August 11th
Holidays and Festivals
Independence Day (Chad) * (see below)
Balochistan Indepedence Day (Pakistan) * (see below)
Flag Day (Pakistan) * CLICK HERE
Son and Daughter Day
President's Joke Day
Ingersoll Day
Christian Feast Day of Attracta
Christian Feast Day of Clare of Assisi
Christian Feast Day of Fiacre
Christian Feast Day of Gaugericus
Christian Feast Day of Philomena
Christian Feast Day of Susanna
Christian Feast Day of Tiburtius and Chromatius
Christian Feast Day of Taurinus of Évreux
Independence Day (Chad), celebrate the independence of Chad from France in 1960.
Balochistan Indepedence Day (Pakistan) from India in 1947
Fête de la Aunée Translation: Inula Day (French Republican) The 24th day of the Month of Thermidor in the French Republican Calendar
Toast of The Day
"Here's Champagne to our real friends
and real pain to our sham friends."
- Unknown
Drink of The Day
Anita Bryant
1 Part vodka
2 Parts Apple juice
Mix in a highball glass with ice. Garnish and serve.
Wine of The Day
Heritage Station NV Estate, Painted Horse Cuvèe
Style - Cuvèe
Outer Coastal Plain
$20
Beer of The Day
Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
Brewer - Stone Brewing
Style - American Strong Ale
ABV - 8.7%
Joke of The Day
A POEM
Many many years ago when I was twenty three,
I got married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter Who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her, And soon the two were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law And changed my very life.
My daughter was my mother, For she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matters worse, Although it brought me joy.
I soon became the father Of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became A brother-in-law to dad.
And so became my uncle, Though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle, Then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter Who, of course, was my step-mother.
Father's wife then had a son, Who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson, For he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother And it makes me blue.
Because, although she is my wife, She's my grandma too.
If my wife is my grandmother, Then I am her grandchild.
And every time I think of it, It simply drives me wild.
For now I have become The strangest case you ever saw.
As the husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa!!
Quote of The Day
"I'm going to be around until the Atomic Energy Commission finds a safe place to bury my liver."
- Phil Harris (June 24th 1904 – August 11th 1995), an American singer-songwriter.
August Observances
Admit You're Happy MonthAmerican Adventures Month
American Artists Appreciation Month
American History Essay Contest (8/1 - 12/15)
American Indian Heritage Month (Also November)
Beach Month
Black Business Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Celery, Fennel and Cactus Month
Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
Children’s Vision and Learning Month
Family Fun Month
Get Ready for Kindergarten Month
Golf Month
Happiness Happens Month
Learn Japanese Month
Motor Sports Awareness Month
National Catfish Month
National Eye Exam Month
National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Month
National Goat Cheese Month
National Golf Month
National Immunization Awareness Month
National Inventors Month
National Minority Donor Awareness Month
National Panini Month
National Parks Month
National Picnic Month
National Runaway Prevention Month
National Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
National Truancy Prevention Month
National Water Quality Month
National Win With Civility Month
National Women's Month
Neurosurgery Outreach Month
Orange and Papaya Month
Peach Month
Psoriasis Awareness Month
Romance Awareness Month
Water Quality Month
What Will Be Your Legacy Month
Observances this Week
National Smile Week Second Week in August
Happiness Happens Week Second Week in August
Elvis Week Second Full Week in August
Weird Contest Week Second Full Week in August
Historical Events on August 11th
(3114 BC) The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Mayans, begins.
(2492 BC) Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
(480 BC) Battle of Artemisium of the Greco-Persian Wars, the Persians achieve a naval victory over the Greeks in an engagement fought near Artemisium, a promontory on the north coast of Euboea. The Greek fleet holds its own against the Persians in three days of fighting but withdraws southward when news comes of the defeat at Thermopylae.
355 Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.
1253 Clara van Assisi leads rules of life in order of Clarissen
1304 Sea battle of Zierikzee
1492 Rodrigo de Borja becomes Pope Alexander VI
1510 Margaret Palaeologina, Duchess of Mantua is born.
1522 Uprising of adel/burgerij in Austria fails
1597 Germany throws out English sales people
1611 Emperor Rudolf forces out king of Bohemia
1674 1st Battle of at Seneffe (Louis II Condé vs Willem III)
1695 English & Dutch fleet capture Dunkerk
1718 Battle at Cape Passaro: English fleet destroys Spanish
1755 Charles Lawrence gives expulsion orders to remove the Acadians from Nova Scotia beginning the Great Upheaval.
1772 Explosive eruption blows 4,000' off Papandayan Java, kills 3,000
1780 Barbados hurricane begins
1786 Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia
1804 Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria
1835 George B Airy begins 46-year reign as England's Astronomer Royal
1858 First ascent of the Eiger.
1860 Nation's 1st successful silver mill (Virginia City, Nev)
1863 Cambodia becomes French protectorate
1866 World's 1st roller rink opens (Newport RI)
1874 Harry S Parmelee patents sprinkler head
1877 Asaph Hall discovers Mars's moon Deimos
1884 1st double-century stand in Test cricket, McDonnell/Murdoch 207 Aust
1885 $100,000 raised in US for pedestal for Statue of Liberty
1888 California Theatre closed (now a Pac Tel Phone Store)
1896 Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with a pull chain
1898 Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
1904 German-ltalian General Von Trotha defeats Herero in SW Africa
1907 St Louis Card Ed Karger pitches perfect game vs Braves, 4-0 in 7 inn
1909 SOS 1st used by an American ship "Arapahoe", off Cape Hatteras, NC
1909 Warren Bardsley (136 & 130) 1st to get twin tons in a Test
1914 France declares war on Austria-Hungary
1914 Jews are expelled from Mitchenick Poland
1914 John Wray patents animation
1914 Mitchenick Poland, expels Jews
1918 Battle of Amiens ends in World War I, Allieds beat Germans
1919 Constitution of Weimar Republic adopted. Weimar Republic begins in Germany
1919 Green Bay Packers football club founded
1920 1st peace of Riga-Soviet Union recognizes Independence of Latvia, The Latvia-Bolshevist Russia peace treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed.
1923 Dutch Premier de Geer resigns
1924 1st newsreel pictures of presidential candidates were taken
1924 US presidential candidates make 1st film for bio-scoop news
1926 Cleveland Indian Tris Speaker hits his 700th double
1928 Carl Hubbell's 1st major league victory is a 4-0 shutout of Phils
1928 Georges Ronsse becomes world champion cyclists
1929 Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run off Willis Hudlin at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
1929 Persia & Iraq sign friendship treaty
1929 Russian-Chinese border fights
1933 Temp reaches 136°F (57.8°C) at San Luis Potosi, Mex (world record)
1934 First civilian prisoners arrive at Federal prison on Alcatraz Island in SF Bay.
1935 Nazi mass demonstration against German Jews
1936 Chaing Kai-shek's troops conquers Kanton
1939 Sergei Rachmaninovs last appearance in Europe
1940 38 German aircrafts shot down above England
1940 German air raid on British harbors Portland and Weymouth
1942 999 Jews are taken from Mechelen transit camp in Belgium
1942 British aircraft carrier Eagle torpedoed & sinks
1942 Lt-gen Montgomery makes landing on Gibraltar
1942 SS begins exterminating 3,500 Jews in Zelov Lodz Poland
1943 Red Army recaptures Tchukujev, at Kharkov
1943 Richard Strauss' 2nd Horn Concert, premieres
1943 US amphibians land at Brolo on north coast of Sicily
1944 British premier Winston Churchill arrives in Italy
1944 French 5th Armour division recaptures Sées
1944 Klaus Barbie, Gestapo head of Lyon France leaves for Auschwitz
1944 US air raid on Palembang
1945 Allies refuse Japan's surrender offer to retain Emperor Hirohito
1948 Summer Olympics opens in London
1949 1st Naples-Capri swim, 17 miles (27 km) (Giovanni Gambi)
1949 Gaston Eyskens forms Belgiangovernment
1950 17th NFL Chicago All-Star Game, All-Stars 17, Philadelphia 7 (88,885)
1950 Boston Brave Vern Bickford no-hits Bkln Dodger, 7-0
1950 Hitting just .279, Yank great Joe DiMaggio is benched for 1st time
1950 King Boudouin I takes oath as royal prince of Belgium
1951 1st color baseball game (Braves vs Dodgers) telecast (WCBS-NYC)
1951 100,000 acres flooded from Mississippi R in Ks, Oklahoma, Mo & Ill
1951 NY Giants (NFL) beat Ottawa Roughriders (CFL) 38-6 in Ottawa
1951 NY Giants (MLB) lose to go 13½ games behind Bkln Dodgers, later win pennant
1952 Hussein Ibn Talal I, proclaimed King of Jordan
1954 BC Lions plays its 1st CF game, they lose to Montreal Alouettes, 22-0
1954 Formal peace takes place, ending 7+ yrs of fighting in Indochina between French & Communist Vietminh
1955 Indonesia government of Harahap forms
1956 1st flight 4-motor Cessna 620
1956 Elvis Presley releases "Don't Be Cruel"
1957 Patty Berg wins LPGA All-American Golf Open
1957 Paul Hindemith' opera "Harmonie der Welt," premieres in Munich
1960 Chad declares Independence from France
1961 Warren Spahn records victory #300, beats Cubs 2-1
1962 Andrian G Nikolayev, becomes 3rd Russian in space aboard Vostok 3
1962 Beach Boys release "Surfin' Safari"
1962 Bolotnikov runs world record 10km (28:18.2)
1962 Dodgers protest wetting down of Candlestick to slow Maury Wills down
1963 Kingston Trio are mystery guest on "What's My Line?"
1963 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Waterloo Women's Golf Open Invitational
1964 Beatles' "A Hard Days Night" opens in NYC
1964 Race riot in Paterson NJ
1965 6 day insurrection starts in Watts section of Los Angeles
1965 Beatles movie "Help" opens in NYC
1965 Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in Watts area of Los Angeles, California.
1965 Watts riots begin in Southeast LA, lasts 6 days
1966 Last Beatle concert tour of US begins
1967 Al Downing becomes 12th to strike-out side on 9 pitches
1968 Beatles launch "Apple Records" label
1968 Satchel Paige, 62, & needing 158 days on a major league payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by Braves
1968 The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A selection of British Rail steam locomotives make the 120-mile journey from Liverpool to Carlisle and returns to Liverpool before having their fires dropped for the last time this working was known as the Fifteen Guinea Special.
1969 Don Drysdale retires because of damage to his right shoulder
1969 Pittsburgh Steelers beat NY Giants 17-13 in Montreal (NFL expo)
1970 Jim Bunning becomes 2nd (Cy Young) to win 100 games in both leagues
1970 Tony Perez becomes 1st to hit a HR in red seats at Riverfront
1971 Construction begins on Louisiana Superdome
1971 Harmon Killebrew hits HRs #500 & 501
1972 "Cheech & Chong Day" in San Antonio Texas
1972 The last United States ground combat unit departs South Vietnam, Vietnam War.
1974 56th PGA Championship, Lee Trevino shoots a 276 at Tanglewood NC
1974 Coup in East-Timor under UDT
1974 Head-on collision between two buses kills 21 (Ankara, Turkey)
1975 Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor (East Timor) abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.
1975 Expos' Jose Mangual struck out 5 times in a game
1975 US vetoes proposed admission of North & South Vietnam to UN
1976 Keith Moon, drummer for Who, collapses & is hospitalized in Miami
1976 Race riot in Cape Town, South Africa; 17 die
1977 Geoff Boycott scores his 100th FC hundred, v Aust at Headingley
1978 Funeral of Pope Paul VI
1978 Legionnaire's disease bacteria isolated in Atlanta
1979 28°F in Embarrass Minnesota
1979 Phillies Tug McGraw gives up record 4th grand slam of year
1980 Angola revises its constitution
1980 Mohammed Ali Radjai appointed premier of Iran
1980 Yankees Reggie Jackson hits his 400th HR off Chicago's Britt Burns
1982 A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo to Honolulu, killing one teenager and injuring 15 passengers.
1982 Twins Terry Felton loses & runs career to 0-14 (en route to 0-16)
1982 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 101,799 fans at soccer match Brazil vs France
1984 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, wins 4 Olym track golds
1984 Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench's #5 uniform
1984 During a radio voice test Pres Reagan joked he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes"
1984 Men's choir Maranatha Netherlands forms
1984 USSR performs (underground) nuclear test
1985 "Tap Dance Kid" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 669 perfs
1985 67th PGA Championship, Hubert Green shoots 278 at Cherry Hills Denver
1985 Challenger flies to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz
1985 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Henredon Golf Classic
1985 Rudolf Povarnitsin of USSR sets new high jump world record (7'10"12)
1986 68th PGA Championship, Bob Tway shoots a 276 at Inverness Club Toledo
1987 France & Great-Britain send minesweepers to Persian Gulf
1988 225 at bats after #299, Met Gary Carter is 59th to hit 300th HR
1988 Al-Qaeda is formed.
1988 Charlotte Colisieum in Charlotte NC opens
1988 Meir Kahane renounced US citizenship to stay in Israeli Parliament
1989 "Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child" premieres
1989 Geoff Marsh & Mark Taylor complete 329 opening stand v England
1989 Voyager 2 discovers 2 partial rings of Neptune
1990 Egypt & Morocco troops land in Saudi Arabia to prevent Iraqi invasion
1990 NY Yankee Kevin Maas is fastest to get 13 HRs (110 at bats)
1991 73rd PGA Championship, John Daly shoots a 276 at Crooked Stick Ind
1991 400,000 demonstrate for democracy in Madagascar, 31 killed
1991 Melissa Mcnamara wins Stratton Mountain LPGA Golf Classic
1991 Shite Moslems release US hostage Edward Tracy
1991 Space shuttle STS 43 (Atlantis 9) lands
1991 Wilson Alvarez hurls a no-hitter in his 1st big league start
1992 Oakland A's rip Jose Canseco for leaving stadium before end of game
1993 Director Oliver Stone files for divorce from Elizabeth
1993 NY Islander Brian Mullen, 31, suffers a mild stroke
1993 Pope John Paul II visits Mexico
1993 Red Sox Roger Clemens pitches 2,000th strike out (Danny Tartabul-NY)
1994 Joao B "Nino" Vieira elected pres of Guinee-Bissau
1996 "Thousand Clowns," closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 32 performs
1996 78th PGA Championship, Mark Brooks shoots a 277 at Vallhalla GC KY
1996 Emilee Klein wins LPGA Ping Welch's Golf Championship
1997 Benin legalizes Jan 10th as a voodoo holiday
1999 The Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one.
1999 Total solar eclipse in India-North -France (2m23s)
2003 A heat wave in Paris results in temperatures rising to 112°F (44° C), leaving about 144 people dead.
2003 Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
2003 NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
2012 13 people are killed and 15 injured by a lightning strike at a Mosque in Bangladesh
2012 153 people are killed and 1300 injured in Tabriz and Ahar, Iran after two earthquakes of up to 6.4 magnitude
2013 2 people are killed and 30 are injured after a coach crash in southern France
2013 14th World Championships in Athletics: Usain Bolt wins 100m
2013 22 people are killed by flash floods in Kabul, Pakistan
2013 95th PGA Championship: Jason Dufner shoots a 270 at Oak Hill Country Club
2015 Greek Debt crisis: European Commission announces a bailout with Greece and its creditors has been agreed "in principle"
2015 Japan's Sendai Nuclear Power Plant restarts the first nuclear reactor since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
2015 Largest ever outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in New York - 12 dead, with over 100 cases in the South Bronx
2015 Spain's top matador Francisco “Paquirri” Rivera Ordóñez is gored and injured by a bull in Huesca.
Born on August 11th
1467 Mary of York, English princess (d. 1482)
1600 Paul Hallman, composer
1613 Cristoph Kaldenbach, composer
1635 Thomas Betterton, London, actor and dramatist (Coriolanus)
1648 Jeremiah Shepard, American minister (d. 1720)
1667 Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (d. 1743)
1673 Richard Mead, English physician (d. 1754)
1718 Sir Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-born British colonial governor (d. 1791)
1720 Martin Gerbert, composer
1722 Richard Brocklesby, English physician (d. 1797)
1737 Joseph Nollekins, London, sculptor
1744 Johann Gottlieb Schwencke, composer
1748 Joseph Schuster, composer
1772 Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount/general
1778 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German (Prussian) gymnastics educator and nationalist, founder of turnverein (gymnastics) (d. 1852)
1794 James Barton Longacre, American engraver (d. 1869)
1799 Joachim de Barrande, French paleontologist and geologist
1805 Pieter J Elout van Soeterwoude, Dutch judge/member of parliament
1807 David Rice Atchison, American politician, Acting president of USA on March 3rd 1849 (d. 1886)
1808 William W. Chapman, American politician (d. 1892)
1811 Judah P Benjamin, US lawyer/minister of Confederacy navy
1823 Charlotte Mary Yonge, England, writer (Heir of Redclyffe)
1828 Edward Saloman, Gov (Union) (d. 1909)
1832 Thomas Ogden Osbord, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1833 Kido Takayoshi, Japanese politician (d. 1877)
1833 Robert G(reen) Ingersoll, American politician (Att Gen-R-Ill), soldier, author, agnostic (d. 1899)
1836 Cato M Guldberg, Norwegian mathematician
1836 Warren Brown, American politician (d. 1919)
1837 Marie François Sadi Carnot, French president (1887-94), assassinated (d. 1894)
1855 John Hodges, Australian cricketer (d. 1933)
1858 Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician, bacteriologist (avitaminos) (Nobel Prize Laureate 1929) (d. 1930)
1860 Alfred Coville, French historian (Lesson etats de Normandie)
1862 Carrie Jacobs Bond, Janesville Wisc, songwriter (I Love You Truly)
1863 Arpad Szendy, composer
1863 Gaston Doumergue, President of the French Third Republic (d. 1937)
1867 Hobart Bosworth, Marietta OH, actor (Woman of Affairs, Big Parade)
1867 Joseph M Weber, comedian/singer (Weber & Lewis Fields)
1870 Tom Richardson, English cricketer, Bowler (d. 1912)
1870 Walter Bowman, Canadian soccer player
1872 Shidehara Kijuro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1951)
1873 John Rosamond Johnson, Fla, co-composer (Lift Every Voice & Sing)
1877 Adolph M. Christianson, justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court (d. 1954)
1878 Oliver W F Lodge, English poet and author (d. 1955)
1880 Frederick Jerome Work, composer
1882 Rodolfo Graziani, Italian marschal/viceroy of Ethiopia
1883 Ernst Stadler, writer
1888 Owen Nares, actor-manager (Maiden Erleigh)
1890 Erich Wichman, Dutch fascist painter/sculptor
1892 Archie Wiles, West Indian cricketer (d. 1957)
1892 Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist (d. 1962)
1892 Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (Scots Unbound) (d. 1978)
1892 Mac Diarmid, writer
1892 Wladyslaw Anders, Polish general
1894 Wilhelm Grosz, composer
1897 Enid Blyton, English children's author (Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Adventure) (d. 1968)
1897 Louise Bogan, American poet (Sleeping Fury) (d. 1970)
1898 Arthur Leslie Noel Douglas Houghton, politician/trade unionist
1900 Alexander Mosolov, Kiev Russia, composer (Zavod)
1900 Charles William Paddock, Texas, American athlete and 100m record breaker (Olympic-2 gold-1920) (d. 1943)
1900 Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (d. 1994)
1902 Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986)
1902 Christian Castries, French general (Dien Bien Phu)
1902 Lloyd Nolan, American actor (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Peyton Place) (d. 1985)
1903 Michael Whalley Wickham, artist
1904 Jess Stacy, pianist
1905 Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002)
1907 Ted a'Beckett, Australian cricketer (d. 1989)
1909 Gaston Gilbert Litaize, composer
1909 Hugo Buchthal, art historian
1909 Jean Lancaster, director (WRNS)
1909 Yuji Koseki, Japanese composer (d. 1989)
1910 Denis Moloney, NZ cricket all-rounder (1937 England tour)
1911 Alphonse de Waelhens, Flemish philosopher (Psychosis)
1911 Benny Lee, entertainer
1911 Henry Kulky, Hastings-on-Hudson NY, actor (Otto-Life of Riley)
1911 Prem Bhatia, journalist
1911 Ronald Batty, bookseller
1911 Thanom Kittikachorn, general/premier Thailand (1958-1973)
1912 Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (d. 1954)
1912 Jean Parker, Butte Mont, actress (Beyond Tomorrow, Little Women)
1912 Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2004)
1913 Angus Wilson, British novelist (Mulberry Bush-1955) (d. 1991)
1913 Bob Scheffing, American professional baseball player and manager (d. 1985)
1913 Paul Dupuis, French Canadian actor (d. 1976)
1914 José Silva, American parapsychologist (d. 1999)
1915 Kunio Toda, composer
1916 Johnny Claes, Belgian racing driver (d. 1956)
1917 Dik Browne, cartoonist (Hi & Lois, Hagar the Horrible)
1919 Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949)
1919 Luis Olmo, Puerto Rican baseball player
1920 Chuck Rayner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
1920 Derry Jeffares, Honorary Prof of English Studies (Stirling U)
1920 William Masselos, Niagara Falls NY, pianist/prof (Juilliard 1976)
1921 Alex Haley, American historian (Autobiography of Malcolm X, Roots) (d. 1992)
1923 Stan Chambers, American television reporter
1924 Arlene Dahl, Minneapolis Minnesota, actress/TV panelist (Ambush)
1925 Carl Rowan, gun-toting newspaper columnist (Wash Post)
1925 Floyd Curry, National Hockey League player (d. 2006)
1925 Mike Douglas, American entertainer, talk show host (Mike Douglas Show) (d. 2006)
1925 Robert Linn, composer
1926 Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-born biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate
1926 Bernard Ashley, English fashion designer/pres (Laura Ashley)
1926 Claus von Bülow, Danish-born British socialite, accused of murdering his wife
1926 J R S Fincham, geneticist
1926 Johnny Van Derrick, jazz violinist
1927 James Eaton, Lord-Lieutenant of the City of Londonderry
1927 Kenneth Eastham, MP
1927 Len Rempt-Halmmans de Jongh, Dutch MP (VVD)
1927 Raymond Leppard, English conductor (St Louis Symphony Orch)
1928 Arlene Dahl, American actress
1928 Richard Barratt, former Chief Inspector of Constabulary
1929 Alun Hoddinott, Bargoed Wales, composer (Floriture)
1929 Cora de Man-Canne Meyer, mezzo-soprano (Figaro, Carmen)
1930 Heinz Werner Zimmermann, composer
1930 Michael Quinlan, civil servant
1930 William A O'Neal, (Gov-D-Ct)
1932 Angela Rumbold, MP
1932 Fernando Arrabal, Spanish song and romance writer (Baal Babilonia)
1932 Geoffrey Cass, CEO (Cambridge U Press)
1932 Israel Asper, Canadian tax lawyer (d. 2003)
1932 John Gorrie, English director
1932 Lord Varley
1932 Peter Eisenman, American architect
1932 Sam McCluskie, trade unionist
1932 Wilson "Papa" Godett, Curacaos worker's union leader/boxer
1933 Jerry Falwell, American preacher, TV evangelist (Moral Majority) (d. 2007)
1933 Jerzy Grotowski, Polish theatre director (d. 1999)
1933 Julian Oswald, British Admiral of the Fleet
1933 Justin Connolly, composer
1933 Tamas Vasary, pianist/conductor
1934 Bob Hepple, master (Clare College Cambridge)
1936 Andre Dubus, American short-story writer (d. 1999)
1936 D V Day, Principal (St John's College, Durham U)
1936 J L Thompson, Bishop (Bath & Wells)
1937 Allegra Kent, US actress (Addams Family)
1937 Anna Massey, actress (De Sade, Doll's House)
1937 Taki Theodoracopoulos, Greek/British journalist/multi-millionaire
1938 Allegra Kent, Santa Monica, California, ballerina
1938 Branko Stanovnik, Slovenian chemist
1938 Charles Hugh Shirley, publisher
1938 Rainer Boesch, composer
1939 Attila Bozay, composer
1939 Ronnie Dawson, American rockabilly performer (d. 2003)
1940 Kip King, Chicago Ill, actor (Charlie & Company)
1940 Lennie Pond, American NASCAR driver
1941 Elizabeth Holtzman, Bkln DA (D-Rep-NY, Watergate Committee)
1941 Patricio Guzman, director/actor (Cruz del Sur, Moon over Parador)
1942 Mike Hugg, British musician (Manfred Mann)
1943 Abigail Folger, American heiress and Manson murder victim (d. 1969)
1943 Denis Payton, London, English rocker (Dave Clarke Five Glad All Over)
1943 James Kale, rocker (Guess Who)
1943 Kenny Gamble, US songwriter (Me & Mrs Jones)
1943 Krzysztof Meyer, composer
1943 Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani politician
1943 Stefania Toczyska, Polish mezzo-soprano
1944 David Pearl, British judge
1944 Frederick W. Smith, American entrepreneur
1944 Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
1946 John Conlee, American country music singer (Common Man)
1946 Marilyn vos Savant, American newspaper columnist, world's highest IQ (228)
1947 Catherine Collard, French pianist (Schumann/Brahms)
1947 Georgios Karatzaferis, Greek politician
1947 Jeff Hanna, singer/guitarist (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
1947 Sergey Kovalneko, USSR, basketball (Olympic-bronze-1968)
1948 Don Boyd, director (Goldeneye, 21, East of Elephant Rock)
1948 Jan Palach, Czechoslovakian student protester (d. 1969)
1949 Eric Carmen, American musician (All by Myself)
1949 Ian Charleson, Edinburgh Scotland, actor (Gandhi, Chariots of Fire)
1949 Tim Hutchinson, American politician (Rep-R-Arkansas)
1950 Erik Brann, American musician, guitarist (Iron Butterfly) (d. 2003)
1950 Gennidy Nikonov, Russian weapons inventor (d. 2003)
1950 Steve Wozniak, American computer pioneer, co-founder (Apple Computers)
1951 Donald DeCicco, Brockton Mass, fictional ID of Beldar in Coneheads
1951 Vincent Bilodeau, Quebec actor and comedian
1952 Ann Michelle, England, actress (Virigin Witch, Mistress Pamela)
1952 Bob Mothersbaugh, AKA Bob 1, American Musician (DEVO)
1953 Amy Holland, American Pop Rock singer
1953 Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea), American professional wrestler, WWF heavyweight champion (1984-89)
1953 Sanford Jensen, South Haven Mich, actor (Foley Square)
1954 Joe Jackson, English singer, pianist, composer (The Harder they Come)
1954 Juan Maria Solare, Argentine composer
1954 Lina Polito, Naples Italy, actress (Love & Anarchy)
1954 M. V. Narasimha Rao, Indian cricketer
1954 Yashpal Sharma, Indian cricketer
1955 Marc Bureau, French Canadian politician
1955 Norio Honaga, wrestler (NJPW)
1955 Sylvia Hermon, British politician
1956 Pierre-Louis Lions, French mathematician
1957 Ian Stuart Donaldson, British singer (Skrewdriver) (d. 1993)
1957 Richie Ramone (Richie Beau), American drummer (The Ramones)
1958 Cordelia Gonzalez, San Juan PR, actor (La Gran Fiesta)
1958 Lori Garbacz, South Bend IN, LPGA golfer (1989 Circle K Tucson Open)
1959 Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian musician (Soda Stereo)
1959 Linda Rhys Vaughn, Grossmont Ca, playmate (Apr, 1982)
1959 Yoshiaki Murakami, Japanese investor
1960 Leora "Sam" Jones, Mt Olive NC, US team handball player (Olympic-92)
1961 Craig Ehlo, American basketball player, NBA guard (Atlanta Hawks)
1961 Frederick W Sturckow, La Mesa California, USMC capt/astronaut (sk: STS 88)
1962 Ennis Whatley, American basketball player
1962 Jonathan Hayes, NFL tight end (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1962 Shaul Karnain, Sri Lankan cricketer
1963 Hiromi Makihara, Japanese baseball player
1963 Mike Huff, Honolulu HI, outfielder (Toronto Blue Jays)
1964 Grant Osten Waite, Palmerston NZ, PGA golfer (1993 Kemper Open)
1964 Hamish, Musician (The Pasedenas)
1964 Jim Lee, Korean-born comic book artist
1964 Miguel A. Núñez, Jr., American actor
1964 Nikki Randall, American pornographic actress
1965 Duane Martin, American actor
1965 Embeth Davidtz, American actress
1965 Marc Bergevin, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 Shinji Mikami, Japanese video game designer (Resident Evil)
1965 Viola Davis, American actress
1966 Antonio Goss, NFL linebacker (SF 49ers)
1966 Embeth Davidtz, American actress
1966 Nigel Martyn, English footballer
1967 Brad Dalgarno, Vancouver, NHL right wing (NY Islanders)
1967 Collin Chou, Taiwanese actor
1967 Enrique Bunbury, Spanish singer
1967 Eric Maleson, Brazilian bobsledder (2002 Olympian)
1967 Joe Rogan, American television host (Fear Factor), comedian, commentator (UFC), and, actor
1967 Mike Lodish, NFL nose tackle (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1968 Alan Kelly, England-born Irish footballer
1968 Anna Gunn, American actress
1968 Charlie Sexton, rocker (Arc Angels)
1968 Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian Islamist terrorist (d. 2009)
1968 Veda Hille, Canadian singer
1969 Ashley Jensen, British actress
1969 Dave Pashko, Toronto, Canadian Tour golfer (1992 CPGA Winter Tour)
1969 Eddie Garcia, LA, actor/musician (Guys Next Door-I Was Made For You)
1969 Jonah Matranga, American singer
1969 Wilfried Elzinga, soccer player (FC Twente)
1970 Andy Bell, English musician (Ride, Hurricane #1, Oasis)
1970 Teresa Pavlinek, Canadian actress
1971 Aaron Miller, American NHL defenseman (Colorado Avalanche)
1971 Alejandra Barros, Mexican actress
1971 Julie Anne Clark, glamor model, playmate (Mar, 1991)
1971 Tommy Mooney, English football player
1972 Curtis Ceaser, NFL wide receiver (NY Jets)
1972 Jonathon Prandi, American model
1973 Carolyn Murphy, American model
1973 Edgardo Alfonzo, Sta Teresa Venezuela, infielder (NY Mets)
1973 Nigel Harman, British actor
1973 Thomas Haskins, CFL running back (Montreal Alouettes)
1974 Anju Jain, Indian cricketer(women's team)
1974 Audrey Mestre, French diver (d. 2002)
1974 Hadiqa Kiyani, Pakistani singer
1974 Marie-France Dubreuil, Canadian figure skater
1974 Will Friedle, American actor
1975 Chris Kelly (Mack Daddy), American rapper (Kris Kross-Warm it Up)
1975 Davey von Bohlen, American musician (The Promise Ring, Maritime)
1975 Natasha Bell, Miss Michigan USA (1996)
1975 Ronald Clarke, American musician and founder of aliennetwork Records
1976 Ben Gibbard, American musician (Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service)
1976 Bubba Crosby, American baseball player
1976 Erick Lindgren, American poker player
1976 Iván Córdoba, Colombian footballer
1976 Lubomír Višnovský, Slovak ice hockey player, defenseman (Team Slovakia)
1976 Will Friedle, American actor (Eric-Boy Meets World, Gift of Love)
1977 Gemma Hayes, Irish singer
1978 Amber Brkich, American reality television personality
1978 Amber Mariano, American reality television personality
1978 Jermain Taylor, American boxer
1978 Spyros Gogolos, Greek footballer
1979 Aggeliki Daliani, Greek actress
1980 Lee Suggs, American football player
1981 Fiona Sit, Hong Kong singer and actress
1981 Sandi Thom, Scottish singer
1982 Alan Halsall, British actor
1983 Chris Hemsworth, Australian Actor
1984 Katie Rees, American beauty pageant contestant
1984 Lucas Di Grassi, Brazilian racing driver
1984 Melky Cabrera, Dominican baseball player
1985 Asher Roth, American rapper
1985 Grace Adams-Short, British reality television contestant
1986 Kaori Fukuhara, Japanese voice actress
1986 Pablo Sandoval, Venezuelan baseball player
1986 Richard Keogh, Irish footballer
1987 Nkem Ojougboh, American basketball player
1988 Patrick Mills, Australian basketball player
1992 Allison Lozano, Mexican actress
1993 Alyson Stoner, American actress, model, singer and dancer
Died on August 11th
(480 BC) Leonidas, King of Sparta (Battle of Thermopylae) (b. c. 540 BC)
353 Magnentius, Roman usurper (b. 303)
449 Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople
897 Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona
1171 Louis I, Earl of Wage/Rieneck, dies
1180 Guillaume de/Willem van Sens, Fren master builder (Canterbury)
1183 Christian I, archbishop of Mainz
1204 King Guttorm of Norway (b. 1199)
1253 Clare of Assisi, Italian follower of Francis of Assisi (b. 1194)
1259 Möngke Khan, Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
1394 Jan III, mister of Polanen, dies
1456 Janos Hunyadi, Hungarian general strategist (b. 1387)
1464 Nicholas van Cusa, German philosopher and mathematician (b. 1401)
1490 French van Brederode, leader of Hoeksen
1494 Hans Memling (John Memlinc), Flemish painter (Passietaferelen) (b. c. 1430)
1519 Johann Tetzel, Dominican monk, opponent of the Reformation (b. 1465)
1522 Martin Siebenborger, mayor of Vienna, beheaded
1563 Bartolomé de Escobedo, Spanish composer (b. c. 1500)
1578 Pedro Nunes (Nonius), Portuguese mathematician, astronomer (b. 1502)
1589 Maarten Schenck van Nideggen, lt col (80 year war)
1596 Hamnet Shakespeare, son of William Shakespeare (b. 1585)
1614 Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (b. 1552)
1656 Prince Octavio Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, Austrian field marshal (b. 1599)
1729 Nicola Francesco Haym, composer
1757 Jose Pradas Gallen, composer
1774 Tiphaigne de la Roche, French writer (b. 1722)
1794 Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht, composer
1813 Henry James Pye, English poet (b. 1745)
1820 Janos Lavotta, composer
1844 Jernej Kopitar, filmologist/censor (Slavic Grammatica)
1851 Lorenz Oken, German naturalist (b. 1779)
1852 Nicolaas Plomp, Dutch architect (Strugle)
1854 Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist (b. 1798)
1860 James Wilson, politician
1868 Halfdan Kierulf, composer
1868 Thaddeus Stevens, architect of Radical Reconstruction
1872 Lowell Mason, US organist/composer (Zebulo)
1886 Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (b. 1843)
1890 John Henry Cardinal Newman, English Catholic cardinal (b. 1801)
1892 Enrico Betti, Italian mathematician (b. 1813)
1901 Francesco Crispi, Italian minister of War/premier
1903 Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator and nationalist (b. 1839)
1908 Khudiram Bose, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1889)
1919 Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1835)
1935 William Watson, British poet (Purple East)
1936 Blas Infante, Spanish writer and politician (b. 1885)
1937 Bakr Sidqi, general/dictator of Iraq
1937 Edith Wharton (-Jones), American author, Pulitzer prize-winning author (House of Mirth) (b. 1862)
1939 Jean Bugatti, Italian automobile designer (b. 1909)
1942 Richard Heinrich Stein, composer
1949 Karl Weigl, composer
1951 Ebbe Hamerik, composer
1952 Riccardo Martin, composer
1953 Ludwig Strauss, German/Israeli writer (Heimliche Gegenwart)
1953 Tazio Nuvolari, Italian race car driver (b. 1892)
1954 Santo Trafficante, Sr., Sicilian-born American mobster (b. 1886)
1956 Jackson Pollock, American artist, dies in auto accident (East Hampton) (b. 1912)
1961 Antanas Škema, Lithuanian writer actor and director (b. 1910)
1965 Bill Woodfull, Australian cricketer (35 Tests for Australia) (b. 1897)
1968 Lucien Cerfaux, Belgian biblical scholar
1972 Max Theiler, South African virologist, microbiologist (vaccin) (Nobel Prize Laureate 1951) (b. 1899)
1973 Peggy Castle, actress (Lily Merrill-Lawman)
1974 Jack Hill, cricketer (3 Tests for Australia 1953-55, 8 wickets)
1974 Jan Tschichold, German typographer (b. 1902)
1974 Vicente Emilio Sojo, Venezuelan musician, composer (b. 1887)
1975 Anthony C McAuliffe, US gen/commandant 101st div (Nuts!)
1975 Howard Wendell, actor (Black Dakotas)
1975 Rachel Katznelson-Shazar, Zionist political figure and wife of third President of Israel (b. 1885)
1980 Paul Robert, French lexicographer and publisher (b. 1910)
1982 Tom Drake, American actor (Green Years, Warkill) (b. 1918)
1984 Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (b. 1892)
1984 Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian-German chess player (b. 1916)
1984 Percy Mayfield, US singer (Hit the Road Jack)
1987 Clara Peller, commercial spokesperson (Wendy's)
1988 Anne Ramsey, American actress (Throw Mama From Train) (b. 1929)
1988 Jean-Pierre Ponnele, opera director (Carmina Burana)
1988 Pauline Lafont, daughter of Bernadette, dies in hiking accident
1989 John Meillon, actor (Wild Duck, Crocodile Dundee)
1991 J. D. McDuffie, American NASCAR driver (b. 1938)
1991 Jef Contryn, Flemish pioneer puppet theatre
1994 Dorothy Lousie Grenfell Williams, broadcaster
1994 Gordon Cullen, architect
1994 Mark "Red" Mitchell, actor (JFK, 8 Seconds, Want to Live)
1994 Peter Cushing, British actor (Star Wars, Dr Who) (b. 1913)
1995 Douglas John Gorman, businessman
1995 Herbert Whitton John Sumsion, organist/composer
1995 Kenneth Lo, cookery writer/restaurateur
1995 Phil Harris, American singer and comedian (Jack Benny Show) (b. 1904)
1995 Wilbur Stark, tV/film producer
1996 Baba Vanga, Bulgarian prophet, mystic, clairvoyant and herbalist (b. 1911)
1996 Mel Taylor, American drummer (The Ventures) (b. 1933)
1996 Rafael Jeronym Kubelik, Czech-born conductor and composer (b. 1914)
1996 Sigmund Koch, psychologist/philosopher
2000 Jean Papineau-Couture, Canadian composer (b. 1916)
2001 Percy Stallard, English racing cyclist (b. 1909)
2002 Galen Rowell, American photographer and mountain climber (b. 1940)
2003 Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (b. 1923)
2003 Herb Brooks, American ice hockey coach (b. 1937)
2005 James Booth, English actor (b. 1927)
2006 Mike Douglas, American singer and talk show host (b. 1925)
2009 Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics, sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1921)
2010 Markus Liebherr, German born Swiss owner of Southampton Football Club (b. 1948)
2011 Jani Lane, American singer (Warrant) (b. 1964)
2014 Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (Mork and Mindy, Good Will Hunting), commits suspected suicide
2016 Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (1952-69), longest test innings - 16 hours