Sunday 25 August 2024 Calendar with holidays, observances and special days

Festival of Harvest

The Festival of Harvest (also called Weeks, Pentecost, or Shavout) is one of the three commanded festivals of Yahweh during which all men are commanded to gather together..→

Holidays and observances

• August Bank Holiday in United Kingdom
• Barber Day in Argentina
• Father's Day in South Sudan (celebrated on the last Monday in August)
• France Liberation Day
• Guarani Language Day in Paraguay
• Kiss and Make Up Day
• National Heroes' Day in the Philippines (celebrated on the fourth Monday in August)
• National Whiskey Sour Day and National Banana Split Day in USA
• San Ginés Day in Spain
• Soldier's Day in Brazil (Dia do Soldado)

Events

• 2017 – Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States since 2004. The storm causes catastrophic flooding throughout much of eastern Texas, killing 82 people and causing $70–200 billion in damage.
• 2012 – Voyager 1 spacecraft enters interstellar space becoming the first man-made object to do so.
• 2001 – American singer Aaliyah and several members of her record company are killed as their overloaded aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport, Bahamas.
• 1991 – Linus Torvalds announces the first version of what will become Linux.
• 1967 – George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, is assassinated by a former member of his group.
• 1948 – The House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing: "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
• 1945 – Ten days after World War II ends with Japan announcing its surrender, armed supporters of the Chinese Communist Party kill U.S. intelligence officer John Birch, regarded by some of the American right as the first victim of the Cold War.
• 1940 – World War II: The first Bombing of Berlin by the British Royal Air Force.
• 1916 – The United States National Park Service is created.
• 1894 – Kitasato Shibasaburō discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet.
• 1875 – Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 22 hours.
• 1835 – The first Great Moon Hoax article is published in The New York Sun, announcing the discovery of life and civilization on the Moon.
• 1823 – American fur trapper Hugh Glass is mauled by a grizzly bear while on an expedition in South Dakota.
• 1814 – War of 1812: On the second day of the Burning of Washington, British troops torch the Library of Congress, United States Treasury, Department of War, and other public buildings.
• 1609 – Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
• 1543 – António Mota and a few companions become the first Europeans to visit Japan.
• 766 – Emperor Constantine V humiliates nineteen high-ranking officials, after discovering a plot against him. He executes the leaders, Constantine Podopagouros and his brother Strategios.

Births

• 1998 – China Anne McClain, American actress and singer. McClain's career began in 2005 when she was seven years old, acting in the film The Gospel (2005).
• 1988 – Angela Park, Brazilian-American golfer. She holds dual citizenship in Brazil and the United States.
• 1987 – Blake Lively, American model and actress. She also starred in a number of films, including The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008), The Town (2010), Green Lantern (2011), Savages (2012), The Age of Adaline (2015), The Shallows (2016) and A Simple Favor (2018).
• 1987 – Justin Upton, American baseball player. Justin Irvin Upton (born August 25, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB).
• 1986 – Rodney Ferguson, American footballer. He played college football at New Mexico.
• 1981 – Rachel Bilson, American actress. Bilson made her movie debut in The Last Kiss (2006) and starred in the science-fiction-action film Jumper (2008).
• 1979 – Deanna Nolan, American basketball player. Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan (Russian: Деанна Нолан; born August 25, 1979) is an American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League as well as the Russia women's national basketball team.
• 1978 – Kel Mitchell, American actor, producer, and screenwriter. Kel Johari Rice Mitchell (born August 25, 1978) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, musician, singer, and rapper.
• 1976 – Damon Jones, American basketball player and coach. Damon Darron Jones (born August 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• 1970 – Debbie Graham, American tennis player. Debbie Graham or Debbie Graham Shaffer (born August 25, 1970) is a retired tennis player from the United States.
• 1970 – Doug Glanville, American baseball player and sportscaster. Douglas Metunwa Glanville (born August 25, 1970) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers.
• 1970 – Jo Dee Messina, American singer-songwriter. Jo Dee Marie Messina (born August 25, 1970) is an American country music artist.
• 1970 – Robert Horry, American basketball player and sportscaster. He is one of only two players (the other is John Salley) to have won NBA championships with three teams: two with the Houston Rockets, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and two with the San Antonio Spurs.
• 1968 – Rachael Ray, American chef, author, and television host. Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American television personality, businesswoman, celebrity cook and author.
• 1968 – Spider One, American singer-songwriter and producer. He created the horror/black comedy mockumentary series Death Valley, which aired on MTV for one season in 2011.
• 1967 – Jeff Tweedy, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer. After Uncle Tupelo broke up Tweedy formed Wilco which found critical and commercial success, most notably with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born, the latter of which received a Grammy for Best Alternative Album in 2005.
• 1966 – Albert Belle, American baseball player. Albert Jojuan Belle (born August 25, 1966), known until 1990 as Joey Belle, is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, and Baltimore Orioles.
• 1966 – Derek Sherinian, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer. Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and Joe Bonamassa.
• 1966 – Terminator X, American hip-hop DJ (Public Enemy). Norman Rogers (born August 25, 1966), known as Terminator X, is a retired American DJ best known for his work with hip-hop group Public Enemy, which he left in 1998.
• 1965 – Cornelius Bennett, American football player. Cornelius O'Landa Bennett (born August 25, 1965) is a former American football linebacker who played for the Buffalo Bills from 1987 to 1995, Atlanta Falcons from 1996 to 1998, and the Indianapolis Colts from 1999 to 2000.
• 1964 – Blair Underwood, American actor. Law for seven years.
• 1964 – Maxim Kontsevich, Russian-American mathematician and academic. He received the Henri Poincaré Prize in 1997, the Fields Medal in 1998, the Crafoord Prize in 2008, the Shaw Prize and Fundamental Physics Prize in 2012, and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2014.
• 1963 – Shock G, American rapper and producer. Jacobs, known professionally as Shock G (and his alter ego Humpty Hump), is an American musician, rapper, and lead vocalist for the hip hop group Digital Underground.
• 1962 – Theresa Andrews, American former competition swimmer and Olympic champion. In international competition, she was a backstroke specialist who won two gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
• 1961 – Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. It was also the best-selling single in the same country in 1992.
• 1959 – Ian Falconer, American author and illustrator. Ian Woodward Falconer (born August 25, 1959) is an American illustrator, children's book author, and costume and set designer for the theater.
• 1959 – Lane Smith, American author and illustrator, was an American actor. His well-known roles included portraying collaborator entrepreneur Nathan Bates in the NBC television series V, Mayor Bates in the film Red Dawn, newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Coach Jack Reilly in The Mighty Ducks, district attorney Jim Trotter III in My Cousin Vinny and American President Richard Nixon in The Final Days, for which he received a Golden Globe award nomination.
• 1959 – Ruth Ann Swenson, American soprano and actress. Ruth Ann Swenson (born August 25, 1959) is an American soprano who is renowned for her coloratura roles.
• 1959 – Steve Levy, American lawyer and politician. Steve Levy (born March 12, 1965) is an American journalist and sportscaster for ESPN.
• 1958 – Tim Burton, American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is also known for blockbuster films, such as the adventure-comedy Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), the superhero films Batman (1989) and its first sequel, Batman Returns (1992), the sci-fi film Planet of the Apes (2001), the fantasy-drama Big Fish (2003), the musical adventure film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), the fantasy film Alice in Wonderland (2010), and the film adaptation of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016).
• 1957 – Frank Serratore, American ice hockey player and coach. He formerly coached professional hockey in the International Hockey League with the Minnesota Moose from 1994 to 1996.
• 1954 – Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, Scottish lawyer and politician, First Minister of Scotland. He was formerly Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland, Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Orkney, the first Deputy First Minister of Scotland in the Scottish Executive and Advocate General for Scotland.
• 1951 – Bill Handel, Brazilian-American lawyer and radio host. William Wolf "Bill" Handel (born August 25, 1951) is the director and founder of the Center for Surrogate Parenting, licensed attorney, and a radio personality in Los Angeles, California.
• 1950 – Charles Fambrough, American bassist, composer, and producer (d. 2011), was an American jazz bassist, composer and record producer from Philadelphia.
• 1950 – Willy DeVille, American singer and songwriter (d. 2009). During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles.
• 1949 – Gene Simmons, Israeli-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the rock band he co-founded with lead singer and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley in the early 1970s.
• 1948 – Ledward Kaapana, American singer and guitarist. He also plays steel guitar, ukulele, autoharp and bass guitar, and is a baritone and falsetto vocalist.
• 1947 – Michael Kaluta, American author and illustrator. Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm.
• 1946 – Charles Ghigna, American poet and author. He has written more than 5,000 poems and 100 books.
• 1946 – Charlie Sanders, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2015), was an American football player who played tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team and voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
• 1946 – Rollie Fingers, American baseball player. Roland Glen Fingers (born August 25, 1946) is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics (1968–1976), San Diego Padres (1977–1980), and Milwaukee Brewers (1981–1985).
• 1945 – Hannah Louise Shearer, American screenwriter and producer. Hannah Louise Shearer (born August 25, 1945), also known as Hannah Shearer or Hannah L.
• 1944 – Anthony Heald, American actor. Philip Anthony Mair Heald (born August 25, 1944) is an American actor known for portraying Hannibal Lecter's jail nemesis, Dr.
• 1942 – Nathan Deal, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 82nd Governor of Georgia. On March 1, 2010, Deal announced his resignation from Congress to run for Governor of Georgia.
• 1941 – Marshall Brickman, Brazilian-American director, producer, and screenwriter. Marshall Brickman (born August 25, 1939) is an American screenwriter and director, best known for his collaborations with Woody Allen.
• 1939 – John Badham, English-American actor, director, and producer. John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an English-born American director of film and television, best known for the films Saturday Night Fever (1977), Dracula (1979), Blue Thunder (1983), WarGames (1983), Short Circuit (1986), and Stakeout (1987).
• 1938 – David Canary, American actor (d. 2015). Canary is best known for his role as ranch foreman Candy Canaday in the NBC Western drama Bonanza, and as Adam Chandler in the television soap opera All My Children, for which he received sixteen Daytime Emmy Award nominations and won five times.
• 1937 – Virginia Euwer Wolff, American author. There are three books.
• 1936 – Giridharilal Kedia, Indian businessman, founded the Image Institute of Technology & Management (d. 2009), was an Indian well known social entrepreneur. He served the Kala Vikash Kendra, Cuttack for 12 years as the Working President and Trustee.
• 1933 – Patrick F. McManus, American journalist and author, was an American humor writer, who primarily wrote about the outdoors. A humor columnist for Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and other magazines, his columns and stories have been collected in several books, beginning with A Fine and Pleasant Misery (1978) up through The Horse in My Garage and Other Stories (2012).
• 1933 – Tom Skerritt, American actor. Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in more than forty films and more than two hundred television episodes since 1962.
• 1933 – Wayne Shorter, American saxophonist and composer. Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
• 1931 – Regis Philbin, American actor and television host. Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (/ˈriːdʒɪs ˈfɪlbɪn/; born August 25, 1931) is an American media personality, actor, and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s.
• 1928 – Darrell Johnson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2004), was an American Major League Baseball catcher, coach, manager and scout. As a manager, he led the 1975 Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant, and was named "Manager of the Year" by both The Sporting News and the Associated Press.
• 1928 – Herbert Kroemer, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate. Herbert Kroemer (born August 25, 1928), a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1952 from the University of Göttingen, Germany, with a dissertation on hot electron effects in the then-new transistor, setting the stage for a career in research on the physics of semiconductor devices.
• 1928 – John "Kayo" Dottley, American football player, was an American football fullback in the National Football League who played for the Chicago Bears.
• 1928 – Karl Korte, American composer and academic. Ossining, New York, August 25, 1928) is an American composer of contemporary classical music.
• 1927 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player and golfer (d. 2003), was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title (the French Championships).
• 1921 – Monty Hall, Canadian-American television personality and game show host (d. 2017), was a Canadian-American game show host, producer, and philanthropist.
• 1919 – George Wallace, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 45th Governor of Alabama (d. 1998), was an American politician who served as the 45th Governor of Alabama for four terms. During his tenure, he promoted "low-grade industrial development, low taxes, and trade schools".
• 1919 – William P. Foster, American bandleader and educator (d. 2010), was the director of the noted Florida A&M University Marching "100". He served as the band's director from 1946 to his retirement in 1998.
• 1918 – Leonard Bernstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990), was an American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the U.S. to receive worldwide acclaim.
• 1917 – Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2008), was an American actor and director of stage and screen, film producer and the first husband of Audrey Hepburn.
• 1916 – Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003). He was born in Auburn, Alabama, and grew up in Columbia, Missouri, attending David H.
• 1916 – Van Johnson, American actor (d. 2008), was an American film, television theatre and radio actor, singer, and dancer. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.
• 1913 – Don DeFore, American actor (d. 1993). He is best known for his roles in the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom Hazel from 1961 to 1965, the former of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
• 1913 – Walt Kelly, American illustrator and animator (d. 1973), was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo.
• 1910 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter, sculptor, and poet (d. 2012), was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by Surrealism.
• 1909 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1993), was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer and singer most famous for her on-screen pairing with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street (1933). From 1928 to 1940, she was married to actor and singer Al Jolson.
• 1903 – Arpad Elo, Hungarian-American chess player, created the Elo rating system (d. 1992), was the creator of the Elo rating system for two-player games such as chess. Born in Egyházaskesző, Austro-Hungarian Empire, he moved to the United States with his parents in 1913.
• 1902 – Stefan Wolpe, German-American composer and educator (d. 1972), was a German-born composer.
• 1899 – Paul Herman Buck, American historian and author (d. 1978). He won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1938 and became the first Provost of Harvard University in 1945.
• 1893 – Henry Trendley Dean, American dentist (d. 1962), was the first director of the United States National Institute of Dental Research and a pioneer investigator of water fluoridation in the prevention of tooth decay.
• 1877 – Joshua Lionel Cowen, American businessman, co-founded the Lionel Corporation (d. 1965), was an American inventor and the co-founder of Lionel Corporation, a manufacturer of model railroads and toy trains. Cowen also invented the flash-lamp in 1899, an early photographer's flash light source.
• 1867 – James W. Gerard, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Germany (d. 1951), was a United States lawyer and diplomat.
• 1840 – George C. Magoun, American businessman (d. 1893). Magoun (August 25, 1840 – December 20, 1893) was, in the late 1880s, the Chairman of the Board of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
• 1836 – Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (d. 1902), was an American short-story writer and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction.
• 1819 – Allan Pinkerton, Scottish-American detective and spy (d. 1884). Pinkerton (25 August 1819 – 1 July 1884) was a Scottish-American detective and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
• 1817 – Marie-Eugénie de Jésus, French nun and saint, founded the Religious of the Assumption (d. 1898), was a French Roman Catholic professed religious and the foundress of the Religious of the Assumption. Her life was not geared towards faith in her childhood until the reception of her First Communion which seemed to transform her into a pious and discerning individual; she likewise experienced a sudden conversion after hearing a sermon that led her to found an order dedicated to the education of the poor.
• 1796 – James Lick, American carpenter and piano builder (d. 1876), was an American real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in California, and left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.
• 1662 – John Leverett the Younger, American lawyer, academic, and politician (d. 1724), was an early American lawyer, politician, educator, and President of Harvard College.

Deaths

• 2017 – Rich Piana, American bodybuilder (b. 1971)
• 2016 – Marvin Kaplan, American actor (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Uziah Thompson, Jamaican-American drummer and producer (b. 1936)
• 2014 – William Greaves, American director and producer (b. 1926)
• 2013 – William Froug, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Ted Kennedy, American politician (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Kevin Duckworth, American basketball player (b. 1964)
• 2007 – Benjamin Aaron, American lawyer and scholar (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Tom Feelings, American author and illustrator (b. 1933)
• 2001 – Üzeyir Garih, Turkish engineer and businessman, co-founded Alarko Holding (b. 1929)
• 2001 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (b. 1979)
• 2001 – Ken Tyrrell, English race car driver and businessman, founded Tyrrell Racing (b. 1924)
• 2000 – Allen Woody, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1955)
• 2000 – Carl Barks, American author and illustrator (b. 1901)
• 2000 – Frederick C. Bock, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Jack Nitzsche, American pianist, composer, and producer (b. 1937)
• 1998 – Lewis F. Powell, Jr., American lawyer and Supreme Court justice (b. 1907)
• 1995 – Doug Stegmeyer, American bass player and producer (b. 1951)
• 1988 – Art Rooney, American businessman, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (b. 1901)
• 1984 – Truman Capote, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
• 1984 – Waite Hoyt, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1899)
• 1980 – Gower Champion, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1919)
• 1979 – Stan Kenton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1911)
• 1970 – Tachū Naitō, Japanese architect and engineer, designed the Tokyo Tower (b. 1886)
• 1967 – George Lincoln Rockwell, American commander, politician, and activist, founded the American Nazi Party (b. 1918)
• 1967 – Paul Muni, Ukrainian-born American actor (b. 1895)
• 1965 – Moonlight Graham, American baseball player and physician (b. 1879)
• 1956 – Alfred Kinsey, American biologist and academic (b. 1894)
• 1945 – John Birch, American soldier and missionary (b. 1918)
• 1930 – Frankie Campbell, American boxer (b. 1904)
• 1924 – Velma Caldwell Melville, American editor, and writer of prose and poetry (b. 1858)
• 1916 – Mary Tappan Wright, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1851)