1422 – Henry V, King of England (1413-22) and France (1416-19), dies at 36 after being weakened by dysentery and heatstroke
1688 – John Bunyan, English minister and author (The Pilgrim’s Progress), dies at 59
1940 – Johanna “Annie” Bakker, Dutch revue-artist, singer and actress, dies at 58
1946 – Paul August von Klenau, Danish opera composer, and conductor, dies at 63
1967 – Michael Fitzmaurice, American radio actor (Superman, Reported Missing, 14 Hours), dies of lymphoma at 59
1968 – Dennis O’Keefe, American actor (Suspicion), dies of lung cancer at 60
1979 – E J “Tiger” Smith, English cricket wicket-keeper (11 Tests, 20 dismissals; Warwickshire CCC) and umpire (8 Tests 1933-38), dies at 93
1995 – John Erik Jonsson, American businessman and Mayor of Dallas, dies at 93
2006 – Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian soccer left back (19 caps; African Cup of Nations 2006; Al Ahly SC, Aluminium Nag Hammâdi), dies from a heart defect at 22
2017 – Ann Jellicoe, British theater director and playwright (The Knack), dies at 90
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 31st August 2026
1909 – Swedish runner Thure Johansson runs world record marathon of 2:40:34.2 in Stockholm
1920 – Detroit radio station 8MK (now WWJ, 950AM) is the first to broadcast a news program on the air
1954 – WMTW TV channel 8 in Portland-Poland Spring, Maine (ABC) begins broadcasting
1965 – The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aircraft makes its first flight
1979 – Donald McHenry named to succeed Andrew Young as US UN ambassador
1992 – Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Cleveland, Ohio, on WNCX 98.5 FM
1997 – “Gin Game” closes at Lyceum Theater in NYC after 144 performances
2019 – India removes citizenship status from 1.9 million people in state of Assam, leaving them off its new National Register of Citizens
Today in History for 31st August 2026
Historical Events
1778 – British forces kill 17 to 40 Stockbridge Indian fighters in Bronx during Revolution
1842 – US President John Tyler authorizes the establishment of the US Naval Observatory
1904 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Newport, RI: Holcombe Ward beats William Clothier 10-8, 6-4, 9-7 for his lone major singles title
1935 – Russian miner Aleksey Stachanov digs 102 tons of coal in under 6 hours, using a jackhammer
1988 – Bomb attack destroys the Khotso House, the office of the South African Council of Churches
Famous Birthdays
1879 – Viktor Alexandrovich Uspensky, Russian composer and ethnomusicologist, born in Kaluga, Russia (d. 1949)
1918 – Lucrecia Roces Kasilag, Filipina composer (Filiasiana), concert pianist, and educator (Bayanihan Dance Company), born in San Fernando, Philippines (d. 2008)
1949 – Jim Fassel, American football coach (University of Utah 1985–89; New York Giants 1997-2003), born in Anaheim, California (d. 2021)
1959 – Tony DeFranco, Canadian pop singer (The DeFranco Family – “Heartbeat – It’s a Lovebeat”), born in Port Colborne, Ontario
1984 – Charl Schwartzel, South African golfer (US Masters 2011), born in Johannesburg, Gauteng
Famous Deaths
1616 – Gemignano Capilupi, Italian choral music composer, dies at 43
1654 – Ole Worm, Danish physician, dies at 66
1997 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian businessman, died in a car crash in Paris with Diana, Princess of Wales,at 42
2007 – Karloff Lagarde, Mexican professional wrestler, dies at 79
2015 – Colin Hope, British Industrialist (Turner and Newall), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 30th August 2026
1856 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, British writer of humor, dies of typhoid fever at 45 (b. 1811)
1903 – Vicente Fidel López, Argentine historian (Historia the Chile), dies at 87
1950 – Ralph Hancock, Welsh garden designer (Rockefeller Center), dies at 57
1963 – Guy Burgess, English-born Soviet spy, dies of acute liver failure at 52
1986 – Ellis Achong, West Indian cricket spin bowler (6 Tests, 8 wickets; Trinidad; 1st of Chinese descent to play a Test match), dies at 82
1994 – Michael Gribble, American film animator (Mike and Spike Festival), dies of cancer at 42
2007 – José Luis de Villalonga, 9th Marquess of Castellbell, Spanish aristocrat, author, and film actor, dies at 87
2015 – Marvin Mandel, American politician (Governor of Maryland 1969-79), dies at 95
2015 – Wes Craven, American filmmaker (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), dies at 76
2019 – James Cellan Jones, Welsh television director (Fortunes of War, The Forsyte Saga), dies at 88
Historical Events for 30th August 2026
1888 – Lord Walsingham kills 1,070 grouse in a single day
1922 – Babe Ruth is thrown out of a game for the fifth time in 1922
1924 – The Rentenmark is replaced by the Reichsmark as legal tender in Germany, during Hans Luther’s tenure as Minister of Finance.
1933 – Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar forms the secret police (PIDE)
1956 – White mob prevents enrollment of Black students at Mansfield High School, Texas
1966 – American medical drama series “Dr. Kildare,” starring Richard Chamberlain and Raymond Massey, ends a five-season run on NBC-TV
1969 – Three-day Texas International Pop Festival opens in Lewisville, Texas, with 125,000 attendees, featuring performers such as Chicago Transit Authority, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Grand Funk Railroad, Janis Joplin, B.B. King, Led Zeppelin, Nazz, Sam and Dave, Sly and the Family Stone, and Johnny Winter
2006 – 63rd Venice Film Festival: “Still Life” directed by Jia Zhangke wins Golden Lion
Today in History for 30th August 2026
Historical Events
1918 – Czechoslovakia forms an independent republic
1944 – 11th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 24, All-Stars 21 (48,769 attendees)
1972 – American women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Shirley Babashoff, Jane Barkman, Jenny Kemp, and Sandy Neilson beats East Germany by just 0.36 seconds to win gold at the Munich Olympics with a world record time of 3:55.19
2013 – Fifteen people are killed by a liquid ammonia leak at a cold storage plant in Shanghai, China
2019 – Co-founder and CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has his Twitter account hacked; racist comments are posted in his name
Famous Birthdays
1914 – Julie Bishop [Jacqueline Wells], American actress (My Hero, Northern Pursuit, Threat), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 2001)
1923 – Gerhard Wimberger, Austria composer (Glove), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2016)
1939 – John Peel [Ravenscroft], British popular music radio presenter (BBC Radio 1, 1967-2004), born in Heswall, England (d. 2004)
1960 – Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, American Medal of Honor recipient, born in Lincoln, Maine (d. 1993)
1996 – Trevor Jackson, American actor (Grown-ish), and RandB singer-songwriter (“Drop It”), born in Indianapolis, Indiana
Famous Deaths
1974 – Abraham Schierbeek, Dutch biologist (Leeuwenhoek), dies at 87
1991 – Alan Wheatley, British actor (The Adventures of Robin Hood), dies from a heart attack at 84
2007 – Michael Jackson, British beer and whiskey author and expert, dies at 65
2013 – Lotfollah “Lotfi” Mansouri, Persian opera director (Canadian Opera Company, 1976-88; introduced opera surtitles, 1983; San Francisco Opera, 1988-2001), dies at 84
2022 – Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985-91), dies after an unspecified long and grave illness at 91
Famous Deaths for 29th August 2026
1542 – Cristovão da Gama, Portuguese soldier who led a force with Ethiopia against the Adal Sultanate, captured and executed at 25 or 26
1769 – Edmond Hoyle, English games expert, dies (birth date unknown)
1782 – Richard Kempenfelt, Royal Navy Admiral drowns in sinking of HMS Royal George at about 64 (exact birthday uncertain)
1799 – Pope Pius VI [Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi], Italian Pope (1775-99), dies at 81
1853 – Charles Napier, British soldier and Major General of the Bombay Army who conquered Sindh and became its Governor (1843-47), dies at 71
1865 – John Brough, US publisher/(gov-R-Ohio), dies at about 54
1983 – Simon Oakland [Weiss], American stage and screen character actor (Toma; Kolchak), dies of colon cancer at 68
1991 – (Christina) “Dixie” Dunbar, American stage and screen dancer, singer and actress (George White’s Scandals; Pigskin Parade), dies of a heart attack at 72
2003 – Michel Constantin, French film actor, dies at 79
2018 – Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (Paul Taylor Dance Company), dies at 88
Historical Events for 29th August 2026
1932 – United Cigar Stores shuts 800 shops
1954 – San Francisco International Airport (SFO) opens
1964 – James Baldwin’s stage drama “Blues for Mister Charlie,” directed by Burgess Meredith, closes at the ANTA Playhouse in NYC after 148 performances
1969 – Joe Pepitone quits NY Yankees after being fined $500 for leaving the bench
1982 – The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany
1987 – 44th Venice Film Festival: “Au revoir les enfants” (“Goodbye, Children”), directed by Louis Malle, wins Golden Lion
2004 – 21st MTV Video Music Awards: OutKast, Beyoncé, and Usher, featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, win
2018 – Germany returns the human remains of Namibian Herero and Nama people killed during the 1904-08 genocide at a church service in Berlin
Today in History for 29th August 2026
Historical Events
1540 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles V deprives the city Ghent of its definitive rights and privileges
1822 – Domitila de Castro meets her long-term lover Dom Pedro I, then Prince of Portugal and later Emperor of Brazil, for the first time in São Paulo
1906 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Newport, RI: William Clothier beats defending champion Beals Wright 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
1992 – Largest wrestling crowd outside the US: 75,000 at Wembley Stadium, London
2007 – 64th Venice Film Festival: “Lust, Caution” directed by Ang Lee wins Golden Lion
Famous Birthdays
1899 – George Macready, American actor (Martin Peyton-Peyton Place), born in Providence, Rhode Island (d. 1973)
1917 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (Louise-Jeffersons/All in the Family), born in New York City (d. 2004)
1920 – Joseph Lesniewski, American Easy Company, soldier in 101st Airborne, born in Erie, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)
1968 – Darren Joseph, Canadian football fullback (Saskatchewan Roughriders), born in Ottawa, Canada
1989 – Charlotte Richie, English actress (Call the Midwives; Ghosts; You) and singer, born in Clapham, London
Famous Deaths
1940 – Arthur De Greef, Belgian composer, dies at 77
1973 – Stringer Davis, English actress (Mouse on the Moon; Miranda), dies at about 77
1980 – Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, French politician and Nazi collaborator (anti-Semite minister in WWII Vichy government), dies at 92
1983 – William Goyen, American writer, dies at 68
2021 – Ed Asner, American Emmy Award-winning actor (The Mary Tyler Moore Show – “Mr. Grant”; Lou Grant, Roots; Up), and activist, dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 28th August 2026
1618 – Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (1568–1618), dies at 65
1798 – James Wilson, One of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, dies at 55
1839 – William Smith, British geologist who is credited with creating the first nationwide geological map (Strata Identified by Organized Fossils), dies at 70
1910 – Paolo Mantegazza, Italian neurologist and anthropologist, dies at 78
1937 – Frederick Burr Opper, American pioneering cartoonist (Happy Hooligan), dies at 80
1948 – Eleni Gatzoyiannis, Greek heroine (subject of “Eleni” by son Nicholas Gage about how she saved her children), shot and killed by communists at 41
1964 – Lumsden Hare, Irish actor (Oregon Trail, Desert Fox, Young Bess), dies at 89
1987 – John Huston, US/Irish actor and director (Maltese Falcon), dies at 81
2018 – Tatyana Kuznetsova, Soviet cosmonaut (youngest person selected for space training at 20 but never flew), dies at 77
2023 – Len Chandler, American folk music singer-songwriter (“Beans in Ears”), and civil rights activist, dies at 88