August 4

August 4 is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 149 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56).

Events

• AD 70 – Emperor Titus ends the siege of Jerusalem after destroying Herod's Temple.
• 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus by his father and associated to the throne aged eight.
• 598 – Goguryeo-Sui War: Emperor Wéndi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo (Korea) during the Manchurian rainy season, with a Chinese army and navy.
• 1265 – Second Barons' War: Battle of Evesham: The army of Prince Edward (the future king Edward I of England) defeats the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, killing de Montfort and many of his allies.
• 1327 – First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas leads a raid into Weardale and almost kills Edward III of England.
• 1532 – The Duchy of Brittany is united to the Kingdom of France.
• 1578 – Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: The Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is killed in the battle, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.
• 1693 – Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of champagne; it is not clear whether he actually invented champagne, however he has been credited as an innovator who developed the techniques used to perfect sparkling wine.
• 1704 – War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar is captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles.
• 1783 – Mount Asama erupts in Japan, killing about 1,400 people. The eruption causes a famine, which results in an additional 20,000 deaths.
• 1789 – In France members of the National Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges.
• 1790 – A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard).
• 1791 – The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman–Habsburg wars.
• 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato.
• 1821 – The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
• 1824 – The Battle of Kos is fought between Turkish and Greek forces.
• 1854 – The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.
• 1863 – Matica slovenská, Slovakia's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation, is established in Martin.
• 1873 – American Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the United States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer clashes for the first time with the Cheyenne and Lakota people near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed.
• 1889 – The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.
• 1892 – The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home.
• 1914 – In response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.
• 1915 – World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915.
• 1924 – Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.
• 1936 – Prime Minister of Greece Ioannis Metaxas suspends parliament and the Constitution and establishes the 4th of August Regime.
• 1944 – The Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and arrest Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others.
• 1946 – An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic. One hundred are killed and 20,000 are left homeless.
• 1947 – The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
• 1964 – American civil rights movement: Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.
• 1964 – Gulf of Tonkin incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• 1965 – The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuân Thuỷ begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
• 1974 – A bomb explodes in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.
• 1975 – The Japanese Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at the AIA Building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hostages include the U.S. consul and the Swedish Chargé d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.
• 1977 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
• 1984 – The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.
• 1987 – The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues "fairly".
• 1991 – The Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos sinks off the Wild Coast of South Africa.
• 1993 – A federal judge sentences Los Angeles Police Department officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.
• 1995 – Operation Storm begins in Croatia.
• 2006 – A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).
• 2007 – NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is launched.

Births

• 1222 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (d. 1262)
• 1290 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (d. 1326)
• 1463 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Florentine patron of the arts (d. 1503)
• 1469 – Margaret of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1528)
• 1470 – Bernardo Dovizi, Italian cardinal (d. 1520)
• 1470 – Lucrezia de' Medici, Italian noblewoman (d. 1553)
• 1521 – Pope Urban VII (d. 1590)
• 1604 – François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French cleric and author (d. 1676)
• 1701 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish historian and scholar (d. 1757)
• 1704 – Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans (d. 1752)
• 1719 – Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German mineralogist and geologist (d. 1767)
• 1721 – Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1803)
• 1755 – Nicolas-Jacques Conté, French soldier and painter (d. 1805)
• 1792 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (d. 1822)
• 1805 – William Rowan Hamilton, Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1865)
• 1821 – Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer, founded Louis Vuitton (d. 1892)
• 1821 – James Springer White, American religious leader, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (d. 1881)
• 1834 – John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1923)
• 1839 – Walter Pater, English author, critic, and academic (d. 1894)
• 1844 – Henri Berger, German composer and bandleader (d. 1929)
• 1853 – John Henry Twachtman, American painter, etcher, and academic (d. 1902)
• 1859 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952)
• 1867 – Jake Beckley, American baseball player and coach (d. 1918)
• 1870 – Harry Lauder, Scottish actor and singer (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Giovanni Giuriati, Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1970)
• 1884 – Béla Balázs, Hungarian poet and critic (d. 1949)
• 1884 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (d. 1941)
• 1887 – Albert M. Greenfield, Ukrainian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Taher Saifuddin, Indian religious leader, 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Dolf Luque, Cuban baseball player and manager (d. 1957)
• 1893 – Fritz Gause, German historian and curator (d. 1973)
• 1898 – Ernesto Maserati, Italian race car driver and engineer (d. 1975)
• 1899 – Ezra Taft Benson, American religious leader, 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1994)
• 1900 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
• 1901 – Louis Armstrong, American trumpet player and singer (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Clarence Passailaigue, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1972)
• 1902 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Witold Gombrowicz, Polish author and playwright (d. 1969)
• 1904 – Helen Kane, American singer and actress (d. 1966)
• 1904 – Joe Tate, English footballer and manager (d. 1973)
• 1906 – Eugen Schuhmacher, German zoologist, director, and producer (d. 1973)
• 1908 – Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Glenn Cunningham, American runner and academic (d. 1988)
• 1910 – Anita Page, American actress (d. 2008)
• 1910 – William Schuman, American composer and educator (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (d. 2011)
• 1912 – Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, and mountaineer (d. 1999)
• 1912 – David Raksin, American composer and educator (d. 2004)
• 1912 – Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish architect and diplomat (d. 1947)
• 1913 – Wesley Addy, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Robert Hayden, American poet and educator (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Johann Niemann, German lieutenant (d. 1943)
• 1915 – Warren Avis, American businessman, founded Avis Rent a Car System (d. 2007)
• 1917 – John Fitch, American race car driver and engineer (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Brian Crozier, Australian-English historian and journalist (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Iceberg Slim, American pimp and author (d. 1992)
• 1919 – Michel Déon, French novelist, playwright, and critic
• 1920 – Helen Thomas, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Herb Ellis, American guitarist (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (d. 2012)
• 1926 – George Irving Bell, American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Perry Moss, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1928 – Christian Goethals, Belgian race car driver (d. 2003)
• 1928 – Gerard Damiano, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Nadežka Mosusova, Serbian composer
• 1929 – Kishore Kumar, Indian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1987)
• 1929 – Vellore G. Ramabhadran, Mridangam artiste from Tamil Nadu, India (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Ali al-Sistani, Iranian-Iraqi cleric and scholar
• 1931 – Naren Tamhane, Indian cricketer (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Frances E. Allen, American computer scientist and academic
• 1932 – Liang Congjie, Chinese environmentalist, founded Friends of Nature (d. 2010)
• 1934 – Dallas Green, American baseball player and manager
• 1935 – Carol Arthur, American actress and producer
• 1935 – Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt, German footballer and coach (d. 1997)
• 1935 – Michael J. Noonan, Irish farmer and politician, 25th Minister of Defence for Ireland (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Giorgos Zographos, Greek singer and actor (d. 2005)
• 1937 – David Bedford, English keyboard player, composer, and conductor (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Ellen Schrecker, American historian and academic
• 1939 – Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, English politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
• 1940 – Robin Harper, Scottish academic and politician
• 1940 – Larry Knechtel, American bass player and pianist (d. 2009)
• 1940 – Frances Stewart, English economist and academic
• 1940 – Timi Yuro, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
• 1941 – Martin Jarvis, English actor
• 1941 – Andy Smillie, English footballer
• 1941 – Ted Strickland, American psychologist and politician, 68th Governor of Ohio
• 1942 – Don S. Davis, American actor and painter (d. 2008)
• 1942 – Cleon Jones, American baseball player
• 1942 – David Lange, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2005)
• 1943 – Vicente Álvarez Areces, Spanish politician, 6th President of the Principality of Asturias
• 1943 – Barbara Saß-Viehweger, German politician, lawyer and civil law notary
• 1943 – Bjørn Wirkola, Norwegian ski jumper and footballer
• 1944 – Richard Belzer, American actor
• 1944 – Doudou Ndoye, Senegalese lawyer and politician
• 1945 – Paul McCarthy, American painter and sculptor
• 1945 – Alan Mulally, American engineer and businessman
• 1946 – Maureen Starkey Tigrett, English-American hairdresser (d. 1994)
• 1946 – Aleksei Turovski, Estonian zoologist and ethologist
• 1947 – Klaus Schulze, German keyboard player and songwriter (Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and The Cosmic Jokers)
• 1948 – Johnny Grubb, American baseball player and coach
• 1949 – John Riggins, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
• 1950 – Caldwell Jones, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1950 – N. Rangaswamy, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of Puducherry
• 1951 – Peter Goodfellow, English geneticist and academic
• 1952 – James Arbuthnot, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
• 1952 – Moya Brennan, Irish singer-songwriter and harp player
• 1952 – Gábor Demszky, Hungarian sociologist, lawyer, and politician
• 1953 – Hiroyuki Usui, Japanese footballer and manager
• 1954 – Anatoliy Kinakh, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Ukraine
• 1954 – Steve Phillips, English footballer
• 1954 – François Valéry, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
• 1955 – Alberto Gonzales, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 80th United States Attorney General
• 1955 – Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1956 – Gerry Cooney, American boxer and promoter
• 1957 – Brooks D. Simpson, American historian and author
• 1957 – Valdis Valters, Latvian basketball player and coach
• 1957 – John Wark, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
• 1958 – Ian Broudie, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1958 – Allison Hedge Coke, American-Canadian poet and academic
• 1958 – Mary Decker, American runner
• 1958 – Silvan Shalom, Tunisian-Israeli sergeant and politician, 30th Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
• 1959 – Robbin Crosby, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2002)
• 1959 – John Gormley, Irish politician, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
• 1960 – Chuck C. Lopez, American jockey
• 1960 – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Spain
• 1960 – Bernard Rose, English director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
• 1960 – Tim Winton, Australian author and playwright
• 1961 – Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1962 – Roger Clemens, American baseball player and actor
• 1962 – Paul Reynolds, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (A Flock of Seagulls)
• 1964 – Andrew Bartlett, Australian social worker and politician
• 1965 – Adam Afriyie, English businessman and politician
• 1965 – Terri Lyne Carrington, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
• 1965 – Dennis Lehane, American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1965 – Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish soldier and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1965 – Michael Skibbe, German footballer and manager
• 1967 – Michael Marsh, American sprinter
• 1968 – Daniel Dae Kim, South Korean-American actor
• 1968 – Lee Mack, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Marcus Schenkenberg, Swedish-Dutch model and actor
• 1969 – Mark Bickley, Australian footballer and coach
• 1969 – Max Cavalera, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1969 – Troy O'Leary, American baseball player
• 1970 – John August, American director and screenwriter
• 1970 – Bret Baier, American journalist
• 1970 – Steve House, American mountaineer
• 1970 – Steven Jack, South African cricketer
• 1970 – Kate Silverton, English journalist
• 1971 – Bethan Benwell, English linguist, author, and academic
• 1971 – Jeff Gordon, American race car driver and actor
• 1972 – Stefan Brogren, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Eva Amaral, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1973 – Xavier Marchand, French swimmer
• 1973 – Marek Penksa, Slovak footballer
• 1973 – Marcos Roberto Silveira Reis, Brazilian footballer
• 1975 – Nikos Liberopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Jutta Urpilainen, Finnish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Finland
• 1975 – Daniella van Graas, Dutch model and actress
• 1976 – Andrew McLeod, Australian footballer
• 1976 – Trevor Woodman, English rugby player and coach
• 1977 – Frankie Kazarian, American wrestler
• 1977 – Luís Boa Morte, Portuguese footballer and manager
• 1978 – Jeremy Adduono, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1978 – Luke Allen, American baseball player
• 1978 – Kurt Busch, American race car driver
• 1978 – Agnė Eggerth, Lithuanian sprinter
• 1978 – Ibán Espadas, Spanish footballer
• 1978 – Jon Knott, American baseball player
• 1978 – Karine Legault, Canadian swimmer
• 1978 – Sandeep Naik, Indian politician
• 1978 – Siri Nordby, Norwegian footballer
• 1978 – Ricardo Serrano, Spanish cyclist
• 1978 – Per-Åge Skrøder, Norwegian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Robin Peterson, South African cricketer
• 1980 – Richard Dawson, English cricketer and coach
• 1981 – Erica Carlson, Swedish actress
• 1981 – Marques Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1982 – Rubinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1984 – Terry Campese, Australian rugby league player
• 1984 – Mardy Collins, American basketball player
• 1985 – Crystal Bowersox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1985 – Robbie Findley, American soccer player
• 1985 – Mark Milligan, Australian footballer
• 1985 – Ha Seung-jin, South Korean basketball player
• 1985 – Antonio Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer
• 1986 – Nick Augusto, American drummer
• 1986 – Leon Camier, English motorcycle racer
• 1986 – Cicinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Iosia Soliola, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
• 1986 – David Williams, Australian rugby league player
• 1987 – Jang Keun-suk, South Korean actor and singer
• 1987 – Marreese Speights American basketball player
• 1987 – Tomoya Warabino, Japanese actor
• 1987 – Phil Younghusband, English–Filipino footballer
• 1988 – Carly Foulkes, Canadian model and actress
• 1988 – Kelley O'Hara, American soccer player
• 1989 – Wang Hao, Chinese chess player
• 1989 – Jessica Mauboy, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1990 – Hikmet Balioğlu, Turkish footballer
• 1990 – Siim Tenno, Estonian footballer
• 1991 – Thiago Cardoso, Brazilian footballer
• 1991 – Izet Hajrović, Bosnian footballer
• 1992 – Daniele Garozzo, Italian fencer
• 1992 – Dylan Sprouse, American actor
• 1992 – Cole Sprouse, American actor
• 1994 – Pauli Pauli, Australian rugby league player
• 1995 – Bruna Marquezine, Brazilian actress

Deaths

• 221 – Lady Zhen, Chinese empress (b. 183)
• 966 – Berengar II of Italy (b. 900)
• 1060 – Henry I of France (b. 1008)
• 1113 – Gertrude of Saxony (b. 1030)
• 1265 – Peter de Montfort, English politician (b. 1215)
• 1265 – Henry de Montfort (b. 1238)
• 1265 – Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, French-English soldier and politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1208)
• 1265 – Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer, English politician (b. 1223)
• 1266 – Eudes of Burgundy, Count of Nevers (b. 1230)
• 1306 – Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (b. 1289)
• 1338 – Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (b. 1300)
• 1378 – Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan (b. c. 1320)
• 1430 – Philip I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1404)
• 1526 – Juan Sebastián Elcano, Spanish explorer and navigator (b. 1476)
• 1578 – Sebastian of Portugal (b. 1554)
• 1578 – Thomas Stukley, English mercenary (b. 1520)
• 1598 – William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, English academic and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1520)
• 1612 – Hugh Broughton, English scholar and theologian (b. 1549)
• 1639 – Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican actor and playwright (b. 1581)
• 1718 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian founder of Rimouski (b. 1656)
• 1727 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (b. 1647)
• 1741 – Andrew Hamilton, Scottish-American lawyer and politician (b. 1676)
• 1778 – Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial, Canadian-French politician, Governor General of New France (b. 1698)
• 1792 – John Burgoyne, English general and politician (b. 1723)
• 1795 – Timothy Ruggles, American lawyer, jurist, and politician (b. 1711)
• 1804 – Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, Scottish admiral (b. 1731)
• 1822 – Kristjan Jaak Peterson, Estonian poet and author (b. 1801)
• 1844 – Jacob Aall, Norwegian economist, historian, and politician (b. 1773)
• 1859 – John Vianney, French priest and saint (b. 1786)
• 1873 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter (b. 1834)
• 1875 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1805)
• 1886 – Samuel J. Tilden, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of New York (b. 1814)
• 1900 – Isaac Levitan, Russian painter and educator (b. 1860)
• 1914 – Jules Lemaître, French playwright and critic (b. 1853)
• 1919 – Dave Gregory, Australian cricketer and umpire (b. 1845)
• 1922 – Enver Pasha, Ottoman general and politician (b. 1881)
• 1932 – Alfred Henry Maurer, American painter (b. 1868)
• 1938 – Pearl White, American actress (b. 1889)
• 1940 – Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Ukrainian-American general, journalist, and activist (b. 1880)
• 1941 – Mihály Babits, Hungarian poet and author (b. 1883)
• 1942 – Alberto Franchetti, Italian composer and educator (b. 1860)
• 1944 – Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Polish soldier and poet (b. 1921)
• 1957 – Washington Luís, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 13th President of Brazil (b. 1869)
• 1958 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, author, and painter (b. 1883)
• 1959 – József Révai, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1898)
• 1967 – Peter Smith, English cricketer (b. 1908)
• 1976 – Enrique Angelelli, Argentinian bishop and martyr (b. 1923)
• 1976 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-English publisher (b. 1894)
• 1977 – Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
• 1981 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
• 1982 – Bruce Goff, American architect, designed the Boston Avenue Methodist Church (b. 1904)
• 1985 – Don Whillans, English rock climber and mountaineer (b. 1933)
• 1990 – Ettore Maserati, Italian engineer and businessman (b. 1894)
• 1992 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese author (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Geoff Hamilton, English gardener, author, and television host (b. 1936)
• 1997 – Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian (b. 1875)
• 1998 – Yury Artyukhin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Victor Mature, American actor (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Mary Sherman Morgan, American chemist and engineer (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Anatoly Larkin, Russian-American physicist and theorist (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Iván Szabó, Hungarian economist and politician, Minister of Finance of Hungary (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Raul Hilberg, Austrian-American political scientist and historian (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Craig Jones, English motorcycle racer (b. 1985)
• 2009 – Blake Snyder, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1957)
• 2011 – Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (b. 1977)
• 2012 – Johnnie Bassett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Brian Crozier, Australian-English journalist and historian (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Metin Erksan, Turkish director and screenwriter (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Con Houlihan, Irish journalist and author (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Bud Riley, American football player and coach (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Keith H. Basso, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Olavi J. Mattila, Finnish engineer and politician, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Renato Ruggiero, Italian lawyer and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Tony Snell, English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Sandy Woodward, English admiral (b. 1932)
• 2014 – James Brady, American activist and politician, 15th White House Press Secretary (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Rich Ceisler, American comedian and author (b. 1955)
• 2014 – Chester Crandell, American lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Jake Hooker, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1953)
• 2015 – Elsie Hillman, American philanthropist and politician (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Les Munro, New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1919)
• 2015 – John Rudometkin, American basketball player (b. 1940)
• 2015 – Billy Sherrill, American songwriter and producer (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Alfred C. Williams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • John Vianney
  • Sithney, patron saint of mad dogs
  • August 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Coast Guard Day (United States)
• Constitution Day (Cook Islands)
• Matica slovenská Day (Slovakia)
• Revolution Day (Burkina Faso)

External links

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