Did you know
He was known primarily for his orchestral and chamber music, such as Kakadu (1988) and Earth Cry (1986), which evoke the sounds and feeling of the Australian bushland and outback
Notable Deaths on August 8
104 people
117 – 2024
August 8 has seen 104 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 117 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
2014 — Peter Sculthorpe
Australian composer and conductor (born 1929)
Did you know
He also wrote 18 string quartets, using unusual timbral effects, works for piano, and two operas
Did you know
Peter Joshua Sculthorpe FAHA was a distinguished Australian composer and music educator
Did you know
Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighbouring Australia, as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aboriginal Australian music with that of the heritage of the West
Did you know
As one of the compositional pioneers of a distinctively Australian sound, Sculthorpe and his music have been likened to the role played by Aaron Copland in America's musical coming of age.
117
753
Frankish king (born 835)
Lothair II was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He is known for his over ten-year-long divorce case with his wife Teutberga so that he could remarry his long-standing lover Waldrada. Lothair began a…
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869
998
1002
bishop of Winchester (born 1111)
Henry of Blois, often known as Henry of Winchester, was Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey from 1126, and Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to his death.
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1171
Spanish nobleman (born 1230)
Henry of Castile, called the Senator, was a Castilian infante, the fourth son of Ferdinand III of Castile by his first wife, Beatrice of Swabia.
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1303
Dutch artist (born 1494)
Lucas van Leyden, also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very…
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1533
French mathematician and cartographer (born 1494)
Oronce Fine was a French mathematician, cartographer, editor and book illustrator.
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1555
Spanish painter (born 1532)
Alonso Sánchez Coello was an Iberian portrait painter of the Spanish and Portuguese Renaissance. He is mainly known for his portrait paintings executed in a style which combines the objectivity of the Flemish tradition…
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1588
Japanese daimyō (born 1578)
Horio Tadauji
was a tozama daimyō in the Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo period.
His father was Horio Yoshiharu.
He was the second leader of the Matsue clan.
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1604
Dutch painter (born 1548)
Cornelis or Cornelius Ketel was a Dutch Mannerist painter, active in Elizabethan London from 1573 to 1581, and in Amsterdam till his death. Ketel, known essentially as a portrait-painter, was also a poet and orator, and…
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1616
Lithuanian priest, lexicographer, and academic (born 1579)
Konstantinas Sirvydas was a Lithuanian religious preacher, lexicographer, and one of the pioneers of Lithuanian literature from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at the time a confederal part of the Polish-Lithuanian…
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1631
1st Baron Delamer, English politician (born 1622)
George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer, was an English landowner and politician from Cheshire, who served as an MP from 1646 to 1661, when he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Delamer.
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1684
German painter (born 1665)
Christoph Ludwig Agricola was a German landscape painter and etcher. He was born and died in Regensburg (Ratisbon).
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1724
Irish philosopher (born 1694)
Francis Hutcheson was an Irish philosopher of Scottish descent widely regarded as one of the key figures of the early Scottish Enlightenment. He served as Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow and…
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1746
Canadian raid leader (born 1678)
Marie-Madeleine Jarret, known as Madeleine de Verchères was a woman of New France credited with repelling a raid on Fort Verchères when she was 14 years old.
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1747
German tenor and composer (born 1704)
Carl Heinrich Graun was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.
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1759
English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1770)
George Canning was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the United…
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1827
Swedish botanist and psychologist (born 1743)
Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg, was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala University, he…
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1828
Haitian Empress (born 1758)
Empress Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, Empress of Haiti was the Empress of Haiti (1804–1806) as the wife of Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
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1858
Scottish-Canadian giant (born 1825)
Angus MacAskill was a Scottish man. In its 1981 edition, the Guinness Book of World Records stated he was the strongest man, the tallest non-pathological giant and the largest true giant in recorded history at 7 feet 9…
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1863
German philosopher and academic (born 1797)
Immanuel Hermann Fichte was a German philosopher and son of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. In his philosophy, he was a theist and strongly opposed to the Hegelian school.
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1879
American colonel, lawyer, and politician (born 1808)
Alexander William Doniphan was a 19th-century American attorney, soldier and politician from Missouri who is best known today as the man who prevented the summary execution of Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of…
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1887
Swiss historian and academic (born 1818)
Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. His best known work is The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). He is…
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1897
French painter (born 1824)
Eugène Louis Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summary and…
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1898
French painter and illustrator (born 1836)
Jacques Joseph Tissot, better known as James Tissot, was a French painter, illustrator, and caricaturist. He was born to a drapery merchant and a milliner and decided to pursue a career in art at a young age, coming to…
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1902
American painter and academic (born 1853)
John Henry Twachtman was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impressionism…
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1902
Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (born 1842)
Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ was an Australian religious sister. She was born in Melbourne but is best known for her activities in South Australia. Together with Fr Julian Tenison-Woods, she founded the Sisters of St Joseph…
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1909
American lawyer and politician (born 1830)
William Pierce Frye was an American politician from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, Frye spent most of his political career as a legislator, serving in the Maine House of Representatives and then U.S. House of…
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1911
Polish-born German cantor (born 1855)
Eduard Birnbaum (1855–1920) was a Polish-born German hazzan (cantor) and one of the first explorers of Jewish music.
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1920
Finnish journalist and author (born 1861)
Juhani Aho, originally Johannes Brofeldt, was a Finnish author and journalist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature sixteen times.
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1921
Croatian politician (born 1871)
Stjepan Radić was a Croat politician and the co-founder of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS), active in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
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1928
Scottish wrestler and weightlifter (born 1874)
Launceston Elliot was a British weightlifter, and the first athlete representing the United Kingdom to become an Olympic champion.
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1930
American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1863)
Wilbert Robinson, nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals. He…
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1934
1937
American clarinet player and saxophonist (born 1892)
Johnny Dodds was an American jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist based in New Orleans, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie…
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1940
German field marshal (born 1881)
Job Wilhelm Georg Erwin Erdmann von Witzleben was a German Generalfeldmarschall in the Wehrmacht and Oberbefehlshaber West, during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf…
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1944
German commander (born 1914)
Michael Wittmann was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War. He is known for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armoured Division during the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944. While…
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1944
Australian businessman, founded Qantas (born 1879)
Sir Fergus McMaster was an Australian businessman and aviation pioneer. He was one of the three founders of the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited, the airline company that became commonly known…
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1950
Australian painter (born 1902)
Albert Namatjira was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the most notable Australian artists. As a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art, he was…
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1959
American novelist and short story writer (born 1916)
Shirley Hardie Jackson was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Her writing career spanned over two decades, during which she composed six novels, two memoirs, and more than 200 short…
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1965
German biologist and eugenicist (born 1896)
Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer was a German human biologist and geneticist, who was the Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Münster until he retired in 1965. A member of the Verschuer family, his title…
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1969
English lieutenant (born 1907)
Frederick Spencer Chapman, was a British Army officer and World War II veteran, most famous for his exploits behind enemy lines in Japanese occupied Malaya. His medals include the Distinguished Service Order and Bar,…
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1971
Swedish historian and author (born 1898)
Karl Artur Vilhelm Moberg was a Swedish journalist, author, playwright, historian, and debater. His literary career, spanning more than 45 years, is associated with his four‑volume series The Emigrants. The novels,…
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1973
German anti-Nazi resistance fighter (born 1882)
Luise Wilhelmine Elisabeth Abegg was a German educator and resistance fighter against Nazism. She provided shelter to around 80 Jews during the Holocaust and was consequently recognised as Righteous Among the Nations.
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1974
American saxophonist (born 1928)
Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s.
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1975
English lieutenant and author (born 1910)
Lieutenant Commander Nicholas John Turney Monsarrat FRSL RNVR was a British novelist known for his sea stories, particularly The Cruel Sea (1951) and Three Corvettes (1942–1945), but perhaps known best internationally…
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1979
Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1910)
Brigadier-General Paul Triquet was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for valour in the presence of the enemy that can be awarded to British and other Commonwealth…
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1980
Irish republican, PIRA volunteer and Hunger Striker (born 1957)
Thomas McElwee was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer who participated in the 1981 hunger strike. From Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, he died at the age of 23 after 62 days on hunger…
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1981
English racing driver and businessman (born 1920)
Eric Brandon was a motor racing driver and businessman. He was closely associated with the Cooper Car Company, and was instrumental in the early development of the company.
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1982
American actor (born 1921)
Richard Lewis Deacon was an American television and motion picture actor, best known for playing supporting roles in television shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It to Beaver, and The Jack Benny Program, along…
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1984
American author and illustrator (born 1928)
Ellen Raskin was an American children's writer and illustrator. She won the 1979 Newbery Medal for The Westing Game, a mystery novel, and another children's mystery, Figgs & Phantoms, was a Newbery Honor Book in 1975.
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1984
American actress (born 1906)
Mary Louise Brooks was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helped popularize during the prime of her…
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1985
Croatian mathematician and physicist (born 1903)
Danilo Blanuša was a Croatian mathematician, physicist, engineer and a professor at the University of Zagreb.
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1987
Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1914)
Félix Leclerc was a Québécois singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968. Leclerc was posthumously inducted into the Canadian…
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1988
English actor (born 1903)
Alan William Napier-Clavering, better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later on in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for…
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1988
American colonel, pilot, and astronaut, eighth man to walk on the moon (born 1930)
James Benson Irwin was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing. He was the eighth…
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1991
Iranian religious leader and scholar (born 1899)
Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khoei was a major Iranian-Iraqi Shia marja and Dean of the Hawza of Najaf. Khoei was widely considered the most influential Twelver Shia Muslim scholar of his time.
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1992
English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)
Sir Nevill Francis Mott was a British theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 for his work on the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, especially amorphous semiconductors.…
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1996
Estonian chess player and journalist (born 1927)
Jüri Randviir was an Estonian chess player and journalist, who four times won the Estonian Chess Championship.
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1996
Iranian journalist (born 1968)
Mahmoud Saremi was an Iranian reporter, working for IRNA, as the news agency's head of office in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. He was killed by the Taliban when they occupied the Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif,…
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1998
Dutch-German SS officer and war criminal (born 1922)
Dirk Hoogendam, a.k.a. Dieter Hohendamm, alias The Boxer, was a Dutch war criminal.
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2003
Malian director and playwright (born 1930)
Falaba Issa Traoré was a Malian writer, comedian, playwright, and theatre and film director.
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2003
American painter and academic (born 1922)
Leon Golub was an American painter. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he also studied, receiving his BA at the University of Chicago in 1942, and his BFA and MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in…
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2004
2004
American actress (born 1922)
Barbara Bel Geddes was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost five decades. She received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe…
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2005
South African missionary and author (born 1918)
Ahmed Husein Deedat was a South African-Indian Islamic author, intellectual, and orator on comparative religion. He was best known as a Muslim missionary, who held numerous inter-religious public debates with…
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2005
American publisher, founded the Johnson Publishing Company (born 1918)
John Harold Johnson was an American business executive and publisher. He was the founder in 1942 of the Johnson Publishing Company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Johnson's company, with its creation of Ebony…
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2005
American baseball player and manager (born 1925)
Gene William Mauch was an American professional baseball player and manager who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates (1947), Chicago Cubs (1948–1949),…
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2005
American commander, wrestler, and coach (born 1912)
Dean Ladrath Rockwell ) was a decorated World War II group commander in the D-Day invasion, an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling coach, and a college football coach.
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2005
Swedish-English painter (born 1938)
Monica Sjöö was a Swedish-born British-based painter, writer and radical anarcho/ eco-feminist and peace activist who was an early exponent of the Goddess movement. Her books and paintings were foundational to the…
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2005
2007
American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1917)
Melville Shavelson was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw) from 1969 to 1971, 1979 to 1981, and 1985 to 1987.
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2007
American golfer (born 1933)
Orville James Moody was an American professional golfer who won numerous tournaments in his career. He won the U.S. Open in 1969, the last champion in the 20th century to win through local and sectional qualifying.
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2008
Spanish footballer (born 1983)
Daniel Jarque González was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a central defender and spent his entire career with Espanyol. He was named team captain one month before his death from a heart attack at the…
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2009
American actress (born 1926)
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She is well known for, among other roles, playing World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), radio journalist Marcia Jeffries in A…
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2010
German-American physicist and academic (born 1926)
Fay Ajzenberg-Selove was an American nuclear physicist. She was known for her experimental work in nuclear spectroscopy of light elements, and for her annual reviews of the energy levels of light atomic nuclei. She was…
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2012
English poet and academic (born 1931)
Dorothea Ruth Etchells was an English poet and college principal who spent most of her working life in the University of Durham.
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2012
Indonesian footballer and manager (born 1944)
Liem Soei Liang, also known as Surya Lesmana was an Indonesian association football player and manager. Lesmana played midfielder for Persija Jakarta and the Indonesia national team, He also played for Mackinnons in…
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2012
German director and screenwriter (born 1911)
Kurt Maetzig was a German film director who had a significant effect on the film industry in East Germany. He was one of the most respected filmmakers of the GDR. After his retirement he lived in Wildkuhl, Mecklenburg,…
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2012
American actress (born 1939)
Karen Blanche Black was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portraying eccentric and offbeat…
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2013
Dutch bishop (born 1926)
Johannes Willem Maria Bluyssen or Bluijssen was a Dutch Catholic bishop.
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2013
Mexican painter, engraver, and illustrator (born 1918)
Fernando Castro Pacheco was a Mexican painter, engraver, illustrator, printmaker and teacher. As well as being known for traditional artistic forms, Castro Pacheco illustrated several children’s books and produced works…
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2013
2013
American soprano and actress (born 1922)
Regina Resnik was an American opera singer who had an active international career that spanned five decades. She began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a lengthy and fruitful relationship with the…
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2013
Israeli director and producer (born 1929)
Menahem Golan was an Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He co-owned The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon specialized in producing low-to-mid-budget American films, primarily genre films,…
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2014
2014
Filipino archbishop (born 1935)
Leonardo Zamora Legaspi, OP was a Filipino prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. He was best known for his tenure as the third archbishop of Caceres from 1984 to 2012 and being the first Filipino…
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2014
American football and baseball player (born 1929)
Robert James "Red" Wilson was an American professional baseball and college baseball and football player. He played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1951–1954), Detroit Tigers (1954–1960),…
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2014
American rapper (born 1972)
Sean Duval Price was an American rapper and member of the hip-hop collective Boot Camp Clik. He was one half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruck, along with partner Rock.
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2015
Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1925)
James Angus Gerald "Old Hardrock" Mortson was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black Hawks, and Detroit Red Wings, winning four Stanley…
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2015
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1936)
Glen Travis Campbell was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television from 1969 until…
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2017
Kenyan track and field athlete (born 1990)
Nicholas Kiplagat Bett was a Kenyan track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres hurdles. His personal best for the event is 47.79 seconds. He was a world champion in the event, having won in 2015, and a…
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2018
Colombian football player and manager (born 1929)
Gabriel Ochoa Uribe was a Colombian football player and manager. He won four league titles and the Copa Colombia with Millonarios as a player and fourteen league titles as a manager, making him the most successful…
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2020
former Philippine senator and Mayor of Manila (born 1929)
Alfredo "Fred" Siojo Lim was a Filipino politician, police officer and lawyer who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 2004 to 2007, He also served as the 23rd and 25th Mayor of Manila twice: first from 1992 to…
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2020
Canadian politician, 18th premier of Ontario (born 1929)
William Grenville Davis was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the second-longest serving premier of Ontario.
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2021
English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress (born 1948)
Dame Olivia Newton-John was an English and Australian singer, songwriter and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the highest-selling…
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2022
2023
Cameroonian basketball player and football executive (born 1946)
Issa Hayatou was a Cameroonian sports executive, athlete, and football administrator best known for serving as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) between 1988 and 2017. He served as the acting…
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2024
American actress (born 1930)
Mitzi McCall was an American comedian and actress. She was known for her work with her husband, Charlie Brill, and their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, the same episode that featured the first…
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2024
Puerto Rican professional golfer (born 1935)
Juan Antonio "Chi-Chi" Rodríguez was a Puerto Rican professional golfer. The winner of eight PGA Tour events, he was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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2024
American politician and lobbyist (born 1938)
Steven Douglas Symms was an American politician and lobbyist who served as a four-term congressman (1973–1981) and two-term U.S. senator (1981–1993), representing Idaho. He later became a partner at Parry, Romani,…
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2024
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Notable deaths
Who died on August 8?
Peter Sculthorpe — Australian composer (1929–2014)
FeaturedPeter Sculthorpe
Death year2014
Known forMuch of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighbouring Australia, as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aboriginal Australian music with that of the heritage of the West
Deaths on this date104 (117 – 2024)
Explore August 8
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on August 8 in History
2024
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus takes oath as Chief Adviser to form an interim government in Bangladesh. Wikipedia →
2023
Hawaii wildfires: Seventeen thousand acres of land are burned and at least 101 people are killed, with two others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Wikipedia →
2022
See all events on August 8
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida. Wikipedia →
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