Monday 5 August 2024 Calendar with holidays, observances and special days
Holidays and observancesEvents- 1971 – The first Pacific Islands Forum (then known as the "South Pacific Forum") is held in Wellington, New Zealand, with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean.
- 1964 – Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow: American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
- 1963 – The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
- 1962 – Apartheid in South Africa: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
- 1957 – American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
- 1914 – In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
- 1914 – World War I: The guns of Point Nepean fort at Port Phillip Heads in Victoria (Australia) fire across the bows of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS Pfalz which is attempting to leave the Port of Melbourne in ignorance of the declaration of war and she is detained; this is said to be the first Allied shot of the War.
- 1901 – Peter O'Connor sets the first IAAF recognised long jump world record of 24 ft 11.75 in (7.6137 m). The record will stand for 20 years.
- 1888 – Bertha Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in the first long distance automobile trip, commemorated as the Bertha Benz Memorial Route since 2008.
- 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Mobile Bay begins at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge: Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops attempt to take the city, but are driven back by fire from Union gunboats.
- 1861 – American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
- 1861 – The United States Army abolishes flogging.
- 1858 – Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month.
- 1816 – The British Admiralty dismisses Francis Ronalds's new invention of the first working electric telegraph as "wholly unnecessary", preferring to continue using the semaphore.
- 1796 – The Battle of Castiglione in Napoleon's first Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars.
- 1620 – The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.
- 1583 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Births- 1986 – Paula Creamer, American golfer. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings.
- 1982 – Lolo Jones, American hurdler. 11.24 (Stuttgart 2006) 100 m hurdles
- 1982 – Pete Sell, American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2002, he has formerly competed for the UFC, and was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback.
- 1981 – Carl Crawford, American baseball player. Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "The Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder.
- 1977 – Eric Hinske, American baseball player and coach. Eric Scott Hinske (born August 5, 1977) is an American professional baseball coach and retired outfielder and first baseman.
- 1977 – Mark Mulder, American baseball player and sportscaster. Louis Cardinals.
- 1972 – Christian Olde Wolbers, Belgian-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. He is the former bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist of the heavy metal band Fear Factory, and was also in the hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Beowülf.
- 1972 – Darren Shahlavi, English-American actor and martial artist (d. 2015), was an English actor, martial artist and stuntman. His surname is of Persian origin.
- 1970 – James Gunn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and musician.
- 1968 – John Olerud, American baseball player. He also played for the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
- 1967 – Matthew Caws, American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Caws is also a member of the indie rock duo Minor Alps, alongside Juliana Hatfield.
- 1966 – Jennifer Finch, American singer, bass player, and photographer. Jennifer Finch (also Jennifer Precious Finch), born August 5, 1966, is an American musician, designer, and photographer most notable for being the primary bass player of the punk rock band L7.
- 1966 – Jonathan Silverman, American actor and producer. Jonathan Elihu Silverman (born August 5, 1966) is an American actor, known for his roles in the comedy Weekend at Bernie's and its sequel Weekend at Bernie's II.
- 1965 – Jeff Coffin, American saxophonist and composer. In July 2008, Coffin began touring with Dave Matthews Band and joined the group in 2009 following the death of founding member LeRoi Moore.
- 1964 – Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (d. 2012), was an American rapper, bass player and filmmaker who was a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. He used the stage name MCA.
- 1962 – Otis Thorpe, American basketball player. Otis Henry Thorpe (born August 5, 1962) is an American retired professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
- 1962 – Patrick Ewing, Jamaican-American basketball player and coach. He played most of his career as the starting center of the NBA's New York Knicks and also played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic.
- 1960 – David Baldacci, American lawyer and author. David Baldacci (born August 5, 1960) is a bestselling American novelist.
- 1959 – Pat Smear, American guitarist and songwriter. Georg Albert Ruthenberg (born August 5, 1959), better known by the stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician and actor.
- 1957 – Faith Prince, American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award as Best Actress in Guys and Dolls in 1992, and received three other Tony nominations.
- 1955 – Eddie Ojeda, American guitarist and songwriter. Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda (born August 5, 1955 in New York) is one of the two guitarists of the American heavy metal band Twisted Sister.
- 1953 – Rick Mahler, American baseball player and coach (d. 2005), was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Atlanta Braves (1979–1988, 1991), Cincinnati Reds (1989–1990) and Montreal Expos (1991). His brother Mickey was a major league pitcher as well; the two were Braves teammates in 1979.
- 1948 – David Hungate, American bass guitarist, producer, and arranger (Toto). Along with most of his Toto bandmates, Hungate did sessions on a number of hit albums of the 1970s, including Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees and Alice Cooper's From the Inside.
- 1947 – Bernie Carbo, American baseball player. Bernardo 'Bernie' Carbo (born August 5, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan) is a former outfielder and designated hitter who played from 1969 through 1980 for the Cincinnati Reds (1969–72), St.
- 1947 – France A. Córdova, American astrophysicist and academic. Previously, she was the eleventh President of Purdue University from 2007 to 2012.
- 1947 – Rick Derringer, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. Rick Derringer (born Ricky Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American guitarist, vocalist, Grammy Award-winning producer and writer of multiple hit songs.
- 1946 – Bruce Coslet, American football player and coach. He played for the Bengals in the NFL through 1976.
- 1946 – Erika Slezak, American actress. Erika Alma Hermina Slezak (/ˈsleɪzæk/; born August 5, 1946) is an American actress, best known for her role as Victoria "Viki" Lord on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live from 1971 through the television finale in 2012 and again in the online revival in 2013.
- 1945 – Loni Anderson, American actress. She is known for her role as receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Award and two Emmy Award nominations.
- 1943 – Nelson Briles, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2005), was a Major League Baseball pitcher. A hard thrower whose best pitch was a slider, he exhibited excellent control.
- 1943 – Sammi Smith, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2005). Born Jewel Faye Smith, she is best known for her 1971 country-pop crossover hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson.
- 1942 – Joe Boyd, American record producer, founded Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band, R.E.M., Vashti Bunyan, John and Beverley Martyn, Maria Muldaur, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Billy Bragg, 10,000 Maniacs and Muzsikás.
- 1941 – Airto Moreira, Brazilian-American drummer and composer. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer.
- 1941 – Bob Clark, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2007), was an American director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his work in the Canadian film industry throughout the 1970s and 1980s, where he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film history such as Black Christmas (1974), Murder by Decree (1979), Tribute (1980), Porky's (1981), and A Christmas Story (1983).
- 1940 – Bobby Braddock, American country music songwriter, musician, and producer. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Braddock has contributed numerous hit songs during more than 40 years in the industry, including 13 number-one hit singles.
- 1940 – Roman Gabriel, American football player, coach, and actor. He was the second overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft and played for the Los Angeles Rams for eleven seasons, then five seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles.
- 1937 – Brian G. Marsden, English-American astronomer and academic (d. 2010), was a British astronomer and the longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (director emeritus from 2006 to 2010).
- 1937 – Herb Brooks, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2003). His most notable achievement came in 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S.
- 1935 – John Saxon, American actor. John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1935) is an American actor and martial artist who has worked on more than 200 projects during a span of 60 years.
- 1935 – Roy Benavidez, American Master Sergeant and Medal of Honor Winner (d. 1998), was a member of the United States Army Special Forces (Studies and Observations Group) and retired United States Army master sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in combat near Lộc Ninh, South Vietnam on May 2, 1968.
- 1934 – Wendell Berry, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist. Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer.
- 1930 – Damita Jo DeBlanc, American comedian, actress, and singer (d. 1998), was an American actress, comedian, and lounge music performer.
- 1930 – Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (d. 2012), was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
- 1930 – Richie Ginther, American race car driver (d. 1989), was a racecar driver from the United States. During a varied career, the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix saw Ginther take Honda's first Grand Prix victory, a victory which would also prove to be Ginther's only win in Formula One.
- 1929 – Don Matheson, American soldier, police officer, and actor (d. 2014), was an American soldier and policeman who later became a television actor, likely best known for his continuing role in Irwin Allen's series Land of the Giants.
- 1927 – John H. Moore II, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013), was an American lawyer and United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
- 1926 – Jeri Southern, American jazz singer and pianist (d. 1991). Born Genevieve Lillian Hering in Royal, Nebraska, United States, Southern was the granddaughter of a German pig farmer who came to the United States in 1879.
- 1922 – Frank Stranahan, American golfer (d. 2013), was an American sportsman. He had significant success in both amateur and professional golf.
- 1922 – L. Tom Perry, American businessman and religious leader (d. 2015), was an American businessman and religious leader who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1974 until his death.
- 1921 – Terry Becker, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2014), was an American film and television actor, Emmy-winning director and producer. He is best known for his role as Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey in seasons 2 through 4 of the television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
- 1920 – George Tooker, American painter and academic (d. 2011), was an American figurative painter. His works are associated with Magic realism, Social realism, Photorealism and Surrealism.
- 1918 – Betty Oliphant, English-Canadian ballerina, co-founded the Canada's National Ballet School (d. 2004), was a co-founder of the National Ballet School of Canada.
- 1918 – Tom Drake, American actor and singer (d. 1982). Drake made films starting in 1940 and continuing until the mid-1970s, and also made TV acting appearances.
- 1916 – Peter Viereck, American poet and academic (d. 2006), was an American poet, political thinker, and professor of history at Mount Holyoke College.
- 1914 – Parley Baer, American actor (d. 2002), was an American actor in radio and later in television and film.
- 1906 – John Huston, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1987), was an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and visual artist. Huston was a citizen of the United States by birth but renounced U.S. citizenship to become an Irish citizen and resident.
- 1906 – Wassily Leontief, German-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999), was a Russian-American economist known for his research on input-output analysis and how changes in one economic sector may affect other sectors.
- 1904 – Kenneth V. Thimann, English-American botanist and microbiologist (d. 1997), was an English-American plant physiologist and microbiologist known for his studies of plant hormones, which were widely influential in agriculture and horticulture. He isolated and determined the structure of auxin, the first known plant hormone.
- 1897 – Roberta Dodd Crawford, American soprano and educator (d. 1954), was an African-American lyric soprano and voice instructor who performed throughout the United States and Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Roberta was born in Bonham, Texas before studying singing in Nashville, Chicago, and Paris.
- 1890 – Naum Gabo, Russian-American sculptor (d. 1977), was an influential sculptor, theorist, and key figure in Russia's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century sculpture. His work combined geometric abstraction with a dynamic organization of form in small reliefs and constructions, monumental public sculpture and pioneering kinetic works that assimilated new materials such as nylon, wire, lucite and semi-transparent materials, glass and metal.
- 1889 – Conrad Aiken, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet (d. 1973), was an American writer, whose work includes poetry, short stories, novels, a play, and an autobiography.
- 1887 – Reginald Owen, English-American actor and singer (d. 1972), was an English actor known for his many roles in British and American film along with television programs.
- 1880 – Gertrude Rush, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1962), was the first African-American female lawyer in Iowa, admitted to the Iowa bar in 1918. She helped found the National Bar Association in 1925.
- 1880 – Ruth Sawyer, American author and educator (d. 1970), was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal.
- 1876 – Mary Ritter Beard, American historian and activist (d. 1958), was an American historian, author, women's suffrage activist, and women's history archivist who was also a lifelong advocate of social justice. As a Progressive Era reformer, Beard was active in both the labor and women's rights movements.
- 1874 – Wesley Clair Mitchell, American economist and academic (d. 1948). Wesley Clair Mitchell (August 5, 1874 – October 29, 1948) was an American economist known for his empirical work on business cycles and for guiding the National Bureau of Economic Research in its first decades.
- 1872 – Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician, bacteriologist, and epidemiologist, founded the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (d. 1917), was a Brazilian physician, pioneer bacteriologist, epidemiologist and public health officer and the founder of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute.
Deaths- 2014 – Harold J. Greene, American general (b. 1962)
- 2014 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1927)
- 2013 – May Song Vang, American activist (b. 1951)
- 2013 – Rob Wyda, American commander and judge (b. 1959)
- 2013 – Roy Rubin, American basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Ruth Asawa, American sculptor and educator (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Shawn Burr, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1966)
- 2012 – Fred Matua, American football player (b. 1984)
- 2012 – Martin E. Segal, Russian-American businessman, co-founded Film Society of Lincoln Center (b. 1916)
- 2009 – Budd Schulberg, American author, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1914)
- 2005 – Jim O'Hora, American football player and coach (b. 1915)
- 2002 – Chick Hearn, American sportscaster (b. 1916)
- 1991 – Paul Brown, American football player and coach (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Soichiro Honda, Japanese engineer and businessman, founded Honda (b. 1906)
- 1985 – Arnold Horween, American football player and coach (b. 1898)
- 1983 – Judy Canova, American actress and comedian (b. 1913)
- 1980 – Harold L. Runnels, American soldier and politician (b. 1924)
- 1978 – Jesse Haines, American baseball player and coach (b. 1893)
- 1968 – Luther Perkins, American guitarist (b. 1928)
- 1964 – Art Ross, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1886)
- 1962 – Marilyn Monroe, American model and actress (b. 1926)
- 1959 – Edgar Guest, English-American journalist and poet (b. 1881)
- 1933 – Charles Harold Davis, American painter and academic (b. 1856)
- 1911 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1864)
- 1881 – Spotted Tail, American tribal chief (b. 1823)
- 1729 – Thomas Newcomen, English engineer, invented the eponymous Newcomen atmospheric engine (b. 1664)
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