Did you know
Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England
Notable Deaths on August 21
102 people
672 – 2024
August 21 has seen 102 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 672 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1762 — Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
English author, poet, and playwright (born 1689)
Did you know
In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served as the British ambassador to the Sublime Porte
Did you know
After her return to England, Lady Mary devoted her attention to the upbringing of her family before dying of cancer in 1762.
Did you know
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an English aristocrat, medical pioneer, writer, and poet
Did you know
Lady Mary joined her husband on the Ottoman excursion, where she was to spend the next two years of her life
Emperor Kōbun was the 39th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
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672
784
Chinese general
Tang Daoxi (唐道襲) was an official and general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Former Shu. He was a close associate of Former Shu's founding emperor Wang Jian and held great power during Wang…
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913
Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq, was the count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118 and the king of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his kinsmen, the brothers Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of…
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1131
Count of Nevers (born c. 1089)
William II, Count of Nevers, was a crusader in the Crusade of 1101.
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1148
Alfonso VII, called the Emperor, became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126. Alfonso, born Alfonso Raimúndez, first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside his mother Urraca, once she…
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1157
English theologian
Alexander of Hales —known also as Doctor Irrefragibilis, or "Irrefutable Teacher", and as Theologorum Monarcha —was a Franciscan friar, theologian, and philosopher instrumental to the development of scholasticism.
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1245
1271
44th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born 1464)
Fra' Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam was a prominent member of the Knights Hospitaller at Rhodes and later Malta. Having risen to the position of Prior of the Langue of Auvergne, he was elected 44th Grand Master of…
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1534
49th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born 1495)
Fra' Jean "Parisot" de (la) Valette was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the Langue de Provence, he…
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1568
Hungarian countess and purported serial killer (born 1560)
Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the powerful House of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary. Báthory and four of her servants were accused of…
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1614
2nd Count of Villamediana, Spanish poet and politician (born 1582)
Don Juan de Tassis y Peralta, 2nd Count of Villamediana was a Spanish poet of the Baroque Culteranismo school. In Spain he is simply known as Conde de Villamediana.
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1622
French composer and academic (born 1557)
Jacques Mauduit was a French composer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most innovative French composers of the late 16th century, combining voices and instruments in new ways, and importing some of the grand…
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1627
1st Earl of Stamford, English soldier (born 1599)
Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, known as the Lord Grey of Groby from 1614 to 1628, was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the eldest son of Sir John Grey and Elizabeth Nevill. His mother was probably a…
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1673
1689
2nd Earl of Egremont, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1710)
Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, PC, of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, Petworth House in Sussex, and of Egremont House in Mayfair, London, was a British statesman who served as Secretary of State for the Southern…
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1763
Arabian ruler (born 1690)
Daher al-Umar al-Zaydani, alternatively spelled Zahir al-Umar or Dahir al-Umar, was the paramount sheikh of the Zayadina family and the strongman over northern Palestine from the 1730s until his death in 1775, during…
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1775
American physician and politician, first Governor of Delaware (born 1721)
John McKinly was an American physician and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a veteran of the French and Indian War, served in the Delaware General Assembly, was the first elected president of Delaware, and…
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1796
American-English physicist and colonel (born 1753)
Colonel Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, FRS, was an American-born British military officer, scientist and inventor. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he supported the Loyalist cause during the American War of…
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1814
Scottish geologist and academic (born 1773)
John MacCulloch FRS was a Scottish geologist. He was the first geologist to be employed by the government in Britain and is best known for his pioneering texts on geology and for producing the first geological maps of…
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1835
French physicist and engineer (born 1785)
Claude-Louis Navier was a French civil engineer, affiliated with the French government, and a physicist who specialized in continuum mechanics.
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1836
German botanist and poet (born 1781)
Adelbert von Chamisso was a German poet, writer and botanist. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso de Boncourt, a name referring to the family estate at Boncourt.
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1838
marquis de Montholon, French general (born 1783)
Charles Tristan, Marquis de Montholon was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars. He chose to go into exile on Saint Helena with the ex-emperor after Napoleon's second abdication.
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1853
American lawyer and politician (born 1777)
Thomas Clayton was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party and later the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. He served in the Delaware…
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1854
Mexican general and president (1855) (born 1790)
Juan Nepomuceno Álvarez Hurtado de Luna, generally known as Juan Álvarez, was a general, long-time caudillo in southern Mexico, and president of Mexico for two months in 1855, following the liberals' ouster of Antonio…
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1867
1870
Australian politician, eighth Premier of New South Wales (born 1825)
James Squire Farnell was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales.
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1888
Estonian theologian and statistician (born 1827)
Alexander Konstantin von Oettingen was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and statistician.
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1905
Hungarian painter and academic (born 1835)
Bertalan Székely was a Hungarian history and portrait painter who worked in the Romantic and Academic styles.
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1910
sixth Nizam of Hyderabad State (born 1866)
Asaf Jah VI, also known as Sir Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi, was the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad. He ruled Hyderabad State, one of the princely states of India, between 1869 and 1911.
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1911
English tennis player (born 1875)
Hugh Laurence Doherty was a British tennis player and the younger brother of tennis player Reginald Doherty. He was a six-time Grand Slam champion and a double Olympic Gold medalist at the 1900 Summer Olympics in…
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1919
English tennis player (born 1849)
Rev. John Thorneycroft Hartley was a tennis player from England, and the only clergyman to win Wimbledon.
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1935
Swiss lawyer and politician (born 1882)
Hermann Obrecht was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1935–1940).
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1940
American poet and author (born 1863)
Ernest Lawrence Thayer was an American writer and poet who wrote the poem "Casey", which is "the single most famous baseball poem ever written" according to the Baseball Almanac, and "the nation’s best-known piece of…
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1940
Russian theorist and politician, founded the Red Army (born 1879)
Lev Davidovich Trotsky, better known as Leon Trotsky, was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician and political theorist. He was a key figure in the 1905 Revolution, the October Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil…
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1940
Danish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1857)
Henrik Pontoppidan was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and short…
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1943
Italian-French engineer and businessman, founded Bugatti (born 1881)
Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was an Italian-French automobile designer and manufacturer. He received French citizenship in 1946 and is remembered as the founder and proprietor of the automobile manufacturing company…
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1947
English composer and conductor (born 1905)
Leonard Constant Lambert was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founding music director of the Royal Ballet, and he was a major figure in the establishment of the English ballet as a significant…
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1951
Estonian author and playwright (born 1879)
Mait Metsanurk was an Estonian writer who led the neo-realist school of Estonian literature.
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1957
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1902)
Robert Nelson "Old Poison" Stewart was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League. He is an Honoured Member of the…
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1957
Norwegian meteorologist and oceanographer (born 1888)
Harald Ulrik Sverdrup was a Norwegian oceanographer and meteorologist. He served as director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Norwegian Polar Institute.
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1957
American engineer, designed the Mackinac Bridge (born 1886)
David Barnard Steinman was an American civil engineer. He was the designer of the Mackinac Bridge and many other notable bridges, and a published author. He grew up in New York City's lower Manhattan, and lived with the…
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1960
Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Justice (born 1893)
Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti was an Italian politician and statesman who led the Italian Communist Party for nearly forty years, from 1927 until his death. Born into a middle-class family, Togliatti received an…
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1964
Canadian journalist and author (born 1893)
Germaine Guèvremont, born Grignon was a Canadian writer, who was a prominent figure in Quebec literature.
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1968
American activist and author, co-founded the Black Guerrilla Family (born 1941)
George Lester Jackson was an American author, prisoner, and revolutionary. While serving an indeterminate sentence for stealing $71 at gunpoint from a gas station in 1960, Jackson became involved in the Black power…
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1971
American police officer (born 1937)
Buford Hayse Pusser was an American police officer, politician, and alleged murderer, who served as the sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee from 1964 to 1970 and constable of Adamsville from 1970 to 1972. His time in…
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1974
Indian spiritual master (born 1894)
Kirpal Singh was a spiritual master (satguru) in the tradition of Radha Soami.
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1974
American architect, co-designed the Eames House (born 1907)
Charles Eames Jr. and Ray-Bernice Eames were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of…
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1978
Italian footballer and manager (born 1910)
Giuseppe Meazza was an Italian football manager and player. Throughout his career, he played mainly for Inter Milan in the 1930s, scoring 284 goals in 408 games for the club, and winning three Serie A titles, as well as…
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1979
Indian Hindi Writer(born 1885)
Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar, popularly known as Kaka Kalelkar, was an Indian independence activist, social reformer, journalist and an eminent follower of the philosophy and methods of Mahatma Gandhi.
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1981
Filipino journalist and politician (born 1932)
Benigno Simeón "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., was a Filipino politician and journalist who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac (1963–1967). Aquino was the husband of Corazon…
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1983
Filipino guitarist and songwriter (born 1963)
Teodoro "Teddy" de Villa Diaz was a Filipino musician and songwriter, best known as the founder and original guitarist of the Dawn.
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1988
1988
Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer (born 1945)
Raul Santos Seixas was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, considered "Father of Brazilian Rock". His musical work consists of seventeen albums released during his 26-year career. His…
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1989
American soprano and actress (born 1938)
Tatiana Troyanos was an American mezzo-soprano remembered as "one of the defining singers of her generation". Her voice, "a paradoxical voice — larger than life yet intensely human, brilliant yet warm, lyric yet…
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1993
Indian-American astrophysicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910)
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was an Indian-American theoretical physicist. He shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of…
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1995
American race car driver (born 1919)
Charles Joseph Stevenson was an American racing driver who competed in various disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for winning the AAA National Championship in 1952. Stevenson also had two class victories in the…
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1995
Canadian indigenous women's rights activist (born 1911)
Mary Two-Axe Earley was a Canadian Mohawk and Oneida women's rights activist from the reserve of Kahnawake in Quebec. After losing her legal Indian status due to marrying a non-status man, Two-Axe Earley advocated for…
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1996
American singer-songwriter and playwright (born 1948)
David Xavier Harrigan, also Tomata du Plenty, was an American singer of the late 1970s and early 1980s Los Angeles electropunk band The Screamers. He was also the founder of Seattle's counterculture troupe Ze Whiz Kidz.…
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2000
Zambian politician, third Prime Minister of Zambia (born 1930)
Daniel Muchiwa Lisulo was the 3rd Prime Minister of Zambia from June 1978 until February 1981.
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2000
Polish mountaineer and author (born 1928)
Andrzej Zawada was a Polish mountaineer, expedition leader and pioneer of winter Himalayism. Zawada was an organiser and leader of numerous high-mountains expeditions, author of movies and photographs from expeditions,…
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2000
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1927)
Calum "Baldy" MacKay was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger. He played in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens between 1947 and 1955. With Montreal, he won the Stanley Cup…
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2001
British artist (born 1920)
John Rivers Coplans was a British artist, art writer, curator, and museum director. A veteran of World War II and a photographer, he emigrated to the United States in 1960 and had many exhibitions in Europe and North…
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2003
English philosopher and academic (born 1946)
Kathleen Vaughan Wilkes was an English philosopher and academic who played an important part in reform education systems of former Communist countries after 1990. She established her reputation as an academic with her…
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2003
Indian Oriya-language poet (born 1916)
Sachidananda Routray was an Indian poet, novelist and short-story writer who wrote in Odia. He received Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award of India, in 1986. He was popularly known as Biplabi Kabi Sachi Routray.
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2004
American tenor and educator (born 1957)
Martin Dillon was an American musician, operatic tenor, and professor of music at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey.
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2005
American businessman, founded Moog Music (born 1934)
Robert Arthur Moog was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, which…
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2005
Israeli poet and translator (born 1936)
Dahlia Ravikovitch was an Israeli poet, translator and recipient of the Israel Prize for Poetry in 1998.
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2005
Austrian mountaineer (born 1925)
Marcus Schmuck was an Austrian mountaineer. In 1957, together with Hermann Buhl he organized the expedition, firstly envisaged and initiated by Buhl, to climb the world's 12th highest peak, the Broad Peak (8,047 metres)…
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2005
Indian musician, Bharat Ratna recipient (born 1916)
Ustad Bismillah Khan, often referred to by the title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. His virtuosity made him a leading Hindustani classical music…
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2006
Dutch businessman and philanthropist (born 1941)
Paul Fentener van Vlissingen was a Dutch businessman and philanthropist who was CEO of SHV Holdings for three decades. He contributed to the development of game reserves in Africa and purchased the Letterewe estate in…
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2006
American academic (born 1947)
Frank G. Bowe was a deaf American disability studies academic, activist, author, and the Dr. Mervin Livingston Schloss Distinguished Professor for the Study of Disabilities at Hofstra University. As a disability rights…
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2007
British author (born 1960)
Siobhan Dowd was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, Bog Child, posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book for children or young…
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2007
American general (born 1918)
Elizabeth Paschel Hoisington was a United States Army officer who was one of the first two women to attain the rank of brigadier general.
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2007
American engineer and producer (born 1969)
Jermone Gregory Finn, sometimes credited as "Huckle" Jerry Finn, was an American record producer and mix engineer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk artists such as Blink-182, AFI, Sum 41, Alkaline Trio,…
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2008
Singaporean engineer and author (born 1930)
Rex Anthony Shelley was a Singaporean author. A graduate of the University of Malaya in Malaysia and Cambridge trained in engineering and economics, Shelley managed his own business and also worked as member of the…
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2009
Argentinean sociologist and author (born 1941)
Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, who normally went only by his surname, Fogwill, was an Argentine short story writer, novelist, and businessman. He was a distant relative of the novelist Charles Langbridge Morgan. He was the…
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2010
German soldier and politician, Federal Minister of Defence for Germany (born 1920)
Georg Leber was a German Trades Union leader and a politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
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2012
American soldier and politician (born 1926)
John Frank Raley Jr. was a Maryland politician and an advocate for education, economic development and protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.
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2012
Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1926)
James Donald Raleigh was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played centre with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League between 1943 and 1956.
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2012
Belgian academic and politician, seventh Minister-President of Wallonia (born 1931)
Guy Gustave Arthur Ghislain Spitaels was a Belgian politician of the Socialist Party. He was the 7th Minister-President of Wallonia from 1992 to 1994 and president of his party for thirteen years, until he was succeeded…
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2012
American mathematician and academic (born 1946)
William Paul Thurston was an American mathematician. He was a pioneer in the field of low-dimensional topology and was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982 for his contributions to the study of 3-manifolds.
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2012
American lawyer and politician (born 1938)
Jean Louise Berkey was an American politician who served as a Washington State Senator from Washington's 38th legislative district from 2005 to 2011. Her career ended due to the Moxie Media scandal: in the 2010 primary…
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2013
American record producer (born 1918)
Sidney Bernstein was an American music promoter, talent manager, and author. Bernstein changed the American music scene in the 1960s by bringing the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, the Moody Blues, and…
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2013
American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (born 1936)
Charles Gordon Fullerton was a United States Air Force colonel, a USAF and NASA astronaut, and a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. His assignments included a variety of…
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2013
Scottish footballer (born 1929)
Fred George Martin was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. His only senior club was Aberdeen, with whom he played for 14 years. He also represented Scotland during their first FIFA World Cup…
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2013
Zimbabwean politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Defence (born 1932)
Enos Mzombi Nkala was one of the founders of the Zimbabwe African National Union.
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2013
Irish radio and television host (born 1944)
Gerald Michael Anderson was a Northern Irish radio and television broadcaster for BBC Northern Ireland. Renowned for his unique style and distinctive sense of humour, Anderson often referred to himself on his show, as…
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2014
English psychotherapist and academic (born 1925)
Helen Rae Bamber OBE, née Helen Balmuth, was a British psychotherapist and human rights activist. She worked with Holocaust survivors in Germany after the concentration camps were liberated in 1945. In 1947, she…
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2014
American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (born 1946)
Steven Ray Nagel, , was an American astronaut, aeronautical and mechanical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot. In total, he logged 723 hours in space. After NASA, he worked at the University of…
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2014
2014
Irish businessman and politician, ninth Taoiseach of Ireland (born 1932)
Albert Martin Reynolds was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. Between 1979 and 1991, he held several cabinet positions, including Minister for Finance…
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2014
New Zealand lawyer and businessman (born 1938)
Colin Andrew Nielsen Beyer was a New Zealand lawyer. He was a partner and then consultant with Simpson Grierson in Wellington. Also a prominent businessman with many governance positions, Beyer was a securities…
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2015
Chinese commander and politician (born 1916)
Wang Dongxing was a Chinese military commander and politician, famous for being the chief of Mao Zedong's personal bodyguard force, the 9th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. Wang held many important positions,…
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2015
American tennis player and coach (born 1924)
James Andrew "Jimmy" Evert was an American tennis coach and player. He was the father of Chris Evert, who was one of the world's top women tennis players in the 1970s and 1980s.
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2015
First Kosovan Prime Ministers of UN mission administration in Kosovo (born 1954)
Bajram Rexhepi, was a Kosovar politician who served as the first elected post-war Prime Minister of Kosovo, and later as interior minister and as a member of the Kosovo Assembly. He was a member of the second largest…
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2017
Icelandic actor and singer (born 1975)
Stefán Karl Stefánsson was an Icelandic actor and singer. He was best known for portraying Robbie Rotten, the antagonist of the children's television series LazyTown.
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2018
Mexican singer, composer, arranger, and accordionist (born 1953)
Celso Piña Arvizu was a Mexican singer, composer and accordionist, mainly in the genre of cumbia, being one of the most important musicians in the style of "cumbia rebajada".
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2019
Northern Irish journalist, playwright and civil rights campaigner (born 1944)
Ellen Pamela McCafferty was an Irish journalist, playwright, civil rights campaigner and feminist. She wrote for The Irish Press, The Irish Times, Sunday Tribune, Hot Press and The Village Voice.
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2024
American politician (born 1937)
William James Pascrell Jr. was an American politician who was a U.S. representative from New Jersey from 1997 until his death in 2024. Pascrell was a member of the Democratic Party and native of Paterson. Before his…
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2024
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Notable deaths
Who died on August 21?
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu — English writer and poet (1689–1762)
FeaturedLady Mary Wortley Montagu
Death year1762
Known forBorn in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England
Deaths on this date102 (672 – 2024)
Explore August 21
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on August 21 in History
2017
A solar eclipse traverses the continental United States. Wikipedia →
2013
Hundreds of people are reported killed by chemical attacks in the Ghouta region of Syria. Wikipedia →
2000
See all events on August 21
American golfer Tiger Woods wins the 82nd PGA Championship and becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year. Wikipedia →
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