Notable Deaths on August 31

Q: Who died on August 31?

Notable people who died on August 31 include: Liu Cong, John Scholasticus, Aidan of Lindisfarne, Ōtomo no Tabito, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ta'i.

Q: What is Henri Bourassa known for?

Henri Bourassa, Canadian publisher and politician (born 1868)

113 people 318 – 2024

August 31 has seen 113 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 318 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · August 31 — Wikipedia

1952 — Henri Bourassa

Canadian publisher and politician (born 1868)

Did you know

In 1899, Bourassa was outspoken against the British government's request for Canada to send a militia to fight for Britain in the Second Boer War

Did you know

Bourassa was also a defining force in forging French Canada's attitude to the Canadian Confederation of 1867.

Did you know

Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa was a French Canadian political leader and publisher

Did you know

Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier's compromise was to send a volunteer force, but the seeds were sown for future conscription protests during the World Wars of the next half-century

Did you know

Bourassa was an ideological father of French-Canadian nationalism

Liu Cong

emperor of the Xiongnu state

Liu Cong (died 31 August 318), courtesy name Xuanming, nickname Zai, also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Zhaowu of Han (Zhao), was an emperor of the Xiongnu-led Chinese Han-Zhao dynasty. During his reign,…

318

John Scholasticus

Byzantine patriarch and saint

John Scholasticus or Scholastikos was patriarch of Constantinople from 12 April 565 until his death on 31 August 577. He is also regarded as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

577

Aidan of Lindisfarne

Irish bishop and saint

Aidan of Lindisfarne was an Irish monk and missionary credited with converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity in Northumbria. He founded a ministry cathedral on the island of Lindisfarne, known as Lindisfarne Priory,…

651

Ōtomo no Tabito

Japanese poet (born 665)

Ōtomo no Tabito was a Japanese court noble, military leader and poet. He is known for his military campaign against the Hayato Rebellion and as the father of Ōtomo no Yakamochi, who contributed to the compilation of…

731

Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ta'i

Muslim governor

Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ta'i was an administrative official in the service of the Abbasid Caliphate. He held various military and financial posts in Iraq and Arabia in the late ninth century, during the caliphates of…

894

Kunigunde of Altdorf

Frankish noblewoman (born c. 1020)

Kunigunde of Altdorf was a member of the Swabian line of the Elder House of Welf. She was also the ancestress of the younger House of Guelph, a cadet branch of the House of Este.

1054

Theodora

Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire (born 981)

Theodora Porphyrogenita was Byzantine Empress from 21 April 1042 to her death on 31 August 1056, and sole ruler from 11 January 1055. She was the last sovereign of the Macedonian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire…

1056

Turgot of Durham (born c. 1050)

Thorgaut or Turgot was Archdeacon and Prior of Durham, and Bishop of Saint Andrews.

1115

Sancho III of Castile (born 1134)

Sancho III, called the Desired, was King of Castile and Toledo for one year, from 1157 to 1158. He was the son of Alfonso VII of León and Castile and his wife Berengaria of Barcelona, and was succeeded by his son…

1158

Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (born 1212)

Emperor Go-Horikawa , who reigned during the Jōō period, was the 86th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1221 through 1232.

1234

Konrad von Würzburg

German poet

Konrad von Würzburg was the chief German poet of the second half of the 13th century.

1287

Henry II of Jerusalem (born 1271)

Henry II was the last crowned King of Jerusalem and also ruled as King of Cyprus. He was of the Lusignan dynasty.

1324

Ralph de Stafford

1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (born 1301)

Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford, KG, of Stafford Castle and Madeley Castle in Staffordshire, was an English nobleman and a notable soldier during the Hundred Years' War against France.

1372

Henry V of England (born 1386)

Henry V, also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the…

1422

Isabella of Navarre

Countess of Armagnac (born 1395)

Isabella of Navarre was the younger surviving daughter of Charles III of Navarre and his wife Eleanor of Castile. She was a member of the House of Évreux.

1450

Thomas Wode

Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas

Sir Thomas Wood KS, in archaic spelling Wode, of Childrey in Berkshire, was an English landowner, lawyer, administrator and politician who became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.

1502

Matthias Grünewald

German artist (born 1470)

Matthias Grünewald was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century.

1528

Francesco Bracciolini

Italian poet (born 1566)

Francesco Bracciolini was an Italian Late Renaissance poet.

1645

Ole Worm

Danish physician and historian (born 1588)

Ole Worm, who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician, natural historian and antiquary. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen where he taught Greek, Latin, physics…

1654

John Bunyan

English preacher, theologian, and author (born 1628)

John Bunyan was an English writer and nonconformist preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, which also became an influential literary model. In addition to The…

1688

Gottfried Finger

Czech-German viol player and composer (born 1660)

Gottfried Finger, also Godfrey Finger, was a Moravian-German Baroque Kapellmeister and composer. He was also a virtuoso on the viol, and many of his compositions were for the instrument. He also wrote operas. Finger was…

1730

Johann Gottlieb Heineccius

German academic and jurist (born 1681)

Johann Gottlieb Heineccius was a German jurist from Eisenberg, Thuringia.

1741

William Borlase

English geologist and historian (born 1695)

William Borlase, Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works The Antiquities of Cornwall and The Natural History of Cornwall…

1772

François-André Danican Philidor

French-English chess player and composer (born 1726)

François-André Danican Philidor, often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess master. He contributed to the early development of the opéra comique. He is widely…

1795

Nicolas-Henri Jardin

French architect and academic, designed the Bernstorff Palace and Marienlyst Castle (born 1720)

Nicolas-Henri Jardin was a French architect. Born in St. Germain des Noyers, Seine-et-Marne, Jardin worked seventeen years in Denmark–Norway as an architect to the Danish royal court. He introduced neoclassicism to…

1799

Louis Antoine de Bougainville

French admiral and explorer (born 1729)

Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville was a French military officer and explorer. After having served in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War, Bougainville later gained fame for his expeditions,…

1811

Arthur Phillip

English admiral and politician, 1st Governor of New South Wales (born 1738)

Arthur Phillip was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales.

1814

Sir John Duckworth

1st Baronet, English admiral and politician, 39th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (born 1747)

Admiral of the Blue Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB was a Royal Navy officer, colonial administrator and politician who served in the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence, French Revolutionary and…

1817

Robert Calder

Scottish admiral (born 1745)

Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, was a Royal Navy officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career he was…

1818

Chief Oshkosh

Menominee chief (born 1795)

Chief Oshkosh was a chief of the Menominee Native Americans, recognized as the leader of the Menominee people by the United States government from August 7, 1827, until his death. He was involved in treaty negotiations…

1858

Ferdinand Lassalle

Prussian-German jurist and philosopher (born 1825)

Ferdinand Johann Gottlieb Lassalle was a German jurist, philosopher, and socialist activist. Best remembered as an initiator of the social democratic movement in Germany, in 1863 he founded the General German Workers'…

1864

Charles Baudelaire

French poet and critic (born 1821)

Charles-Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, and are based on…

1867

Mary Ward

Irish astronomer and entomologist (born 1827)

Mary Ward was an Irish naturalist, astronomer, microscopist, author, and artist. She was killed when she fell under the wheels of an experimental steam car built by her cousins. As the event occurred in 1869, she is the…

1869

Robert Torrens

Irish-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of South Australia (born 1814)

Sir Robert Richard Torrens,, also known as Robert Richard Chute Torrens, was an Irish-born parliamentarian, writer, and land reformer. After a move to London in 1836, he became prominent in the early years of the Colony…

1884

Leslie Green

English architect (born 1875)

Leslie William Green was an English architect. He is best known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20th century, with…

1908

Emīls Dārziņš

Latvian composer, conductor, and music critic (born 1875)

Emīls Dārziņš was a Latvian composer, conductor and music critic. Dārziņš' work bears a distinct romantic character, with a strong trend towards national themes. His main musical authorities and influences were Pyotr…

1910

Jean

duc Decazes, French sailor (born 1864)

Jean Élie Octave Louis Sévère Amanien Decazes de Glücksbierg, 3rd Duc Decazes and 3rd Duke of Glücksbierg, was a French aristocrat and sportsman.

1912

Wilhelm Wundt

German physician, psychologist, and philosopher (born 1832)

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German physiologist, philosopher, professor, and one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and biology, was the first person…

1920

Todor Aleksandrov

Bulgarian soldier (born 1881)

Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov, anglicised as Todor Alexandrov, was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, Bulgarian army officer, and teacher. He initially favoured the annexation of Macedonia to Bulgaria, but later…

1924

Andranik

Armenian general (born 1865)

Andranik Ozanian, commonly known as General Andranik or simply Andranik, was an Armenian military commander and statesman, widely regarded as the preeminent fedayi and a seminal figure of the Armenian national…

1927

Ruth Baldwin

British socialite (born 1905)

Catherine Ruth Baldwin was an American-born English socialite, part of the Bright Young Things crowd. She was the first important lover of American heiress Joe Carstairs.

1937

Georges Gauthier

Canadian archbishop (born 1871)

Georges Gauthier was a French Canadian archbishop of Montreal and the first rector of the Université de Montréal.

1940

DeLancey W. Gill

American painter (born 1859)

DeLancey Walker Gill was an American drafter, landscape painter, and photographer. Gill first became noted for his landscape illustrations and watercolors, featuring subjects such as Native American pueblos in addition…

1940

Thomas Bavin

New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (born 1874)

Sir Thomas Rainsford Bavin, was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1927 to 1930. He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia at the age of 15, where he studied law…

1941

Marina Tsvetaeva

Russian poet and author (born 1892)

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian poet. Her work is some of the best known in twentieth-century Russian literature. She lived through and wrote about the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Moscow famine.

1941

Stefan Banach

Polish mathematician (born 1892)

Stefan Banach was a Polish mathematician who is generally considered one of the 20th century's most important and influential mathematicians. He was the founder of modern functional analysis, and an original member of…

1945

Andrei Zhdanov

Russian civil servant and politician (born 1896)

Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician. He was the Soviet Union's "propagandist-in-chief" after the Second World War, and was responsible for developing the Soviet cultural policy, the Zhdanov Doctrine,…

1948

Paul Demel

Czech actor (born 1903)

Paul Demel was a Czech actor.

1951

Elsa Barker

American author and poet (born 1869)

Elsa Barker (1869–1954) was an American novelist, short-story writer and poet. She became best known for Letters from a Living Dead Man (1914), War Letters from the Living Dead Man (1915), and Last Letters From the…

1954

Georges Braque

French painter and sculptor (born 1882)

Georges Braque was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he played in the…

1963

E. E. Smith

American engineer and author (born 1890)

Edward Elmer Smith was an American food engineer and science-fiction author, best known for the Lensman and Skylark series. He is sometimes called the father of space opera.

1965

Ilya Ehrenburg

Russian journalist and author (born 1891)

Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg was a Soviet writer, poet, revolutionary, journalist, translator, and cultural figure.

1967

John Hartle

English motorcycle racer (born 1933)

John Hartle was an English professional road racer who competed in national, international and Grand Prix motorcycle events.

1968

Rocky Marciano

American boxer (born 1923)

Rocco Francis Marchegiano, better known as Rocky Marciano, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and remains the only…

1969

John Ford

American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1894)

John Martin Feeney, better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and was one of the…

1973

William Pershing Benedict

American soldier and pilot (born 1918)

William Pershing Benedict was an American pilot who was born in Ruth, Nevada and raised in California. He was a highly decorated World War II fighter pilot who served in both the RCAF and the U.S. Army Air Forces. 18…

1974

Norman Kirk

New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1923)

Norman Eric Kirk was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand and as well as the minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. He also served as the seventh…

1974

John Wrathall

Rhodesian accountant and politician, 2nd President of Rhodesia (born 1913)

John James Wrathall, was a British-born Rhodesian politician. He was the last white President of Rhodesia. He formerly worked as a chartered accountant.

1978

Sally Rand

American actress and dancer (born 1904)

Sally Rand was an American burlesque dancer, stripper, vedette, and actress, famous for her ostrich-feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck.

1979

Tiger Smith

English cricketer and coach (born 1886)

Ernest James "Tiger" Smith was an English wicket-keeper who played in 11 Tests from 1911/1912 to 1914. In county cricket, he had a much longer career as the successor to Dick Lilley: he played for Warwickshire on a…

1979

Audrey Wagner

American baseball player, obstetrician, and gynecologist (born 1927)

Genevieve "Audrey" Wagner was an outfielder who played from 1943 through 1949 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

1984

Frank Macfarlane Burnet

Australian virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist known for his contributions to immunology. He won a Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune tolerance. He…

1985

Elizabeth Coatsworth

American author and poet (born 1893)

Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth was an American writer of fiction and poetry for children and adults. She won the 1931 Newbery Medal from the American Library Association award recognizing The Cat Who Went to Heaven as the…

1986

Urho Kekkonen

Finnish journalist, lawyer, and politician, 8th President of Finland (born 1900)

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister, and held…

1986

Henry Moore

English sculptor and illustrator (born 1898)

Henry Spencer Moore was an English visual artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore also produced many drawings,…

1986

Nathaniel Clifton

American basketball player and coach (born 1922)

Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton was an American professional basketball player who was one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was also a professional baseball player.

1990

Cliff Lumsdon

Canadian swimmer and coach (born 1931)

Clifford Douglas "Cliff" Lumsdon Jr., was a Canadian world champion marathon swimmer.

1991

Diana

Princess of Wales (born 1961)

Diana, Princess of Wales was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her…

1997

Dodi Fayed

Egyptian film producer (born 1955)

Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em "Dodi" Fayed was an Egyptian film producer and the eldest child of the businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. He was romantically involved with Diana, Princess of Wales, when they both died in a…

1997

Lucille Fletcher

American screenwriter (born 1912)

Violet Lucille Fletcher was an American screenwriter of film, radio and television. Her credits include The Hitch-Hiker, an original radio play written for Orson Welles and adapted for a notable episode of The Twilight…

2000

Dolores Moore

American baseball player and educator (born 1932)

Dolores Moore ["Dee"] was an infielder who played from 1953 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 153 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

2000

Lionel Hampton

American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1908)

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones.…

2002

Farhad Mehrad

Persian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist (born 1944)

Farhad Mehrad was a popular Iranian singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. He was a versatile musician who released the first English rock and roll album in Iran. Farhad gained fame among the Iranian rock, pop and…

2002

George Porter

English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)

George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, was a British chemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967.

2002

Joseph Rotblat

Polish-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908)

Sir Joseph Rotblat was a Polish and British physicist. During World War II he worked on Tube Alloys and the Manhattan Project, but left the Los Alamos Laboratory on grounds of conscience after it became clear to him in…

2005

Mohamed Abdelwahab

Egyptian footballer (born 1983)

Mohamed Mohamed Abdelwahab was an Egyptian footballer. He played in the defensive left back position. He was an important part of the Egyptian squad that went on to win the 2006 African Cup of Nations. He died during…

2006

Tom Delaney

English race car driver and businessman (born 1911)

Cyril Terence "Tom" Delaney was a British sportsman and industrialist, perhaps best known in his later years for being the oldest licensed racing driver in the world, having competed in the same Lea-Francis car for more…

2006

Gay Brewer

American golfer (born 1932)

Gay Robert Brewer Jr. was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and won the 1967 Masters Tournament.

2007

Jean Jacques Paradis

Canadian general (born 1928)

Lieutenant General Jean Jacques Paradis CMM, CD was the Commander, Mobile Command of the Canadian Forces.

2007

Sulev Vahtre

Estonian historian and academic (born 1926)

Sulev Vahtre was an eminent Estonian historian.

2007

Ken Campbell

English actor and screenwriter (born 1941)

Kenneth Victor Campbell was an English actor, director and writer. He was known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre".

2008

Ike Pappas

American journalist (born 1933)

Icarus Nestor Pappas, better known as Ike Pappas, was an American television journalist who worked as a CBS News correspondent for 25 years.

2008

Victor Yates

New Zealand rugby player (born 1939)

Victor Moses Yates was a New Zealand rugby footballer who represented his country in rugby union. His brother, John, represented New Zealand in rugby league while his father, Moses, represented North Auckland in rugby…

2008

Eraño Manalo

Filipino religious minister and Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (born 1925)

Eraño de Guzman Manalo, also known as Ka Erdy, was the second Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), serving from April 19, 1963, until August 31, 2009. He took over the administration of the church after…

2009

Laurent Fignon

French cyclist (born 1960)

Laurent Patrick Fignon was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, as well as the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He held the title of FICP World No. 1 in 1989. Fignon came close to…

2010

Wade Belak

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1976)

Wade William Belak was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and defenceman. He was drafted 12th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1994 NHL entry draft. He played for the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames,…

2011

Max Bygraves

English actor (born 1922)

Walter William "Max" Bygraves was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs.

2012

Joe Lewis

American martial artist and actor (born 1944)

Joe Lewis was an American martial artist, professional kickboxer and actor. Originally a practitioner of Shōrin-ryū karate and champion in point sparring competitions, he became one of the fathers of full contact karate…

2012

Carlo Maria Martini

Italian cardinal (born 1927)

Carlo Maria Martini was an Italian Jesuit and Biblical scholar. He served as Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2002 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983.

2012

Kashiram Rana

Indian lawyer and politician (born 1938)

Kashiram Rana was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India. In 1989, he was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from Surat constituency in Gujarat. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in…

2012

John C. Shabaz

American judge and politician (born 1931)

John Cyrus Shabaz was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He served 30 years as a United States district judge for the Western District of Wisconsin, and was Chief Judge between 1996 and 2001. Earlier in his…

2012

Sergey Sokolov

Russian commander and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for The Soviet Union (born 1911)

Sergei Leonidovich Sokolov was a Soviet military commander, Hero of the Soviet Union, and served as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 22 December 1984 until 29 May 1987.

2012

Alan Carrington

English chemist and academic (born 1934)

Alan Carrington CBE, FRS was a British chemist and one of the leading spectroscopists in Britain in the late twentieth century.

2013

David Frost

English journalist and game show host (born 1939)

Sir David Paradine Frost was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme That Was…

2013

Jimmy Greenhalgh

English footballer and manager (born 1923)

James Radcliffe Greenhalgh was an English football player and manager. He played as a wing half and made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League for Hull City, Bury and Gillingham. As a manager, he took charge of…

2013

Jan Camiel Willems

Belgian mathematician and theorist (born 1939)

Jan Camiel Willems was a Belgian mathematical system theorist who has done most of his scientific work while residing in the Netherlands and the United States. He is most noted for the introduction of the notion of a…

2013

Bapu

Indian director and screenwriter (born 1933)

Sattiraju Lakshminarayana, known professionally as Bapu, was an Indian film director, painter, illustrator, cartoonist, screenwriter, music artist, and designer known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Hindi cinema. In…

2014

Ștefan Andrei

Romanian politician, 87th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1931)

Ștefan Andrei was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1978 to 1985. He was arrested after the 1989 overthrow of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime.

2014

Stan Goldberg

American illustrator (born 1932)

Stan Goldberg was an American comic book artist, best known for his work with Archie Comics and as a Marvel Comics colorist who in the 1960s helped design the original color schemes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and…

2014

Carol Vadnais

Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1945)

Carol Marcel Vadnais was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1966–67 until 1982–83. Vadnais won the Stanley Cup twice during his career, in 1968…

2014

Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu

3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, English politician, founded the National Motor Museum (born 1926)

Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician, best known for founding the National Motor Museum, as well as for a pivotal cause…

2015

Tom Scott

American football player (born 1930)

Thomas Coster Scott was an American professional football player who was a linebacker and defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He played college football…

2015

Carole Shelley

British-American actress (born 1939)

Carole Augusta Shelley was an English actress who made her career in the United States and United Kingdom. Her many stage roles included originating the roles of Gwendolyn Pigeon in The Odd Couple and Madame Morrible in…

2018

Anthoine Hubert

French race car driver (born 1996)

Anthoine Gérard Pol Hubert was a French professional racing driver. He was the 2018 GP3 Series champion and a member of the Renault Sport Academy. He died following an accident during the feature race of the 2019…

2019

Alec Holowka

Canadian game developer (born 1983)

Alec Holowka was a Canadian indie game developer and co-founder of independent game companies Infinite Ammo, Infinite Fall, and Bit Blot. He was mainly known for the award-winning titles Night in the Woods and Aquaria.

2019

Pranab Mukherjee

Former President of India (born 1935)

Pranab Kumar Mukherjee was an Indian politician who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a political career spanning…

2020

Tom Seaver

American baseball player (born 1944)

George Thomas Seaver, nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds,…

2020

Mahal

Filipino comedian and actress (born 1974)

Noemi Tesorero, known professionally as Mahal, was a Filipino actress, comedian, and vlogger. Noted for her childlike roles, she had dwarfism and was said to have a very giggly personality.

2021

Francesco Morini

Italian footballer (born 1944)

Francesco Morini was an Italian professional footballer who played as a defender. He competed for the Italy national team in the 1974 FIFA World Cup and earned a total of 11 caps. He played for clubs such as Sampdoria…

2021

Michael Constantine

Greek-American actor (born 1927)

Michael Constantine was a Greek-American actor. He is most widely recognized for his portrayal of Kostas "Gus" Portokalos, the stubborn Greek father of Toula Portokalos, in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). For…

2021

Geronimo

British alpaca (born 2013)

Geronimo was a stud alpaca that resided at Shepherds Close Farm in Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, England. After Geronimo tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB), a highly publicised controversy erupted…

2021

Sol Bamba

Ivorian-French footballer (born 1985)

Souleymane "Sol" Bamba was a professional football player and manager. As a player, he was a centre-back. Born in France, he played for the Ivory Coast national team.

2024

Notable deaths

Who died on August 31?

Henri Bourassa — Canadian politician (1868–1952)

FeaturedHenri Bourassa

Death year1952

Known forIn 1899, Bourassa was outspoken against the British government's request for Canada to send a militia to fight for Britain in the Second Boer War

Deaths on this date113 (318 – 2024)

Explore August 31

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

Events on August 31 Birthdays on August 31 Deaths on August 31 August 31 quiz

Also on August 31 in History

2025

A landslide in the Darfur region of Sudan kills over 1000 people. 26 Wikipedia →

2025

An earthquake in eastern Afghanistan kills over 1400 people. 25 Wikipedia →

2024

A helicopter crashes in Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, killing all 22 occupants. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on August 31

1952 — Henri Bourassa

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Also on August 31 in History

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