider, was released in June 2013 on Joyful Noise Records. Read more
02 Aug 1959: Jim Doughan, American actor James Francis Doughan is an American actor, teacher and writer. He is best known for his roles as Detective Doyle in The Mask (1994) and Detective Allen as well as the voice of Lucky the Cat in Stuart Little (1999) and the head coach for the soccer team Stuart and his human brother, George Little, play for in Stuart Little 2 (2002). He is currently a performing arts teacher at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California. Read more
02 Aug 1959: Victoria Jackson, American actress and singer Victoria Jackson is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the series Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1992. Read more
02 Aug 1959: Johnny Kemp, Bahamian singer-songwriter and producer (died 2015) Jonathan "Johnny" Kemp was a Bahamian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a songwriter in late 1979 and is perhaps best known for his solo work, including his single "Just Got Paid" (1988), which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1989. Read more
02 Aug 1959: Apollonia Kotero, American singer and actress Patricia Apollonia Kotero is an American actress, singer, and former model. She is known for co-starring in Prince's 1984 film Purple Rain and for having been the lead singer of the girl group Apollonia 6. Read more
02 Aug 1957: Jacky Rosen, United States senator Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Nevada since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the U.S. representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2017 to 2019. Read more
02 Aug 1956: Fulvio Melia, Italian-American physicist, astrophysicist, and author Fulvio Melia is an Italian-American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author. He is a professor of physics, astronomy and the applied math program at the University of Arizona and was a scientific editor of The Astrophysical Journal and an associate editor of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. A former Presidential Young Investigator and Sloan Research Fellow, he is the author of six English books and 230 refereed articles on theoretical astrophysics and cosmology. Read more
02 Aug 1955: Caleb Carr, American historian and author (died 2024) Caleb Carr was an American military historian and author. Carr was the second of three sons born to Lucien Carr and Francesca Von Hartz. Read more
02 Aug 1955: Tony Godden, English footballer and manager Anthony Leonard Godden was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, Luton Town, Walsall, Chelsea, Birmingham City, Bury and Peterborough United. Read more
02 Aug 1955: Butch Vig, American drummer, songwriter, and record producer Bryan David "Butch" Vig is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Vig produced for several alternative rock acts of the 1990s, including Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, L7, and Sonic Youth. Notable albums he produced include Nirvana's diamond-selling album Nevermind (1991), L7's Bricks Are Heavy (1992), the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream (1993), and Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown (2009). Read more
02 Aug 1954: Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and manager Samuel Baxter McIlroy is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland national team. Read more
02 Aug 1953: Donnie Munro, Scottish singer and guitarist Donnie Munro is a Scottish musician and politician, best known as the former lead singer of the band Runrig. Munro served as the bands lead vocalist during their most commercially successful period, 1987–1995, particularly with the release of their album The Cutter and the Clan and the 1995 single "An Ubhal as Àirde " which made chart history by becoming the first song to be performed in Scottish Gaelic to chart in the United Kingdom. Mara (1995) served as the last album released by Runrig to feature Munro on lead vocals, leaving the band in 1997 to pursue a career in politics. Read more
02 Aug 1953: Butch Patrick, American actor Butch Patrick is an American actor and musician. Beginning his professional acting career at the age of seven, Patrick is perhaps best known for his role as child werewolf Eddie Munster on the CBS comedy television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and in the 1966 feature film Munster, Go Home!, and as Mark on the ABC Saturday morning series Lidsville from 1971 to 1973. Read more
02 Aug 1953: Anthony Seldon, English historian and author Sir Anthony Francis Seldon is a British contemporary historian and educator. As an author, he is known for his political biographies of consecutive British Prime Ministers, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss, and as an educator, the Master of Wellington College, in Berkshire. Seldon is the author or editor of more than 50 books on contemporary history, politics, and education. Read more
02 Aug 1952: Alain Giresse, French footballer and manager Alain Jean Giresse is a French football coach and former player who last managed Kosovo. Read more
02 Aug 1951: Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2011) Andrew Maurice Gold was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold performed on scores of records by other artists, especially Linda Ronstadt, and had his own success with the U.S. top 40 hits "Lonely Boy" (1977) and "Thank You for Being a Friend" (1978), as well as the UK top five hit "Never Let Her Slip Away" (1978). In the 1980s, he had further international chart success as one half of the British-American superduo Wax alongside 10cc's Graham Gouldman. Read more
02 Aug 1951: Steve Hillage, English singer-songwriter and guitarist Stephen Simpson Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo recordings he has been a member of Uriel, Khan, Gong and System 7. Read more
02 Aug 1951: Burgess Owens, American football player and politician Clarence Burgess Owens is an American politician and former professional football player. Since 2021, he has served as the U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district. Read more
02 Aug 1951: Joe Lynn Turner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Joe Lynn Turner is an American singer best known for his work with Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Read more
02 Aug 1951: Per Westerberg, Swedish businessman and politician, Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden Per Erik Gunnar Westerberg is a Swedish politician who was Speaker of the Riksdag from 2006 to 2014. He was a Member of the Riksdag from 1979 to 2014, its most senior member from 2006 to his resignation. He was Sweden's Minister for Industry and Trade from 1991 to 1994. Read more
02 Aug 1950: Jussi Adler-Olsen, Danish author and publisher Carl Valdemar Jussi Henry Adler-Olsen is a Danish crime fiction writer, a publisher, editor, and entrepreneur, best known for his Department Q series. He made his debut as a nonfiction writer in 1984, and as a fiction writer in 1997. Read more
02 Aug 1950: Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate, diagnosed with ALS (died 1994) Sue Rodriguez was a Canadian right-to-die activist. In August 1991, she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and was given two to five years to live. She ultimately made the decision to end her life and she sought the assistance of a doctor to that end, leading to a legal battle. She lost her case in front of the Supreme Court of Canada, but took her own life with the help of an anonymous doctor on February 12, 1994. She is cited as an important figure in the eventual legalization of medical assistance in dying in Canada. Read more
02 Aug 1950: Ted Turner, British guitarist David Alan "Ted" Turner is an English guitarist and vocalist, best known for his work with the rock band Wishbone Ash, in which he was famed for his twin lead guitar instrumental arrangements with Andy Powell. Turner also contributed lap steel guitar to a variety of Wishbone Ash recordings. Read more
02 Aug 1949: James Fallows, American journalist and author James Mackenzie Fallows is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for The Atlantic. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The American Prospect, among others. He is a former editor of U.S. News & World Report, and as President Jimmy Carter's chief speechwriter for two years was the youngest person ever to hold that job. Read more
02 Aug 1949: Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian general and cosmonaut Bertalan Farkas is the first Hungarian cosmonaut, space explorer and fighter pilot. With his flight, Hungary became the seventh nation to be represented in space. Farkas is also the first Esperantist cosmonaut. He is currently the president of Airlines Service and Trade. Read more
02 Aug 1948: Andy Fairweather Low, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Andrew Fairweather-Low is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. Read more
02 Aug 1948: Dennis Prager, American radio host and author Dennis Mark Prager is an American conservative radio talk show host, political commentator, and writer. He is the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show The Dennis Prager Show. In 2009, he co-founded PragerU, which creates content advocating capitalism and promoting conservative viewpoints on various political, economic, and cultural topics. Read more
02 Aug 1948: Tapan Kumar Sarkar, Indian-American electrical engineer and academic (died 2021) Tapan Kumar Sarkar was an Indian-American electrical engineer and professor emeritus at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. He was best known for his contributions to computational electromagnetics and antenna theory. Read more
02 Aug 1948: James Street, American football and baseball player (died 2013) James Lowell Street was a two-sport star athlete at the University of Texas. As quarterback, he led the team to the 1969 National Championship in football and posted a perfect 20–0 record, the most wins without a loss in Longhorns history. As a pitcher he was a two time All-American who threw the only perfect game in Texas Longhorns history. Read more
02 Aug 1948: Snoo Wilson, English playwright and screenwriter (died 2013) Andrew James Wilson, better known as Snoo Wilson, was an English playwright, screenwriter and director. His early plays such as Blow-Job (1971) were overtly political, often combining harsh social comment with comedy. In his later works he moved away from purely political themes, embracing a range of surrealist, magical, philosophical and madcap, darkly comic subjects. Read more
02 Aug 1947: Ruth Bakke, Norwegian organist and composer Ruth Bakke is a Norwegian organist and composer. She was born in Bergen, Norway, and studied at the Bergen Music Conservatory and the University of Oslo. She continued her studies on a Fulbright grant at Converse College in South Carolina, Texas Lutheran College, University of Redlands in California, and Washington State University. Read more
02 Aug 1947: Lawrence Wright, American journalist, author, and screenwriter Lawrence Wright is an American writer and journalist, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Read more
02 Aug 1946: James Howe, American journalist and author James Howe is an American children's writer who has written more than 79 juvenile and young adult fiction books. He is best known for the Bunnicula series about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables. Read more
02 Aug 1945: Joanna Cassidy, American actress Joanna Cassidy is an American actress and former model. She began working as a model in the 1960s and made her professional acting debut in 1973, appearing in the thriller films The Laughing Policeman and The Outfit. She later starred in the films Bank Shot (1974) and The Late Show (1977), the short-lived television series The Roller Girls (1978), and 240-Robert (1979). In 1982, she played replicant Zhora Salome in the science-fiction film Blade Runner. Read more
02 Aug 1945: Alex Jesaulenko, Austrian-Australian footballer and coach Oleksandr Vasiliovych "Alex" Jesaulenko is a former Australian rules footballer and who played for the Carlton Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also served as a coach at both clubs. Read more
02 Aug 1945: Bunker Roy, Indian educator and activist Sanjit "Bunker" Roy is an Indian social activist and educator who founded the Barefoot College. He was selected as one of Time 100's 100 most influential personalities in 2010 for his work in educating illiterate and semi-literate rural Indians. Roy was awarded the Padma Shri by Giani Zail Singh in 1986. Read more
02 Aug 1945: Eric Simms, Australian rugby league player and coach Eric Simms is an Indigenous Australian former professional and national representative rugby league footballer who has been named among the nation's finest of the 20th century. His primary position was at fullback although he could also play as a centre. Simms played his entire first grade career for South Sydney with whom he won four premierships and was top point-scorer for four consecutive seasons. Read more
02 Aug 1944: Jim Capaldi, English drummer and singer-songwriter (died 2005) Nicola James Capaldi was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood, and the two of them co-wrote the majority of the band's material. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Traffic's original lineup. Read more
02 Aug 1944: Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian singer and berimbau player (died 2016) Juvenal de Holanda Vasconcelos, known as Naná Vasconcelos, was a Brazilian percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, notable for his work as a solo artist on over two dozen albums, and as a backing musician with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, Egberto Gismonti, Gato Barbieri, and Milton Nascimento. Read more
02 Aug 1943: Herbert M. Allison, American lieutenant and businessman (died 2013) Herbert Monroe Allison Jr. was an American businessman who oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability from 2009 to 2010. His previous positions included president and CEO of Fannie Mae, a post to which he was appointed in September 2008, after Fannie was placed into conservatorship. Prior to that, Allison was chairman, president and chief executive officer of TIAA from 2002 until his retirement in 2008. Read more
02 Aug 1943: Tom Burgmeier, American baseball player and coach Thomas Henry Burgmeier is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's from 1968 to 1984. He has also served as the pitching coach of the Omaha Royals. Read more
02 Aug 1943: Jon R. Cavaiani, English-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2014) Jonathan Robert Cavaiani was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Vietnam War. Read more
02 Aug 1943: Rose Tremain, English novelist and short story writer Dame Rosemary Jane Tremain is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. She has been the recipient of many prizes for her writing, including the Giles Cooper Award (1984), the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1992), the Whitbread Award (1999) and the Orange Prize (2008). Read more
02 Aug 1942: Isabel Allende, Chilean-American novelist, essayist, essayist Isabel Angélica Allende Llona is a Chilean-American writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the magical realism genre, is known for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts, which have been commercially successful. Allende has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author." In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2010, she received Chile's National Literature Prize. President Barack Obama awarded her the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Read more
02 Aug 1942: Leo Beenhakker, Dutch football manager (died 2025) Leo Beenhakker was a Dutch football player and coach. Nicknamed "Don Leo" for his role in Spanish football, he had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. Read more
02 Aug 1942: Juan Formell, Cuban singer-songwriter and bass player (died 2014) Juan Climaco Formell Cortina was a Cuban bassist, composer, and arranger, best known as the director of Los Van Van. He was a creator of popular danceable music and credited with bringing electronic instrumentation into the Cuban musical form. Read more
02 Aug 1942: Nell Irvin Painter, American author and historian Nell Irvin Painter is an American historian notable for her works on United States Southern history of the nineteenth century. She is retired from Princeton University as the Edwards Professor of American History Emerita. She has served as president of the Organization of American Historians and as president of the Southern Historical Association. She was appointed as chair of the MacDowell board of directors in 2020. Read more
02 Aug 1941: Doris Coley, American singer (died 2000) Doris Coley was an American musician, who was best known as a member of the Shirelles. Doris was the lead singer on their biggest hit, "Dedicated to the One I Love". She initially left the group in 1968, but returned in 1975 after original lead singer, Shirley Owens, left. Through marriages, she became Doris Coley Kenner and later Doris Kenner Jackson. Read more
02 Aug 1941: Jules A. Hoffmann, Luxembourgish-French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Jules Alphonse Nicolas Hoffmann is a Luxembourgish-French biologist. During his youth, growing up in Luxembourg, he developed a strong interest in insects under the influence of his father, Jos Hoffmann. This eventually resulted in the younger Hoffmann's dedication to the field of biology using insects as model organisms. He currently holds a faculty position at the University of Strasbourg. He is a research director and member of the board of administrators of the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Strasbourg, France. He was elected to the positions of Vice-President (2005–2006) and President (2007–2008) of the French Academy of Sciences. Hoffmann and Bruce Beutler were jointly awarded a half share of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity". Read more
02 Aug 1941: François Weyergans, Belgian director and screenwriter (died 2022) François Weyergans was a Belgian writer and director. His father, Franz Weyergans, was a Belgian and also a writer, while his mother was from Avignon in France. François Weyergans was elected to the Académie française on 26 March 2009, taking the 32nd seat which became vacant with the death of Alain Robbe-Grillet in 2008. Read more
02 Aug 1940: Angel Lagdameo, Filipino archbishop (died 2022) Angel Nacorda Lagdameo was a Filipino bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Jaro from 9 May 2000 until 14 February 2018. Read more
02 Aug 1940: Beko Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian physician and activist (died 2006) Dr. Bekolari Ransome-Kuti was a Nigerian physician known for his work as a human rights activist. Read more
02 Aug 1940: Will Tura, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist Arthur Achiel Albert, Knight Blanckaert, known by his stage name Will Tura, is a Belgian artist considered as the most successful Flemish-speaking singer of the 20th century. Famous in Flanders and the Netherlands, Tura is a singer, musician, composer and songwriter. Nicknamed the Emperor of the Flemish Song, he released hundreds of singles and albums that cover a wide array of styles, and continued to tour into the 2010s. Read more
02 Aug 1939: Benjamin Barber, American theorist, author, and academic (died 2017) Benjamin R. Barber was an American political theorist and author, perhaps best known for his 1995 bestseller, Jihad vs. McWorld, and for 2013's If Mayors Ruled the World. His 1984 book of political theory, Strong Democracy, was revised and reissued in 2004. He was an adviser to political leaders including Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, and Muammar Gaddafi. He was a board member of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. Read more
02 Aug 1939: Wes Craven, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2015) Wesley Earl Craven was an American filmmaker. Amongst his prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the horror genre, particularly slasher films, where he mixed horror cliches with humor. Craven has been recognized as one of the masters of the horror genre. Read more
02 Aug 1939: John W. Snow, American businessman and politician, 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury John William Snow is an American economist, attorney, and businessman who is the former CEO of CSX Corporation and served as the 73rd United States secretary of the treasury under U.S. President George W. Bush. He replaced Secretary Paul H. O'Neill on February 3, 2003, and was succeeded by Henry Paulson on July 3, 2006. Snow submitted a letter of resignation on May 30, 2006, effective "after an orderly transition period for my successor." Snow announced on June 29, 2006, that he had completed his last day on the job; Robert M. Kimmitt served as acting secretary until Paulson was sworn in. Snow has since worked as chairman of Cerberus Capital Management. Read more
02 Aug 1938: Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2007) David Alexander Balon was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Balon played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1959 and 1973 along with nine games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) before multiple sclerosis led to his retirement. Read more
02 Aug 1938: Pierre de Bané, Israeli-Canadian lawyer and politician (died 2019) Pierre De Bané was a Canadian politician who served in both the House of Commons of Canada and the Senate. Elected as the Member of Parliament for Matane in 1968, he was the first Palestinian, the first person of Middle Eastern descent, and the first visible minority person not born in Canada to be elected to the House of Commons of Canada. He was a member of the Canadian Cabinet during the Trudeau Sr. Ministry. Read more
02 Aug 1938: Terry Peck, Falkland Islander soldier (died 2006) Terence John Peck was a member of the Falkland Islands Defence Force who during the 1982 Falklands War became a war hero by spying on the Argentine invaders, subsequently escaping to British lines, acting as a scout for 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, and taking part in the fighting for Mount Longdon. A fiercely patriotic Islander, he vehemently opposed Argentina's claim to the Islands. He later met and befriended an Argentine conscript who served during the war. Read more
02 Aug 1937: Ron Brierley, New Zealand businessman Ronald Alfred Brierley is a New Zealand investor and corporate raider, chairman and director of a number of companies in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Read more
02 Aug 1937: Billy Cannon, American football player and dentist (died 2018) Billy Abb Cannon Sr. was an American professional football player who was a halfback and tight end in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He attended Louisiana State University (LSU), where he played college football as a halfback, return specialist, and safety for the LSU Tigers. At LSU, Cannon was twice named a unanimous All-American, helped the 1958 LSU team win a national championship, and received the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding college player in 1959. His punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959 is considered by fans and sportswriters to be one of the most famous plays in LSU sports history. Read more
02 Aug 1937: María Duval, Mexican actress and singer María Dussauge Ortiz, known as María Duval, is a Mexican actress and singer, specialized in the musical genres of bolero and ranchera. Read more
02 Aug 1937: Garth Hudson, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (died 2025) Eric Garth Hudson was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for the Band. He was a principal architect of the group's sound and was described as "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. In 1994, Hudson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Band. Read more
02 Aug 1937: Tim Bowden, Australian historian and television presenter (died 2024) Timothy Gibson Bowden was an Australian author, radio and television broadcaster and producer, and oral historian. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and studied at the University of Tasmania, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Read more
02 Aug 1936: Anthony Payne, English composer and author (died 2021) Anthony Edward Payne was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony, which gained wide acceptance into Elgar's oeuvre. Payne is particularly noted for his chamber music, much of which was written for his wife, the soprano Jane Manning, and the couple's new music ensemble Jane's Minstrels. Initially an unrelenting proponent of modernist music, by the 1980s his compositions had embraced aspects of the late English romanticism, described by his colleague Susan Bradshaw as "modernized nostalgia". Read more
02 Aug 1935: Hank Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2010) Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy Arnold, and others. Cochran was also a recording artist between 1962 and 1980, scoring seven times on the Billboard country music charts, with his greatest solo success being the number-20 "Sally Was a Good Old Girl." In 2014, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Read more
02 Aug 1934: Valery Bykovsky, Russian general and cosmonaut (died 2019) Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space flights: Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vostok 3 and Soyuz 37. Read more
02 Aug 1933: Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of Defence Ioannis Varvitsiotis is a Greek politician and a former government minister of Greece. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for New Democracy from 2004 to 2009, part of the European People's Party. He was defense minister of Greece from 2 July 1989 till 7 October 1989 and from 11 April 1990 till 13 October 1993. He was member of the Hellenic Parliament from 1974 until 2004. Read more
02 Aug 1932: Lamar Hunt, American businessman, co-founded the American Football League and World Championship Tennis (died 2006) Lamar Hunt Sr. was an American businessman and prominent member of the Hunt family. As a sports executive, he was involved in promoting football, soccer, and tennis in the United States. With his brothers, he also attempted to corner the silver market. Read more
02 Aug 1932: Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor and producer (died 2013) Peter James O'Toole was an English and Irish actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he received various accolades, including an Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. Read more
02 Aug 1931: Pierre DuMaine, American bishop and academic (died 2019) Roland Pierre DuMaine was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of San José in California from 1981 to 1999. He also served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 1978 to 1981. Read more
02 Aug 1931: Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer (died 2008) Edward Russell Henry Fuller was a South African cricketer who played in seven Test matches between 1953 and 1957. He was born in Worcester, Western Cape and died in Milnerton, Cape Town. Read more
02 Aug 1931: Karl Miller, English journalist and critic (died 2014) Karl Fergus Connor Miller FRSL was a Scottish literary editor, critic and writer. Read more
02 Aug 1931: Viliam Schrojf, Czech footballer (died 2007) Viliam Schrojf was a Slovak footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He received 39 caps for Czechoslovakia. Read more
02 Aug 1930: Vali Myers, Australian painter and dancer (died 2003) Vali Myers was an Australian artist, dancer, bohemian and muse whose coverage by the media was mostly in the 1950s and 1960s in Europe and the United States. Read more
02 Aug 1929: Roy Crimmins, English trombonist and composer (died 2014) Roy Crimmins, also known by the pseudonym Roy King, was an English jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Read more
02 Aug 1929: John Gale, English director and producer John Gale was an English theatrical producer and artistic director. Read more
02 Aug 1929: Vidya Charan Shukla, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2013) Vidya Charan Shukla was an Indian politician whose political career spanned six decades. He was predominantly a member of the Indian National Congress, but also had spells in Jan Morcha, Janata Dal, Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya), Nationalist Congress Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. He was known as a close associate of Indira Gandhi. Read more
02 Aug 1929: David Waddington, Baron Waddington, English lawyer and politician, Governor of Bermuda (died 2017) David Charles Waddington, Baron Waddington, was a British politician and barrister. Read more
02 Aug 1929: K. M. Peyton, British children's author (died 2023) Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton, who wrote primarily as K. M. Peyton, was a British author of fiction for children and young adults in the 1960s and 1970s. Read more
02 Aug 1928: Malcolm Hilton, English cricketer (died 1990) Malcolm Jameson Hilton was an English left-arm spin bowler, who played for Lancashire and in four Test matches for England. Read more
02 Aug 1927: Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, English mathematician and academic (died 2018) Sir Henry Peter Francis Swinnerton-Dyer, 16th Baronet, was an English mathematician specialising in number theory at the University of Cambridge. As a mathematician he was best known for his part in the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture relating algebraic properties of elliptic curves to special values of L-functions, which was developed with Bryan Birch during the first half of the 1960s with the help of machine computation, and for his work on the Titan operating system. Read more
02 Aug 1925: K. Arulanandan, Ceylon-American engineer and academic (died 2004) Professor Kandiah Arulanandan was a Ceylon Tamil engineer and academic. Known as Professor Arul, he was a lecturer at the University of California, Davis. Read more
02 Aug 1925: John Dexter, English director and producer (died 1990) John Dexter was an English theatre, opera and film director, described in a 100th anniversary tribute as "one of the towering directors in the English-speaking theatre in the second half of the 20th century". He was associate director of the Royal National Theatre from 1963 to 1966 and from 1971 to 1975, and director of production from 1974 to 1981 and the production adviser to 1984 at the Metropolitan Opera. Read more
02 Aug 1925: John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2017) John Ronald McCormack was a Canadian ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Chicago Black Hawks between 1948 and 1955. He was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Read more
02 Aug 1925: Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian general and politician, 43rd President of Argentina (died 2013) General Jorge Rafael Videla was an Argentine general, politician and dictator who served as the president of Argentina from 1976 to 1981 during the National Reorganization Process. Read more
02 Aug 1924: James Baldwin, American novelist, poet, and critic (died 1987) James Arthur Baldwin was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels. His 1955 essay collection Notes of a Native Son helped establish his reputation as a voice for human equality. His 1965 debate with William Buckley is regarded as one of the most influential debates on race in the United States. Baldwin was an influential public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States. Read more
02 Aug 1924: Joe Harnell, American pianist and composer (died 2005) Joseph Harnell was an American composer, musician, and music arranger. Read more
02 Aug 1924: Carroll O'Connor, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2001) John Carroll O'Connor was an American actor whose television career spanned over four decades. He found widespread fame as Archie Bunker, the main character in the CBS television sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1979) and its continuation, Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983). He later starred in the NBC/CBS television crime drama In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), where he played the role of police chief William "Bill" Gillespie. In the late 1990s, he played Gus Stemple, the father of Jamie Buchman on Mad About You. In 1996, O'Connor was ranked number 38 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. He won five Emmys and one Golden Globe Award. Read more
02 Aug 1923: Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel (died 2016) Shimon Peres was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 to 2014. He was a member of twelve cabinets and represented five political parties in a political career spanning 70 years. Peres was elected to the Knesset in November 1959 and except for three months out of office in early 2006, served as a member of the Knesset continuously until he was elected president in 2007. Serving in the Knesset for 48 years, Peres is the longest serving member in the Knesset's history. At the time of his retirement from politics in 2014, he was the world's oldest head of state and was considered the last link to Israel's founding generation, as well as the last Prime Minister to make aliyah rather than being born on territory that would become Israel. Read more
02 Aug 1923: Ike Williams, American boxer (died 1994) Isiah "Ike" Williams was an American professional boxer known as the Trenton Tornado. He was a lightweight world boxing champion. He took the World Lightweight Championship in April 1945 and made eight successful defenses of the title against six different fighters prior to losing the championship to Jimmy Carter in 1951. Williams was known for his great right hand, and was named to The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time as well as The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year for 1948. Williams was also the Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year for 1948, was inducted into The Ring Boxing Hall of Fame, and was an inaugural 1990 inductee to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Read more
02 Aug 1922: Betsy Bloomingdale, American philanthropist and socialite (died 2016) Betty Lee Bloomingdale was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was considered a fashion icon, first appearing on the International Best Dressed List in 1962, and in 1970 was named in the list's Hall of Fame. Read more
02 Aug 1922: Geoffrey Dutton, Australian historian and author (died 1998) Geoffrey 'Geppie' Piers Henry Dutton AO was an Australian author and historian. Read more
02 Aug 1922: Len Murray, British trade union leader (died 2004) Lionel Murray, Baron Murray of Epping Forest, was a British Labour Party politician and trade union leader. He served as the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress from 1973 to 1984. Read more
02 Aug 1921: George Wilson, American comics artist (died 1998) George Davis Wilson Jr. was an American painter best known for his work in the comics industry as a cover artist for Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics from the 1950s to the early 1980s. Read more
02 Aug 1920: Louis Pauwels, French journalist and author (died 1997) Louis Pauwels was a French journalist and writer. Read more
02 Aug 1920: Augustus Rowe, Canadian physician and politician (died 2013) Augustus Taylor Rowe was a Canadian physician and politician. He served as a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly for Carbonear from 1971 to 1975. He also spent three years as the province's health minister within the cabinet of the former premier Frank Moores from January 1972 to 1975. Read more
02 Aug 1919: Nehemiah Persoff, Israeli-American actor (died 2022) Nehemiah Persoff was an American actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions, and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years. Read more
02 Aug 1917: Wah Chang, Chinese-American artist and designer (died 2003) Wah Ming Chang was an American sculptor, animator and artist. Chang is known for his contributions to the development of stop motion animation, as well as sculptures and the props he designed for Star Trek: The Original Series, including the tricorder and communicator. Read more
02 Aug 1916: Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (died 1990) Alfonso Angel Yangco Ossorio was a Filipino American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Manila in 1916 to wealthy Filipino parents from the province of Negros Occidental. His heritage was Hispanic, Filipino, and Chinese. Between the ages of eight and thirteen, he attended school in England. At age fourteen, he moved to the United States. Ossorio attended Portsmouth Priory in Rhode Island, graduating in 1934. From 1934 to 1938, he studied fine art at Harvard University and then continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design. He became an American citizen in 1933 and served as a medical illustrator in the United States Army during World War II. Read more
02 Aug 1915: Gary Merrill, American actor (died 1990) Gary Fred Merrill was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starred in All About Eve and married his costar Bette Davis. Read more
02 Aug 1914: Félix Leclerc, Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (died 1988) Félix Leclerc was a Québécois singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968. Leclerc was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for his songs "Moi, mes souliers", "Le P'tit Bonheur" and "Le Tour de l'île" in 2006. Read more
02 Aug 1914: Big Walter Price, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2012) Big Walter Price was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist. Read more
02 Aug 1914: Beatrice Straight, American actress (died 2001) Beatrice Whitney Straight was an American theatre, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was both an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award nominee. Read more
02 Aug 1913: Xavier Thaninayagam, Sri Lankan scholar and academic (died 1980) Reverend Xavier S. Thani Nayagam was a Tamil scholar known for setting up the International Association for Tamil Research (IATR) and organising the first World Tamil Conference. He is praised as the "Roving Ambassador for Tamil". Read more
02 Aug 1912: Palle Huld, Danish actor (died 2010) Palle Huld was a Danish Boy Scout, film actor and writer. He appeared in 40 films between 1933 and 2000. He was born in Hellerup in Denmark. His journey around the world at the age of 15 in 1928 reportedly inspired Hergé to create Tintin. Read more
02 Aug 1912: Håkon Stenstadvold, Norwegian painter, illustrator, and critic (died 1977) Håkon Stenstadvold was a Norwegian painter, illustrator, journalist, art critic and politician for the Conservative Party. Read more
02 Aug 1912: Vladimir Žerjavić, Croatian economist and author (died 2001) Vladimir Žerjavić was a Croatian economist and demographer who published a series of historical articles and books during the 1980s and 1990s on demographic losses in Yugoslavia during World War II and of Axis forces and civilians in the Bleiburg repatriations shortly after the capitulation of Germany. From 1964 to 1982, he worked as an adviser for industrial development in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Read more
02 Aug 1911: Ann Dvorak, American actress (died 1979) Ann Dvorak was an American stage and film actress. Read more
02 Aug 1910: Roger MacDougall, Scottish director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1993) Roger MacDougall was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and director. Read more
02 Aug 1907: Mary Hamman, American journalist and author (died 1984) Mary Hamman was an American writer and editor. She was an editor for Pictorial Review, Good Housekeeping, Mademoiselle, as well as the modern living editor for LIFE and editor-in-chief for Bride & Home. Read more
02 Aug 1905: Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (died 1963) Karl Amadeus Hartmann was a German composer. A major figure of the musical life of post-war Germany, he has been described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century. Read more
02 Aug 1905: Myrna Loy, American actress (died 1993) Myrna Loy was an American film, television, and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style. Read more
02 Aug 1905: Ruth Nelson, American actress (died 1992) Ruth Gloria Nelson was an American stage and film actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Wilson, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Humoresque, 3 Women, The Late Show and Awakenings. She was the fourth wife of John Cromwell, with whom she acted on multiple occasions. Read more
02 Aug 1902: Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria (died 1971) Pope Cyril VI was the 116th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark from 10 May 1959 until his death in 1971. Read more
02 Aug 1902: Mina Rees, American mathematician (died 1997) Mina Spiegel Rees was an American mathematician. She is known for her assistance to the US Government during WWII, as well as making several breakthroughs for women in science. Her most notable accomplishments include becoming the first female President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1971) and head of the mathematics department of the Office of Naval Research of the US. Rees was a pioneer in the history of computing and helped establish funding streams and institutional infrastructure for research. She also helped other women succeed in mathematics with her involvement in the Association for Women in Mathematics as well as her life-long career as a professor at Hunter College. Read more
02 Aug 1900: Holling C. Holling, American author and illustrator (died 1973) Holling Clancy Holling was an American writer and illustrator, best known for the book Paddle-to-the-Sea, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1942. Paddle to the Sea won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1962. In 1966, Bill Mason directed the Oscar-nominated short film Paddle to the Sea, based on Holling's book, for the National Film Board of Canada. Read more
02 Aug 1900: Helen Morgan, American actress and singer (died 1941) Helen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s. She starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Broadway production of Hammerstein and Kern's musical Show Boat in 1927, as well as in the 1932 Broadway revival of the musical, and appeared in two film adaptations, a part-talkie made in 1929 and a full-sound version made in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role. She suffered from bouts of alcoholism, and despite her notable success in the title role of another Hammerstein and Kern's Broadway musical, Sweet Adeline (1929), her stage career was relatively short. Helen Morgan died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 41. She was portrayed by Polly Bergen in the Playhouse 90 drama The Helen Morgan Story and by Ann Blyth in the 1957 biopic based on the television drama. Read more
02 Aug 1899: Charles Bennett, English director and screenwriter (died 1995) Charles Alfred Selwyn Bennett was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and director probably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock. He was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Foreign Correspondent. Read more
02 Aug 1898: Ernő Nagy, Hungarian fencer (died 1977) Ernő Nagy was a Hungarian fencer. He won a gold medal in the team sabre event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Other members of the team included Aladár Gerevich, Gyula Glykais, Endre Kabos, Attila Petschauer, and György Piller. He retired from competition in 1938, at which point he became head of the fencing section of the Hungarian Athletics Club. Read more
02 Aug 1897: Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (died 1945) Karl-Otto Koch was a German military officer who was a mid-ranking commander in the Schutzstaffel (SS) of Nazi Germany, and the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. From September 1941 until August 1942, he served as the first commandant of the Majdanek concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, stealing vast amounts of valuables and money from murdered Jews. His wife, Ilse Koch, also participated in the crimes at Buchenwald. Read more
02 Aug 1897: Max Weber, Swiss lawyer and politician (died 1974) Max Weber was a Swiss politician. Read more
02 Aug 1895: Matt Henderson, New Zealand cricketer (died 1970) Matthew Henderson was a New Zealand cricketer who played for Wellington from 1922 to 1932 and played in New Zealand's first-ever Test match in January 1930. Read more
02 Aug 1894: Bertha Lutz, Brazilian feminist and scientist (died 1976) Bertha Maria Júlia Lutz was a Brazilian zoologist, politician, and diplomat. Lutz became a leading figure in both the Pan American feminist movement and human rights movement. She was instrumental in gaining women's suffrage in Brazil and represented her country at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, signing her name to the United Nations Charter and championing the inclusion of Article 8 in the Charter. In addition to her political work, she was a naturalist at the National Museum of Brazil, specializing in poison dart frogs. She has four frog species and two lizard species named after her. Read more
02 Aug 1892: Jack L. Warner, Canadian-born American production manager and producer, co-founded Warner Bros. (died 1978) Jack Leonard Warner was a Canadian-born American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned over 55 years, surpassing that of any other of the pioneering Hollywood studio moguls. Read more
02 Aug 1891: Arthur Bliss, English composer and conductor (died 1975) Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss was British composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he quickly became known as an unconventional and modernist composer, but within the decade he began to display a more traditional and romantic side in his music. In the 1920s and 1930s he composed extensively not only for the concert hall, but also for films and ballet. Read more
02 Aug 1891: Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian linguist and historian (died 1971) Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky was a Soviet and Russian literary historian and linguist. Read more
02 Aug 1889: Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (died 1929) Margaret Whittaker Lawrence was an American stage actress known for her performances on Broadway and other venues. Read more
02 Aug 1887: Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and statistician (died 1960) Oskar Johann Viktor Anderson was a Russian-German mathematician of Baltic German descent. He is best known for his work on mathematical statistics and econometrics. Read more
02 Aug 1886: John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, Canadian pilot and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (died 1961) John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, was a Canadian aviation pioneer and the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1947 to 1952. Read more
02 Aug 1884: Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan author and politician, 46th President of Venezuela (died 1969) Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. In 1948, he became the first freely elected president in Venezuela's history. He was removed from power after only nine months by a military coup. Read more
02 Aug 1882: Red Ames, American baseball player and manager (died 1936) Leon Kessling "Red" Ames was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1903 to 1919 for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies. Listed at 5 feet 10.5 inches (1.791 m) and 185 pounds (84 kg), he threw right-handed and was a switch hitter. Read more
02 Aug 1882: Albert Bloch, American painter and academic (died 1961) Albert Bloch was an American Modernist artist and the only American artist associated with Der Blaue Reiter, a group of early 20th-century European modernists. Read more
02 Aug 1880: Arthur Dove, American painter and educator (died 1946) Arthur Garfield Dove was an American artist. An early American modernist, he is often considered the first American abstract painter. Dove used a wide range of media, sometimes in unconventional combinations, to produce his abstractions and his abstract landscapes. Me and the Moon from 1937 is a good example of an Arthur Dove abstract landscape and has been referred to as one of the culminating works of his career. Dove made a series of experimental collages in the 1920s. He also experimented with techniques, combining paints like hand mixed oil or tempera over a wax emulsion as exemplified in Dove's 1938 painting Tanks, in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Read more
02 Aug 1878: Aino Kallas, Finnish-Estonian author (died 1956) Aino Julia Maria Kallas was a Finnish-Estonian author. Her novellas are considered to be prominent pieces of Finnish literature. Read more
02 Aug 1877: Ravishankar Shukla, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (died 1956) Ravishankar Shukla was a leader of the Indian National Congress, Indian independence movement activist, the Premier of the Central Provinces and Berar from 27 April 1946 to 25 January 1950, first Chief Minister of the reorganised Madhya Pradesh state from 1 November 1956 until his death on 31 December 1956, He was elected from Saraipali in Madhya Pradesh. He also served as Member of Constituent Assembly of India from Central Provinces and Berar. Read more
02 Aug 1876: Pingali Venkayya, Indian geologist, designed the Flag of India (died 1963) Pingali Venkayya was an Indian freedom fighter, known for designing the initial version of the Indian National Flag. Apart from his role in the independence movement, Venkayya was a lecturer, author, geologist, educationalist, agriculturist, and a polyglot. Read more
02 Aug 1872: George E. Stewart, Australian-American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1946) George Evans Stewart was an officer in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in the Philippine–American War. He later commanded the 339th Infantry Regiment and the American Expeditionary Force in northern Russia. Read more
02 Aug 1871: John French Sloan, American painter and illustrator (died 1951) John French Sloan was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known for his urban genre scenes and ability to capture the essence of neighborhood life in New York City, often observed through his Chelsea studio window. Sloan has been called the premier artist of the Ashcan School, and also a realist painter who embraced the principles of Socialism, though he himself disassociated his art from his politics. Read more
02 Aug 1870: Marianne Weber, German sociologist and suffragist (died 1954) Marianne Weber was a German sociologist, women's rights activist, and the wife of Max Weber. Read more
02 Aug 1868: Constantine I of Greece (died 1923) Constantine I was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and again from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. The eldest son of George I of Greece, he succeeded to the throne following his father's assassination in 1913. Read more
02 Aug 1867: Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist, and short story writer (died 1900) Ernest Christopher Dowson was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Despite his short lifespan, he made a lasting impression on the literature of the English fin-de-siècle through his Decadent poetry. Read more
02 Aug 1865: Irving Babbitt, American academic and critic (died 1933) Irving Babbitt was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative thought in the period between 1910 and 1930. He was a cultural critic in the tradition of Matthew Arnold and a consistent opponent of romanticism, as represented by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Politically he can, without serious distortion, be called a follower of Aristotle and Edmund Burke. He was an advocate of classical humanism but also offered an ecumenical defense of religion. His humanism implied a broad knowledge of various moral and religious traditions. His book Democracy and Leadership (1924) is regarded as a classic text of political conservatism. Babbitt is regarded as a major influence over American cultural and political conservatism. Read more
02 Aug 1865: John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (died 1955) John Radecki was a master stained glass artist working in Australia, considered to be the finest such artist of his time. Read more
02 Aug 1861: Prafulla Chandra Ray, Indian chemist and academic (died 1944) Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray CIE FNI FRASB FIAS FCS was an Indian chemist, educationist, historian, industrialist and philanthropist from Bengal. He established the first modern Indian research school in chemistry and is regarded as the father of Indian chemistry. Read more
02 Aug 1835: Elisha Gray, American businessman, co-founded Western Electric (died 1901) Elisha Gray was an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company. Gray is best known for his development of a telephone prototype in 1876 in Highland Park, Illinois. Some recent authors have argued that Gray should be considered the true inventor of the telephone because Alexander Graham Bell allegedly stole the idea of the liquid transmitter from him. Gray had been using liquid transmitters in his telephone experiments for more than two years previously; however, Bell's patent was upheld in court. Read more
02 Aug 1834: Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (died 1904) Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor and painter. He is best known for designing Liberty Enlightening the World, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, in New York City, United States. Its construction was begun by Viollet-le-Duc, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France, until his death and then completed by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was a gift from France to the United States and was erected in 1886 on Liberty Island, at the entrance to New York harbor. Read more
02 Aug 1828: Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general (died 1895) Manuel Pavia y Rodriguez de Alburquerque was a Spanish general, who was an important part of Spanish political life during the second half of the 19th century. He participated in the Revolution of 1868, which removed Isabella II from power, and led the coup d'état which brought down the First Spanish Republic, giving way to the Restoration and the rule of Isabella's son Alfonso XII. Read more
02 Aug 1820: John Tyndall, Irish-English physicist and mountaineer (died 1893) John Tyndall (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was an Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air, proving the connection between atmospheric CO2 and what is now known as the greenhouse effect in 1859. Read more
02 Aug 1815: Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet and historian (died 1894) Adolf Friedrich, Graf von Schack was a German poet, historian of literature, and art collector. Read more

Notable Deaths on 02 August

02 Aug 2023: Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer (born 1965) Nitin Chandrakant Desai was an Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer. He was most known for his work in Marathi and Hindi Films, World Cultural Festival 2016 at Delhi and films like, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Lagaan (2001), Devdas (2002), Jodhaa Akbar (2008) and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015). During his career spanning twenty years, he worked with directors like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. In 2002, he turned film producer with Chandrakant Productions' Desh Devi, a devotional film on the Devi Mata of Kutch. Read more
02 Aug 2022: Vin Scully, American sportscaster and game show host (born 1927) Vincent Edward Scully was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcast work in Major League Baseball. Scully was the play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for 67 years, beginning in 1950 and ending in 2016. Read more
02 Aug 2020: Suzanne Perlman, Hungarian-Dutch visual artist (born 1922) Suzanne Perlman was a Hungarian-Dutch visual artist known for her expressionist portraits and landscape paintings. Her bold use of colour has its origins in her early paintings of the tropical island of Curaçao, where she moved with her husband in 1940 to escape Nazi persecution. Her expressionist style developed under the tutelage of Austrian master Oskar Kokoschka in the late 1950s, with whom she worked in Salzburg in the 1960s. Reviewing a 1993 Exhibition as his Critic’s Choice in The Times, John Russell Taylor, art critic and author, wrote that "(Perlman) captures the particular feel of the place while abating none of her expressionist dash". Read more
02 Aug 2017: Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor (born 1924) Judith Jones was an American writer and editor, initially known for having rescued The Diary of Anne Frank from the reject pile. Jones is also known as the editor who championed Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She retired as senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf in 2011 and fully retired in 2013 after more than 60 years at the company. Read more
02 Aug 2016: Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (born 1930) Terence Bayler was a New Zealand film, television, and stage actor. His most memorable roles were in Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001). Read more
02 Aug 2016: David Huddleston, American actor (born 1930) David William Huddleston was an American actor. He had a prolific career as a character actor between 1960 and 2014, appearing in over 140 film and television productions, as well as playing the title character in both Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) and The Big Lebowski (1998). He was a Primetime Emmy Award nominee, and was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award for the Broadway play Death of a Salesman. Read more
02 Aug 2016: Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (born 1927) Franciszek Macharski was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Archbishop of Kraków from 1978, named by Pope John Paul II to succeed him in that role. Macharski was elevated to the cardinalate in 1979, and resigned as archbishop in 2005. Read more
02 Aug 2016: Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1946) Ahmed Hassan Zewail was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry and became the first Egyptian and Arab to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, and the first African to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was a professor of chemistry and physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he was the first Caltech faculty member to be named the Linus Pauling Chair of Chemical Physics and was the director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology. Read more
02 Aug 2015: Forrest Bird, American pilot and engineer (born 1921) Forrest Morton Bird was an American aviator, inventor, and biomedical engineer. He is best known for having created some of the first reliable mass-produced mechanical ventilators for acute and chronic cardiopulmonary care. Read more
02 Aug 2015: Giovanni Conso, Italian jurist and politician, Italian Minister of Justice (born 1922) Giovanni Battista Conso was an Italian jurist who served on the Constitutional Court of Italy for nine years beginning in 1982, and served as President of the Accademia dei Lincei from 1989 until his death in 2015. Read more
02 Aug 2015: Piet Fransen, Dutch footballer (born 1936) Piet Fransen was a Dutch footballer who played as a midfielder. Read more
02 Aug 2015: Jack Spring, American baseball player (born 1933) Jack Russell Spring was an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher. The 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 175 lb (79 kg) left-hander played for the Philadelphia Phillies (1955), Boston Red Sox (1957), Washington Senators (1958), Los Angeles Angels (1961–64), Chicago Cubs (1964), St. Louis Cardinals (1964), and Cleveland Indians (1965). Read more
02 Aug 2014: Ed Joyce, American journalist (born 1932) Edward Matthew Joyce was a former television executive. He was president of CBS News. He lived for many years in California's Santa Ynez Valley and in Redding, Connecticut. Read more
02 Aug 2014: Billie Letts, American author and educator (born 1938) Billie Dean Letts was an American novelist and educator. She was a professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Read more
02 Aug 2014: Barbara Prammer, Austrian social worker and politician (born 1954) Barbara Prammer was an Austrian politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). In 2006 she was the first woman to become President of the National Council of Austria, an office she held until her death. Read more
02 Aug 2014: James Thompson, American-Finnish author (born 1964) James Thompson was an American-Finnish crime writer based in Helsinki. He had a master's degree in English philology from The University of Helsinki, where he also studied Finnish, in which he was fluent. He studied six languages. He published four crime novels with the Finnish inspector Kari Vaara as the protagonist. Read more
02 Aug 2013: Julius L. Chambers, American lawyer and activist (born 1936) Julius LeVonne Chambers was an American lawyer, civil rights leader and educator. Read more
02 Aug 2013: Richard E. Dauch, American businessman, co-founded American Axle (born 1942) Richard E. "Dick" Dauch was an American businessman, and co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of American Axle and Manufacturing, now Dauch Corporation. Previously, Dauch served as a manufacturing manager at Chevrolet, Chrysler and at Volkswagen's Westmoreland Assembly Plant. Read more
02 Aug 2013: Alla Kushnir, Russian–Israeli chess player (born 1941) Alla Shulimovna Kushnir was a Soviet-born Israeli chess player and professor of classics, numismatics, and archaeology. She was awarded the FIDE titles of Woman International Master (WIM) in 1962 and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 1976. In 2017, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame. Read more
02 Aug 2012: Gabriel Horn, English biologist and academic (born 1927) Sir Gabriel Horn was a British neuroscientist and Professor of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. His research was into the neural mechanisms of learning and memory. Read more
02 Aug 2012: Magnus Isacsson, Canadian director and producer (born 1948) Magnus Isacsson was a Canadian documentary filmmaker whose films investigated contemporary political issues and topics in social activism. Read more
02 Aug 2012: Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (born 1930) James Jones was an American singer-songwriter who moved to New York City while a teenager. His biggest hits were "Handy Man" (1959) and "Good Timin'" (1960). According to Allmusic journalist Steve Huey, Jones sang "in a smooth yet soulful falsetto modeled on the likes of Clyde McPhatter and Sam Cooke." Read more
02 Aug 2012: John Keegan, English historian and journalist (born 1934) Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan was an English military historian, lecturer, author and journalist. He wrote many published works on the nature of combat between prehistory and the 21st century, covering land, air, maritime, intelligence warfare and the psychology of battle. Read more
02 Aug 2012: Bernd Meier, German footballer (born 1972) Bernd Meier was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
02 Aug 2012: Marguerite Piazza, American soprano (born 1920) Marguerite Piazza was an American soprano, entertainer and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Read more
02 Aug 2011: José Sanchis Grau, Spanish author and illustrator (born 1932) José Sanchis Grau was a Spanish comic book writer. He also worked for Editorial Bruguera and Spanish children comics in general. He was the creator of strips like Pumby (1954) and Robín Robot (1972). Read more
02 Aug 2008: Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese illustrator (born 1935) Fujio Akatsuka was a Japanese manga artist. Known as the "King of Gag Manga" (ギャグ漫画の王様, he created many popular manga such as Osomatsu-kun, Himitsu no Akko-chan, and Tensai Bakabon. Read more
02 Aug 2007: Chauncey Bailey, American journalist (born 1950) Chauncey Wendell Bailey Jr. was an American journalist noted for his work primarily on issues of the African-American community. He served as editor-in-chief of the Oakland Post in Oakland, California, from June 2007 until his murder. Read more
02 Aug 2005: Steven Vincent, American journalist and author (born 1955) Steven Charles Vincent was an American author and journalist. In 2005 he was working as a freelance journalist in Basra, Iraq, reporting for The Christian Science Monitor, National Review, Mother Jones, Reason, Front Page and American Enterprise, among other publications, when he was abducted and murdered in southern Iraq after investigating corruption by Shia militias. Read more
02 Aug 2004: Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian painter and academic (born 1929) Ferenc Berényi was a Hungarian painter. Read more
02 Aug 2004: François Craenhals, Belgian illustrator (born 1926) François Craenhals was a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Chevalier Ardent and Les 4 As. Read more
02 Aug 2004: Heinrich Mark, Estonian lawyer and politician, 5th prime minister of Estonia in exile (born 1911) Heinrich Mark was an Estonian politician and Prime Minister of the Estonian Government in Exile. Read more
02 Aug 2003: Peter Safar, Austrian-American physician and academic (born 1924) Peter Safar was an Austrian anesthesiologist of Czech Jewish descent. He is credited with pioneering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Read more
02 Aug 1999: Willie Morris, American writer (born 1934) William Weaks Morris was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi and raised in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Morris had a lyrical prose style which he lent to reflections on the American South, including Yazoo City and the Mississippi Delta. From 1967 to 1971 he was the editor of Harper's Magazine. He published more than 20 titles, works of both fiction and nonfiction, the best known of which are North Toward Home and My Dog Skip. Read more
02 Aug 1998: Shari Lewis, American television host and puppeteer (born 1933) Shari Lewis was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, comedian, singer, actress, author, and symphony conductor. She created and performed the sock puppet Lamb Chop for Captain Kangaroo in March 1956. Read more
02 Aug 1997: William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1914) William Seward Burroughs II was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a postmodern author who influenced underground and popular culture and literature. Much of Burroughs's work is experimental and features unreliable narrators. Also noted as semi-autobiographical, his work often drew from his experiences with drug addiction, and featured his various places of residence as settings in much of his work. With Brion Gysin, Burroughs popularized the cut-up, an aleatory literary technique. His writing also engaged frequent mystical, occult, or otherwise magical themes, constant preoccupations in his fiction and real life. Read more
02 Aug 1997: Harald Kihle, Norwegian painter and illustrator (born 1905) Harald Kihle was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. He is particularly known for his pictures with motifs from Telemark. Read more
02 Aug 1997: Fela Kuti, Nigerian singer-songwriter and activist (born 1938) Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì was a Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers". AllMusic described him as "a musical and sociopolitical voice" of international significance. Read more
02 Aug 1996: Michel Debré, French lawyer and politician, 150th prime minister of France (born 1912) Michel Jean-Pierre Debré was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 to 1962. In terms of political personality, Debré was intense and immovable and had a tendency for rhetorical extremism. Read more
02 Aug 1996: Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan footballer and manager (born 1917) Obdulio Jacinto Muiños Varela was a Uruguayan football player. He was the captain of the Uruguay national team that won the 1950 World Cup after beating Brazil in the decisive final round match popularly known as the Maracanazo. He was nicknamed "El Negro Jefe" because of his dark skin and the influence he had on the pitch, especially during the unlikely victory over Brazil. He was of African, Spanish and Greek ancestry. Commonly regarded as one of the greatest classic holding midfielders, Varela was adept in defence and was renowned for his tenacity and leadership. He is regarded as one of the greatest captains in football history, and "he remains one of the biggest sporting heroes in Uruguay". Read more
02 Aug 1996: Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somalian general and politician, 5th president of Somalia (born 1934) Mohamed Farrah Hasan Garad, popularly known as General Aidid or Aideed, was a Somali military officer, diplomat, and warlord. Read more
02 Aug 1996: Sergey Golovkin, Russian serial killer and rapist, last person executed by Russia (born 1959) Sergey Aleksandrovich Golovkin was a Soviet-Russian serial killer, rapist and necrophile, convicted for the killing of 11 boys between the ages of 10 and 16 in the Moscow area between 1986 and 1992. Golovkin, also known as Fisher and The Boa, tortured, raped and killed young boys in his garage basement and the forests outside Moscow. Read more
02 Aug 1992: Michel Berger, French singer-songwriter and producer (born 1947) Michel Jean Hamburger, known professionally as Michel Berger, was a French singer and songwriter. He was a figure of France's pop music scene for two decades as a singer. As a songwriter he wrote for artists such as his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy or Johnny Hallyday. He died of a heart attack at age 44. Read more
02 Aug 1990: Norman Maclean, American short story writer and essayist (born 1902) Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American professor at the University of Chicago who, following his retirement, became a major figure in American literature. Maclean is known for his collection of novellas A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (1976), and the creative nonfiction book Young Men and Fire (1992). Read more
02 Aug 1990: Edwin Richfield, English actor and screenwriter (born 1921) Edwin Richfield was an English actor. Read more
02 Aug 1988: Joe Carcione, American activist and author (born 1914) Joseph Carcione was a consumer advocate known as "The Green Grocer." Read more
02 Aug 1988: Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (born 1938) Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, in 1976. His breakout collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (1981), received immediate acclaim and established Carver as an important figure in the literary world. It was followed by Cathedral (1983), which Carver considered his watershed and is widely regarded as his masterpiece. The definitive collection of his stories, Where I'm Calling From, was published shortly before his death in 1988. In their 1989 nomination of Carver for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the jury concluded, "The revival in recent years of the short story is attributable in great measure to Carver's mastery of the form." Read more
02 Aug 1986: Roy Cohn, American lawyer and politician (born 1927) Roy Marcus Cohn was an American lawyer and prosecutor. He first gained fame as a prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in their trials (1952–1953) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954. Cohn had been assisting McCarthy's investigations of suspected communists. In the 1970s and during the 1980s, he became a prominent legal and political fixer in New York City. He represented and mentored Donald Trump during Trump's early business career. Read more
02 Aug 1983: James Jamerson, American bass player (born 1936) James Lee Jamerson was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, and is now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. As a session musician he played on twenty-three Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, as well as fifty-six R&B number-one hits. Read more
02 Aug 1981: Kieran Doherty, Irish republican, died on hunger strike (born 1955) Kieran Doherty was an Irish republican hunger striker and politician who served as a TD for Cavan–Monaghan from June 1981 to August 1981. He was a volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Read more
02 Aug 1981: Stefanie Clausen, Danish diver (born 1900) Anna Stefanie Nanna Fryland Clausen was a Danish diver. She was a gold medalist at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Read more
02 Aug 1979: Thurman Munson, American baseball player (born 1947) Thurman Lee Munson was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, from 1969 until his death in 1979. A seven-time All-Star, Munson had a career batting average of .292 with 113 home runs and 701 runs batted in (RBIs). Known for his outstanding fielding, he won the Gold Glove Award in three consecutive years (1973–1975). Read more
02 Aug 1978: Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer and conductor (born 1899) Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six symphonies, the second, or Sinfonía india, which uses native Yaqui percussion instruments, is probably the most popular. Read more
02 Aug 1978: Antony Noghès, French businessman, founded the Monaco Grand Prix (born 1890) Antony Noghès was the founder of the Monaco Grand Prix. Read more
02 Aug 1976: László Kalmár, Hungarian mathematician and academic (born 1905) László Kalmár was a Hungarian mathematician and Professor at the University of Szeged. Kalmár is considered the founder of mathematical logic and theoretical computer science in Hungary. Read more
02 Aug 1976: Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1890) Friedrich Christian Anton Lang, better known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked in Germany and later the United States. One of the best-known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. He has been cited as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. Read more
02 Aug 1974: Douglas Hawkes, English race car driver and businessman (born 1893) Wallace Douglas Hawkes was a British motor car designer, businessman and racing driver. He was born in Barton, Gloucestershire, married Gwenda Stewart in 1937, and died, aged 80, in Athens, Greece. Read more
02 Aug 1973: Ismail Abdul Rahman, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia (born 1915) Ismail bin Abdul Rahman was a Malaysian politician who served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from September 1970 to his death in August 1973. A member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), he previously held several ministerial posts. Read more
02 Aug 1973: Jean-Pierre Melville, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1917) Jean-Pierre Grumbach, known professionally as Jean-Pierre Melville, was a French filmmaker. Considered a spiritual godfather of the French New Wave, he was one of the first fully-independent French filmmakers to achieve commercial and critical success. His works include the crime dramas Bob le flambeur (1956), Le Doulos (1962), Le Samouraï (1967), and Le Cercle Rouge (1970), and the war films Le Silence de la mer (1949) and Army of Shadows (1969). Read more
02 Aug 1972: Brian Cole, American bass player (born 1942) Brian Leslie Cole was an American musician. He was the bass guitarist, bass vocalist and one of the founding members of the 1960s folk rock band the Association. Read more
02 Aug 1972: Paul Goodman, American psychotherapist and author (born 1911) Paul Goodman was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decentralization, democracy, education, media, politics, psychology, technology, urban planning, and war. As a humanist and self-styled man of letters, his works often addressed a common theme of the individual citizen's duties in the larger society, and the responsibility to exercise autonomy, act creatively, and realize one's own human nature. Read more
02 Aug 1972: Helen Hoyt, American poet and author (born 1887) Helen Lyman, commonly known as Helen Hoyt or Helen Hoyt Lyman, was an American poet. Read more
02 Aug 1970: Angus MacFarlane-Grieve, English academic, mathematician, rower, and soldier (born 1891) Alexander Angus MacFarlane-Grieve, was a British academic, mathematician, rower, and decorated British Army officer. He served with the Highland Light Infantry during World War I. He was Master of University College, Durham from 1939 to 1954, and additionally Master of Hatfield College, Durham from 1940 to 1949. Read more
02 Aug 1967: Walter Terence Stace, English-American epistemologist, philosopher, and academic (born 1886) Walter Terence Stace was a British civil servant, educator, public philosopher and epistemologist, who wrote on Hegel, mysticism, and moral relativism. He worked with the Ceylon Civil Service from 1910 to 1932, and from 1932 to 1955 he was employed by Princeton University in the Department of Philosophy. He is most renowned for his work in the philosophy of mysticism, and for books like Mysticism and Philosophy (1960) and The Teachings of the Mystics (1960). These works have been influential in the study of mysticism, but they have also been severely criticised for their lack of methodological rigor and their perennialist pre-assumptions. Read more
02 Aug 1963: Oliver La Farge, American anthropologist and author (born 1901) Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge II was an American writer and anthropologist. In 1925, he surveyed many early Olmec sites in Mexico, and later studied additional sites in Central America and the American Southwest. He wrote more than 15 scholarly works on this topic, mostly about Native American cultures. Read more
02 Aug 1955: Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1901) Joseph Alfred Pierre Hormisdas "Pit" Lépine was a Canadian ice hockey forward and coach. He was born in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. Read more
02 Aug 1955: Wallace Stevens, American poet and educator (born 1879) Wallace Stevens was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance company in Hartford, Connecticut. Read more
02 Aug 1945: Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer and educator (born 1863) Pietro Mascagni was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music. While it was often held that Mascagni, like Ruggero Leoncavallo, was a "one-opera man" who could never repeat his first success, L'amico Fritz and Iris have remained in the repertoire in Europe since their premieres. Read more
02 Aug 1939: Harvey Spencer Lewis, American mystic and author (born 1883) Harvey Spencer Lewis was an American Rosicrucian writer, mystic and the founder of AMORC. He led AMORC as its first leader (imperator) from its creation in 1915 until his death. Read more
02 Aug 1937: Artur Sirk, Estonian soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1900) Artur Sirk was an Estonian political and military figure. A veteran of the country's struggle for independence, Sirk later became a leading figure within the right-wing Vaps Movement and an outspoken opponent of the government. Read more
02 Aug 1934: Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and politician, 2nd president of Germany (born 1847) Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg was a German military officer and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. Though ideologically opposed to Nazism, he played a key role in the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 through his appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. Read more
02 Aug 1923: Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th president of the United States (born 1865) Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular presidents at the time of his death. After that, a number of scandals were exposed that greatly damaged his reputation. Read more
02 Aug 1923: Joseph Whitty, Irish Republican died on hunger strike during the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes (born 1904) Michael Joseph Whitty was an Irish militant and Republican activist who was the youngest of the 22 Irish republicans who died while on hunger strike in the 20th century. Whitty was one of four Irish Republicans to die during the 1923 Irish hunger strikes. Decades after his death another Volunteer also died on 2 August during the 1981 Irish hunger strike. Volunteer Whitty fought with the IRA in the Irish War of Independence, on the Anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War and died while under internment by the Irish Free State government. Read more
02 Aug 1922: Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, invented the telephone (born 1847) Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885. Read more
02 Aug 1921: Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor and actor (born 1873) Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor, who sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. Generally recognized as the first international recording star, Caruso made around 250 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920. Read more
02 Aug 1917: Jaan Mahlapuu, Estonian military pilot (born 1894) Jaan Mahlapuu was an Estonian fighter pilot for the Imperial Russian Air Service in World War I. He is known for being the first ace of Estonian origin who flew over Riga where he reputedly shot down five or six German airplanes. Read more
02 Aug 1915: John Downer, Australian politician, 16th premier of South Australia (born 1843) Sir John William Downer, KCMG, KC was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia, from 1885 to 1887 and again from 1892 to 1893. He later entered federal politics and served as a Senator for South Australia from 1901 to 1903. He was the first of four Australian politicians from the Downer family dynasty. Read more
02 Aug 1913: Ferenc Pfaff, Hungarian architect and academic, designed Zagreb Central Station (born 1851) Ferenc Pfaff was a Hungarian chief architect of the MÁV and professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Read more
02 Aug 1911: Ioryi Mucitano, Aromanian revolutionary Ioryi Mucitano, nicknamed Kasapcheto ("Butcher"), was an Ottoman-born Aromanian revolutionary during the Macedonian Struggle. He was the first leader of the first Aromanian band of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). Read more
02 Aug 1903: Eduard Magnus Jakobson, Estonian missionary and engraver (born 1847) Eduard Magnus Jakobson was an Estonian wood engraver and Baptist missionary. He illustrated many books and designed the masthead logo for Sakala, a newspaper founded by his older brother, Carl Robert Jakobson. Read more
02 Aug 1903: Edmond Nocard, French veterinarian and microbiologist (born 1850) Edmond Isidore Étienne Nocard, was a French veterinarian and microbiologist, born in Provins. Read more
02 Aug 1890: Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet and author (born 1813) Louise-Victorine Ackermann was a French Parnassian poet. Read more
02 Aug 1889: Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian author (born 1851) Eduardo Gutiérrez was an Argentine writer. His works of gauchoesque nature acquired great popularity, specially Juan Moreira, a novel successfully adapted to the stage in 1884 that popularized the gaucho as a protagonist in Argentine theatre. Read more
02 Aug 1876: "Wild Bill" Hickok, American sheriff (born 1837) James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. He earned a great deal of fame in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales told and printed about him, occasionally by himself. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation. Read more
02 Aug 1859: Horace Mann, American educator and politician (born 1796) Horace Mann was an American educational reformer, abolitionist and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education; he is thus also known as The Father of American Education. In 1848, after public service as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, Mann was elected to the United States House of Representatives (1848–1853). From September 1852 to his death in 1859, he served as President of Antioch College. Read more
02 Aug 1854: Heinrich Clauren, German author (born 1771) Carl Gottlieb Samuel Heun, better known by his pen name Heinrich Clauren, was a German author. Read more
02 Aug 1849: Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Ottoman Albanian commander (born 1769) Muhammad Ali was the Ottoman viceroy and governor of Albanian origin, who became the de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely considered the founder of modern Egypt. At the height of his rule in 1840, he controlled Egypt, Sudan, Hejaz, the Levant, Cyprus, Crete and parts of Greece and transformed Cairo from a mere Ottoman provincial capital to the center of an expansive empire. Read more
02 Aug 1834: Harriet Arbuthnot, English diarist (born 1793) Harriet Arbuthnot was an early 19th-century English diarist, social observer and political hostess on behalf of the Tory party. During the 1820s she was the closest woman friend of the hero of Waterloo and British Prime Minister, the 1st Duke of Wellington. She maintained a long correspondence and association with the Duke, all of which she recorded in her diaries, which are consequently extensively used in all authoritative biographies of the Duke of Wellington. Read more
02 Aug 1823: Lazare Carnot, French mathematician, general, and politician, president of the National Convention (born 1753) Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot was a French mathematician, physicist, military officer, politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution. His military reforms, which included the introduction of mass conscription, were instrumental in transforming the French Revolutionary Army into an effective fighting force. Read more
02 Aug 1815: Guillaume Brune, French general and politician (born 1763) Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, 1st Count Brune was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Read more

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