- 257 St Stephen I, bishop of Rome (Pope) (254-57)/heretic fighter, dies
- 640 Severinus, Italian Pope (640), dies
- 686 Pope John V, 1st Greek-Syrian Pope (685-86) dies
- 924 Ælfweard of Wessex, briefly King of the Anglo-Saxons
- 1002 Abu Amir Mohammed ibn Abd allah ibn Mohammed ibn Abi Amir, dies at 64
- 1075 John VIII Xiphilinus, theologian/patriarch of Constantinople, dies
- 1100 William II, [Rufus], king of England, shot in New Forest at 44
- 1222 Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse (1194-1222), dies at 65
- 1511 Andrew Barton, Scottish naval leader
- 1512 Alessandro Achillini, Italian physician/philosopher, dies at 48
- 1589 Henry III, King of Poland and France (1573-89), assassinated at 37
- 1600 Arent van Dorp, Dutch governor of East-Zealand, dies at about 70
- 1611 Kato Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1562)
- 1649 Elisabeth Bas, wife of Dutch Adm Swartenhondt, dies at about 78
- 1655 Alfonso de la Cueva, Spanish marquis of Bedmar/diplomat, dies at 83
- 1696 Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, Scottish military commander (b. 1630)
- 1769 Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician (b. 1689)
- 1776 Louis François I, Prince of Conti, French nobleman and military leader, dies at 58
- 1788 Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (Blue Boy), dies at 61
- 1799 Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French inventor, dies at 54
- 1811 William Williams, US merchant/signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 80
- 1815 Guillaume Brune, French marshal, dies at 52
- 1823 Lazare Carnot, French politician, engineer and mathematician known as the Organizer of Victory in the French Revolutionary Wars, dies at 70
- 1849 Governor Muhammad Ali of Egypt (b. 1769)
- 1858 A Emma WT von Waldeck-Pyrmont, queen/regent, dies at 76
Horace Mann
1859 Horace Mann, American education advocate, dies at 63
Horace Mann
Wild Bill Hickok
1876 Wild Bill" Hickok [James Butler], American cowboy and scout, shot dead from behind by Jack McCall while playing poker (he held a pair of Aces and a pair of 8's), dies at 39
Wild Bill Hickok
- 1881 Marcus Andrews Hislop Clarke, author (His Natural Life) at 35
- 1889 Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian author (b. 1851)
- 1891 George Washington Williams, American historian (History of the Negro Race in America), dies from tuberculosis and pleurisy at 41
- 1895 Joseph Thomson, Scottish geologist and early African explorer (Thomson's Gazelle), dies of pneumonia at 37
- 1903 Edmond Nocard, French veterinarian (b. 1850)
- 1920 Ormer Locklear, American stunt pilot (b. 1891)
Alexander Graham Bell
1922 Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born British American inventor (telephone), dies of diabetes complications at 75
Alexander Graham Bell
- 1922 Mina Kruseman, Dutch author and feminist, dies at 82
Warren G. Harding
1923 Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (1921-23), dies of a heart attack at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco F at 57
Warren G. Harding
Paul von Hindenburg
1934 Paul von Hindenburg, German WW1 general and President of Germany (1925-34), dies of lung cancer at 86
Paul von Hindenburg
- 1936 Louis Blériot, French aviator who made the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier than air aircraft, dies of a heart attack at 64
- 1939 Harvey Spencer Lewis, American Rosicrucian mystic (b. 1883)
- 1941 Jose Juan Tablada, Mexican poet (el Florilegio), dies at 70
- 1942 Friedrich Aereboe, German landlord and agricultural economist, dies at 77
- 1955 Ruprecht, crown prince of Bayern/general-fieldmarshal, dies
- 1955 Wallace Stevens, American poet (The Auroras of Autumn), dies at 75
- 1956 Albert Woolson, last veteran US Union army, dies at 109
- 1961 Giovanni B Angioletti, Italian writer (I grandi ospiti), dies at 64
- 1963 Oliver [Hazard Perry] La Farge, American anthropologist and novelist, dies at 61
- 1965 N. Howell Furman, American Chemist whose work on separating uranium contributed to the development of the atomic bomb, dies at 73
- 1967 Claude A Barnett, founder (Associated Negro Press), dies at 77
- 1971 Ludwig Marcuse, German philosopher, dies at 77
- 1972 Paul Goodman, US social critic/writer, dies at 60
- 1972 Helen Hoyt, American poet (b. 1887)
- 1973 Jean-Pierre Melville, director (Bob Le Flambeur), dies at 57
- 1976 Fritz Lang, Austrian-German-American director (M, Metropolis, Fury, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse), dies from a stroke at 85
- 1978 Satomi Myodo, Zen nun/attendant of Hakuun Yasutani Roshi, dies at 82
- 1978 Totie Fields [Sophie Feldman], American comedienne, dies at 48
- 1986 Roy Marcus Cohn, American lawyer (Joseph McCarthy), dies of AIDS at 59
- 1987 Myron Stout, US abstract artist, dies at 79
- 1988 Raymond Carver, poet/short story writer (Furious Season), dies at 50
- 1988 Joe Carcione, American consumer advocate (The Green Grocer), dies at 73
- 1990 Norman Mclean, American writer (b. 1902)
- 1992 Julio C Fernandez, Cuban/US journalist (founder Alma Mater), dies
- 1994 Bhagwatpersad Ausan, commandant Suriname military police, dies at 38
- 1995 Colin Falkland Gray, New Zealand fighter ace of the Second World War, dies at 80
- 1996 Michel Debre, PM of France in (1959-62), dies
- 1996 U Hia Than, politician, dies at 52
- 1997 William S Burroughs, author (Naked Lunch), dies at 83
- 2003 Peter Safar, Austrian physician (pioneered cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR), dies at 79
- 2003 Charles Kerruish, Manx politician and President of Tyndwald Isle of Man, dies at 86
- 2004 François Craenhals, Belgian comics artist (b. 1926)
- 2005 Steven Vincent, American journalist and writer (b. 1955)
- 2007 Chauncey Bailey, American journalist and editor (b. 1950)
- 2007 Holden Roberto, Angolan founder and leader of the FNLA (b. 1923)
- 2008 Fujio Akatsuka, Japanese cartoonist, dies of pneumonia at 72
- 2015 Forrest Bird, American aviator and inventor (1st respirators and ventilators), dies at 94
- 2016 Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist, (Nobel Prize 1999), dies at 70
August in History
The Strange, Mysterious Story of the Balloon Expedition to the North Pole
The discovery of Swedish engineer S. A. Andrée's tragic, long-lost polar expedition in 1930 led to more questions than answers.
August 5, 1930
A Pill to Cure All Ills
Not well? Take a Beecham’s Pill was often the advice. So popular was it that nobody doubted it’s extravagant claim in the world’s first advertising slogan.
August 6, 1859
Why Mata Hari Was Not the Spy You Thought She Was
The controversial life and death of Mata Hari, the glamorous WWI double agent, executed in 1917, has recently been reassessed in the light of new evidence.
August 7, 1876
Ship Of Gold Sails Into Oblivion
A frigate with more than 150 souls on board, as well as nearly three tons of gold, sailed out of Melbourne on this day – never to be seen again.
August 12, 1853