Historical Events
Event of Interest
Aug 1 Former Lockheed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers crashes the news helicopter he was flying in Los Angeles
Baseball Record
Aug 1 San Francisco Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits NL record 18th MLB career grand slam
- Aug 2 In his comeback Test, England cricket batsman Geoff Boycott is unbeaten on 80 after a 1st innings 107 as England beats Australia by 7 wickets in the 3rd Test at Trent Bridge
- Aug 3 Radio Shack introduces the TRS-80 personal computer, within weeks thousands were ordered
- Aug 3 United States Senate Hearing on MKULTRA.
- Aug 4 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Aug 4 US President Carter establishes Department of Energy
- Aug 7 Gary Geld and Peter Udell's musical "Shenandoah", based on the film of the same name, closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 1,050 performances and 2 Tony Awards
- Aug 7 Mount Usu volcano in Hokkaido, Japan erupts for the first time in over 30 years
- Aug 8 Maurine Stuart, ordained as Zen priest by Eido Tai Shimano Roshi
- Aug 8 Texas Rangers turn their 1st triple play (vs A's)
- Aug 9 Chris Old completes a century in 37 mins, Yorks v Warwicks
- Aug 9 Military-controlled Government of Uruguay announces the return to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 to democratically elect a President and Congress
- Aug 9 NHL refuses merger of 6 WHA clubs
- Aug 10 About 100 white sympathisers joined evicted black squatters in a protest against the demolition of shanty dwellings outside Cape Town, South Africa
- Aug 10 Phillies & Expos play a doubleheader that ends at 3:23 AM
- Aug 10 Postal employee David Berkowitz arrested in Yonkers NY, accused of being "Son of Sam" 44 caliber killer
- Aug 10 US & Panama sign Panama Canal Zone accord
- Aug 10 USSR performs (underground) nuclear test
- Aug 11 Geoff Boycott scores his 100th FC hundred, v Aust at Headingley
- Aug 12 For 2nd straight day, Oakland's Manny Sanguillen foils a no-hit bid
- Aug 12 High Energy Astronomy Observatory 1 (HEAO) is launched into Earth's orbit by NASA
- Aug 12 Space shuttle Enterprise makes 1st atmospheric test flight
- Aug 13 1st test glide of space shuttle
- Aug 13 Randy Bachman quits band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, they then disband
- Aug 14 77,691 see NY Cosmos beat Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 at Giants Stadium
- Aug 14 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Pebble Beach: Lanny Wadkins wins his only major title in event's 1st sudden-death playoff with Gene Littler
- Aug 15 "Wow" possible alien radio signal from deep space received at "The Big Ear", Ohio State's radio telescope in Delaware
- Aug 15 England regain cricket Ashes by taking a 3-0 series lead over Australia
- Aug 15 Herbert Kappler, head of Nazi police and security services (SS) in Rome during WWII, escapes from prison hospital in Rome
- Aug 16 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Aug 16 Yanks blow 9-4 lead in 9th but beat Chicago 11-10 in bottom of 9th
- Aug 17 Russian nuclear sub "Artika" is 1st to North Pole
- Aug 17 Thomas Wessinghage, Harald Hudak, Michael Lederer and Karl Fleschen walk world record 4x1500m (14:38.8)
- Aug 17 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Aug 18 2 girls are killed by a runaway car outside of Graceland
Baseball Record
Aug 18 Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton throws his NL record tying 5th one-hitter
- Aug 18 South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is arrested at a roadblock (dies of police beating 12 September)
- Aug 19 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
Voyager 2 Spacecraft
Aug 20 NASA launches Voyager 2 towards Jupiter, Saturn, (later Uranus and Neptune also)
- Aug 21 American water skier Donna Patterson Brice sets women's high speed record 111.11 mph at Long Beach, California
- Aug 23 1st human-powered flight over a mile by Bryan Allen in the Gossamer Condor, designed by Paul MacCready wins the first Kremer prize
- Aug 23 Marxist philosopher Rudolf Bahro imprisoned in German DR
Hockey Hall of Fame
Aug 25 Canadian NHL player Tim Horton posthumously inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame
Music History
Aug 27 John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical "Chicago" closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 936 performances
- Aug 27 Toby Harrah and Bump Wills hit back-to-back inside-the-park-homers off Yankee Ken Clay at Yankee Stadium, Rangers won 8-2
Baseball Record
Aug 28 Nolan Ryan strikes out 300 batters for 5th straight year
- Aug 28 NY Cosmos defeat Seattle Sounders, 2-1, at Civic Stadium in Portland Ore, winning their 2nd North American Soccer League championship
Baseball History
Aug 28 NY Yankee Ron Guidry faces just 28 men & beats Texas Rangers 1-0
Lust for Life
Aug 29 Iggy Pop releases his second album "Lust for Life", a collaboration with David Bowie
- Aug 31 Aleksandr Fedotov sets aircraft altitude record of 38.26 km (125,524')
- Aug 31 Ian Smith, espousing racial segregation, wins Rhodesian general election with 80% of overwhelmingly white electorate's vote
- Aug 31 Spyros Kyprianou appointed president of Cyprus
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 1 Damien Saez, French rock singer and songwriter, born in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France
- Aug 1 Marc Denis, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Montreal, Quebec
- Aug 2 Edward Furlong, American actor (John Connor-Terminator 2), born in Pasedina, California
- Aug 3 Óscar Pereiro, Spanish cyclist (Tour de France 2006 winner), born in Mos, Galicia, Spain
Tom Brady (46 years old)
Aug 3 American NFL quarterback (7 x Super Bowl 2001, 03, 04, 14, 17, 18 NE Patriots, TB Buccaneers 20; NFL MVP 2007, 10, 17; 14 x Pro Bowl), born in San Mateo, California
- Aug 3 Tómas Lemarquis, Icelandic actor (Nói Albínói), born in Reykjavík, Iceland
- Aug 4 Frankie Kazarian, American professional wrestler
- Aug 4 Luís Boa Morte, Portuguese footballer
- Aug 5 Eric Hinske, American baseball utility and coach (AL Rookie of the Year 2002; 3-time WS champion), born in Menasha, Wisconsin
- Aug 5 Mark Mulder, American baseball player (Oakland Athletics,St. Louis Cardinals), born in South Holland, Illinois
- Aug 6 Jennifer Lyons, American actress
- Aug 6 Leandro Amaral, Brazilian footballer
- Aug 6 Luciano Zavagno, Argentine footballer
- Aug 7 Samantha Ronson, British DJ, born in Camden, London
- Aug 8 Kurt Bernard, Costa Rican footballer
- Aug 8 Lindsay Sloane, American actress
- Aug 8 Mohammad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer
- Aug 8 Robert Randolph, American pedal steel guitarist (Robert Randolph and the Family Band), born in Irvington, New Jersey
- Aug 8 Rocky Thompson, Canadian ice hockey player
- Aug 8 Szilárd Németh, Slovak soccer striker (58 caps; Slovan Bratislava, Middlesborough, Alemannia Aachen), born in Komárno, Slovakia
- Aug 9 Adewale Ogunleye, American football player (Chicago Bears), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Aug 9 Aldona Nawrocka, Polish classical pianist, composer and educator, born in Rzeszów, Poland
- Aug 9 Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player (Washington Mystics), born in Queens, New York
- Aug 9 Jason Frasor, American baseball player (Toronto Blue Jays), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 9 Mikael Silvestre, French footballer (Manchester United), born in Chambray-lès-Tours, France
- Aug 10 Aaron Kamin, American guitarist, and singer-songwriter (The Calling), born in Studio City, California
- Aug 10 Danny Griffin, Irish soccer defender, midfielder (29 caps Northern Ireland; St Johnstone 124 games), Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Aug 10 Matt Morgan, British comedian (The Russel Brand Show), born in Dartford, Kent
- Aug 11 Gemma Hayes, Irish born singer
Iva Majoli (46 years old)
Aug 12 Croatian tennis player (1996 Pan Pacific), born in Zagreb, Croatia
- Aug 12 Jesper Grønkjær, Danish footballer
- Aug 12 Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor and singer
- Aug 12 Plaxico Burress, American football player
- Aug 13 Karine Jean-Pierre, American political operative (1st Black and LGBTQ White House Press Secretary 2022-), born in Fort-de-France, Martinique
- Aug 13 Michael Klim, Australian swimmer (Olympic gold 4×100m freestyle, 4×200m freestyle 2000; World C'ship gold x 7), born in Gdynia, Poland
- Aug 14 Juan Pierre, American baseball player, born in Mobile, Alabama
- Aug 15 Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast (Olympic gold 2004), born in Seregno, Italy
- Aug 15 Martin Biron, Canadian American ice hockey goaltender, born in Lac-Saint-Charles, Quebec
- Aug 15 Nicole Paggi, American actress (Hope and Faith), born in Travis County, Texas
- Aug 16 Tamer Hosny, Egyptian singer and actor, born in Cairo, Egypt
- Aug 17 Jake Patellis, American actor (Paul Bowman-Good Life), born in Santa Clarita, California
- Aug 17 Nathan Deakes, Australian race walker (50k WR 3:35.47 2006; World C'ship gold 2007; Olympic bronze 2004), born in Geelong, Australia
- Aug 17 Tarja Turunen, Finnish heavy metal and classical soprano (Nightwish), born in Kitee, Finland
Thierry Henry (46 years old)
Aug 17 French soccer forward (123 caps; Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal 254 games, FC Barcelona, NY Red Bulls) and manager (Monaco, France U/21), born in Les Ulis, France
- Aug 17 William Gallas, French footballer, born in Asnières-sur-Seine, France
- Aug 18 Régine Chassagne, Canadian rock singer-songwriter, keyboardist and accordion player (Arcade Fire), born in Montreal, Quebec
- Aug 19 Callum Blue, English actor (Dead Like Me, The Tudors), born in London, England
- Aug 19 Iban Mayo, Spanish cyclist, born in Igorre, Spain
- Aug 19 Will Herd, American CIA officer and politician (Rep-R-Texas 2015-21), born in San Antonio, Texas
- Aug 19 [Loutelious] T. J. Holmes, American TV anchor (CNN, Good Morning America), born in West Memphis, Arkansas
- Aug 20 Felipe Contepomi, Argentine rugby player and coach, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Aug 20 Ívar Ingimarsson, Icelandic footballer, born in Reykjavík, Iceland
- Aug 20 James Ormond, English cricketer, born in Coventry, England
- Aug 20 Manuel Contepomi, Argentine rugby player, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Aug 20 Mayra Verónica, Cuban-American model and actress, born in Havana, Cuba
- Aug 22 Heiðar Helguson, Icelandic footballer, born in Dalvík, Iceland
- Aug 23 Douglas Sequeira, Costa Rican footballer, born in San José, Costa Rica
- Aug 23 Jared Fogle, American spokesperson known as the Subway Guy, born in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Aug 23 Nicole Bobeck, American figure skater (US Champ 1995), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 24 Denílson, Brazilian footballer, born in Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil
- Aug 24 Funke Akindele, Nigerian director, *producer and actress (Jenifa), born in Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria
- Aug 24 John Green, American author (The Fault in Our Stars) and vlogger, born in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Aug 24 Jürgen Macho, Austrian footballer, born in Vienna, Austria
- Aug 24 Per Gade, Danish footballer, born in Nibe, Denmark
- Aug 24 Robert Enke, German football goalkeeper, born in Jena, Germany (d. 2009)
- Aug 25 Diego Corrales, American boxer (IBF super featherweight title 1999-2000, WBO super featherweight 2004; WBO lightweight 2004-06, WBC, Ring mag & lineal lightweight titles 2005-06), born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 2007)
- Aug 25 Jonathan Togo, American actor (CSI: Miami), born in Rockland, Massachusetts
- Aug 25 Sophie Cadieux, Quebec actress
- Aug 26 Liam Botham, English cricketer and ruby player (son of Ian Hampshire all-rounder 1996), born in Doncaster, England
- Aug 26 Saeko Chiba, Japanese voice actor and singer, born in Tokyo, Japan
- Aug 27 Deco, Portuguese footballer
- Aug 27 Mase [Mason Durell Betha], American rapper ("Harlem World"), born in Jacksonville, Florida
- Aug 27 Sarah Chalke, Canadian American actress (Roseanne; Scrubs), born in Ottawa, Ontario
- Aug 29 Aaron Rowand, American baseball player, born in Portland, Oregon
- Aug 29 Charlie Pickering, Australian comedian, born in Melbourne, Australia
- Aug 29 Devean George, American basketball player, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Aug 29 Jo Weil, German actor, born in Frankfurt, Germany
- Aug 29 John Patrick O'Brien, American footballer, born in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 29 Roy Oswalt, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 2005–07; NLCS MVP 2005; NL wins leader 2004; combined no-hitter 2003; Houston Astros), born in Weir, Mississippi
- Aug 30 Elden Henson, American actor (Daredevil), born in Rockville, Maryland
- Aug 30 Jens Ludwig, German heavy metal guitarist (Edguy), born in Fulda, Germany
- Aug 30 Kamil Kosowski, Polish footballer
- Aug 30 Marlon Byrd, American baseball player, born in Boynton Beach, Florida
- Aug 30 Shaun Alexander, American NFL running back (Seattle Seahawks, NFL MVP 2005), born in Florence, Kemtucky
- Aug 31 Craig Nicholls, Australian musician (The Vines), born in Sydney
- Aug 31 Ian Harte, Irish footballer (Reading), born in Drogheda, Ireland
- Aug 31 Jeff Hardy, American professional wrestler
Famous Weddings
- Aug 5 Actress Julie Newmar (43) weds lawyer J. Holt Smith
Jimmy Buffett
Aug 27 American "Margaritaville" singer Jimmy Buffett (30) weds American Jane Slagsvol (26)
Famous Deaths
Francis Gary Powers (1929-1977)
Aug 1 American spy captured by the USSR after his U-2 spy was shot plane in 1959, dies in a helicopter crash at 47
- Aug 3 Alfred Lunt, American actor (The Guardsman, Sally of the Sawdust), dies at 83
- Aug 3 Makarios III [Michail Moeskos], Cypriot clergyman (Archbishop of Cyprus, 1950-77), and politician (1st President of Cyprus, 1966-74), dies of a heart attack at 63
- Aug 4 Edgar Adrian, English physiologist (Nobel 1932-function of neurons), dies at 87
- Aug 4 Emil Bloch, German Marxist philosopher (Principle Hope, Traces), dies at 92
- Aug 5 Charles Carson, British actor (Cry the Beloved Country), dies at 91
- Aug 9 Edward Chapman, British actor (Things to Come, Promoter, Rembrandt), dies at 75
- Aug 9 George Kenney, American Air Force General (Commander of South West Pacific Area, 1942-45), dies at 88
- Aug 10 Vince Barnett, American actor (Star is Born, Human Jungle), dies at 75
- Aug 11 John Howard Lawson, American scriptwriter and playwright (Blockade, Algiers, Sahara), dies at 82
- Aug 13 Henry Williamson, English author (Tarka the Otter), dies at 81
- Aug 14 Alexander Luria, Russian neuropsychologist (Higher Cortical Functions in Man), dies at 75
Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
Aug 16 American King of Rock and Roll ("Hound Dog"; "Love Me Tender"; "Heartbreak Hotel"; "Suspicious Minds"), and actor (Jailhouse Rock; King Creole), dies at Graceland at 42, with the official cause of death being cardiac arrhythmia
- Aug 17 Petros John Petridis, Greek composer (Isotope Suite), dies at 86
Groucho Marx (1890-1977)
Aug 19 American comedian (Marx Bros, You Bet Your Life), dies at 86
- Aug 21 Danny Lockin, American actor and dancer (Hello Dolly), dies after being stabbed at 34
- Aug 21 Octave van Aerschot, Dutch actor (Scandal in Paris), dies at 87
- Aug 22 Sebastian Cabot, British actor (Kismet; Family Affair - "Mr. French", Time Machine), dies at 59
- Aug 23 Naum Gabo [Pevsner], Russian-American sculptor (Stillife Flower), dies at 87
- Aug 24 Buddy O'Connor, Canadian Hockey HOF center (Stanley Cup 1944, 46 Montreal Canadiens; Hart Memorial Trophy & Lady Byng Memorial Trophy 1948), dies at 61
- Aug 24 Soewarsih Djojopoespito, Indonesian writer (Toe the Line), dies at 65
- Aug 26 H. A. Rey, American author of popular constellation book, dies at 78
- Aug 26 Heinz Rottger, German composer, dies at 67
- Aug 27 George Merritt, English actor (I Monster, Canterbury Tale), dies at 86
- Aug 29 Edward Sinclair, English actor (Dad's Army), dies at 63
- Aug 29 Jean Hagen, actress (Dead Ringer, Shaggy Dog, Arena), dies at 54
