On this day in history

August 1

28 births · 12 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

1936 Summer Olympics

90 years ago

Born this day

1819

Herman Melville

Died aged 72

Oldest record

1900th

Pertinax

birth anniversary

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Famous births28

AD 126 · 1900 yrs

Pertinax

Publius Helvius Pertinax ( PER-tin-ax; 1 August 126 – 28 March 193) was Roman emperor for the first three months of 193, succeeding Commodus and becoming the first ruler of the turbulent Year of the Five Emperors. The son of a freedman, Pertinax rose from modest origins through a military career.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 66

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Photo: Codrin.B · CC BY-SA 3.0

1520 · 506 yrs

Sigismund II Augustus

Sigismund II Augustus (Polish: Zygmunt II August, Lithuanian: Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548.

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RoyaltyDied aged 51

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Photo: Lucas Cranach the Younger · Public domain

1744 · 282 yrs

Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck

Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (French:), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biological evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws.

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ScienceDied aged 85

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Photo: Charles Thévenin · Public domain

1818 · 208 yrs

Maria Mitchell

Maria Mitchell ( mə-RY-ə; August 1, 1818 – June 28, 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.

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ScienceDied aged 70

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Photo: Nantucket Historical Association · Public domain

1819 · 207 yrs

Herman Melville

Herman Melville (born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American writer of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851), Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia, and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella.

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LiteratureDied aged 72

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Photo: Joseph Oriel Eaton · Public domain

1863 · 163 yrs

Gaston Doumergue

Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue (French:; 1 August 1863 – 18 June 1937) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1924 to 1931.

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LawDied aged 73

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1885 · 141 yrs

George de Hevesy

George Charles de Hevesy (born György Bischitz; Hungarian: Hevesy György Károly; German: Georg Karl von Hevesy; 1 August 1885 – 5 July 1966) was a Hungarian radiochemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, recognized in 1943 for his key role in the development of radioactive tracers to study chemical processes such…

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ScienceWould be 141

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1893 · 133 yrs

Alexander of Greece

Alexander (Greek: Αλέξανδρος, romanized: Aléxandros; 1 August 1893 – 25 October 1920) was King of Greece from 11 June 1917 until his death on 25 October 1920. The second son of King Constantine I, Alexander was born in the summer palace of Tatoi on the outskirts of Athens.

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RoyaltyWould be 133

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Photo: Charles Chusseau-Flaviens · Public domain

1924 · 102 yrs

Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 2015. Prior to his accession, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982.

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RoyaltyWould be 102

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Photo: Cherie A. Thurlby · Public domain

1924 · 102 yrs

Georges Charpak

Hersz Georges Charpak (French:; 1 August 1924 – 29 September 2010) was a Polish-born French physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992 for his invention of the multiwire proportional chamber.

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ScienceWould be 102

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Photo: CHARPAK_Georges-24x50-2005.jpg : Studio Harcourt derivative work: Spatulli ( talk ) · CC BY 3.0

1929 · 97 yrs

Hafizullah Amin

Hafizullah Amin (Pashto: حفيظ الله امين;‎ 1 August 1929 – 27 December 1979) was an Afghan revolutionary and communist head of state, who served in that position for a little over three months, from September 1979 until his assassination.

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PoliticsWould be 97

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Photo: The Associated Press · Public domain

1930 · 96 yrs

Pierre Bourdieu

Pierre Bourdieu (UK:, US:; French:; Gascon: Pèir Bordièu; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influence in several related academic fields (e.g.

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PhilosophyWould be 96

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Photo: Bernard Lambert · CC BY-SA 4.0

Showing 12 of 28

Famous deaths12

1137 · 889 yrs

Louis VI of France

Louis VI (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (French: le Gros) or the Fighter (French: le Batailleur), reigned as King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Like his father Philip I, Louis made a lasting contribution to centralizing the institutions of royal power.

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RoyaltyDied aged 55

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1326 · 700 yrs

Osman I

Osman I or Osman Ghazi (Ottoman Turkish: عثمان غازى, romanized: ʿOsmān Ġāzī; Turkish: I. Osman or Osman Gazi; died 1323/4) was the eponymous founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as a beylik or emirate).

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Notable PeopleDied aged 67

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Photo: Ottoman miniature painting · Public domain

1464 · 562 yrs

Cosimo de' Medici

Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who became the de facto ruler of Florence during the Italian Renaissance, and was the first to establish the Medici family as its effective leaders for generations.

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PoliticsDied aged 74

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Photo: Pontormo · Public domain

1714 · 312 yrs

Anne of Great Britain

Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 8 March 1702, and Queen of Great Britain and Ireland following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707 merging the kingdoms of England and Scotland, until her death in 1714.

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RoyaltyDied aged 49

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Photo: Michael Dahl · Public domain

1944 · 82 yrs

Manuel L. Quezon

Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who served as the second president of the Philippines from 1935 until his death in 1944.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 148

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Photo: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information · Public domain

1970 · 56 yrs

Otto Heinrich Warburg

Otto Heinrich Warburg (German pronunciation:,; 8 October 1883 – 1 August 1970) was a German physiologist, medical doctor, and Nobel laureate. He served as an officer in the elite Uhlans (cavalry) during the First World War, and was awarded the Iron Cross (1st Class) for bravery.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 143

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1973 · 53 yrs

Walter Ulbricht

Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (German:; 30 June 1893 – 1 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development and establishment of the German Democratic Republic.

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PoliticsWould be 133

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Photo: Hans-Joachim Spremberg · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1987 · 39 yrs

Pola Negri

Pola Negri (born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish-born stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 129

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1996 · 30 yrs

Tadeusz Reichstein

Tadeusz Reichstein (20 July 1897 – 1 August 1996), also known as Tadeus Reichstein, was a Polish-Swiss chemist and a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (1950), which was awarded for his work on the isolation of cortisone.

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ScienceWould be 129

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Photo: ETH Zürich · CC BY-SA 3.0

1997 · 29 yrs

Sviatoslav Richter

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter (20 March 1915 – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. Widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, he has been praised for the "depth of his interpretations, his virtuoso technique, and his vast repertoire".

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MusicWould be 111

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Photo: Щербинин Юрий · CC BY-SA 3.0

2009 · 17 yrs

Corazon Aquino

María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino ( ə-KEE-noh, Tagalog:; née Sumulong Cojuangco; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines, serving from 1986 to 1992.

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PoliticsWould be 93

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Photo: Airman Gerald B. Johnson · Public domain

2020 · 6 yrs

Wilford Brimley

Anthony Wilford Brimley (September 27, 1934 – August 1, 2020) was an American actor. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and working odd jobs in the 1950s, Brimley started working as an extra and stuntman in Western films in the late 1960s.

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FilmWould be 92

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Photo: Marc Majcher · CC BY-SA 2.0

Events5

1798 · 228 yrs

Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; French: Bataille d'Aboukir) was fought between the Royal Navy and the French Navy at Aboukir Bay in Egypt between 1 and 3 August 1798.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1894 · 132 yrs

First Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily for influence over Korea. In China it is commonly known as the Jiawu War.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1927 · 99 yrs

Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War was fought between the government of the Republic of China (ROC), led by the Kuomintang (KMT), and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermittently from 1 August 1927 until Communist victory that led to the Kuomintang's retreat to Taiwan on 7 December 1949.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1936 · 90 yrs

1936 Summer Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: Olympische Sommerspiele 1936), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad (Spiele der XI. Olympiade) and branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, Germany.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

1944 · 82 yrs

Warsaw Uprising

The Warsaw Uprising (Polish: powstanie warszawskie; German: Warschauer Aufstand), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (Polish: powstanie sierpniowe), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation.

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War

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