August 6

August 6 is the 218th day of the year (219th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 147 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

Events

• 1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
• 1506 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Kletsk
• 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
• 1661 – The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The bloody Battle of Oriskany prevents American relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix.
• 1787 – Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1806 – Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates, ending the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1819 – Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
• 1824 – Battle of Junín Peru.
• 1825 – Bolivia gains independence from Spain.
• 1861 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos, Nigeria.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Wörth results in a decisive Prussian victory.
• 1890 – At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
• 1901 – Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
• 1912 – The Bull Moose Party meets at the Chicago Coliseum.
• 1914 – World War I: First Battle of the Atlantic: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.
• 1914 – World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia.
• 1915 – World War I: Battle of Sari Bair: The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
• 1917 – World War I: Battle of Mărășești between the Romanian and German armies begins.
• 1926 – Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
• 1926 – In New York City, the Warner Bros.' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
• 1930 – Judge Joseph Force Crater steps into a taxi in New York and disappears never to be seen again.
• 1940 – Estonia was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union.
• 1942 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
• 1944 – The Warsaw Uprising occurs on August 1. It is brutally suppressed and all able-bodied men in Kraków are detained afterwards to prevent a similar uprising, the Kraków Uprising, that was planned but never carried out.
• 1945 – World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning.
• 1956 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.
• 1960 – Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
• 1962 – Jamaica becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1964 – Prometheus, a bristlecone pine and the world's oldest tree, is cut down.
• 1965 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
• 1976 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lays the foundation stone of Port Qasim, Karachi.
• 1986 – A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• 1988 – The Tompkins Square Park Riot in New York City spurs a reform of the NYPD, held responsible for the event.
• 1990 – Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
• 1991 – Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.
• 1991 – Takako Doi, chair of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
• 1996 – The Ramones played their farewell concert at The Palace, Los Angeles, CA.
• 1996 – NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
• 1997 – Korean Air Flight 801 crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam killing 228 of 254 people on board.
• 2001 – Erwadi fire incident, 28 mentally ill persons tied to chain were burnt to death at a faith based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu.
• 2008 – A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
• 2010 – Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people.
• 2011 – A march in protest of the death of Mark Duggan in Tottenham, London, ends in a riot, sparking off a wave of rioting throughout the country over the following four nights.
• 2011 – War in Afghanistan: A United States military helicopter is shot down, killing 30 American special forces members and a working dog, 7 Afghan soldiers, and 1 Afghan civilian. It was the deadliest single event for the United States in the War in Afghanistan.
• 2012 – NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars.
• 2015 – A suicide bomb attack kills at least 15 people at a mosque in the south-western Saudi city of Abha.

Births

• 1180 – Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (d. 1239)
• 1504 – Matthew Parker, English archbishop (d. 1575)
• 1609 – Richard Bennett, English-American politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1675)
• 1619 – Barbara Strozzi, Italian composer and singer-songwriter (d. 1677)
• 1638 – Nicolas Malebranche, French priest and philosopher (d. 1715)
• 1644 – Louise de La Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710)
• 1656 – Claude de Forbin, French general (d. 1733)
• 1666 – Maria Sophia of Neuburg (d. 1699)
• 1667 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1748)
• 1697 – Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1745)
• 1715 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (d. 1747)
• 1765 – Petros Mavromichalis, Greek general and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1848)
• 1766 – William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist and physicist (d. 1828)
• 1768 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French general and politician (d. 1813)
• 1775 – Daniel O'Connell, Irish lawyer and politician, Lord Mayor of Dublin (d. 1847)
• 1809 – Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet (d. 1892)
• 1826 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (d. 1915)
• 1835 – Hjalmar Kiærskou, Danish botanist (d. 1900)
• 1844 – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1900)
• 1844 – James Henry Greathead, South African-English engineer (d. 1896)
• 1846 – Anna Haining Bates, Canadian-American giant (d. 1888)
• 1868 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (d. 1955)
• 1874 – Charles Fort, American author (d. 1932)
• 1877 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1952)
• 1880 – Hans Moser, Austrian actor and singer (d. 1964)
• 1881 – Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961)
• 1881 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
• 1881 – Louella Parsons, American actress, screenwriter, and journalist (d. 1972)
• 1883 – Scott Nearing, American economist and educator (d. 1983)
• 1886 – Edward Ballantine, American composer and academic (d. 1971)
• 1887 – Dudley Benjafield, English race car driver (d. 1957)
• 1888 – Heinrich Schlusnus, German singer (d. 1952)
• 1889 – George Kenney, Canadian-American general (d. 1977)
• 1889 – John Middleton Murry, English poet and author (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Wentworth Beaumont, 2nd Viscount Allendale, English captain and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland (d. 1956)
• 1891 – William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, English field marshal and politician, 13th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1970)
• 1892 – Hoot Gibson, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1962)
• 1893 – Wright Patman, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1976)
• 1895 – Ernesto Lecuona, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1963)
• 1900 – Cecil Howard Green, English-American geophysicist and businessman, co-founded Texas Instruments (d. 2003)
• 1902 – Dutch Schultz, American gangster (d. 1935)
• 1904 – Jean Dessès, Greek-Egyptian fashion designer (d. 1970)
• 1904 – Henry Iba, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993)
• 1906 – Vic Dickenson, American trombonist (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Helen Jacobs, American tennis player and commander (d. 1997)
• 1908 – Will Lee, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Lajos Vajda, Hungarian painter and illustrator (d. 1941)
• 1909 – Diana Keppel, Countess of Albemarle (d. 2013)
• 1910 – Charles Crichton, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Lucille Ball, American actress, television producer and businesswoman (d. 1989)
• 1911 – Norman Gordon, South African cricketer (d. 2014)
• 1911 – Constance Heaven, English author and actress (d. 1995)
• 1912 – Richard C. Miller, American photographer (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Gordon Freeth, Australian lawyer and politician, 24th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Richard Hofstadter, American historian and academic (d. 1970)
• 1916 – Dom Mintoff, Maltese journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 2012)
• 1917 – Barbara Cooney, American author and illustrator (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1918 – Norman Granz, American-Swiss record producer and manager (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (d. 2011)
• 1920 – Selma Diamond, Canadian-American actress and screenwriter (d. 1985)
• 1920 – John Graves, American author (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Ella Raines, American actress (d. 1988)
• 1922 – Freddie Laker, English businessman, founded Laker Airways (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Dan Walker, American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Illinois (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Jess Collins, American painter (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Paul Hellyer, Canadian engineer and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of Defence
• 1924 – Samuel Bowers, American activist, co-founded the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Barbara Bates, American actress and singer (d. 1969)
• 1926 – Elisabeth Beresford, French-English journalist and author (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Frank Finlay, English actor (d. 2016)
• 1926 – Clem Labine, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
• 1926 – János Rózsás, Hungarian author (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Norman Wexler, American screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1927 – Inga Landgré, Swedish actress
• 1928 – Herb Moford, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Andy Warhol, American painter and photographer (d. 1987)
• 1929 – Mike Elliott, Jamaican saxophonist (The Foundations and Rico's Combo)
• 1929 – Roch La Salle, Canadian politician, 42nd Canadian Minister of Public Works (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Abbey Lincoln, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2010)
• 1931 – Chalmers Johnson, American scholar and author (d. 2010)
• 1932 – Michael Deeley, English screenwriter and producer
• 1932 – Howard Hodgkin, English painter
• 1932 – Ahmet Mekin, Turkish actor
• 1932 – Charles Wood, English playwright and screenwriter
• 1933 – A. G. Kripal Singh, Indian cricketer (d. 1987)
• 1934 – Piers Anthony, English-American soldier and author
• 1934 – Chris Bonington, English mountaineer and author
• 1934 – Billy Boston, Welsh rugby player and soldier
• 1935 – Fortunato Baldelli, Italian cardinal (d. 2012)
• 1935 – Octavio Getino, Spanish-Argentinian director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 2000)
• 1937 – Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (Old and New Dreams) (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Barbara Windsor, English actress and singer
• 1938 – Paul Bartel, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
• 1938 – Peter Bonerz, American actor and director
• 1938 – Bert Yancey, American golfer (d. 1994)
• 1940 – Mukhu Aliyev, Russian philologist and politician, 2nd President of Dagestan
• 1940 – Egil Kapstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
• 1940 – Louise Sorel, American actress
• 1941 – Lyle Berman, American businessman and poker player
• 1941 – Ray Culp, American baseball player
• 1941 – Andrew Green, Baron Green of Deddington, English diplomat
• 1942 – George Jung, American drug trafficker
• 1942 – Byard Lancaster, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Jon Postel, American computer scientist and academic (d. 1998)
• 1944 – Inday Badiday, Filipino journalist and actress (d. 2003)
• 1944 – Michael Mingos, English chemist and academic
• 1944 – Martin Wharton, English bishop
• 1945 – Ron Jones, English director and production manager (d. 1993)
• 1945 – Andy Messersmith, American baseball player and coach
• 1946 – Judy Craig, American singer
• 1946 – Allan Holdsworth, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1947 – Radhia Cousot, French computer scientist and academic
• 1947 – Tony Dell, English-Australian cricketer and soldier
• 1948 – William McCrea, Irish soldier and politician
• 1949 – Dino Bravo, Italian-Canadian wrestler (d. 1993)
• 1949 – Richard Prince, American painter and photographer
• 1949 – Clarence Richard Silva, American bishop
• 1950 – Dorian Harewood, American actor and singer
• 1951 – Christophe de Margerie, French businessman (d. 2014)
• 1951 – Catherine Hicks, American actress
• 1951 – Daryl Somers, Australian singer, television host, and producer
• 1952 – Pat MacDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Timbuk3)
• 1952 – David McLetchie, Scottish lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1952 – Ton Scherpenzeel, Dutch keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Kayak Camel, and Earth and Fire)
• 1952 – Vinnie Vincent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Kiss and Vinnie Vincent Invasion)
• 1953 – Iqbal Qasim, Pakistani cricketer
• 1954 – Paul Steigerwald, American sportscaster
• 1955 – Rusty Magee, American actor and composer (d. 2003)
• 1955 – John Reid, Irish jockey
• 1956 – Bill Emmott, English journalist and author
• 1957 – Bob Horner, American baseball player
• 1957 – Jim McGreevey, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New Jersey
• 1958 – Randy DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1958 – Ted Shepherd, Grantham Professor of Climate Science at the University of Reading
• 1959 – Rajendra Singh, Indian environmentalist
• 1960 – Dale Ellis, American basketball player
• 1961 – Mary Ann Sieghart, English journalist and radio host
• 1962 – Michelle Yeoh, Malaysian-Hong Kong actress and producer
• 1963 – Charles Ingram, English soldier, author, and game show contestant
• 1963 – Kevin Mitnick, American computer hacker and author
• 1964 – Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, Nigerian journalist, activist, social media expert, and pharmacist
• 1964 – Gary Valenciano, Filipino singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1965 – Ravi Coltrane, American saxophonist
• 1965 – Yuki Kajiura, Japanese pianist and composer
• 1965 – David Robinson, American basketball player and lieutenant
• 1965 – Vince Wells, English cricketer
• 1967 – Lorna Fitzsimons, English businesswoman and politician
• 1967 – Mike Greenberg, American journalist and sportscaster
• 1967 – Julie Snyder, Canadian talk show host and producer
• 1968 – Jack de Gier, Dutch footballer
• 1969 – Simon Doull, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
• 1969 – Elliott Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Heatmiser) (d. 2003)
• 1970 – M. Night Shyamalan, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Erwin Thijs, Belgian cyclist
• 1971 – Merrin Dungey, American actress
• 1971 – Scott Minto, English footballer and sportscaster
• 1971 – Piyal Wijetunge, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1972 – Paolo Bacigalupi, American author
• 1972 – Darren Eales, English footballer and lawyer
• 1972 – Geri Halliwell, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
• 1972 – Ray Lucas, American football player and sportscaster
• 1973 – Vera Farmiga, American actress
• 1973 – Monica Goodling, American lawyer
• 1973 – Max Kellerman, American sportscaster and radio host
• 1973 – Iain Morris, English screenwriter and producer
• 1973 – Stuart O'Grady, Australian cyclist
• 1974 – Bobby Petta, Dutch footballer
• 1974 – Luis Vizcaíno, Dominican baseball player
• 1974 – Alvin Williams, American basketball player and coach
• 1975 – Jason Crump, English-Australian motorcycle racer
• 1975 – Renate Götschl, Austrian skier
• 1975 – Jamie McGonnigal, American voice actor and producer
• 1975 – Víctor Zambrano, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1976 – Soleil Moon Frye, American actress and producer
• 1976 – Melissa George, Australian-American actress
• 1976 – Adam Ritson, Australian rugby league player
• 1976 – Shaun Timmins, Australian rugby league player
• 1977 – Leandro Amaral, Brazilian footballer
• 1977 – Jimmy Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager
• 1977 – Luciano Zavagno, Argentinian footballer
• 1978 – Marisa Miller, American model and actress
• 1978 – Reuben Rox, American actor, director, and producer
• 1978 – Marvel Smith, American football player
• 1979 – Francesco Bellotti, Italian cyclist
• 1979 – Jaime Correa, Mexican footballer
• 1979 – Travis Reed, American basketball player
• 1980 – Danny Collins, English-Welsh footballer
• 1980 – Seneca Wallace, American football player
• 1980 – Roman Weidenfeller, German footballer
• 1981 – Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italian race car driver
• 1981 – Diána Póth, Hungarian figure skater
• 1982 – Jordis Unga, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1982 – Kevin van der Perren, Belgian figure skater
• 1983 – Neil Harvey, English-Barbadian footballer
• 1983 – C. J. Mosley, American football player
• 1983 – Robin van Persie, Dutch footballer
• 1984 – Sofia Essaïdi, Moroccan singer, dancer, and actress
• 1984 – Eva-Maria Hoch, Austrian tennis player
• 1984 – Vedad Ibišević, Bosnian footballer
• 1984 – Jesse Ryder, New Zealand cricketer
• 1985 – Viktoria Baškite, Estonian chess player
• 1985 – Mickaël Delage, French cyclist
• 1985 – Bafétimbi Gomis, French footballer
• 1985 – Garrett Weber-Gale, American swimmer
• 1986 – Mehmet Akgün, Turkish footballer
• 1986 – Raphael Pyrasch, German rugby player
• 1991 – Jiao Liuyang, Chinese swimmer
• 1992 – Tara Moore, British tennis player
• 1995 – Rebecca Peterson, Swedish tennis player
• 1997 – Kristína Schmiedlová, Slovak tennis player
• 2001 – Ty Simpkins, American actor

Deaths

• 258 – Pope Sixtus II
• 523 – Pope Hormisdas (b. 450)
• 750 – Marwan II, Umayyad general and caliph (b. 688)
• 1162 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (b. 1113)
• 1195 – Henry the Lion, German son of Henry X, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1129)
• 1221 – Saint Dominic, Spanish priest, founded the Dominican Order (b. 1170)
• 1272 – Stephen V of Hungary (b. 1239)
• 1414 – Ladislaus of Naples (b. 1377)
• 1458 – Pope Callixtus III (b. 1378)
• 1623 – Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare (b. 1556)
• 1628 – Johannes Junius, German lawyer and politician (b. 1573)
• 1637 – Ben Jonson, English poet and playwright (b. 1572)
• 1645 – Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, English merchant and politician (b. 1575)
• 1657 – Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian soldier and politician, 1st Hetman of Zaporizhian Host (b. 1595)
• 1660 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1599)
• 1679 – John Snell, Scottish-English soldier and philanthropist, founded the Snell Exhibition (b. 1629)
• 1694 – Antoine Arnauld, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1612)
• 1695 – François de Harlay de Champvallon, French archbishop (b. 1625)
• 1753 – Georg Wilhelm Richmann, Estonian-Russian physicist and academic (b. 1711)
• 1757 – Ádám Mányoki, Hungarian painter (b. 1673)
• 1794 – Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1714)
• 1815 – James A. Bayard, American lawyer and politician (b. 1767)
• 1828 – Konstantin von Benckendorff, Russian general and diplomat (b. 1785)
• 1850 – Edward Walsh, Irish poet and songwriter (b. 1805)
• 1866 – John Mason Neale, English priest, scholar, and hymnwriter (b. 1818)
• 1881 – James Springer White, American religious leader, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (b. 1821)
• 1884 – Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1812)
• 1893 – Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1811)
• 1904 – Eduard Hanslick, Austrian author and critic (b. 1825)
• 1920 – Stefan Bastyr, Polish pilot and author (b. 1890)
• 1925 – Surendranath Banerjee, Indian academic and politician (b. 1848)
• 1931 – Bix Beiderbecke, American cornet player, pianist, and composer (b. 1903)
• 1945 – Richard Bong, American soldier and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1920)
• 1945 – Hiram Johnson, American lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of California (b. 1866)
• 1946 – Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player and coach (b. 1903)
• 1959 – Preston Sturges, American director, screenwriter, and playwright (b. 1898)
• 1963 – Houseley Stevenson, American actor (b. 1879)
• 1964 – Cedric Hardwicke, English-American actor and director (b. 1893)
• 1966 – Cordwainer Smith, American sinologist, author, and academic (b. 1913)
• 1969 – Theodor W. Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903)
• 1970 – Nikos Tsiforos, Greek director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 1973 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (b. 1901)
• 1976 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian-American cellist and educator (b. 1903)
• 1978 – Pope Paul VI (b. 1897)
• 1978 – Edward Durell Stone, American architect, designed Radio City Music Hall and the Kennedy Center (b. 1902)
• 1979 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 1983 – Klaus Nomi, German singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1944)
• 1985 – William Anstruther-Gray, Baron Kilmany, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1905)
• 1985 – Forbes Burnham, Guyanese politician, 2nd President of Guyana (b. 1923)
• 1986 – Emilio Fernández, Mexican actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
• 1987 – Ira C. Eaker, American general (b. 1896)
• 1990 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (b. 1912)
• 1991 – Shapour Bakhtiar, Iranian soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1915)
• 1991 – Roland Michener, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Governor General of Canada (b. 1900)
• 1991 – Harry Reasoner, American journalist, co-created 60 Minutes (b. 1923)
• 1992 – Leszek Błażyński, Polish boxer (b. 1949)
• 1993 – Tex Hughson, American baseball player (b. 1916)
• 1994 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and politician (b. 1928)
• 1997 – Shin Ki-ha, South Korean lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
• 1998 – André Weil, French-American mathematician and academic (b. 1906)
• 2001 – Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist and poet (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Wilhelm Mohnke, German general (b. 1911)
• 2001 – Shan Ratnam, Sri Lankan physician and academic (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Dorothy Tutin, English actress (b. 1930)
• 2002 – Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch physicist, computer scientist, and academic (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Julius Baker, American flute player and educator (b. 1915)
• 2004 – Rick James, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1948)
• 2004 – Donald Justice, American poet and academic (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Keter Betts, American bassist (b. 1928)
• 2005 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (b. 1946)
• 2005 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Heinz Barth, German lieutenant (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (b. 1969)
• 2008 – Angelos Kitsos, Greek lawyer and author (b. 1934)
• 2009 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer and author (b. 1909)
• 2009 – Willy DeVille, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
• 2009 – John Hughes, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1950)
• 2009 – Willibrordus S. Rendra, Indonesian poet and playwright (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Bahadır Akkuzu, Turkish musician (b. 1955)
• 2011 – Fe del Mundo, Filipino pediatrician and educator (b. 1911)
• 2012 – Richard Cragun, American-Brazilian ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Marvin Hamlisch, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Robert Hughes, Australian-American author and critic (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Bernard Lovell, English physicist and astronomer (b. 1913)
• 2012 – Mark O'Donnell, American playwright (b. 1954)
• 2012 – Ruggiero Ricci, American violinist and educator (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (b. 1953)
• 2013 – Jeremy Geidt, English-American actor and educator (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Stan Lynde, American author and illustrator (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Mava Lee Thomas, American baseball player (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Jerry Wolman, American businessman (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Ralph Bryans, Northern Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Ananda W. P. Guruge, Sri Lankan scholar and diplomat (b. 1928)
• 2014 – John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Andrey Stenin, Russian photographer and journalist (b. 1980)
• 2014 – Smita Talwalkar, Indian actress and producer (b. 1954)
• 2015 – Ray Hill, American football player (b. 1975)
• 2015 – Frederick R. Payne, Jr., American general and pilot (b. 1911)
• 2015 – Orna Porat, German-Israeli actress (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances

• • Justus and Pastor
  • August 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Accession Day. (United Arab Emirates)
• Independence Day (Bolivia), celebrates the independence of Bolivia from Spain in 1825.
• Independence Day (Jamaica), celebrates the independence of Jamaica from the United Kingdom in 1962.
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony (Hiroshima, Japan)
• Russian Railway Troops Day (Russia)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada^{[permanent dead link]}