Did you know
Karunanidhi has the record of never losing an election to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won 13 times since his first victory in 1957
Notable Deaths on August 7
98 people
461 – 2025
August 7 has seen 98 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 461 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
2018 — M. Karunanidhi
Indian politician, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and prominent leader of Tamils (born 1924)
Did you know
Muthuvel Karunanidhi, popularly known as Kalaignar, was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011
Did you know
He had the longest intermittent tenure as Chief Minister with 6,863 days in office
Did you know
Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018 at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after a series of prolonged, age-related illnesses.
Did you know
Before entering politics, he worked in the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter
461
Chinese prince
Year 707 (DCCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 707 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent…
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707
1028
1106
bishop of Hereford (born c. 1155)
Hugh Foliot was a medieval Bishop of Hereford. Related somehow to his predecessor at Hereford, he served as a priest and papal judge as well as being an unsuccessful candidate as Bishop of St David's in Wales. In 1219,…
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1234
English Lord Chancellor
Richard Middleton was an English ecclesiastic and Lord Chancellor of England.
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1272
prince-bishop of Regensburg
Heinrich II von Rotteneck was prince-bishop of Regensburg from 1277 to 1296.
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1296
mother of Richard II (born 1328)
Joan, Countess of Kent suo jure, also known as the "Fair Maid of Kent", was mother of King Richard II of England, her son by her third husband, Edward the Black Prince, the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward…
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1385
duke of Albany (born 1454)
Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, was a Scottish prince and the second surviving son of King James II of Scotland. He fell out with his older brother, King James III, and fled to France, where he unsuccessfully sought…
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1485
1547
English judge and politician, Lord Chief Justice of England (born 1544)
Sir Thomas Fleming was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1581 and 1611. He was judge in the trial of Guy Fawkes following the Gunpowder Plot. He held several…
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1613
Italian architect, designed Teatro Olimpico (born 1548)
Vincenzo Scamozzi was an Italian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century. He was perhaps the most important figure there…
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1616
19th Earl of Oxford, English soldier (born 1575)
Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford was an English soldier, and the penultimate Earl of Oxford.
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1632
German poet and academic (born 1591)
Friedrich Spee was a German Jesuit priest, professor, and poet, most well known as a forceful opponent of witch trials and one who was an insider writing from the epicenter of the European witch-phobia. Spee argued…
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1635
Dutch astronomer and mathematician (born 1605)
Martin (Maarten) van den Hove (Latinized as Martinus Hortensius (Ortensius)) (1605 – 7 August 1639) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician. His adopted Latin name is a translation of the Dutch hof ("garden"), in Latin…
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1639
Chinese journalist and critic (born 1608)
Jin Shengtan, original name Jin Renrui (金人瑞), also known as Jin Kui (金喟), was a Chinese editor, writer and critic, who has been called the champion of Vernacular Chinese literature.
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1661
English Anglican churchman and activist (born 1705)
Francis Blackburne was an English Anglican clergyman, archdeacon of Cleveland and an activist against the requirement of subscription to the Thirty Nine Articles.
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1787
French economist and politician (born 1739)
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours was a French-American writer, economist, publisher and government official. During the French Revolution, he, his two sons and their families migrated to the United States.
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1817
French weaver and inventor, invented the Jacquard loom (born 1752)
Joseph Marie Charles dit Jacquard was a French weaver and merchant. He played an important role in the development of the earliest programmable loom, which in turn played an important role in the development of other…
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1834
Swedish chemist and academic (born 1779)
Baron Jöns Jacob Berzelius was a Swedish chemist. Berzelius is considered, along with Robert Boyle, John Dalton, and Antoine Lavoisier, to be one of the founders of modern chemistry. Berzelius became a member of the…
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1848
Mexican general and politician, 19th President of Mexico (born 1802)
José Mariano Martín Buenaventura Ignacio Nepomuceno García de Arista Nuez was a Mexican soldier and politician who served as the 19th president of Mexico from 1851 to 1853.
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1855
Chinese field marshal (born 1823)
Li Xiucheng, born Li Yiwen (李以文), was a military commander of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, during the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty. He was born to a peasant family. In 1864, he was captured and…
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1864
Italian composer and academic (born 1854)
Alfredo Catalani was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas Loreley (1890) and La Wally (1892). La Wally was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani's most famous aria…
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1893
Dutch painter and educator (born 1837)
Jacob Henricus Maris was a Dutch painter, who with his brothers Willem and Matthijs belonged to what has come to be known as the Hague School of painters. He was considered to be the most important and influential Dutch…
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1899
German lawyer and politician (born 1826)
Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht was a German social democratic politician and journalist. A principal founder of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), his political career was a pioneering…
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1900
Swiss limnologist and academic (born 1841)
François-Alphonse Forel was a Swiss physician and scientist who pioneered the study of lakes, and is thus considered the founder. He was also professor at the University of Lausanne and the Father of limnology.…
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1912
South African-English commander and pilot (born 1891)
Squadron Commander Edwin Harris Dunning, DSC, of the British Royal Naval Air Service, was the first pilot to land an aircraft on a moving ship.
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1917
Russian actor and director (born 1863)
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski was a seminal Russian and Soviet theatre practitioner. He was widely recognized as an outstanding character actor, and the many productions that he directed garnered him a reputation…
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1938
Indian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1861)
Rabindranath Thakur, also known by his pseudonym Bhanusimha was a Bengali polymath of the Bengal Renaissance period. In 1913, Tagore became the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in any category, and also the first…
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1941
English-American actor and director (born 1879)
Charles Bryant was a British actor and film director.
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1948
American baseball player and manager (born 1860)
Abner Charles Powell was an American professional baseball player. Powell played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Nationals of the Union Association in 1884. He later played for the Baltimore Orioles and the…
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1953
American actor, singer, and director (born 1892)
Oliver Norvell Hardy was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his comedy partner Stan Laurel in…
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1957
American author and educator (born 1892)
Elizabeth Foreman Lewis was an American children's writer. She received the Newbery Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award.
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1958
Argentine boxer (born 1894)
Luis Ángel Firpo was an Argentine boxer. Born in Junín, Argentina, he was nicknamed The Wild Bull of the Pampas. He was the first Latin American in history to challenge for the world heavyweight title. His bout against…
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1960
last of the Spanish Maquis, holding out after the end of the Spanish Civil War (born 1908)
Ramon Vila Capdevila, sometimes known by various nicknames, including Caracremada, was a Catalan anarchist, member of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, and guerrilla fighter.
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1963
1968
French professional footballer (born 1915)
Jean Bastien was a professional French footballer. He was born in Oran, French Algeria, and died, aged 54, in Marseille.
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1969
Hungarian-French composer (born 1905)
Joseph Kosma was a Hungarian composer who immigrated to France. His most famous composition is the standard Autumn Leaves.
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1969
American lawyer and judge (born 1904)
Harold Joseph Haley was an American judge. He was a Superior Court judge in Marin County, California. He was taken hostage in his courtroom, along with several others, during the course of a trial, and was killed…
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1970
American bodyguard and kidnapper (born 1953)
Jonathan Peter Jackson was an American militant activist who died of gunshot wounds sustained during an armed invasion of the Marin County Civic Center. The action was initiated to demand the freedom of the jailed…
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1970
American model, actress, and singer (born 1929)
Joi Lansing was an American model, film and television actress, and nightclub singer. She was noted for her pin-up photos and roles in B-movies, as well as a prominent role in the famous opening "tracking shot" in Orson…
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1972
1973
Mexican poet and author (born 1925)
Rosario Castellanos Figueroa was a Mexican poet and author. She was one of Mexico's most important literary voices in the 20th century. Throughout her life, she wrote eloquently about issues of cultural and gender…
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1974
Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1902)
Joseph Sylvio Theobald Mantha was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame…
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1974
English trumpeter (born 1922)
Albert Edward Calvert was an English trumpeter successful in the 1950s. Between 1953 and 1958 he achieved seven instrumental hits on the UK Singles Chart, including the two chart-toppers "Oh, Mein Papa" in 1954 and…
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1978
Estonian chess player (born 1931)
Gunnar Uusi was an Estonian chess player who won the Estonian Chess Championship six times.
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1981
American actress (born 1922)
Grayson Hall was an American actress. She was widely regarded for her avant-garde theatrical performances from the 1960s to the 1980s, and was known to television audiences for playing multiple prominent roles on the…
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1985
Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (born 1900)
Camille Nimr Chamoun was a Lebanese politician and za'im who served as the 2nd president of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958. He was one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War.
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1987
American lawyer and politician (born 1944)
George Thomas "Mickey" Leland III was an American politician and anti-poverty activist. He served as a congressman from the Texas 18th District and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was a Democrat.
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1989
English actor (born 1934)
Lawrence Martyn was a British film and television actor known for his comedy performances.
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1994
English author and critic (born 1929)
Brigid Antonia Brophy was an English author, literary critic and polemicist. She was an influential campaigner who agitated for many types of social reform, including homosexual parity, vegetarianism, humanism, and…
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1995
Lithuanian basketball player (born 1932)
Algirdas Teodoras Lauritėnas was a Lithuanian basketball player. He was a member of the Soviet team during the 1950s, and won a silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was also part of the team that became European…
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2001
Sri Lankan zoologist and academic (born 1931)
Professor Kandiah David Arulpragasam was a Sri Lankan Tamil academic. He was the first vice-chancellor of Eastern University, Sri Lanka.
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2003
American baseball player and coach (born 1929)
Maurice Joseph "Mickey" McDermott Jr. was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.
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2003
2004
English ornithologist and academic (born 1948)
Colin Joseph Bibby was a British ornithologist and conservationist.
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2004
Canadian-American journalist and author (born 1938)
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings was a Canadian and American television journalist. He was best known for serving as the sole anchor of ABC World News Tonight from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005.…
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2005
Slovak painter (born 1909)
Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková was a Slovak painter, scenic designer and journalist.
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2005
American lawyer and politician (born 1911)
Mary Anderson Bain was a New Deal politician best known for her 33 years of service as Chief of Staff for Representative Sidney R. Yates, of Illinois.
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2006
Mexican actor, director, and producer (born 1917)
Ernesto Alonso was a Mexican producer, director, cinematographer and actor. He was nicknamed "El Señor Telenovela" because most of his work centered on telenovelas known around the world.
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2007
New Zealand businessman, founded Tait Communications (born 1919)
Sir Angus McMillan Tait was a New Zealand electronics innovator and businessman.
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2007
American talent agent and producer (born 1931)
Bernard Jules Brillstein was an American film and television producer, executive producer, and talent agent.
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2008
Italian engineer and businessman (born 1957)
Andrea Pininfarina was an Italian engineer and manager, former CEO of the Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina, founded by his grandfather Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930 and still controlled by the family. He was the son…
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2008
American educator and politician, 48th Mayor of Albuquerque (born 1933)
Louis Emilio Saavedra was an American politician and educator who served as the 25th mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as mayor from December 1989 until November 1993.
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2009
American singer-songwriter (born 1933)
Mike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who mainly played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and…
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2009
English mathematician and statistician (born 1924)
John Ashworth Nelder was a British statistician known for his contributions to experimental design, analysis of variance, computational statistics, and statistical theory.
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2010
American soldier, academic, and politician, 29th Governor of Oregon (born 1922)
Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A moderate Republican, he served eight years as the 29th governor of Oregon, followed by 30 years as one of its United States…
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2011
New Zealand-English captain and spy (born 1912)
Nancy Grace Augusta Wake,, also known as Madame Fiocca and Nancy Fiocca, was a New Zealand-born Australian nurse and journalist who joined the French Resistance and later the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during…
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2011
Azerbaijani academic and politician, Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan (born 1928)
Murtuz Najaf oglu Alasgarov, also spelled as Murtuz Aleskerov, was an Azerbaijani politician who served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan from 1996 to 2005.
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2012
American critic and academic (born 1922)
Judith Crist was an American film critic and academic.
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2012
Russian footballer and coach (born 1959)
Vladimir Vasilyevich Kobzev was a Russian professional football coach and player.
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2012
Italian journalist and author (born 1931)
Anna Maria Piaggi was an Italian fashion writer. She was known for her bright blue hair, liberal use of make-up, and her sense of style that mixed vintage and contemporary fashion.
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2012
American sociologist and academic (born 1931)
Mayer Nathan Zald was an American sociologist. He was a professor of sociology, social work and business administration at the University of Michigan, he made contributions to the sociology of organizations and social…
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2012
2012
American linguist, historian, and academic (born 1927)
Samuel Gordon Armistead was an American ethnographer, linguist, folklorist, historian, literary critic and professor of Spanish. He is considered one of the most notable Hispanist scholars of the second half of the 20th…
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2013
Russian footballer (born 1964)
Almir Izmailovich Kayumov was a Russian football player and referee.
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2013
English-Canadian biologist, chemist, and academic (born 1952)
Anthony James Pawson was a British-born Canadian genetic scientist. He was known and recognized for his work on cellular organization, including how cells respond to growth signals, and how they communicate with each…
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2013
American actress and dancer (born 1923)
Margaret Pellegrini was an American actress, vaudeville performer and dancer, best known for playing one of the Munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Until her death in 2013, she was one of the three surviving…
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2013
2013
Russian boxer (born 1961)
Alexander Gennadiyevich Yagubkin was a Soviet Olympic boxer, who competed between 1979 and 1988. The only Soviet boxer to become the World heavyweight champion (1982), he never turned pro due to political restrictions…
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2013
Argentine lawyer and politician (born 1955)
Víctor Manuel Federico Fayad was an Argentine politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Radical Civic Union.
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2014
American football player and coach (born 1926)
Perry Lee Moss was an American professional football player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange…
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2014
American record producer (born 1921)
Henry Stone, born Henry David Epstein, was an American record company executive and producer whose career spanned the era from R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the 2010s. He was best known…
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2014
Chilean general (born 1929)
Juan Manuel "Mamo" Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda was a Chilean Army officer and the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.…
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2015
Canadian pharmacologist and physician (born 1914)
Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey was a Canadian-American pharmacologist and physician who had a 45-year career with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a reviewer, she refused to authorize thalidomide for…
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2015
American golfer, co-founded LPGA (born 1923)
Mae Louise Suggs was an American professional golfer, one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf.
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2015
American racing driver (born 1989)
Bryan Timothy Clauson was an American professional auto racing driver, best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Clauson was increasingly seen…
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2016
American baseball player (born 1949)
Don Edward Baylor, nicknamed "Groove," was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. During his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), Baylor was a power hitter known for standing very close to…
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2017
American composer (born 1943)
David Maslanka was an American composer of Polish descent who wrote for a variety of genres, including works for choir, wind ensemble, chamber music, and symphony orchestra.
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2017
Slovak hockey player (born 1940)
Stanley Mikita was a Slovak-born Canadian ice hockey player for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best centre of the 1960s. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest…
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2018
American musician, singer, poet and cartoonist (born 1967)
David Cloud Berman was an American musician, singer-songwriter and poet who founded – and was the only constant member of – the indie rock band Silver Jews with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich.
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2019
American actress (born 1950)
Marjorie Armstrong Post, known professionally as Markie Post, was an American actress. Her best known roles include bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985; public defender Christine…
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2021
American comedian (born 1980)
Trevor Paul Moore was an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, and musician. He was a founding member of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know (WKUK), alongside Sam Brown, Zach Cregger, Timmy Williams and Darren…
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2021
American historian and author (born 1933)
David Gaub McCullough was an American popular historian and author. He was a two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United…
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2022
American film director (born 1935)
William David Friedkin was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in…
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2023
American astronaut (born 1943)
Jon Andrew McBride was an American naval officer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NASA.
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2024
2025
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Notable deaths
Who died on August 7?
M. Karunanidhi — Indian writer and politician (1924–2018)
FeaturedM. Karunanidhi
Death year2018
Known forHe had the longest intermittent tenure as Chief Minister with 6,863 days in office
Deaths on this date98 (461 – 2025)
Explore August 7
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on August 7 in History
2020
Air India Express Flight 1344 overshoots the runway at Calicut International Airport in the Malappuram district of Kerala, India, and crashes, killing 21 of the 190 people on board. Wikipedia →
2008
The start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia. Wikipedia →
2007
See all events on August 7
At AT&T Park, Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record. Wikipedia →
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