History of Today 09 August: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 09 August. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 09 August. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 09 August 2026, 01:02 AM

Important Events on 09 August in History

• 09 Aug 2024: Voepass Linhas Aéreas Flight 2283 crashes near Vinhedo, São Paulo, killing all 62 people on board. Read more
• 09 Aug 2021: The Tampere light rail officially starts operating. Read more
• 09 Aug 2014: Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male in Ferguson, Missouri, is shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer after reportedly assaulting the officer and attempting to steal his weapon, sparking protests and unrest in the city. Read more
• 09 Aug 2013: Gunmen open fire at a Sunni mosque in the city of Quetta killing at least ten people and injuring 30. Read more
• 09 Aug 2012: Shannon Eastin becomes the first woman to officiate an NFL game. Read more
• 09 Aug 2007: Air Moorea Flight 1121 crashes after takeoff from Moorea Airport in French Polynesia, killing all 20 people on board. Read more
• 09 Aug 2006: At least 21 suspected terrorists are arrested in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot that happened in the United Kingdom. The arrests are made in London, Birmingham, and High Wycombe in an overnight operation. Read more
• 09 Aug 1999: Russian president Boris Yeltsin fires his prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet. Read more
• 09 Aug 1995: Aviateca Flight 901 crashes into the San Vicente volcano in El Salvador, killing all 65 people on board. Read more
• 09 Aug 1993: The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership. Read more
• 09 Aug 1991: The Italian prosecuting magistrate Antonino Scopelliti is murdered by the 'Ndrangheta on behalf of the Sicilian Mafia while preparing the government's case in the final appeal of the Maxi Trial. Read more
• 09 Aug 1979: Female workers of YH Trading in South Korea held a sit-in protest in response to the company's unilateral shutdown. Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first president of the United States to resign from office. Vice President Gerald Ford becomes president. Read more
• 09 Aug 1973: Mars 7 is launched from the USSR. Read more
• 09 Aug 1971: The Troubles: In Northern Ireland, the British authorities launch Operation Demetrius. The operation involves the mass arrest and internment without trial of individuals suspected of being affiliated with the Irish Republican Army (PIRA). Mass riots follow, and thousands of people flee or are forced out of their homes. Read more
• 09 Aug 1970: LANSA Flight 502 crashes after takeoff from Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport in Cusco, Peru, killing 99 of the 100 people on board, as well as two people on the ground. Read more
• 09 Aug 1969: Tate–LaBianca murders: Followers of Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent. Read more
• 09 Aug 1965: The State of Singapore separated from the Malaysian federation due to a heated ideological conflict between their ruling parties.[citation needed][needs copy edit] Read more
• 09 Aug 1960: South Kasai secedes from the Congo. Read more
• 09 Aug 1945: World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. Thirty-five thousand people are killed outright, including 23,200–28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers. Read more
• 09 Aug 1945: The Red Army invades Japanese-occupied Manchuria. Read more
• 09 Aug 1944: The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time. Read more
• 09 Aug 1944: World War II: Continuation War: The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ends to a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to defensive positions, and the front remains stable until the end of the war. Read more
• 09 Aug 1942: World War II: Battle of Savo Island: Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force. Read more
• 09 Aug 1942: Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th symphony premiers in a besieged Leningrad. Read more
• 09 Aug 1936: Summer Olympics: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games. Read more
• 09 Aug 1925: A train robbery takes place in Kakori, near Lucknow, India, by the Indian independence revolutionaries, against the British government. Read more
• 09 Aug 1907: The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England. Read more
• 09 Aug 1902: Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Read more
• 09 Aug 1897: The first International Congress of Mathematicians is held in Zürich, Switzerland. Read more
• 09 Aug 1892: Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph. Read more
• 09 Aug 1877: American Indian Wars: Battle of the Big Hole: A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army. Read more
• 09 Aug 1862: American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain: At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope. Read more
• 09 Aug 1855: Åland War: The Battle of Suomenlinna begins. Read more
• 09 Aug 1854: American Transcendentalist philosopher Henry David Thoreau publishes his memoir Walden. Read more
• 09 Aug 1842: The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains. Read more
• 09 Aug 1830: Louis Philippe becomes the king of the French following abdication of Charles X. Read more
• 09 Aug 1814: American Indian Wars: The Creek sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia. Read more
• 09 Aug 1810: Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire. Read more

Famous Births on 09 August

• 09 Aug 2005: Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva, Andorran tennis player Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva is an Andorran professional tennis player. On 16 March 2026, she reached a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of 89, the first Andorran player, female or male, to break into the top 100 in the tennis rankings in the Open Era. Read more
• 09 Aug 2003: Kazuha, Japanese singer and dancer Kazuha Nakamura , also known mononymously as Kazuha, is a Japanese singer and dancer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Le Sserafim, formed in 2022 by Source Music. Read more
• 09 Aug 2000: Aidan Hutchinson, American football player Aidan Joseph Bernardi Hutchinson is an American professional football defensive end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He was a unanimous All-American playing college football for the Michigan Wolverines, and the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2021. Hutchinson was selected with the second overall pick by the Lions in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, and named to the All-Rookie Team. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2023 and 2025, and made his first All-Pro with a second-team selection in 2025. Read more
• 09 Aug 2000: Arlo Parks, British singer-songwriter Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho, known professionally as Arlo Parks, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut studio album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, was released in 2021 to critical acclaim and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. It earned her nominations for Album of the Year, Best New Artist and Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2021 Brit Awards. It won the 2021 Mercury Prize for Best Album. Read more
• 09 Aug 1999: Deniss Vasiļjevs, Latvian figure skater Deniss Vasiļjevs is a Latvian figure skater. He is the 2022 European bronze medalist, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy silver medalist, a five-time ISU Challenger Series medalist, and a seven-time Latvian national champion. Read more
• 09 Aug 1996: Sanya Lopez, Filipino actress and model Shaira Lenn Osuna Roberto, known professionally as Sanya Lopez, is a Filipino actress, singer, and television personality known for her work in Philippine television dramas and fantasy series. She began her career as a co-host on Walang Tulugan with the Master Showman (2012) after being discovered by veteran host German Moreno. She later appeared in supporting and minor roles before gaining wider recognition in The Half Sisters (2014). Read more
• 09 Aug 1995: Eli Apple, American football player Eli Apple is an American professional football cornerback. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, winning the 2015 National Championship before being selected by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. Read more
• 09 Aug 1995: Justice Smith, American actor Justice Elio Smith is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019), All the Bright Places (2020), Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), I Saw the TV Glow (2024), and Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025). Read more
• 09 Aug 1995: Hwang Min-hyun, South Korean singer and actor Hwang Min-hyun, known mononymously as Minhyun, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor. He began his career, debuting as a member of the South Korean boy band NU'EST in March 2012. In 2017, he participated in second season of Produce 101 and finished ninth place, becoming a member of Wanna One. Following Wanna One's disbandment, Hwang returned to NU'EST, remaining until the group's disbandment in 2022. He is a solo artist and actor signed under Pledis Entertainment. Read more
• 09 Aug 1994: Kelli Hubly, American soccer player Kelli Elizabeth Hubly is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Bay FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played eight seasons for Portland Thorns FC, winning two NWSL Championships and the NWSL Shield (2021). She played college soccer for the Kentucky Wildcats and the DePaul Blue Demons. Read more
• 09 Aug 1994: King Von, American rapper (died 2020) Dayvon Daquan Bennett, known professionally as King Von, was an American rapper and street gangster from Chicago, Illinois, who was affiliated with the Black Disciples gang of Chicago's South Side. He was considered a preeminent figure in the drill genre of music, a subcategory of hip-hop. Read more
• 09 Aug 1993: Jun.Q, South Korean singer and actor Kang Jun-kyu, better known by his stage name Jun.Q (준Q), is a South Korean rapper, singer, actor, and model. Signed to H2 Media, he made his debut with idol quintet Myname in 2011. His acting debut took place two years later in the film Shinokubo Story along with his bandmates. He appeared on the web series beautiology101 in his home country and starred in the film Saihate Restaurant in Japan. He released his debut solo single "Firenze" in November 2019. Read more
• 09 Aug 1993: Dipa Karmakar, Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar is an Indian former artistic gymnast. She is one of only five women in the world to have mastered the Produnova vault. Karmakar became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for an Olympic final at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the women's vault event by just 0.15 points. In 2024, she announced her retirement from gymnastics. Read more
• 09 Aug 1992: Farahnaz Forotan, Afghan journalist Farahnaz Forotan is an Afghan journalist and women's rights activist. She moved to Iran together with her family during the Mujahideen regime. Farahnaz returned to Afghanistan in 2001, but took refuge in France in 2020 after being included on a Taliban's target list. Read more
• 09 Aug 1991: Alice Barlow, English actress Alice Barlow is an English actress and singer who portrayed Rae Wilson in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Read more
• 09 Aug 1991: Alexa Bliss, American bodybuilder and wrestler Alexis Cabrera is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. Read more
• 09 Aug 1991: Hansika Motwani, Indian actress Hansika Motwani is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. Motwani began her career as a child actor in Hindi films, and later went on to appear in lead roles in Telugu films, including Desamuduru (2007), Kantri (2008) and Maska (2009). She started her career in Tamil cinema with Mappillai (2011) and then appeared in several commercially successful Tamil films such as Engeyum Kadhal (2011), Velayudham (2011), Oru Kal Oru Kannadi (2012), Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru (2013), Singam II (2013) and Aranmanai (2014). She has also acted in the Malayalam film Villain (2017). Read more
• 09 Aug 1990: İshak Doğan, Turkish footballer İshak Doğan is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a left back for German club TSG Sprockhövel. Read more
• 09 Aug 1990: Sarah McBride, American LGBT activist Sarah Elizabeth McBride is an American politician, author, and LGBTQ rights activist serving as the U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Delaware Senate from 2021 to 2025, representing the state's 1st senate district. Prior, she was the national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign from 2016 to 2021. McBride is the nation's highest ranking openly transgender elected official and the first openly transgender member of the United States Congress. Her 2024 congressional campaign is the subject of the 2025 documentary State of Firsts. Read more
• 09 Aug 1990: Stuart McInally, Scottish rugby player Stuart McInally is a retired Scottish professional rugby union player who played as a hooker most notably for United Rugby Championship club Edinburgh and the Scotland national team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1990: Brice Roger, French skier Brice Roger is a World Cup alpine ski racer from France. From Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Savoie, he specializes in the speed events of downhill and super-G. He made his World Cup debut at age twenty in January 2011. Read more
• 09 Aug 1990: D'Arcy Short, Australian cricketer D'Arcy John Matthew Short is an Australian international cricketer, who plays One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for the Australian national team. At the domestic level, he plays for Western Australia and the Adelaide Strikers. He made his international debut for Australia in February 2018. Read more
• 09 Aug 1990: Bill Skarsgård, Swedish actor Bill Istvan Günther Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, model, producer, and director. He is best known for portraying Pennywise in the horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019) and the television series It: Welcome to Derry (2025–present) and Count Orlok in Nosferatu (2024). Skarsgård's roles as monsters and other non-human characters have led him to be described as a creature actor by media sources. He has received multiple awards and nominations, including a Satellite Award and a Berlinale Award. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide. Read more
• 09 Aug 1989: Jason Heyward, American baseball player Jason Alias Heyward, nicknamed "J-Hey", is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, and San Diego Padres. Read more
• 09 Aug 1989: Stefano Okaka, Italian footballer Stefano Chuka Okaka is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward. Read more
• 09 Aug 1989: Kento Ono, Japanese actor and model Kento Ono is a Japanese actor and model who is affiliated with Stardust Promotion, then later JJ Promotion. He played the role of Hyde in the 2010 Super Sentai TV series Tensou Sentai Goseiger. Read more
• 09 Aug 1988: Anthony Castonzo, American football player Anthony Salvatore Castonzo is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 10 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the Boston College Eagles, Castonzo was selected by the Colts with their first round draft pick in the 2011 NFL draft. Read more
• 09 Aug 1988: Willian, Brazilian footballer Willian Borges da Silva, known mononymously as Willian, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio. Primarily a winger throughout his career, he can also operate as an attacking midfielder or wide midfielder. Read more
• 09 Aug 1988: Vasilios Koutsianikoulis, Greek footballer Vasilios Koutsianikoulis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left winger or an attacking midfielder. Read more
• 09 Aug 1987: Marek Niit, Estonian sprinter Marek Niit is a sprinter from Estonia who won a gold medal at the 200 metres at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China. He is also the current national record holder in 100 metres, 200 meters and 400 meters. Read more
• 09 Aug 1986: Michael Lerchl, German footballer Michael Lerchl is a German retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Read more
• 09 Aug 1986: Daniel Preussner, German rugby player Daniel Preussner is a German international rugby union player, playing for the SC 1880 Frankfurt in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1986: Tyler Smith, American singer-songwriter and bass player Tyler Lee Smith, also known by his nickname Telle, is an American musician and songwriter. He is currently the lead vocalist of metalcore band The Word Alive originally based out of Phoenix AZ and has played in several bands, such as Greeley Estates and In Fear and Faith, Emarosa, March and Collapse, and his solo project titled "TELLE". He is known for his tenor singing voice, wide vocal range and ability to comprehensively alternate between melodic and screamed vocals. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: Luca Filippi, Italian racing driver Luca Filippi is an Italian former auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008, he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: Filipe Luís, Brazilian footballer Filipe Luís Kasmirski is a Brazilian football manager and former player who is the head coach of Ligue 1 club Monaco. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: Anna Kendrick, American actress and singer Anna Cooke Kendrick is an American actress, singer, and film director. Known for playing upbeat and endearing characters in comedies and musicals, her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: Hayley Peirsol, American swimmer Hayley Reide Peirsol is an American former distance swimmer. She swam under Dave Salo with Irvine Novaquatics prior to attending Auburn University. While at Auburn, Peirsol trained under David Marsh, Dorsey Tierney and the late Ralph Crocker. She earned 3 individual NCAA titles and 3 individual SEC titles in the 1650 freestyle as well as 3 NCAA and 4 SEC team titles. In 2006 and 2007, Peirsol also trained with Club Wolverine at the University of Michigan along with teammates Erik Vendt, Michael Phelps, Klete and Kalyn Keller, and Kaitlin Sandeno under Bob Bowman and distance expert Jon Urbanchek. In 2006, Hayley became the third woman in history to ever break 16 minutes in the 1500 meter freestyle, the other two women being Janet Evans and Kate Ziegler. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: Vivek Ramaswamy, American entrepreneur and politician Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur and politician. He founded Roivant Sciences, a biotechnological pharmaceutical company, in 2014 and was its chief executive officer until 2021. Ramaswamy entered national politics as the youngest presidential candidate in the 2024 Republican primaries, but withdrew his bid and endorsed Donald Trump. He is currently the Republican nominee for governor of Ohio in the 2026 gubernatorial election and has been endorsed by both Trump and the Ohio Republican Party. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: JaMarcus Russell, American football player JaMarcus Trenell Russell is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Oakland Raiders. He played college football for the LSU Tigers, winning the Manning Award in 2006 en route to becoming the most valuable player of the 2007 Sugar Bowl. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: Chandler Williams, American football player (died 2013) Chandler Williams III was an American professional football wide receiver. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL draft. He played college football at Florida International. Read more
• 09 Aug 1984: Paul Gallagher, Scottish footballer Paul Gallagher is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently a first team coach at League One club Leyton Orient. Read more
• 09 Aug 1983: Dan Levy, Canadian actor and comedian Daniel Joseph Levy is a Canadian actor, writer, producer and director. He began his career as a television host on MTV Canada. He attained international prominence for starring as David Rose in the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek (2015–2020), which he co-created and co-starred in with his father, Eugene Levy. Read more
• 09 Aug 1983: Hamilton Masakadza, Zimbabwean cricketer Hamilton Masakadza is a Zimbabwean former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for Zimbabwe. He captained the national team during 2016 ICC World T20, but was relieved of his duties following an indifferent team performance in the tournament, where they failed to get past the qualifying round. In February 2019, Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed that Masakadza would captain the national side across all three formats for the 2019–20 season. Read more
• 09 Aug 1983: Shane O'Brien, Canadian ice hockey player Shane O'Brien is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. His National Hockey League (NHL) career lasted nine years. Read more
• 09 Aug 1983: Alicja Smietana, Polish-English violinist Alicja Smietana is a Polish-British violinist, viola player, arranger and composer. Read more
• 09 Aug 1982: Joel Anthony, American basketball player Joel Vincent Anthony is a Canadian former professional basketball player who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won two championships with the Heat in 2012 and 2013. He is the Co-Owner and General manager of the Montreal Alliance of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). Previously he was a player consultant for the Hamilton Honey Badgers. He is a former member of the Canada national team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1982: Tyson Gay, American sprinter Tyson Gay is an American retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 100 and 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete over 100 m ever, along with Yohan Blake of Jamaica. Read more
• 09 Aug 1982: Yekaterina Samutsevich, Russian singer and activist Yekaterina Stanislavovna Samutsevich is a Russian political activist. She was a member of the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot. Read more
• 09 Aug 1982: Kanstantsin Sivtsov, Belarusian cyclist Kanstantsin Sivtsov (or Siutsou is a Belarusian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2018 for the Itera, Lokomotiv, Fassa Bortolo, Acqua & Sapone, Barloworld, HTC–Highroad, Team Sky, Team Dimension Data and Bahrain–Merida squads. He retired after provisionally being suspended from the sport following an adverse analytical finding for erythropoietin. Read more
• 09 Aug 1981: Jarvis Hayes, American basketball player Jarvis James Hayes is an American-Qatari former professional basketball player and current coach. He is an assistant coach for the Georgia Bulldogs. Hayes was selected by the Washington Wizards with the 10th overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft. Read more
• 09 Aug 1981: Li Jiawei, Singaporean table tennis player Li Jiawei is a retired Chinese-born former Singaporean table tennis player, four-time Olympian, and twice Olympic medalist. She trained in Beijing's famous Shichahai Sports School with Olympic medalist Zhang Yining. In 1995, she moved to Singapore and in the following year, she commenced her international career as a competitive table tennis player. She became a Singapore citizen at the age of 18 under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. Read more
• 09 Aug 1979: Michael Kingma, Australian basketball player Michael John Kingma is an Australian-Dutch former professional basketball player. Read more
• 09 Aug 1979: Kliff Kingsbury, American football coach Kliff Timothy Kingsbury is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the assistant head coach for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, finishing in the top three in several school passing records before being selected in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. Kingsbury was a member of several other NFL and CFL teams before entering coaching in 2008. He is also a co-founder of the American Vodka brand Amnisia Vodka along with former NFL Wide Receiver Danny Amendola. Read more
• 09 Aug 1979: Lisa Nandy, British politician Lisa Eva Nandy is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Wigan constituency since 2010. Read more
• 09 Aug 1979: Tony Stewart, American football player Tony Alexander Stewart is a former American football tight end. He is the founder and executive director of the non-profit Beyond the Locker, which helps youth and athletes. He also works as a lead consultant to the National Football League (NFL) in the player engagement department. Read more
• 09 Aug 1978: Dorin Chirtoacă, Moldavian lawyer and politician, Mayor of Chișinău Dorin Chirtoacă is a Moldovan politician who served as Mayor of Chișinău from 2007 to 2018. Read more
• 09 Aug 1978: Ana Serradilla, Mexican actress and producer Ana Isabel Serradilla García is a Mexican actress known for her roles in television series such as La Viuda Negra, Drenaje Profundo, and Línea nocturna. She also starred in the Mexican adaptation of Desperate Housewives, titled Amas de Casa Desesperadas. Read more
• 09 Aug 1978: Wesley Sonck, Belgian footballer Wesley Sonck is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who manages the Belgium U19 national team. He played as a striker for Molenbeek, Ninove, Germinal Ekeren, Germinal Beerschot, Genk, Ajax, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Club Brugge. He was capped by Belgium at international level. Read more
• 09 Aug 1977: Jason Frasor, American baseball player Jason Andrew Frasor is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He made his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004, recording a 4.08 ERA in 63 games that season. He would ultimately pitch in more than 500 games for the Blue Jays. He also played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals and the Atlanta Braves, playing in the World Series for the Royals in 2014. Read more
• 09 Aug 1977: Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player Chamique Shaunta Holdsclaw is an American former professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She announced her retirement from the Los Angeles Sparks on June 11, 2007, though she eventually came out of retirement to play with the Atlanta Dream for the 2009 WNBA Season. Read more
• 09 Aug 1977: Ravshan Irmatov, Uzbek football referee Ravshan Sayfiddinovich Irmatov is an Uzbek professional football referee. He officiated in the Uzbek League from 2000–2019 and internationally from 2003–2019. Irmatov holds the record for officiating the most FIFA World Cup matches with 11. Read more
• 09 Aug 1977: Adewale Ogunleye, American football player Adewale Ogunleye is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2000 and also played for the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. Read more
• 09 Aug 1977: Ime Udoka, American basketball player and coach Ime Sunday Udoka is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in the United States, he represented the Nigeria national team during his playing career. After retiring as a player, Udoka served as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn Nets before becoming the head coach of the Boston Celtics, whom he led to the 2022 NBA Finals. In April 2023, Udoka was hired by the Rockets. Read more
• 09 Aug 1977: Mikaël Silvestre, French footballer Mikaël Samy Silvestre is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is best known for a nine-year spell at Manchester United, with whom he won multiple Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the Football League Cup, two FA Community Shields, the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Read more
• 09 Aug 1976: Rhona Mitra, English actress and singer Rhona Natasha Mitra is a British actress. Read more
• 09 Aug 1976: Audrey Tautou, French model and actress Audrey Justine Tautou is a French actress. She made her acting debut at age 18 on television, and her feature film debut in Venus Beauty Institute (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the César Award for Most Promising Actress. Read more
• 09 Aug 1976: Jessica Capshaw, American actress Jessica Brooke Capshaw is an American actress known for her roles as Jamie Stringer on the ABC legal drama series The Practice, pediatric surgeon Dr. Arizona Robbins on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy and Blythe Hart on the ABC procedural drama 9-1-1: Nashville. Read more
• 09 Aug 1975: Mahesh Babu, Indian actor and producer Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu is an Indian actor, producer and philanthropist, voice actor, who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has been featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list from 2012 to 2025. Referred to in the media as the Superstar, he appeared in over 30 films and has been a recipient of several accolades including, nine Nandi Awards, five Filmfare Awards South and four SIIMA Awards. Read more
• 09 Aug 1975: Valentin Kovalenko, Uzbek football referee Valentin Kovalenko is an Uzbek professional football referee of Ukrainian and Russian origin. He referees in the Uzbekistan Super League and Uzbekistan Cup. Read more
• 09 Aug 1975: Mike Lamb, American baseball player Michael Robert Lamb is an American former professional baseball third baseman and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Florida Marlins from 2000 through 2008, and 2010. As a player, Lamb was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 205 pounds (93 kg). Read more
• 09 Aug 1975: Robbie Middleby, Australian soccer player Robert Middleby is an Australian former football player who as a right-back or right midfielder. He was the CEO of the Newcastle Jets FC until 2015. He played for Sydney FC after earlier stints at Newcastle United Jets, Wollongong Wolves (twice), Carlton, Football Kingz and the Newcastle Breakers. He won the 2001 NSL title with the Wolves and the 2006 A-League title with Sydney FC and also spent time overseas with German outfit KFC Uerdingen 05. Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: Derek Fisher, American basketball player and coach Derek Lamar Fisher is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom Fisher won five NBA championships. He also played for the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Dallas Mavericks. Fisher has also served as president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: Stephen Fung, Hong Kong actor, singer, director, and screenwriter Fung Chun-choi, known professionally as Stephen Fung Tak-lun, is a Hong Kong actor, singer, and filmmaker. Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: Lesley McKenna, Scottish snowboarder Lesley McKenna is a former British professional snowboarder based in Aviemore, Scotland. McKenna has to date competed in three Winter Olympic Games in 2002, 2006 and 2010 but has not won any medals. At the 2010 games, she crashed in both her qualification runs in the women's halfpipe and finished last. She has also competed on the world cup circuit for several years with more success achieving six podium positions including two first placings in 2003. She was ranked 3rd in the world by the FIS for halfpipe in 2004 despite suffering from a broken jaw which took her out for most of the season.
  Lesley was also an ambassador for Scotland and after competing worked as the international team manager for the brand Roxy which is the female sister brand of the surf brand Quiksilver. Lesley is now the Team Manager for the GB Park and Pipe Team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: Matt Morris, American baseball player Matthew Christian Morris is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was a two-time All-Star and led the National League in 2001 with 22 wins. After playing nine seasons with the Cardinals, he played his last three seasons with the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: Kirill Reznik, American lawyer and politician Kirill Reznik is an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. He was previously a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 39 from 2007 to 2023, resigning to become the Assistant Secretary for Inter-Departmental Data Integration for the Maryland Department of Human Services. Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: Raphaël Poirée, French biathlete Raphaël Poirée is a retired French biathlete who was active from 1995 to 2007. With his 44 World Cup victories and several World Championship medals he ranks among the most successful biathletes ever. Read more
• 09 Aug 1973: Filippo Inzaghi, Italian footballer and manager Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the head coach of Serie B club Palermo. Nicknamed "Superpippo" or "Alta tensione" by fans and commentators during his playing career, Inzaghi is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of his generation. In the UEFA Champions League, he is the all-time Italian top goalscorer, scoring 46 goals. Read more
• 09 Aug 1973: Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor and director Kevin McKidd is a Scottish actor and television director best known for portraying Dr. Owen Hunt in Grey's Anatomy (2008–2026), Lucius Vorenus in Rome (2005-2007) and Tommy Mackenzie in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996). Read more
• 09 Aug 1973: Gene Luen Yang, American author and illustrator Gene Luen Yang is an American cartoonist and author. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. In 2012, Yang joined the faculty at Hamline University as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. In 2016, the U.S. Library of Congress named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature. That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Read more
• 09 Aug 1972: Ryan Bollman, American actor Ryan Matthew Bollman is an American television and film actor best known for his roles in Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992), Only the Strong (1993), and The NeverEnding Story III (1994). Read more
• 09 Aug 1972: Juanes, Colombian singer and songwriter Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez, known professionally as Juanes, is a Colombian musician and singer, a former member of the rock band Ekhymosis. Since releasing his solo debut album Fíjate Bien in 2000, Juanes has won 26 Latin Grammy Awards and sold more than 15 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. Read more
• 09 Aug 1970: Rod Brind'Amour, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Roderic Jean Brind'Amour is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Rod the Bod" and "Mr. Hurricane", Brind'Amour has played or coached for the Hurricanes in all but two of their 104 playoff wins as of the end of the 2025–26 season. He is one of four people to have won the Stanley Cup with the same team as captain and head coach, the first to do so in the league's expansion era, and is the 14th individual to win as a coach and player for any team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1970: Chris Cuomo, American lawyer and journalist Christopher Charles Cuomo is an American news broadcaster and journalist for NewsNation. He previously worked as the ABC News chief law and justice correspondent and the co-anchor for ABC's 20/20, news anchor for Good Morning America from 2006 to 2009, and an anchor at CNN, where he co-hosted its morning show New Day from 2013 through May 2018, before moving to Cuomo Prime Time in June 2018. Read more
• 09 Aug 1970: Thomas Lennon, American actor and comedian Thomas Lennon is an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series Reno 911!, Andrei Novak on Santa Clarita Diet and Felix Unger on The Odd Couple. He is the screenwriter of several comedies released by major film studios with writing partner Robert Ben Garant, with whom he wrote the Night at the Museum films, The Pacifier, Balls of Fury, and Baywatch. Read more
• 09 Aug 1969: Troy Percival, American baseball player and coach Troy Eugene Percival is an American professional baseball coach and former pitcher. He is currently the manager of the Long Beach Coast of the Pioneer League. During a 14-year baseball career spanning from 1995 to 2009, he pitched for four Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, primarily with the California/Anaheim Angels. He was an integral part of that franchise's 2002 World Series championship team, and gained fame as a closer. Read more
• 09 Aug 1968: Gillian Anderson, American-British actress, activist and writer Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress. She received international fame for starring as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the Fox science fiction mystery series The X-Files, winning a Golden Globe Award for the role. Her other credits include socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama television series The Fall (2013–2016), sex therapist Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education (2019–2023), and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix drama series The Crown (2020), for which she earned her second Golden Globe. Read more
• 09 Aug 1968: Eric Bana, Australian actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter Eric Banadinovich, known professionally as Eric Bana, is an Australian actor, producer, and comedian. He began his career in the sketch-comedy series Full Frontal before gaining notice in the comedy drama The Castle (1997) and the biographical crime film Chopper (2000) for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Read more
• 09 Aug 1968: Sam Fogarino, American drummer Samuel Joseph Fogarino is an American musician who is the drummer of the band Interpol. He has played in bands such as the Holy Terrors, Gus, the Wahoos, Napoleon Solo, the Ton-ups and the Last Night. Read more
• 09 Aug 1968: McG, American director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol, known professionally as McG, is an American film director, film producer, and former record producer. Read more
• 09 Aug 1967: Deion Sanders, American football and baseball player and coach Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. is an American football coach and former player who is the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time" and "Coach Prime", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Baltimore Ravens. Sanders was also a baseball outfielder for nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants. He won two Super Bowl titles and made one World Series appearance in 1992, making him the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series. Read more
• 09 Aug 1966: Vinny Del Negro, American basketball player and coach Vincent Joseph Del Negro is an American former professional basketball player. He was the head coach of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010, and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2010 to 2013. Del Negro is currently an analyst with NBA TV. Read more
• 09 Aug 1966: Linn Ullmann, Norwegian journalist and author Karin Beate "Linn" Ullmann is a Norwegian author and journalist. A prominent literary critic, she writes a column for Norway's leading morning newspaper and has published seven novels. She is also a former child actress, having appeared in four films. Read more
• 09 Aug 1965: Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer (died 2023) 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
• 09 Aug 1964: Brett Hull, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager Brett Andrew Hull is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is fifth highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams — 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017, Hull was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. Read more
• 09 Aug 1964: Hoda Kotb, American journalist and television personality Hoda Kotb is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She was the main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show Today from 2018 to 2025, and co-host of its entertainment-focused fourth hour from 2007 to 2025. Kotb also formerly served as a correspondent for the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. Read more
• 09 Aug 1963: Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (died 2012) Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, film producer, and record producer. Commonly referred to as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded entertainers of all time. Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of more than 220 million records worldwide. A cultural icon, she broke down gender and racial barriers through her artistic achievements, Hollywood crossover, and music videos. Known for her vocal delivery, gospel singing style, crossover appeal, and live performances, Houston was ranked second on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest singers of all time in 2023. Read more
• 09 Aug 1963: Jay Leggett, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2013) Jay Michael Leggett was an American actor, improvisational comedian, producer, director, and screenwriter. Read more
• 09 Aug 1963: Barton Lynch, Australian surfer Barton Lynch is an Australian former professional surfer known for his competitive prowess and style. In 1988, he was crowned ASP World Tour Champion. He also won the 1991 Rip Curl Pro. In 1998, he was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame, and in 2000, he was inducted into the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame. The video game Barton Lynch Pro Surfing is named after Lynch. Read more
• 09 Aug 1962: Louis Lipps, American football player and radio host Louis Adam Lipps Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL), spending eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and one with the New Orleans Saints. Read more
• 09 Aug 1962: Kevin Mack, American football player James Kevin Mack is an American former professional football player who was a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers. Read more
• 09 Aug 1962: John "Hot Rod" Williams, American basketball player (died 2015) John "Hot Rod" Williams was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1986 to 1999. Read more
• 09 Aug 1961: Brad Gilbert, American tennis player and sportscaster Brad Gilbert is an American former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and tennis commentator and analyst for ESPN. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 18 four years prior. He won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics, and both a gold medal and a silver medal at the 1981 Maccabiah Games. Read more
• 09 Aug 1961: John Key, New Zealand businessman and politician, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand Sir John Phillip Key is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Read more
• 09 Aug 1959: Kurtis Blow, American rapper, producer, and actor Kurtis Walker, known professionally by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Walker is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 self-titled debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song. Over his career he released 17 albums. He is an ordained minister. He also serves as leader of the group Hip Hop Alliance. Read more
• 09 Aug 1959: Michael Kors, American fashion designer Michael David Kors is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and fragrance, under his signature Michael Kors Collection, MICHAEL Michael Kors and Michael Kors Mens labels. On January 2, 2019, Michael Kors Holdings Limited officially changed its name to Capri Holdings Limited. As of December 2025, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo are the two founder-led brands under Capri Holdings Limited. Read more
• 09 Aug 1958: Amanda Bearse, American actress, comedian and director Amanda Bearse is an American actress, comedian and director. She starred in the 1985 supernatural horror film Fright Night, and later starred as Marcy Rhoades D'Arcy in the Fox sitcom Married… with Children (1987–1997). Bearse later began working as a television director, directing over 90 episodes of several comedy series. Read more
• 09 Aug 1958: Calie Pistorius, South African engineer and academic Carl Wilhelm Irene "Calie" Pistorius is a South African electrical engineer who is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom. He announced, on 1 August 2016, that he would be stepping down from this role at the end of January 2017. His successor at Hull was Professor Susan Lea. Read more
• 09 Aug 1957: Melanie Griffith, American actress and producer Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. Born in Manhattan to actress Tippi Hedren, she was raised mainly in Los Angeles, where she graduated from the Hollywood Professional School at age 16. In 1975, 17-year-old Griffith appeared opposite Gene Hackman in Arthur Penn's neo-noir film Night Moves. She later rose to prominence as an actor in films such as Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984), which earned her a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Griffith's subsequent performance in the comedy Something Wild (1986) attracted critical acclaim before she was cast in 1988's Working Girl, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won her a Golden Globe. Read more
• 09 Aug 1956: Gordon Singleton, Canadian Olympic cyclist (died 2024) Gordon Singleton was a Canadian world-record holding track cyclist. In 1982, he became the first Canadian cyclist to win a world championship. He was the first, and only, cyclist in history to simultaneously hold world records in all three of track cycling's sprint races: the 200m, 500m and 1000m distances, all in a 24-hour span from October 9–10 in 1980. An Olympic racer, he was deprived of competing in the 1980 Summer Olympics at the peak of his career by Canada's boycott of those games in Moscow. He also competed and won gold medals in the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games, and the 1979 Puerto Rico Pan Am Games for Canada. At the end of 1986, he was named a Companion of the Order of Canada. In his middle-age, he continued to cycle and took part in Master Series races, getting a bronze medal at the Canadian Nationals for his age group in 2014. He was inducted into the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame in October 2015 along with some of his teammates from the 1970s and 1980s. His hometown of Niagara Falls, Ontario celebrated him many times over his life, including in 2004, as their best athlete in its first 100 years. After his cycling career was over, he took over his father's automotive parts business in Niagara Falls. In 2023, he was diagnosed with Cancer, and died from the disease in March 2024. Read more
• 09 Aug 1955: John E. Sweeney, American lawyer and politician John Edward Sweeney is an American politician from the U.S. state of New York. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York's 20th congressional district from 1999 to 2007. Read more
• 09 Aug 1954: Ray Jennings, South African cricketer and coach Raymond Vernon Jennings is a former South African cricketer. He was one of South Africa's leading wicket-keepers during the suspension of the South African national team from international cricket during the apartheid era. Read more
• 09 Aug 1954: Pete Thomas, English drummer Peter Michael Thomas is an English rock drummer best known for his collaboration with singer Elvis Costello, both as a member of his band the Attractions and with Costello as a solo artist. Besides his lengthy career as a studio musician and touring drummer, he has been a member of the band Squeeze during the 1990s and a member of the supergroup Works Progress Administration during the early 2000s. Read more
• 09 Aug 1953: Kay Stenshjemmet, Norwegian speed skater Kay Arne Stenshjemmet is a former speed skater from Norway. Read more
• 09 Aug 1953: Jean Tirole, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Jean Marcel Pierre Tirole is a French economist who is currently a professor of economics at Toulouse 1 Capitole University. He focuses on industrial organization and game theory. In particular, he focuses on the regulation of economic activity in a way that does not hinder innovation while maintaining fair rules. Tirole's work is largely theoretical and explored in mathematical models, not empirical research. Read more
• 09 Aug 1952: Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, Thai activist and politician Prateep Ungsongtham Hata is a Thai activist noted for her work with slum dwellers in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok, Thailand. Among her supporters, she is known as Khru Prateep, the "Angel of Khlong Toei" or "Slum Angel". She was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1978, founded and became the Secretary General of the Duang Prateep Foundation. She was one of the leaders of the 1992 oppositional movement. In 2000, she was elected to the Senate, representing Bangkok. Read more
• 09 Aug 1951: James Naughtie, Scottish journalist and radio host Alexander James Naughtie is a British radio presenter and journalist, known for presenting on BBC Radio 4. From 1994 to 2015, he was one of the main presenters of the Today programme. In his 21 years on Today, Naughtie had anchored every BBC Radio UK election results programme from 1997 onwards. He also worked on every US presidential election from 1988 to 2012. Read more
• 09 Aug 1951: Steve Swisher, American baseball player and manager Steven Eugene Swisher is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Diego Padres from 1974 to 1982. Swisher was elected to the 1976 National League All-Star team with the Cubs but did not play in the game. He is the father of former MLB first baseman Nick Swisher. Read more
• 09 Aug 1949: Jonathan Kellerman, American psychologist and author Jonathan Seth Kellerman is an American novelist, psychologist, and Edgar- and Anthony Award–winning author best known for his popular mystery and psychological thriller novels featuring the character Alex Delaware, a child psychologist who consults for the Los Angeles Police Department. Read more
• 09 Aug 1949: Ted Simmons, American baseball player and coach Ted Lyle Simmons, nicknamed "Simba", is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Atlanta Braves. Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary, Johnny Bench, Simmons is considered one of the best hitting catchers in MLB history. While his power numbers paled in comparison to Bench, Simmons still managed to hit for a higher batting average despite playing home games in a notoriously tough hitter's park. Read more
• 09 Aug 1948: Bill Campbell, American baseball player and coach (died 2023) William Richard Campbell was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1973 to 1987. He played for the American League (AL) Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers and the National League (NL) Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, and Montreal Expos. Read more
• 09 Aug 1947: Roy Hodgson, English footballer and manager Roy Hodgson is an English former football manager and player. Read more
• 09 Aug 1947: Barbara Mason, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter Barbara Mason is an American soul singer with several R&B and pop hits in the 1960s and 1970s, best known for her self-written 1965 hit song "Yes, I'm Ready". She has released 12 albums, including her 1965 debut with Yes, I'm Ready, and has had 14 top 40 hits on the US Billboard R&B chart. Read more
• 09 Aug 1947: John Varley, American author John Herbert Varley was an American science fiction writer who won Hugo and Nebula awards for his novellas "The Persistence of Vision", "PRESS ENTER ■", and "The Pusher". Read more
• 09 Aug 1946: Rinus Gerritsen, Dutch rock bass player Marinus Gerritsen is a Dutch bassist. Best known for being a founding member of Dutch group Golden Earring, he is also a producer of artists like Herman Brood. Read more
• 09 Aug 1945: Barbara Delinsky, American author Barbara Delinsky is an American writer of romance novels, including 19 New York Times bestsellers. She has also been published under the pen names Bonnie Drake and Billie Douglass. Read more
• 09 Aug 1945: Aleksandr Gorelik, Russian figure skater and sportscaster (died 2012) Aleksandr Yudaevich Gorelik was a Soviet pair skater. He competed with Tatiana Zhuk. They are the 1965 World bronze medalists and the 1966 and 1968 World silver medalists. At the European Figure Skating Championships, they won the bronze medal in 1965 and the silver in 1966. They won the silver medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Read more
• 09 Aug 1945: Posy Simmonds, English author and illustrator Rosemary Elizabeth "Posy" Simmonds MBE, FRSL is a British newspaper cartoonist, and writer and illustrator of both children's books and graphic novels. She is best known for her long association with The Guardian, for which she drew the series Gemma Bovery (2000) and Tamara Drewe (2005–06), both later published as books. Her style gently satirises the English middle classes and in particular those of a literary bent. Both Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drew feature a "doomed heroine", much in the style of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century gothic romantic novel, to which they often allude, but with an ironic, modernist slant. Read more
• 09 Aug 1944: George Armstrong, English footballer (died 2000) George "Geordie" Armstrong was an English football player and coach, who was mostly associated with Arsenal. A winger, Armstrong made his Arsenal debut in 1962 at the age of 17 and went on to make 621 appearances – which was then an all-time club record – before he left Highbury in 1977. He spent a season each with Leicester City and Stockport County, and then took up coaching, both domestically and abroad. After a year as Kuwait national team manager, Armstrong returned to Arsenal as reserve-team coach in 1990, a post which he held for the remaining ten years of his life. Read more
• 09 Aug 1944: Patrick Depailler, French racing driver (died 1980) Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980. Depailler won two Formula One Grands Prix across eight seasons. Read more
• 09 Aug 1944: Sam Elliott, American actor and producer Samuel Pack Elliott is an American actor. With a career spanning nearly six decades of film and television, he is recognized for his deep sonorous voice. Elliott has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Read more
• 09 Aug 1944: Patricia McKissack, American soldier, engineer, and author (died 2017) Patricia C. McKissack was a prolific African-American children's writer. She was the author of more than 100 books, including Dear America books A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl; Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North; and Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl. She also wrote a novel for The Royal Diaries series: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba. Notable standalone works include Flossie & the Fox (1986), The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (1992), and Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? (1992). What is Given from the Heart was published posthumously in 2019. Read more
• 09 Aug 1943: Ken Norton, American boxer and actor (died 2013) Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. was an American boxer who competed professionally from 1967 to 1981. He was awarded the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978, after winning a close split decision over Jimmy Young in a title eliminator bout. Read more
• 09 Aug 1942: David Steinberg, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter David Steinberg is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid-1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson more than 130 times and served as guest host 12 times, the youngest person to guest-host. Steinberg directed several films and episodes of television situation comedies, including Seinfeld, Friends, Mad About You, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Golden Girls, and Designing Women. Steinberg also hosted the interview program Inside Comedy on the Showtime network. Read more
• 09 Aug 1940: Linda Keen, American mathematician and academic Linda Jo Goldway Keen is an American mathematician and a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. Since 1965, she has been a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Lehman College of the City University of New York and a Professor of Mathematics at Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Read more
• 09 Aug 1939: Hércules Brito Ruas, Brazilian footballer (died 2026) Hércules de Brito Ruas, known as Brito, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a centre-back for several clubs, and for the Brazil national team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1939: Vincent Hanna, Northern Irish journalist (died 1997) Vincent Leo Martin Hanna was a Northern Irish television journalist known for his coverage of United Kingdom by-elections. Read more
• 09 Aug 1939: The Mighty Hannibal, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2014) James Timothy Shaw, known as The Mighty Hannibal, was an American R&B, soul, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his showmanship, and outlandish costumes often incorporating a pink turban, several of his songs carried social or political themes. His biggest hit was "Hymn No. 5", a commentary on the effects of the Vietnam War on servicemen, which was banned from being played on the radio. Read more
• 09 Aug 1939: Billy Henderson, American singer (died 2007) William Henderson was an American singer, best known for being an original member and founder of The Spinners, a soul vocal group. Read more
• 09 Aug 1939: Bulle Ogier, French actress and screenwriter Bulle Ogier is a French actress and screenwriter. Read more
• 09 Aug 1939: Romano Prodi, Italian academic and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the founder of the Italian centre-left and one of the most prominent figures of the Second Republic. He is often nicknamed Il Professore due to his academic career. Read more
• 09 Aug 1939: Butch Warren, American bassist (died 2013) Edward Rudolph "Butch" Warren Jr. was an American jazz bassist who was active during the 1950s and 1960s. Read more
• 09 Aug 1938: Leonid Kuchma, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 2nd President of Ukraine Leonid Danylovych Kuchma is a Ukrainian politician who served as the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by economic stabilization and an improvement in Russia–Ukraine relations, but at the same time was accompanied by democratic backsliding and growth of the influence of Ukrainian oligarchs, as well as several scandals. Read more
• 09 Aug 1938: Rod Laver, Australian tennis player and coach Rodney George Laver is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, and by some sources also in 1964 and 1970. He was also ranked as the number 1 amateur in 1961 and 1962. Laver won 200 singles titles across his amateur and professional careers, the most won by any tennis player. Read more
• 09 Aug 1938: Otto Rehhagel, German footballer, coach, and manager Otto Rehhagel is a German former football coach and player. He is nicknamed "King Otto" for his triumph with the Greece national team in the 2004 European Championship and his successful coaching career in Germany. Read more
• 09 Aug 1936: Julián Javier, Dominican-American baseball player Manuel Julián Javier Liranzo is a Dominican former professional baseball second baseman. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the St. Louis Cardinals where he was a two-time All-Star and won two World Series in 1964 and 1967. He played his final season with the Cincinnati Reds. Read more
• 09 Aug 1936: Patrick Tse, Chinese-Hong Kong actor, director, producer and screenwriter (died 2026) Patrick Tse Yin was a Hong Kong actor, producer, screenwriter and director in Hong Kong cinema. Read more
• 09 Aug 1935: Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (died 2008) Beverlee McKinsey was an American actress. She is best known for her roles on daytime serials, including Iris Cory Carrington on Another World and the spin-off series Texas from 1972 to 1981 and Alexandra Spaulding on Guiding Light from 1984 to 1992. Read more
• 09 Aug 1933: Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Japanese actress, talk show host and author Tetsuko Kuroyanagi is a Japanese actress, television personality, World Wide Fund for Nature advisor, and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. She joined NHK Broadcasting Theatre Company as the first television actress in 1953. In 1954, she made her debut as the lead actress in the radio drama Yambō Nimbō Tombō. In 1976, TV Asahi's Tetsuko's Room started airing. This program was recognized by the Guinness World Records in 2011 for having the highest number of broadcasts by the same host. It has been airing on weekdays at noon every week, and as of 2023, it has surpassed 11,000 episodes in its 48th year. Her autobiographical book, Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window, which depicts her childhood, became a post-WW2 bestseller with over 8 million copies sold in Japan and 25 million copies worldwide. It has also been adapted into a television series twice. Read more
• 09 Aug 1932: Tam Dalyell, Scottish academic and politician (died 2017) Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Linlithgow from 1962 to 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he was best known for formulating what came to be known as the "West Lothian question", on whether non-English MPs should be able to vote upon English-only matters after political devolution. He was also known for his staunch anti-war views, opposing the Falklands War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. Read more
• 09 Aug 1932: John Gomery, Canadian lawyer and jurist (died 2021) John Howard Gomery was a Canadian jurist from Quebec. He was a Justice of the Quebec Superior Court from 1982 to 2007, and appointed Commissioner for the Royal Commission investigating the Sponsorship scandal in 2004. Read more
• 09 Aug 1931: Chuck Essegian, American baseball player and lawyer Charles Abraham Essegian is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He appeared in 404 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) over six seasons (1958–1963) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Athletics and Cleveland Indians. During the 1959 World Series, Essegian, then with the Dodgers, set a Series record with two pinch-hit home runs against the Chicago White Sox. The mark was matched by Bernie Carbo of the Boston Red Sox, who a hit pair of pinch-hit homers against the Cincinnati Reds in the 1975 World Series. Read more
• 09 Aug 1931: James Freeman Gilbert, American geophysicist and academic (died 2014) James Freeman Gilbert was an American geophysicist, best known for his work with George E. Backus on inverting geophysical data, and also for his role in establishing an international network of long-period seismometers. Read more
• 09 Aug 1931: Paula Kent Meehan, American businesswoman, co-founded Redken (died 2014) Paula Jane Meehan was an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She co-founded the Redken hair care products company. She briefly worked as an actress and fashion model. Read more
• 09 Aug 1931: Mário Zagallo, Brazilian footballer and coach (died 2024) Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo was a Brazilian professional football player, coordinator and manager, who played as a forward. Read more
• 09 Aug 1930: Milt Bolling, American baseball player and scout (died 2013) Milton Joseph Bolling was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1952 through 1958 for the Boston Red Sox (1952–1957), Washington Senators (1957) and Detroit Tigers (1958). Bolling batted and threw right-handed. He was the older brother of Frank Bolling. Read more
• 09 Aug 1930: Jacques Parizeau, Canadian economist and politician, 26th Premier of Quebec (died 2015) Jacques Parizeau was a Canadian politician and economist who served as the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996. Read more
• 09 Aug 1929: Abdi İpekçi, Turkish journalist and activist (died 1979) Abdi İpekçi was a Turkish journalist, intellectual and human rights activist. He was murdered when he was editor-in-chief of one of the main Turkish daily newspapers Milliyet which then had a centre-left political stance. Read more
• 09 Aug 1928: Bob Cousy, American basketball player and coach Robert Joseph Cousy is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA All-Star and 1957 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), Cousy was a core piece during the early half of the Celtics dynasty, winning six NBA championships during his 13-year tenure with the Celtics. Nicknamed "The Houdini of the Hardwood", Cousy was the NBA assists leader for eight consecutive seasons, introducing a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills to the NBA. He is regarded as the first great point guard of the NBA, and was the first to reach the 4,000, 5,000, and 6,000 career assists milestones. Read more
• 09 Aug 1928: Camilla Wicks, American violinist and educator (died 2020) Camilla Dolores Wicks was an American violinist, and one of the first female violinists to establish a major international career. Her performing career included solo appearances with leading European and American symphony orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Read more
• 09 Aug 1928: Dolores Wilson, American soprano and actress (died 2010) Dolores Mae Wilson was an American coloratura soprano who had an active international opera career from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Beginning her career with major theatres in Europe, she performed in six seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City during the 1950s. She is perhaps best known for originating the title role in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe at the Central City Opera in 1956. After abandoning her opera career, she embarked on a second career as a musical theatre actress; making several appearances on Broadway in the following decades. Read more
• 09 Aug 1927: Daniel Keyes, American short story writer and novelist (died 2014) Daniel Keyes was an American writer best known as the author of the novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000. Read more
• 09 Aug 1927: Robert Shaw, English actor and screenwriter (died 1978) Robert Archibald Shaw was an English actor and writer. Beginning his career in theatre, Shaw joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre after the Second World War and appeared in productions of Macbeth, Henry VIII, Cymbeline, and other Shakespeare plays. With the Old Vic company (1951–52), he continued primarily in Shakespearean roles. In 1959, he starred in a West End production of The Long and the Short and the Tall. Read more
• 09 Aug 1926: Denis Atkinson, Barbadian cricketer (died 2001) Denis St Eval Atkinson was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches in the 1950s as an all-rounder, hitting 922 runs and taking 47 wickets. He also played first-class cricket for Barbados and Trinidad. Read more
• 09 Aug 1925: David A. Huffman, American computer scientist, developed Huffman coding (died 1999) David Albert Huffman was an American pioneer in computer science, known for his Huffman coding. He was also one of the pioneers in the field of mathematical origami. Read more
• 09 Aug 1924: Mathews Mar Barnabas, Indian metropolitan (died 2012) Mathews Mar Barnabas was a Metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Read more
• 09 Aug 1924: Frank Martínez, American soldier and painter (died 2013) Francisco Alonzo "Frank" Martínez was an American artist. He painted murals of his Mexican American heritage. Read more
• 09 Aug 1922: Philip Larkin, English poet and novelist (died 1985) Philip Arthur Larkin was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, The North Ship, was published in 1945, followed by two novels, Jill (1946) and A Girl in Winter (1947). He came to prominence in 1955 with the publication of his second collection of poems, The Less Deceived, followed by The Whitsun Weddings (1964) and High Windows (1974). He contributed to The Daily Telegraph as its jazz critic from 1961 to 1971, with his articles gathered in All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961–71 (1985), and edited The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse (1973). His many honours include the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was offered, but declined, the position of Poet Laureate in 1984, following the death of Sir John Betjeman. Read more
• 09 Aug 1921: Ernest Angley, American evangelist and author (died 2021) Ernest Winston Angley was an American Christian evangelist, author, and television station owner who was based in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio from the 1950s until his death in 2021. Read more
• 09 Aug 1921: J. James Exon, American soldier and politician, 33rd Governor of Nebraska (died 2005) John James Exon was an American businessman and politician who served as the 33rd governor of Nebraska from 1971 to 1979, and as a United States senator from Nebraska from 1979 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Exon never lost an election, and was the only Democrat ever to hold Nebraska's Class 2 U.S. Senate seat. He was elected governor in 1970, re-elected in 1974, elected to the Senate in 1978, and re-elected to that seat in 1984 and 1990. Read more
• 09 Aug 1920: Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and author (died 2007) Enzo Biagi was an Italian journalist, writer and former partisan. Read more
• 09 Aug 1919: Joop den Uyl, Dutch journalist, economist, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 1987) Johannes Marten den Uijl, better known as Joop den Uyl, was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA). Den Uyl studied economics at the University of Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Economics degree and worked as a civil servant at the Ministry of Economic Affairs from February 1942 until May 1945 and as a journalist and editor for Het Parool and Vrij Nederland from May 1945 until January 1949. Den Uyl served as director of the Wiardi Beckman Foundation from January 1949 until June 1963. Den Uyl became a member of the House of Representatives shortly after the number of seats was raised from 100 to 150 seats following the election of 1956 serving from 6 November 1956 until 5 June 1963 as a frontbencher and spokesperson for economics. Den Uyl was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cals cabinet, taking office on 14 April 1965. After Labour Leader Anne Vondeling unexpectedly announced he was stepping down, Den Uyl announced his candidacy and was selected as his successor as Leader on 13 September 1966. Under his leadership, the PvdA became a big tent party that undermined support for the small left parties, including the Radicals and the Communists. Read more
• 09 Aug 1919: Ralph Houk, American baseball player and manager (died 2010) Ralph George Houk, nicknamed "the Major", was an American catcher, coach, manager, and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He is best known as the successor of Casey Stengel as manager of the New York Yankees from 1961 to 1963, when his teams won three consecutive American League pennants and the 1961 and 1962 World Series championships. In 1961 he became the second rookie manager to win 100 games in a season and third rookie manager to win a World Series. He was the first manager to win World Series titles in his first two seasons and the first manager since Hughie Jennings to win three pennants in his first three seasons. Read more
• 09 Aug 1918: Kermit Beahan, American Air Force colonel (died 1989) Kermit King Beahan was a career officer in the United States Air Force and its predecessor United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was the bombardier on the crew flying the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bockscar on August 9, 1945, that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Read more
• 09 Aug 1918: Giles Cooper, Irish soldier and playwright (died 1966) Giles Stannus Cooper, OBE was an Anglo-Irish playwright and prolific radio dramatist, writing over sixty scripts for BBC Radio and television. He was awarded the OBE in 1960 for "Services to Broadcasting". A dozen years after his death at only 48 the Giles Cooper Awards for Radio Drama were instituted in his honour, jointly by the BBC and the publishers Eyre Methuen. Read more
• 09 Aug 1918: Albert Seedman, American police officer (died 2013) Albert A. Seedman was an officer with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for 30 years, known for solving several high-profile cases before resigning as chief of the Detective Bureau. He was the only Jewish officer to ever hold that position. After his retirement he was the chief of security for a New York area department store chain before retiring to South Florida. Read more
• 09 Aug 1915: Mareta West, American astronomer and geologist (died 1998) Mareta Nelle West was an American astrogeologist who in the 1960s chose the site of the first crewed lunar landing, Apollo 11. She was the first female astrogeologist. Her cremated remains were launched into space. Read more
• 09 Aug 1914: Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian-Austrian conductor and director (died 1963) Ferenc Fricsay was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen. Read more
• 09 Aug 1914: Tove Jansson, Finnish author and illustrator (died 2001) Tove Marika Jansson was a Finland-Swedish author, novelist and comic strip author, painter and illustrator. Brought up by artistic parents, her mother an illustrator and postage stamp designer, her father a sculptor, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Paris. She held her first solo art exhibition in 1943. Over the same period, she penned short stories and articles for publication, and subsequently drew illustrations for book covers, advertisements, and postcards. She continued her work as an artist and writer for the rest of her life. Read more
• 09 Aug 1914: Joe Mercer, English footballer and manager (died 1990) Joseph Mercer was an English footballer and manager. He played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal and managed Aston Villa and Manchester City, and served as caretaker manager of the England national football team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1913: Wilbur Norman Christiansen, Australian astronomer and engineer (died 2007) Wilbur Norman "Chris" Christiansen was a pioneer Australian radio astronomer and electrical engineer. Read more
• 09 Aug 1911: William Alfred Fowler, American astronomer and astrophysicist, Nobel Laureate (died 1996) William Alfred Fowler (August 9, 1911 – March 14, 1995) was an American astrophysicist. He shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe." He is known for his theoretical and experimental research into nuclear reactions within stars and the energy elements produced in the process. With Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge and Fred Hoyle, he authored the influential B2FH paper, Synthesis of the Elements in Stars. Read more
• 09 Aug 1911: Eddie Futch, American boxer and trainer (died 2001) Eddie Futch was an American boxing trainer. Among the fighters he trained are Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, and Trevor Berbick, four of the five men to defeat Muhammad Ali. Futch also trained Riddick Bowe and Montell Griffin when they handed future Hall of Fame fighters Evander Holyfield and Roy Jones Jr. their first professional defeats. In Baltimore, Maryland, the Futch Gym boxing gymnasium is named after the trainer. He also trained Ireland's first ever WBC World Champion, Wayne McCullough. Eddie Futch was married to Eva Marlene Futch from March 21, 1996, until his death. Futch often called her "The love of his life." Read more
• 09 Aug 1911: John McQuade, Northern Irish soldier, boxer, and politician (died 1984) John McQuade was a Northern Irish unionist politician. He was a professional boxer under the name of Jack Higgins. Read more
• 09 Aug 1909: Vinayaka Krishna Gokak, Indian scholar, author, and academic (died 1992) Vinayaka Krishna Gokak, abbreviated in Kannada as Vi. Kru. Gokak, was an Indian writer in the Kannada language and a scholar of English and Kannada literatures. He was the fifth writer to be honoured with the Jnanpith Award in 1990 for Kannada language, for his epic Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi which deals with the Vedic age. In 1961, Gokak was awarded the Padma Shri from the Government of India. Read more
• 09 Aug 1909: Willa Beatrice Player, American educator, first Black woman college president (died 2003) Willa Beatrice Player was an American educator, college administrator, college president, civil rights activist, and federal appointee. Player was the first African-American woman to become president of a four-year, fully accredited liberal arts college when she took the position at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Read more
• 09 Aug 1909: Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat (died 1944) Friedrich Adam von Trott zu Solz was a German lawyer and diplomat who was involved in the conservative resistance to Nazism. A declared opponent of the Nazi regime from the beginning, he actively participated in the Kreisau Circle of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke and Peter Yorck von Wartenburg. Together with Claus von Stauffenberg and Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg, he conspired in the 20 July plot and was supposed to have been appointed Secretary of State in the German Foreign Office and lead negotiator with the Western Allies if the plot had succeeded. Read more
• 09 Aug 1905: Leo Genn, British actor and barrister (died 1978) Leopold John Genn was an English actor and barrister. Distinguished by his relaxed charm and smooth, "black velvet" voice, he had a lengthy career in theatre, film, television and radio, often playing aristocratic or gentlemanly, sophisticated roles. Read more
• 09 Aug 1902: Zino Francescatti, French violinist (died 1991) René-Charles "Zino" Francescatti was a French virtuoso violinist, renowned for his lyrical playing style. Read more
• 09 Aug 1902: Panteleimon Ponomarenko, Russian general and politician (died 1984) Panteleimon Kondratyevich Ponomarenko was a Soviet statesman and politician and one of the leaders of Soviet partisan resistance in Belarus. He served as an administrator at various positions within the Soviet government, including the leadership positions in Byelorussian and Kazakh SSRs. Read more
• 09 Aug 1900: Charles Farrell, American actor and singer (died 1990) Charles David Farrell was an American film actor and later Mayor of Palm Springs, serving from 1947 to 1955. Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor in more than a dozen films, including 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star. Later in life, he starred on TV in the 1950s sitcoms My Little Margie and played himself in The Charles Farrell Show. He was also among the early developers of Palm Springs. Read more
• 09 Aug 1899: P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (died 1996) Pamela Lyndon Travers was an Australian-British writer who spent most of her career in England. She is best known for the Mary Poppins series of books, which feature the eponymous magical nanny. Read more
• 09 Aug 1896: Erich Hückel, German physicist and chemist (died 1980) Erich Armand Arthur Joseph Hückel was a German physicist and physical chemist. He is mainly known for the Debye–Hückel theory of electrolytic solutions and the Hückel method of approximate molecular orbital (MO) calculations on π electron systems. Read more
• 09 Aug 1896: Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist and philosopher (died 1980) Jean William Fritz Piaget was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. Read more
• 09 Aug 1890: Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (died 1958) Eino Sakari Kaila was a Finnish philosopher, critic and teacher. He worked in numerous fields including psychology, physics and theater, and attempted to find unifying principles behind various branches of human and natural sciences. Read more
• 09 Aug 1881: Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, Brazilian prince (died 1918) Captain Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza MC was a Brazilian-born prince of the House of Orléans-Braganza and a military officer who served with distinction in the forces of the British Empire during World War I. Read more
• 09 Aug 1879: John Willcock, Australian politician, 15th Premier of Western Australia, (died 1956) John Collings Willcock was an Australian politician. He was the premier of Western Australia from 1936 to 1945, holding office as state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1916 to 1947, representing the seat of Geraldton. Prior to entering politics he was a railways worker and train driver. Read more
• 09 Aug 1878: Eileen Gray, Irish architect and furniture designer (died 1976) Eileen Gray was an Irish interior designer, furniture designer and architect who became a pioneer of the Modern Movement in architecture. Over her career, she was associated with many notable European artists of her era, including Kathleen Scott, Adrienne Gorska, Le Corbusier, and the architect Jean Badovici, with whom she was romantically involved and who taught her architecture and collaborated with her on various buildings. Their most famous work is the house known as E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Read more
• 09 Aug 1875: Albert Ketèlbey, English pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1959) Albert William Ketèlbey was an English composer, conductor and pianist, best known for his short pieces of light orchestral music. He was born in Birmingham and moved to London in 1889 to study at Trinity College of Music. After a brilliant studentship he did not pursue the classical career predicted for him, becoming musical director of the Vaudeville Theatre before gaining fame as a composer of light music and as a conductor of his own works. Read more
• 09 Aug 1874: Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan composer and conductor (died 1947) Reynaldo Hahn de Echenagucia was a French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – mélodies – of which he wrote more than 100. Read more
• 09 Aug 1872: Archduke Joseph August of Austria (died 1962) Archduke Joseph August Viktor Klemens Maria of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia was a prominent member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, who was a Feldmarschall of the Austro-Hungarian Army, and briefly the head of state of Hungary after World War I. Read more
• 09 Aug 1867: Evelina Haverfield, Scottish nurse and activist (died 1920) Evelina Haverfield was a British suffragette and aid worker. Read more
• 09 Aug 1861: Dorothea Klumpke, American astronomer and academic (died 1942) Dorothea Klumpke Roberts was an American astronomer. In 1893, she became the first woman to earn a doctorate degree at the Sorbonne University. She joined the Paris Observatory where her work consisted of measuring star positions, processing astrophotographs, and studying stellar spectra and meteorites. She was later appointed director of the observatory's Bureau of Measurements, a position she held for ten years. She married the amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts in 1901 and left the observatory to help him photograph all 52 of the William Herschel's "areas of nebulosity". Following his death, she compiled and published a catalogue of his work. In 1934, Klumpke was honored by the French president as a knight of the Legion of Honor. Read more
• 09 Aug 1848: Alfred David Benjamin, Australian-born businessman and philanthropist. (died 1900) Alfred David Benjamin was an Australian-born businessman and philanthropist. Read more
• 09 Aug 1847: Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Queen Consort of King Amadeo I of Spain (died 1876) Maria Vittoria Carlotta Enrichetta Giovanna dal Pozzo, 6th Princess of Cisterna d'Asti and of Belriguardo, was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of Spain from 16 November 1870 until 11 February 1873 as the wife of King Amadeo I. Maria Vittoria inherited her princely title after the death of her father. In 1867, she married Amadeo, then Duke of Aosta, second son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. In 1870, her husband became the king of Spain, making her queen consort. King Amadeo abdicated after a reign of less than three years, and he and Maria Vittoria returned to Italy. She died in Sanremo, Italy, in 1876. Read more
• 09 Aug 1845: André Bessette, Canadian saint (died 1937) André Bessette, C.S.C., commonly known as Brother André and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Catholic Church among French Canadians. He is credited with thousands of reported healings associated with his pious devotion to Saint Joseph. Read more
• 09 Aug 1805: Joseph Locke, English engineer and politician (died 1860) Joseph Locke FRSA was an English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as one of the major pioneers of railway development. Read more

Notable Deaths on 09 August

• 09 Aug 2024: Susan Wojcicki, Polish-American technology executive (born 1968) Susan Diane Wojcicki was an American business executive who was the chief executive officer of YouTube from 2014 to 2023. Her net worth was estimated at $765 million in 2022. Read more
• 09 Aug 2023: Robbie Robertson, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (born 1943) Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson was a Canadian musician, composer, and producer. Robertson was the onetime lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band. He was also the guitarist and primary songwriter of the Band from its inception until his 1976 departure. In his later solo career, Robertson released six albums. Read more
• 09 Aug 2021: Pat Hitchcock, English actress and producer (born 1928) Patricia Alma Hitchcock O'Connell was a British-American actress and producer. She was the only child of English director Alfred Hitchcock and film editor Alma Reville, and had small roles in several of her father's films, with her most substantial appearance being in Strangers on a Train (1951). Read more
• 09 Aug 2021: Killer Kau, South African rapper, dancer and record producer (born 1998) Sakhile Hlatshwayo, known professionally as Killer Kau, was a South African singer, dancer and record producer best known for his hit songs "Tholukuthi Hey" and "Amaneighbour" Read more
• 09 Aug 2021: Zairaini Sarbini, Malaysian voice actress (born 1972) Zairaini binti Sarbini was a Malaysian freelance voice actress who dubbed for anime, foreign films, cartoons and TV programs in Malay that air on the Astro Ceria, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel Malaysia. She was also the aunt of the young Malay voice dubbing actor, Arfalie Fikrie Razali. She was formerly a voice actress at Filem Karya Nusa. Read more
• 09 Aug 2016: Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, third-richest British citizen (born 1951) Major General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster was a British landowner, businessman, aristocrat, Territorial Army general, and peer. He was the son of Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster, and Viola Lyttelton. He was Chairman of the property company Grosvenor Group. In the first-ever edition of The Sunday Times Rich List, published in 1989, he was ranked as the second-richest person in the United Kingdom, with a fortune of £3.2 billion, with only Queen Elizabeth II above him. Read more
• 09 Aug 2015: Frank Gifford, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (born 1930) Francis Newton Gifford was an American professional football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback, flanker and safety for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL), he was a play-by-play announcer and commentator for 27 years on ABC's Monday Night Football. Read more
• 09 Aug 2015: John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (born 1929) John Henry Holland was an American scientist and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan. He was a pioneer in what became known as genetic algorithms. Read more
• 09 Aug 2015: Walter Nahún López, Honduran footballer (born 1977) Walter Nahún López Cárdenas was a Honduran football player. Read more
• 09 Aug 2015: David Nobbs, English author and screenwriter (born 1935) David Gordon Nobbs was an English comedy writer, most notable for writing the 1970s television series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, adapted from his own novels. Read more
• 09 Aug 2015: Kayyar Kinhanna Rai, Indian journalist, author, and poet (born 1915) Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was an Indian independence activist, author, poet, journalist, teacher and farmer. Read more
• 09 Aug 2015: Fikret Otyam, Turkish painter and journalist (born 1926) Fikret Otyam was a Turkish painter and journalist. Read more
• 09 Aug 2014: J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (born 1929) Jacob Festus Adeniyi Ajayi, commonly known as J. F. Ade Ajayi, was a Nigerian historian and a member of the Ibadan school, a group of scholars interested in introducing African perspectives to African history and focusing on the internal historical forces that shaped African lives. Ade Ajayi favours the use of historical continuity more often than focusing on events only as powerful agents of change that can move the basic foundations of cultures and mould them into new ones.
  Instead, he sees many critical events in African life, sometimes as weathering episodes which still leave some parts of the core of Africans intact. He also employs a less passionate style in his works, especially in his early writings, using subtle criticism of controversial issues of the times. Read more
• 09 Aug 2014: Andriy Bal, Ukrainian footballer and coach (born 1958) Andriy Mykhaylovych Bal was a Soviet and Ukrainian professional footballer who played as a midfielder and football manager. Read more
• 09 Aug 2014: Arthur G. Cohen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Arlen Realty and Development Corporation (born 1930) Arthur George Cohen was an American businessman and real estate developer in New York City. Read more
• 09 Aug 2014: Ed Nelson, American actor (born 1928) Edwin Stafford Nelson was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Michael Rossi in the television series Peyton Place. Read more
• 09 Aug 2013: Harry Elliott, American baseball player and coach (born 1923) Harry Lewis Elliott was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 92 games in Major League Baseball for the 1953 and 1955 St. Louis Cardinals. A 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 175 lb (79 kg) outfielder, Elliott threw and batted right-handed. Read more
• 09 Aug 2013: Eduardo Falú, Argentinian guitarist and composer (born 1923) Eduardo Falú was an Argentine folk music guitarist and composer. Read more
• 09 Aug 2013: William Lynch, Jr., American lawyer and politician (born 1947) William "Bill" Lynch Jr. was an American politician and political consultant, advising politicians from the Democratic Party. He was a prominent political figure in New York politics, especially within the African-American community. In 1999, Lynch founded the political consulting firm Bill Lynch Associates, LLC (BLA), where he served as chairman from its founding until his death. Read more
• 09 Aug 2012: Carl Davis, American record producer (born 1934) Carl H. Davis Sr. was an American record producer and music executive, who was particularly active in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s. He was responsible for hit R&B records by Gene Chandler, Major Lance, Jackie Wilson, The Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin, Tyrone Davis and others. Read more
• 09 Aug 2012: Gene F. Franklin, American engineer, theorist, and academic (born 1927) Gene F. Franklin was an American electrical engineer and control theorist known for his pioneering work towards the advancement of the control systems engineering – a subfield of electrical engineering. Most of his work on control theory was adapted immediately into NASA's U.S. space program, most famously in the control systems for the Apollo missions to the Moon in 1960s–1970s. Read more
• 09 Aug 2012: Al Freeman, Jr., American actor, director, and educator (born 1934) Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. was an American actor, director, and educator. A life member of The Actors Studio, Freeman appeared in a wide variety of plays, ranging from Leroi Jones' Slave/Toilet to Joe Papp's revivals of Long Day's Journey Into Night and Troilus and Cressida, and films, including My Sweet Charlie, Finian's Rainbow, and Malcolm X, as well as television series The Mod Squad, Kojak, and Maude, and a long-running role on the soap opera One Life to Live. Read more
• 09 Aug 2012: David Rakoff, Canadian-American actor and journalist (born 1964) David Benjamin Rakoff was a Canadian-American essayist and humorist, born in Montreal and raised in Toronto, who spent his professional career in New York City. Rakoff was an essayist, journalist, and actor, and a regular contributor to WBEZ's This American Life. He described himself as a "New York writer" who also happened to be a "Canadian writer", a "mega Jewish writer", a "gay writer", and an "East Asian Studies major who has forgotten most of his Japanese" writer. Read more
• 09 Aug 2012: Carmen Belen Richardson, Puerto Rican-American actress (born 1930) Carmen Belén Richardson was a Puerto Rican actress and comedian. Read more
• 09 Aug 2012: Mel Stuart, American director and producer (born 1928) Mel Stuart was an American film director and producer who often worked with producer David L. Wolper, at whose production firm he worked for 17 years, before going freelance. Read more
• 09 Aug 2010: Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, American singer and bass player (born 1926) Calvin "Fuzz" Jones was an American electric blues bassist and singer. He worked with many blues musicians, including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, the Legendary Blues Band, Mississippi Heat, James Cotton, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Little Walter and Elmore James. Read more
• 09 Aug 2010: Ted Stevens, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1923) Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he was the longest-serving Republican senator in history at the time he left office. He was the president pro tempore of the United States Senate in the 108th and 109th Congresses from 2003 to 2007, and was the third U.S. Senator to hold the title of president pro tempore emeritus. He was previously solicitor of the Interior Department from 1960 to 1961. Stevens has been described as one of the most powerful members of Congress and as the most powerful member of Congress from the Northwestern United States. Read more
• 09 Aug 2008: Bernie Mac, American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer (born 1957) Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, known professionally as Bernie Mac, was an American stand-up comedian, actor and film producer. His most noted film roles were as Frank Catton in the Ocean's film series from 2001 through 2007 and as the title character of Mr. 3000. Mac joined Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L. Hughley as one of the "Big Four" comedians in the film The Original Kings of Comedy. After briefly hosting the HBO show Midnight Mac, Mac appeared in several films in smaller roles. He was the star of The Bernie Mac Show, which ran from 2001 through 2006, earning him two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. His other films included starring roles in The Players Club, Head of State, Bad Santa, Guess Who, Pride, and Soul Men. Mac died at age 50 on August 9, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois from complications of pneumonia. Read more
• 09 Aug 2008: Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian author and poet (born 1941) Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian author and poet. He wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which formally established the State of Palestine in November 1988, and is widely regarded as the country's national poet. His poetry and other literature, for which he won numerous awards internationally, was published in Arabic, while he also spoke English, French, and Hebrew. Read more
• 09 Aug 2007: Joe O'Donnell, American photographer and journalist (born 1922) Joseph Roger O'Donnell was an American documentarian, photojournalist and a photographer for the United States Information Agency. Read more
• 09 Aug 2006: Philip E. High, English author (born 1914) Philip Empson High was an English science fiction author. Read more
• 09 Aug 2006: James Van Allen, American physicist and academic (born 1914) James Alfred Van Allen was an American space physicist at the University of Iowa who was instrumental in establishing the field of magnetospheric research in space. His discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, zones of energetic charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field, was the first major scientific finding of the Space Age. As principal investigator for scientific instruments on 24 Earth satellites and planetary missions, Van Allen provided the first in situ measurements of the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, pioneered the use of energetic particle absorption signatures to detect planetary rings and satellites, and carried out a multi-decade program of cosmic ray observations that established the radial gradient of galactic cosmic ray intensity from 1 AU to beyond 65 AU in the heliosphere. Read more
• 09 Aug 2005: Judith Rossner, American author (born 1935) Judith Rossner was an American novelist, best known for her acclaimed best sellers Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1975) and August (1983). Read more
• 09 Aug 2004: Robert Lecourt, French lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of France (born 1908) Robert Lecourt was a French politician and lawyer, judge and the fourth President of the European Court of Justice. Read more
• 09 Aug 2004: Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer (born 1918) Anthony C. "Tony" Mottola was an American jazz guitarist who released dozens of solo albums. He was born in Kearny, New Jersey, and died in Denville. Read more
• 09 Aug 2004: David Raksin, American composer and educator (born 1912) David Raksin was an American composer noted for his work in film and television. Raksin had more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit. Some sources called him the "Grandfather of Film Music". Read more
• 09 Aug 2003: Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (born 1929) Jacques Deray was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime and thriller films. Read more
• 09 Aug 2003: Ray Harford, English footballer and manager (born 1945) Raymond Thomas Harford was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player. He is considered to have been one of the top coaches of his generation. Read more
• 09 Aug 2003: Gregory Hines, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (born 1946) Gregory Oliver Hines was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for History of the World, Part I (1981), Wolfen (1981), The Cotton Club (1984), White Nights (1985), Running Scared (1986), Tap (film) (1989), A Rage in Harlem (1991), The Gregory Hines Show (1997–98), playing Ben on Will & Grace (1999–2000), and for voicing Big Bill on the Nick Jr. animated children's television program Little Bill (1999–2004). Read more
• 09 Aug 2003: R. Sivagurunathan, Sri Lankan lawyer, journalist, and academic (born 1931) Kalasuri Ratnadurai Sivagurunathan was a Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, academic and editor of Thinakaran. Read more
• 09 Aug 2002: Paul Samson, English guitarist (born 1953) Paul Samson was an English guitarist, closely associated with the new wave of British heavy metal. Read more
• 09 Aug 2000: John Harsanyi, Hungarian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920) John Charles Harsanyi was a Hungarian-American economist who spent most of his career at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994. Read more
• 09 Aug 2000: Nicholas Markowitz, American murder victim (born 1984) Nicholas Samuel Markowitz was an American teenager who was kidnapped and murdered at the age of 15 after a feud over drug money between his half-brother Benjamin Markowitz and Jesse James Hollywood. Read more
• 09 Aug 1999: Helen Rollason, English sports journalist and sportscaster (born 1956) Helen Frances Rollason was a British sports journalist and television presenter, who in 1990 became the first female presenter of the BBC's sports programme Grandstand. She was also a regular presenter of Sport on Friday, and of the children's programme Newsround during the 1980s. Read more
• 09 Aug 1999: Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian journalist and politician (born 1910) Fouad Pasha Serageddin was an Egyptian liberal politician and leader of Egypt's old Wafd Party and new Wafd party. He was the grandfather of the Egyptian writer Samia Serageldin. Read more
• 09 Aug 1996: Frank Whittle, English soldier and engineer, invented the jet engine (born 1907) Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 for a similar invention which was technically unfeasible at the time. Whittle's jet engines were developed some years earlier than those of Germany's Hans von Ohain, who designed the first-to-fly turbojet engine as well as Austria’s Anselm Franz. Read more
• 09 Aug 1995: Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1942) Jerome John Garcia was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 1960s. Although he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader of the band. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the Grateful Dead. Read more
• 09 Aug 1992: Fereydoun Farrokhzad, Iranian singer and actor (born 1938) Fereydoun Farrokhzad was an Iranian showman, host, poet, actor, political activist, singer, humanitarian, and writer. He is best known for his television variety show, The Silver Carnation, which introduced and featured many artists, such as Ebi, Leila Forouhar, Shohreh, Sattar, Hayedeh, and many more. Read more
• 09 Aug 1990: Joe Mercer, English footballer and manager (born 1914) Joseph Mercer was an English footballer and manager. He played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal and managed Aston Villa and Manchester City, and served as caretaker manager of the England national football team. Read more
• 09 Aug 1988: M. Carl Holman, American author, educator, poet, and playwright (born 1919) M. Carl Holman was an American author, poet, playwright, and civil rights advocate. In 1968, Ebony listed him as one of the 100 most influential Black Americans. Read more
• 09 Aug 1988: Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (born 1905) Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi, count d'Ayala Valva was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French. Read more
• 09 Aug 1986: Eoin McNamee (Irish republican), Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (born 1914) Eoin McNamee was an Irish Republican and Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army. Read more
• 09 Aug 1985: Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1927) Clive Bernard Churchill AM was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He won five premierships with the club as a player and three more as coach. Retiring as the most capped Australian Kangaroos player ever, Churchill is thus considered one of the game's greatest ever players and the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal for man-of-the-match in the NRL grand final bears his name. Churchill's attacking flair as a player is credited with having changed the role of the fullback. Read more
• 09 Aug 1981: Max Hoffman, Austrian-born car importer and businessman (born 1904) Maximilian Edwin Hoffman, was an Austrian-born, New York-based importer of luxury European automobiles during the 1950s. Read more
• 09 Aug 1980: Jacqueline Cochran, American pilot (born 1906) Jacqueline Cochran was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation and was the first woman to break the sound barrier on 18 May 1953. Cochran was the wartime head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (1943–1944), which employed about 1,000 civilian American women in a non-combat role to ferry planes from factories to port cities. Later on, Cochran was initially a sponsor of the Mercury 13 women astronaut program, before testifying against it in a congressional subcommittee. Read more
• 09 Aug 1980: Ruby Hurley, American civil rights activist (born 1909) Ruby Hurley was an American civil rights activist. She was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and administrator for the NAACP, and was known as the "queen of civil rights". Read more
• 09 Aug 1979: Walter O'Malley, American businessman, owner of baseball's Dodgers (born 1903) Walter Francis O'Malley was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league baseball to the West Coast, moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles despite the Dodgers being the second most profitable team in baseball from 1946 to 1956, and coordinating the move of the New York Giants to San Francisco at a time when there were no teams west of Kansas City, Missouri. In 2008, O'Malley was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions to and influence on the game of baseball. Read more
• 09 Aug 1979: Raymond Washington, American gang leader, founded the Crips (born 1953) Raymond Lee Washington was an American gangster, known as the founder of the Crips gang in Los Angeles. Washington formed the Crips as a minor street gang in the late 1960s in South Los Angeles, becoming a prominent local crime boss. In 1971, Washington formed an alliance with Stanley "Tookie" Williams, establishing the Crips as the first major African-American street gang in Los Angeles, and served as one of the co-leaders. In 1974, Washington was convicted of robbery and received a five-year prison sentence, during which his leadership and influence in the Crips declined. Read more
• 09 Aug 1978: James Gould Cozzens, American novelist and short story writer (born 1903) James Gould Cozzens was a Pulitzer prize-winning American writer whose work enjoyed an unusual degree of popular success and critical acclaim for more than three decades. His 1949 Pulitzer win was for the WWII race novel Guard of Honor, which more than one critic considered one of the most important accounts of the war. His 1957 Pulitzer nomination was for the best-selling novel By Love Possessed, which was later made into a popular 1961 film. Read more
• 09 Aug 1975: Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian pianist and composer (born 1906) Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Read more
• 09 Aug 1974: Bill Chase, American trumpet player and bandleader (born 1934) Bill Chase was an American trumpeter and leader of the jazz-rock band Chase. Read more
• 09 Aug 1972: Sıddık Sami Onar, Turkish lawyer and academic (born 1897) Sıddık Sami Onar was a Turkish academic specialized in administrative law at the Istanbul University. Read more
• 09 Aug 1970: Jimmy Steele (Irish republican), lifelong militant and editor (born 1907) Jimmy Steele was an Irish republican militant. He was one of the most prominent Irish Republican Army (IRA) men in Belfast after the Irish Civil War who held practically every senior position in the Northern Command of the IRA. Later in life Steele publicly denounced the leadership of the IRA which was a prelude to the split in the IRA. Steele founded and edited several Irish Republican publications. Steele spent a large portion of his life in jails as a result of his actions against British security forces. Read more
• 09 Aug 1969: C. F. Powell, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903) Cecil Frank Powell was a British experimental physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1950 for heading the team that developed the photographic method of studying nuclear processes, and for the resulting discovery of the pion (pi-meson). Read more
• 09 Aug 1967: Joe Orton, English author and playwright (born 1933) John Kingsley "Joe" Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. Read more
• 09 Aug 1963: Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, American son of John F. Kennedy (born 1963) Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was the youngest child of United States president John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. His elder siblings were Caroline, John Jr., and Arabella. Read more
• 09 Aug 1962: Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1877) Hermann Karl Hesse was a German-Swiss poet and novelist, and winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature. His interest in Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophical traditions, combined with his involvement with Jungian analysis, helped shape his literary work. His best-known novels include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge, and spirituality. Read more
• 09 Aug 1957: Carl Clauberg, German Nazi physician (born 1898) Carl Clauberg was a German gynecologist who conducted medical experiments on Jewish and Romani women at Auschwitz concentration camp. He worked with Horst Schumann in X-ray sterilization experiments at Auschwitz concentration camp. Read more
• 09 Aug 1949: Edward Thorndike, American psychologist and academic (born 1874) Edward Lee Thorndike was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to his "theory of connectionism" and helped lay the scientific foundation for educational psychology. He also worked on solving industrial problems, such as employee exams and testing. Read more
• 09 Aug 1948: Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (born 1885) Hugo Ferdinand Boss was a German businessman who founded the fashion house Hugo Boss. He was an active member of the Nazi Party from 1931, and remained so until Nazi Germany's capitulation. His clothing company also utilized forced labour drawn from German-occupied territories and prisoner-of-war camps to manufacture military uniforms for the Schutzstaffel and Wehrmacht. Read more
• 09 Aug 1946: Bert Vogler, South African cricketer (born 1876) Albert Edward Ernest Vogler was a South African cricketer. A leading all-rounder skilled both at batting and bowling, Vogler played cricket in South Africa prior to becoming eligible to play for Middlesex County Cricket Club in England after serving on the ground staff of the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's. He rose to prominence during the 1906 home Test series and then in England the following year: he was described during the latter as the best bowler in the world by Tip Foster, and named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. Read more
• 09 Aug 1945: Robert Hampton Gray, Canadian lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1917) Robert Hampton "Hammy" Gray, was a Canadian naval officer, pilot, and recipient of the Victoria Cross during World War II. He and Eugene Esmonde are the only personnel of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm to be decorated the VC in the war. Gray is the last Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross. Read more
• 09 Aug 1945: Harry Hillman, American runner and coach (born 1881) Harry Livingston Hillman Jr. was one of the longest serving Dartmouth Track and Field Coaches from 1910–45, and an American track and field athlete who won three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Read more
• 09 Aug 1943: Chaïm Soutine, Belarusian-French painter and educator (born 1893) Chaïm Soutine was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Read more
• 09 Aug 1942: Edith Stein, German nun and saint (born 1891) Edith Stein was a German philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She was murdered in the gas chamber at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp on 9 August 1942, and is canonized as a martyr of the Catholic Church; she is also one of six patron saints of Europe. Read more
• 09 Aug 1941: Richard Goss, Executed Irish Republican (born 1915) Richard (Richie) Goss (1915–1941) was an executed Irish Republican born to Patrick Goss and Margaret Clinton who had married at Inniskeen Roman Catholic Church In 1909. His parents were both Roman Catholic as is shown in the 1911 census despite the misinformation that he himself was one of the few Protestant
  members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the 1940s. Goss was a leader in a major bombing and sabotage campaign in England (1939–40), known as the S-Plan Read more
• 09 Aug 1932: John Charles Fields, Canadian mathematician, founder of the Fields Medal (born 1863) John Charles Fields, FRS, FRSC was a Canadian mathematician and the founder of the Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics. Read more
• 09 Aug 1920: Samuel Griffith, Welsh-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Queensland (born 1845) Sir Samuel Walker Griffith was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and two terms as Premier of Queensland, and played a key role in the drafting of the Australian Constitution. Read more
• 09 Aug 1919: Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer and educator (born 1857) Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Throughout his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs, but it is his 1892 opera Pagliacci that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success. Read more
• 09 Aug 1910: Huo Yuanjia, Chinese martial artist, co-founded the Chin Woo Athletic Association (born 1868) Huo Yuanjia, courtesy name Jùnqīng, was a Chinese martial artist and co-founder of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. A practitioner of the martial art Mizongyi, Huo is considered a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters in highly publicised matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by foreign imperialism, concessions and spheres of influence. Due to his heroic status, the legends and myths surrounding the events in his life are difficult to distinguish from facts. Read more
• 09 Aug 1886: Samuel Ferguson, Irish lawyer and poet (born 1810) Sir Samuel Ferguson was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. He was an acclaimed 19th-century Irish poet, and his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history can be seen as a forerunner of William Butler Yeats and the other poets of the Irish Literary Revival. Read more
• 09 Aug 1861: Vincent Novello, English composer and publisher (born 1781) Vincent Novello, was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was an organist, chorister, conductor and composer, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he created a major music publishing house. Read more
• 09 Aug 1816: Johann August Apel, German jurist and author (born 1771) Johann August Apel was a German writer and jurist. Apel was born and died in Leipzig. Read more

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