794 – Fastrada, 3rd wife of French King Charles the Great, dies at 30
1655 – Louis de Vadder, Flemish painter, dies at 50
1717 – Nicolaas Witsen, Dutch statesman and mayor of Amsterdam, dies at 76
1843 – Jakob F. Fries, German philosopher, dies at 69
1896 – Otto Lilenthal, German aviation pioneer, killed from injuries sustained during a glider test at 48
1915 – Henry Moseley, English physicist (relationship between atomic number and charge of the atomic nucleus), shot and killed at Gallipoli during WWI, at 27
1979 – Walther Gerlach, German physicist who, with Otto Stern, co-discovered spin quantization in a magnetic field (Stern–Gerlach effect), dies at 90
2002 – Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic), dies of pancreatic cancer at 40
2002 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist, dies at 75
2022 – Vesa-Matti Loiri, Finnish actor (Jake in “Pojat”) and musician (Eino Leino), dies at 77
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 10th August 2025
1885 – Leo Daft opens America’s first commercially operated electric streetcar in Baltimore
1920 – Allies recognize Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania
1940 – Dutch Prince Bernhard Fund forms
1942 – General Bernard Montgomery is appointed commander of the British 8th Army in North Africa
1965 – USAF test pilot Joe Engle in the X-15 reaches an altitude of 51.3 miles (82.6 km) and a top speed of 3,550 mph (5,713 km/h) (Mach 5.20)
1969 – Don Sutton breaks his 13-game losing streak to the Cubs with a 4-2 win
1988 – Alan Ayckbourn’s play “Man of the Moment” premieres at Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough
2021 – Forest fires kill 65 people, including 25 soldiers, in Algeria’s Kabylie region during heatwave conditions
Today in History for 10th August 2025
Historical Events
1511 – Portuguese troops occupy parts of Malacca
1664 – Austria and the Ottoman Empire sign the Peace of Vásvár
1936 – First time Olympic cycling road race is conducted as a mass start event with Frenchmen Robert Charpentier and Guy Lapébie taking gold and silver, and France winning the team gold medal
1980 – Canadian Open Women’s Golf (Peter Jackson Classic), Richelieu Valley GC: Pat Bradley wins by one from JoAnn Carner for her first of six major titles
2017 – 100-year-old fruitcake by Huntley and Palmers is deemed “almost eatable” after being discovered in a hut used by Captain Scott’s expedition in Antarctica
Famous Birthdays
1874 – Tod Sloan, American thoroughbred jockey (1,000 Guineas 1899 [Sibola], Ascot Gold Cup 1900 [Merman]; created monkey crouch riding style), born in Bunker Hill, Indiana (d. 1933)
1913 – Noah Beery Jr, American actor (Rockford Files, Quest, Doc Elliot, Gung Ho!, Heaven With a Gun), born in New York City (d. 1994)
1965 – Claudia Christian, American actress (Babylon 5), and author, born in Glendale, California
1966 – Hansi Kürsch, German heavy metal singer-songwriter, band bassist (Blind Guardian), born in Lank-Latum, West Germany
1967 – Philippe Albert, Belgian soccer defender (41 caps; Charleroi, KV Mechelen, Anderlecht, Newcastle United), born in Bouillon, Belgium
Famous Deaths
258 – Saint Lawrence, Christian martyr, dies in Rome during persecutions by Emperor Valerian, burned to death
1862 – Hon’inbō Shūsaku, Japanese professional Go player, dies at 33
1976 – Jerry Gray [Generoso Graziano], American violinist, arranger (Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller). and composer(“Pennsylvania 6-5000″,”A String of Pearls”), dies at 61
1999 – Padma Bhushan Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya, Eminent Sanskrit Scholar in India (b. 1899)
2008 – Isaac Hayes, American Southern soul musician, singer-songwriter, Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer (“Theme from Shaft”), and actor (The Rockford Files – “Gandolf Fitch”; South Park -“Chef”), dies of a likely stroke at 65
Famous Deaths for 9th August 2025
1727 – Johann Philipp Treiber, German composer dies at 52
1744 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (George Frideric Handel) (b. 1673)
1911 – John Gates (“Bet-a-million” Gates), American inventor and industrialist who established the market for barbed wire fencing, dies following an unsuccessful operation to remove a throat tumor at 56
1961 – Walter Bedell Smith, U.S. Army general (WWII) and head of CIA (1950-52), dies at 75
1973 – Dean Corll, American serial killer (Houston mass murders), fatally shot by an accomplice at 33
1996 – Frank Whittle, English RAF engineer air officer and inventor of the turbojet engine, dies at 89
2000 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician and leader of Egypt’s Wafd Party, dies at 88
2014 – Michael Brown, American shooting victim whose death provoked nationwide protests and civil unrest, shot dead by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson at 18
2020 – Martin Birch, British sound engineer (Fleetwood Mac; Deep Purple) and record producer (Whitesnake; Iron Maiden), dies at 71
2023 – (Jaime Royal) “Robbie” Robertson, Canadian-Mohawk singer-songwriter and rock guitarist (The Band – “The Weight”; “Up On Cripple Creek”), and soundtrack composer (Martin Scorsese films), dies of prostate cancer at 80
Historical Events for 9th August 2025
1855 – Battle of Acapulco during the Mexican Liberal Uprising
1936 – Helen Stephens claims the women’s sprint double at the Berlin Olympics, winning the 100 m and participating as part of the victorious American 4 x 100 m relay team
1976 – Clive Lloyd scores a double century in 120 minutes, WI vs. Glamorgan
1978 – USSR performs an underground nuclear test
1987 – LA Rams beat Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in London (NFL expo)
1992 – XXV Summer Olympic Games close at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
1992 – Cuban boxer Félix Savón wins the first of three consecutive Olympic heavyweight gold medals when he dominates Nigerian David Izonritei on points at the Barcelona Games
2024 – Passenger plane crashes in the Brazilian city of Vinhedo, killing all 61 people on board on a flight to São Paulo
Today in History for 9th August 2025
Historical Events
1930 – 113°F (45°C) recorded in Perryville, Tennessee (state record)
1987 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, PGA National Palm Beach: Larry Nelson wins the second PGA C’ship in a playoff with fellow American Lanny Wadkins
2016 – Hungary’s Katinka Hosszú swims an Olympic record of 2:06.58 in the women’s 200 m individual medley, winning her third gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
2018 – Saudi-led air coalition strikes a school bus in Saada Province, Yemen, killing 43 people, many of whom are children
2023 – Ecuadorian opposition presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio is assassinated at a campaign rally in Quito
Famous Birthdays
1869 – Randle Ayrton, British actor (The Manxman, Nell Gwyn), born in Chester, Cheshire, England (d. 1940)
1903 – Tom Tyler [Vincent Markowski], American actor (Stagecoach; She Wore a Yellow Ribbon), born in Port Henry, New York (d. 1954)
1938 – Rod Laver, Australian tennis player (1962, 1969 Grand Slam; 11 x Grand Slam singles titles; 8 x Pro major titles), born in Rockhampton, Queensland
1957 – Melanie Griffith, American actress (Body Double, Working Girl), born in New York City
1963 – Whitney Houston, American singer (“I Will Always Love You”; “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”), actress (The Bodyguard), and film producer (The Princess Diaries), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2012)
Famous Deaths
1420 – Pierre d’ailly [Peter de Alliaco], French theologist and cardinal, dies
1806 – Louis Ferdinand, Prussian prince and a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, dies at 33
1888 – Charles Cros, French inventor and poet (Le Hareng Saur), dies at 45
1985 – Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league fullback (37 Tests; NSW 27 games; South Sydney; RL “Immortal”) and coach (Australia 29 Tests, South Sydney), dies at 58
2021 – Alex Cord [Alexander Viespi], American actor (Brotherhood; Fire; Street Asylum; Airwolf), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 8th August 2025
1555 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician (b. 1494)
1685 – Sassoferrato [Giovanni B Salvi], Italian painter (Madonna), dies at 75
1947 – Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general, led anti-Bolshevik White forces during Russian Civil war, dies at 73
1980 – Aga Yahya Khan, Pakistani general and politician (President of Pakistan 1969-71, Bangladesh genocide during his regime), dies at 63
1991 – James Irwin, American air force officer and NASA astronaut (Apollo 15, 8th person to walk on the moon), dies at 61
1996 – Herbert Huncke, American writer and poet, dies at 80
2004 – Fay Wray, Canadian American actress (King Kong), dies at 96
2007 – Ma Lik, Chinese politician (b. 1952)
2007 – Joybubbles [Josef Carl Engressia Jr.], American notable phone phreak, dies at 58
2024 – Jorge Rodríguez, Mexican soccer midfielder (40 caps; CD Toluca 201 games), dies of Evans syndrome at 56
Historical Events for 8th August 2025
1984 – Carl Lewis wins his third gold medal of the Los Angeles Olympics, joining Kirk Baptiste and Thomas Jefferson in an American sweep of the 200 m
1988 – Rap group N.W.A releases their debut studio album “Straight Outta Compton”
1992 – Spanish center forward Kiko scores twice as the home team wins the Olympic football gold medal with a 3-2 victory over Poland in front of 95,000 at Camp Nou, Barcelona
2008 – XXIX Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing, China
2013 – Retired Washington Post journalist and editor Ben Bradlee is named as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama
2021 – Taliban forces capture three regional Afghan cities, including the key northern city of Kunduz
2022 – Beyoncé’s single “Break My Soul” is her first solo #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 14 years, the same week her “Renaissance” album reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 chart
2023 – Storm Hans brings widespread destruction to Scandinavia, with Norway warning of its highest rainfall in 25 years
Today in History for 8th August 2025
Historical Events
1829 – French government of Polignac forms
1911 – Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435 and comes into effect in 1913
1913 – Richard Corfield’s “Camel Corps” opens against the “Mad Mullah” in Burao, Somalia
2013 – Retired Washington Post journalist and editor Ben Bradlee is named as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama
2018 – US State Department imposes new sanctions on Russia for nerve agent attack in Britain
Famous Birthdays
1852 – Barend Barendse, Dutch actor and director (Heilig recht), born in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (d. 1935)
1950 – Willie Hall, American drummer (Blues Brothers Band), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1960 – Cheyne Horan, Australian surfer (World C’ship runner-up 1978, 79, 81, 82), born in Sydney, Australia
1987 – Katie Leung, Scottish actress (Harry Potter love interest), born in Dundee, Scotland
1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian NBA basketball player (NY Knicks, Denver Nuggets), born in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Italy
Famous Deaths
1824 – Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist (Prolegomena), dies at 65
1911 – William P. Frye, American congressman and senator (1881-1911), dies at 80
1987 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician, dies at 83
1993 – Lou van Rees, Dutch jazz and pop music impresario, dies at 77
1996 – Nevill Francis Mott, British physicist (1977 Nobel Prize for Physics for work on amorphous semiconductors), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 7th August 2025
1033 – Frederick II, duke of Upper Lorraine
1106 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1084–1105), dies at 54
1485 – Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, Scottish prince
1547 – Cajetan of Thiene, Italian priest and saint who founded Catholic order of Theatines, dies at 66
1639 – Martin van den Hove, Dutch scientist (b. 1605)
1661 – Jin Shengtan, Chinese editor, writer and critic (b. 1608)
1821 – Caroline of Brunswick, Queen Consort of King George IV (1820-21), dies at 53
2008 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent, manager and producer (The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd), dies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 77
2017 – Janet Seidel, Australian jazz pianist, vocalist, arranger, and educator, dies of ovarian cancer at 62
2021 – Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, American funk saxophonist (Kool and The Gang – “Who’s Gonna Take The Weight”), dies at 70