in 2016 using the DNA from over 450,000 customers of gene-testing company 23andMe, researchers identify for the first time 15 regions of the genome associated with depression.
1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discover the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England.
1981 – MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state.
1961 – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization.
1957 – The United States and Canada form the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
1943 – World War II: Operation Tidal Wave also known as "Black Sunday", was a failed American attempt to destroy Romanian oil fields.
1927 – The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.
1911 – Harriet Quimby takes her pilot's test and becomes the first U.S. woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator's certificate.
1907 – The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement.
1894 – The First Sino-Japanese War erupts between Japan and China over Korea.
1893 – Henry Perky patents shredded wheat.
1855 – The first ascent of Monte Rosa, the second highest summit in the Alps.
1842 – The Lombard Street riot erupts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
1801 – First Barbary War: The American schooner USS Enterprise captures the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of modern-day Libya.
1774 – British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen gas, corroborating the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela.
Births
1993 – Leon Thomas III, American actor and singer. Thomas III (born August 1, 1993) is an American actor, record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and singer, who is currently signed to Columbia and Rostrum Records.
1992 – Austin Rivers, American basketball player. Austin James Rivers (born August 1, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
1989 – Madison Bumgarner, American baseball player. Madison Kyle Bumgarner (born August 1, 1989), commonly known by his nickname, "MadBum", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB).
1985 – Cole Kimball, American baseball player. Kimball (born August 1, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.
1985 – Stuart Holden, Scottish-American soccer player. Stuart Alistair Holden (born August 1, 1985) is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a midfielder, and is currently a lead TV game analyst for Fox Sports and Turner Sports.
1984 – Brandon Kintzler, American baseball player. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB)for the Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs.
1984 – Steve Feak, American game designer. Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) and its expansion, The Frozen Throne.
1979 – Jason Momoa, American actor, director, and producer. In Baywatch Hawaii, he portrayed Lifeguard Jason Ioane.
1978 – Edgerrin James, American football player. Edgerrin Tyree James (/ˈɛdʒərɪn/; born August 1, 1978) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons.
1977 – Darnerien McCants, American-Canadian football player. He played college football at Delaware State.
1976 – Don Hertzfeldt, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor. In 2014, his work appeared on The Simpsons.
1974 – Cher Calvin, American journalist. Cher Calvin is a news presenter for KTLA television in Los Angeles.
1973 – Gregg Berhalter, American soccer player and coach. Berhalter previously coached Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soccer, Hammarby IF in Sweden, and served as an assistant coach for LA Galaxy.
1972 – Thomas Woods, American historian, economist, and academic. Thomas Ernest Woods Jr. (born August 1, 1972) is an American historian, political commentator, author, and podcaster.
1972 – Todd Bouman, American football player and coach. He played college football at St.
1970 – Quentin Coryatt, American football player. Quentin John Coryatt (born August 1, 1970) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys.
1969 – Kevin Jarvis, American baseball player and scout. Kevin Thomas Jarvis (born August 1, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.
1968 – Dan Donegan, American heavy metal guitarist and songwriter (Disturbed). Daniel Joseph Donegan (born August 1, 1968) is an American musician, who currently serves as the lead and rhythm guitarist/keyboardist for the heavy metal band Disturbed.
1968 – Stacey Augmon, American basketball player and coach. He gained the nickname "Plastic Man" due to his athletic ability to "stretch".
1967 – Gregg Jefferies, American baseball player and coach. Gregory Scott Jefferies (born August 1, 1967) is a retired infielder/outfielder in Major League Baseball who had a 14-year career from 1987 to 2000.
1966 – James St. James, American club promoter and author. James (born James Clark; August 1, 1966) is a television personality, author, celebutante, frequent collaborator with Mathu Andersen, and former "Club Kid", a member of the New York City club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
1965 – Brandt Jobe, American golfer. Brandt William Jobe (born August 1, 1965) is an American professional golfer, who currently plays on the PGA Champions Tour.
1964 – Adam Duritz, American singer-songwriter and producer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold over 20 million records, released four albums that have been certified gold or platinum, and been nominated for two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award.
1964 – Augusta Read Thomas, American composer, conductor and educator. Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer.
1963 – Coolio, American rapper, producer, and actor. Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (born August 1, 1963), known by his stage name Coolio, is an American rapper, actor, chef, and record producer.
1963 – Demián Bichir, Mexican-American actor and producer. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Better Life.
1963 – John Carroll Lynch, American actor. He is also known for his television work on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show as the title character's cross-dressing brother, Steve Carey, as well as on American Horror Story: Freak Show and American Horror Story: Cult as Twisty the Clown.
1960 – Chuck D, American rapper and songwriter (Public Enemy). Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer.
1960 – Suzi Gardner, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (L7). Suzanne "Suzi" Gardner (born August 1, 1960) is an American musician and creative director best known for being a guitarist, vocalist, and co-founder of the punk rock band L7.
1958 – Kiki Vandeweghe, American basketball player and coach. VanDeWeghe is a retired professional basketball player and was formerly the general manager of the Denver Nuggets and the New Jersey Nets, and a head coach of the Nets.
1958 – Michael Penn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is noted for the 1989 single "No Myth", a top 20 hit in the US and successful in several other countries.
1958 – Rob Buck, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2000), was a founding member and guitarist of the American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs from 1981 until his death from liver disease in 2000. Some of his compositions with Natalie Merchant are among the most popular songs recorded by 10,000 Maniacs, including "What's the Matter Here", "Hey Jack Kerouac", "You Happy Puppet" and "These Are Days".
1957 – Taylor Negron, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015), was an American actor, comedian, painter, and playwright.
1954 – James Gleick, American journalist and author. James Gleick (/ɡliːk/; born August 1, 1954) is an American author and historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact of modern technology.
1953 – Howard Kurtz, American journalist and author. Howard Alan Kurtz (/kɜːrts/; born August 1, 1953) is an American journalist and author best known for his coverage of the media.
1953 – Robert Cray, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards.
1951 – Pete Mackanin, American baseball player, coach, and manager. Peter Mackanin, Jr. (pronounced /ˈmɑːkænɪn/) (born August 1, 1951), is an American former professional baseball utility player, coach, scout, and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, Philadelphia Phillies, and Minnesota Twins, from 1973 to 1981.
1951 – Tommy Bolin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976), was an American guitarist and songwriter who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), in addition to maintaining a notable career as a solo artist and session musician. Much of his discography was either unreleased at the time of recording, or had gone out of print and was not released again until years after his death by drug overdose at age 25.
1949 – Jim Carroll, American poet, author, and musician (d. 2009), was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries; the book inspired a 1995 film of the same title that starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.
1949 – Ray Nettles, American football player (d. 2009), was a football linebacker at the University of Tennessee who played professional Canadian football from 1972-1980. He was a five-time Canadian Football League All-Star and Hall of Famer.
1948 – Avi Arad, Israeli-American screenwriter and producer, founded Marvel Studios. Avi Arad (/ˈɑːvi ˈɑːrɑːd/; Hebrew: אבי ארד; April 18, 1948) is an Israeli-American businessman and film producer who became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, a Marvel director and the chairman, CEO and founder of Marvel Studios.
1948 – Cliff Branch, American football player, was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders during his entire 14-year National Football League (NFL) career. He won three NFL championships with the Raiders in Super Bowl XI, XV and XVIII.
1946 – Richard O. Covey, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut. Richard Oswalt Covey (born August 1, 1946) is a retired United States Air Force officer and former NASA astronaut.
1946 – Rick Coonce, American drummer (The Grass Roots) (d. 2011), was the drummer for American rock band The Grass Roots from 1966 to 1972.
1945 – Douglas Osheroff, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate. Douglas Dean Osheroff (born August 1, 1945) is a physicist known for his work in experimental condensed matter physics, in particular for his co-discovery of superfluidity in Helium-3.
1942 – Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995), was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his work as the lead guitarist and as a vocalist with the band the Grateful Dead, which came to prominence during the counterculture era in the 1960s. Although he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader or "spokesman" of the group.
1940 – Henry Silverman, American businessman, founded Cendant. Silverman is an American entrepreneur and private equity investor.
1939 – Robert James Waller, American author and photographer (d. 2017), was an American author best known for The Bridges of Madison County, an enormously successful book in 1993. He was also a photographer and musician.
1939 – Terry Kiser, American actor. He has more than 140 acting credits to his name, with a career spanning more than 50 years.
1937 – Al D'Amato, American lawyer and politician. He subsequently founded a lobbying firm, Park Strategies.
1933 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 2009), was an American actor, voice actor, comedian, director, producer, chef and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur and the father of actor, director, pianist, and writer Peter DeLuise, and actors David DeLuise and Michael DeLuise.
1933 – Teri Shields, American actress, producer, and agent (d. 2012), was an American actress, film producer, socialite, and model.
1932 – Meir Kahane, American-Israeli rabbi and activist, founded the Jewish Defense League (d. 1990), was an Israeli-American ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. His legacy continues to influence militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel.
1931 – Ramblin' Jack Elliott, American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer and performer.
1930 – Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian-American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2014), was a Trinidadian-American actor, voice actor, dancer, choreographer, singer, director and painter. A multifaceted performer and creator, he is best remembered by audiences for his performance as the villainous Baron Samedi in the 1973 Bond-movie Live and Let Die and as the pitchman for 7 Up.
1930 – Julie Bovasso, American actress and writer (d. 1991), was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.
1930 – Lawrence Eagleburger, American lieutenant and politician, 62nd United States Secretary of State (d. 2011), was an American statesman and career diplomat, who served briefly as the Secretary of State under President George H. W.
1929 – Ann Calvello, American roller derby racer (d. 2006), was an American athlete and notable personality in the sport of roller derby.
1927 – Anthony G. Bosco, American bishop (d. 2013), was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg, Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2004.
1926 – George Hauptfuhrer, American basketball player and lawyer (d. 2013), was an American basketball player who, despite being taken third overall in the 1948 BAA Draft after a collegiate career at Louisville and Harvard, decided to pursue a career in law.
1924 – Marcia Mae Jones, American actress and singer (d. 2007), was an American actor whose prolific career spanned 47 years. In the 1937 movie, Mountain Justice, she played Bettie Harkins as seen on TCM.
1923 – Val Bettin, American actor. Valentine John Bettin (born August 1, 1923) is a retired American actor and voice actor, known for using an English accent in all of his roles.
1921 – Jack Kramer, American tennis player, sailor, and sportscaster (d. 2009). A World No. 1 player for a number of years, and one of the most important people in the establishment of modern men's "Open"-era tennis, he was the leading promoter of professional tennis tours in the 1950s and 1960s.
1918 – T. J. Jemison, American minister and activist (d. 2013). Theodore Judson Jemison (August 1, 1918 – November 15, 2013), better known as T.
1914 – Jack Delano, American photographer and composer (d. 1997), was an American photographer for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and a composer noted for his use of Puerto Rican folk material.
1911 – Jackie Ormes, American journalist and cartoonist (d. 1985). Jackie Ormes (August 1, 1911 – December 26, 1985) is known as the first African-American woman cartoonist and creator of the Torchy Brown comic strip and the Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger panel.
1910 – Walter Scharf, American pianist and composer (d. 2003), was an American film composer.
1905 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, American-Canadian astronomer and academic (d. 1993), was an astronomer noted for pioneering research into globular clusters and variable stars. She was the first female president of several astronomical organizations and a notable woman of science in a time when many universities would not award scientific degrees to women.
1903 – Paul Horgan, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1995), was an American author of fiction and non-fiction, most of which was set in the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for History.
1898 – Morris Stoloff, American composer and musical director (d. 1980), was a musical composer. Stoloff worked with Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra.
1871 – John Lester, American cricketer and soccer player (d. 1969), was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lester was one of the Philadelphian cricketers who played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I.
1843 – Robert Todd Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 35th United States Secretary of War (d. 1926), was an American politician, lawyer, and businessman. The first son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Lincoln was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Harvard College before serving on the staff of Ulysses S.
1819 – Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1891), was an American novelist, short story writer and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are his magnum opus, Moby-Dick (1851), and Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences of Polynesian life.
1818 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer and academic (d. 1889), was an American astronomer, librarian, naturalist, and educator. In 1847, she discovered a comet named 1847 VI (modern designation C/1847 T1) that was later known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet” in her honor.
1809 – William B. Travis, American colonel and lawyer (d. 1836), was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army.
1779 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1843), was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland who is best known for writing the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner".
1770 – William Clark, American soldier, explorer, and politician, 4th Governor of Missouri Territory (d. 1838), was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in prestatehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri.
Deaths
2014 – Charles T. Payne, American soldier (b. 1925)
2013 – Babe Martin, American baseball player (b. 1920)
2013 – Gail Kobe, American actress and producer (b. 1932)
2013 – Toby Saks, American cellist and educator (b. 1942)
2013 – Wilford White, American football player (b. 1928)
2012 – Douglas Townsend, American composer and musicologist (b. 1921)
2010 – Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican-American activist (b. 1919)
2006 – Bob Thaves, American illustrator (b. 1924)
2006 – Iris Marion Young, American political scientist and activist (b. 1949)
2005 – Al Aronowitz, American journalist (b. 1928)
2004 – Philip Abelson, American physicist and author (b. 1913)
2001 – Korey Stringer, American football player (b. 1974)
1981 – Paddy Chayefsky, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
1980 – Strother Martin, American actor (b. 1919)
1977 – Francis Gary Powers, American captain and pilot (b. 1929)
1970 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (b. 1901)
1970 – Frances Farmer, American actress (b. 1913)
1966 – Charles Whitman, American murderer (b. 1941)
1963 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (b. 1908)
1938 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and academic (b. 1862)
1918 – John Riley Banister, American cowboy and police officer (b. 1854)
1911 – Edwin Austin Abbey, American painter and illustrator (b. 1852)
1911 – Samuel Arza Davenport, American lawyer and politician (b. 1843)
1903 – Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and scout (b. 1853)
Remind me of this day
