Wednesday, 8th April 2026 in Lisbon

8th April in the Stars – Star Sign Aries

Today, the zodiac sign Aries celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality People born on April 8th channel Aries fire with creative drive and courage. Direct and enthusiastic, they bring innovation wherever they go. Their impulsive nature compels them to test boundaries and seek adventure constantly.

Strengths & Weaknesses Strengths include courage, initiative, and infectious energy that inspire others through authenticity. Weaknesses emerge through impatience and hasty decisions that spark conflict. Self-awareness helps balance these extremes.

Love In relationships, these individuals bring passion and honesty to the table. They seek partners who match their pace and respect their independence. Emotional depth combined with direct communication matters most.

Caree & Finance Management, entrepreneurship, and creative fields suit them best. Their gift for starting projects often outweighs follow-through abilities. Financially, impulse spending requires conscious discipline and planning.

Health These active people thrive with regular physical exertion and adventurous pursuits. Sports effectively channel their boundless restlessness and stress. Learning to pause and direct their energy strategically ensures long-term wellness.

That night, the moon was in its waxing crescent phase.

Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).

Fun Facts About 8th April

Name Days in Your Language: Gillian, Jill, Jillian, Jolyon, Julia, Julian, Juliana, Julianna, Julianne, Julie, Julien, Juliet, Juliette, Julio, Julissa, Julius

Someone born on this day would be just 56 days old today — roughly 1,362 hours, 81,720 minutes, or 4,903,233 seconds spent on Earth so far.

It's the 98. day of the year. In 2026, 8th April falls on a Wednesday.

There are 267 days still to come.

We’re currently in Week 15 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 8th April

On this day, 242 notable people were born on 8th April — spanning from 1320 to 2013. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

08/04/2013

Big Justice, American social media personality

Andrew "A.J." Befumo Jr. and Eric Justice Befumo, collectively known online as both A.J. & Big Justice and the Costco Guys, are American social media personalities based in Boca Raton, Florida. The father-and-son duo found popularity on TikTok and YouTube during late 2023 and early 2024 for their videos at the warehouse store Costco. Through 2024, they gained more than two million followers on TikTok, signed with the management company Night, and released their debut single "We Bring the Boom". They also make appearances for the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where A.J. sporadically competes.

08/04/2005

Zaccharie Risacher, French basketball player

Zaccharie Risacher is a French professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the first overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2024 NBA draft.

08/04/2002

Jamie Drysdale, Canadian ice hockey player

Jamie Drysdale is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL. Internationally, Drysdale has represented Canada at multiple underage and junior competitions.

Viktória Forster, Slovak track and field athlete

Viktória Forster is a Slovak track and field athlete who competes internationally as a hurdler and a sprinter. She holds the Slovak women's record for 60 metres hurdles, 100 metres hurdles and 100 metres.

Skai Jackson, American actress

Skai Jackson is an American actress. With such accolades as a Shorty Award and a nomination for an NAACP Image Award, she was featured in Time's list of the most influential teens in 2016.

08/04/1999

CeeDee Lamb, American football player

Cedarian DeLeon "CeeDee" Lamb is an American professional football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners where he was a consensus All-American in 2019, and was selected by the Cowboys in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.

08/04/1998

Lavinia Valbonesi, Ecuadorian nutritionist, businesswoman and First Lady of Ecuador

Ángela Lavinia Valbonesi Acosta is an Ecuadorian businesswoman, nutritional coach, and social media influencer who is the current first lady of Ecuador since 2023 as the wife of President Daniel Noboa.

08/04/1997

Kim Woo-jin, South Korean singer

Kim Woojin is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a former member of the boy group Stray Kids, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2017. After leaving the group in late 2019, Kim debuted as a soloist in 2021 with the release of his first extended play (EP) The Moment: A Minor. Kim has since released two additional EPs.

Saygrace, Australian singer and songwriter

Grace Sewell, known professionally as Saygrace, is an Australian singer. She is best known for "You Don't Own Me", a cover version of the 1963 Lesley Gore song, produced by Quincy Jones, Parker Ighile and featuring G-Eazy. The song, a single from her debut album with Regime Music Societe and RCA Records, was a number-one hit in Australia.

Roquan Smith, American football player

Roquan Daevon Smith is an American professional football linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs. Smith became the first Georgia Bulldog to win the Butkus Award.

Arno Verschueren, Belgian footballer

Arno Verschueren is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Dutch Eredivisie club Twente.

Keira Walsh, English footballer

Keira Fae Walsh is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for, and a vice-captain of, Women's Super League club Chelsea and the England women's national team. She is considered both a playmaker and a defensive midfielder. She has previously played for Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, and Barcelona, and Great Britain at the Olympics. Walsh has numerous titles, having won the Women's Super League; the Liga F; the FA Cup; the Copa de la Reina; the League Cup; the Supercopa de España; and the Champions League all on multiple occasions. With Manchester City she achieved one domestic treble, while at Barcelona she successively achieved a continental treble and continental quadruple. For the 2024–25 season, Walsh achieved two domestic trebles, one each with Barcelona and Chelsea. She was part of the England teams that won the Euro 2022 and Euro 2025, and was named player of the match in the 2022 final.

08/04/1996

Anna Korakaki, Greek Olympic shooter

Anna Korakaki is a Greek Olympic shooter.

08/04/1995

Forrest Frank, American singer-songwriter

Forrest Neil Frank is an American singer, songwriter, and producer from Fulshear, Texas. He rose to fame as one half of the pop music duo Surfaces and went on to have further success as a solo performer of Christian music, as well as a member of the Christian music superduo Party Wave. He is signed to River House Records, Warner Music Group, and 10K Projects. His 2024 studio album Child of God sold 22,000 copies within the first week, and held the top position on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart for 35 non-consecutive weeks. He is the grandson of American meteorologist Neil Frank.

Cedi Osman, Turkish professional basketball player

Cedi Osman is a Turkish professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. He was drafted with the 31st pick in the 2015 NBA draft and played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs over the span of seven seasons. He plays at the small forward position.

08/04/1994

Josh Chudleigh, Australian rugby league player

Josh Chudleigh is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup. Primarily a hooker, he previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys.

08/04/1993

Viktor Arvidsson, Swedish ice hockey player

Johan Viktor Arvidsson is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a right winger for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the fourth round, 112th overall, at the 2014 NHL entry draft.

TBJZL, English YouTuber

Tobit John "Tobi" Brown, known professionally as TBJZL, is an English YouTuber, streamer, and influencer. He is a member and co-founder of the British YouTube group the Sidemen. He is the co-owner of XIX Vodka, Sidemen Clothing, restaurant chain Sides, and cereal brand Best Breakfasts.

08/04/1992

Jeff McNeil, American baseball player

Jeffrey Todd McNeil, nicknamed "Squirrel" or "Flying Squirrel," is an American professional baseball utility player for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets. McNeil made his MLB debut in 2018. In 2022, McNeil started the All-Star Game at second base, won the MLB Batting Title and the Silver Slugger Award.

08/04/1990

Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer (died 2017)

Kim Jong-hyun, known mononymously as Jonghyun, was a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, radio host, and author under the SM Entertainment label. He was the vocalist of the South Korean boy band Shinee for nine years, releasing twelve albums with the group in both Korean and Japanese. He also participated in SM Entertainment's project group, SM the Ballad, for the release of two EP albums.

08/04/1989

Matty Healy, English singer-songwriter and producer

Matthew Timothy Healy is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the pop rock band the 1975. He is recognised for his lyricism, musical eclecticism, provocative onstage persona characterised as performance art, and influence on indie pop music.

08/04/1988

Jenni Asserholt, Swedish ice hockey player

Jenni Anna Christina Asserholt is a Swedish retired ice hockey player and current team physical therapist to HV71 Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). She played as a forward with HV71 Dam and Linköping HC Dam in the SDHL and with the Swedish women's national ice hockey team. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

08/04/1987

Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer

Royston Ricky Drenthe is a Dutch former professional footballer. Although primarily a left winger, he has also played as a left-back.

Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player

Jeremy Robert Hellickson is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, and Washington Nationals. Following the 2011 season, Hellickson was named American League Rookie of the Year. In Tampa Bay, Hellickson was nicknamed "Hellboy" by local fans and media.

Elton John, Trinidadian footballer

Elton David Wallace John is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.

Sam Rapira, New Zealand rugby league player

Sam Rapira is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played for Toulouse Olympique in the Championship. He played as a prop.

08/04/1986

Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer

Igor Vladimirovich Akinfeev is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for and captains Russian Premier League club CSKA Moscow.

Félix Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player

Félix Abraham Hernández García, nicknamed "King Félix", is a Venezuelan-American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners from 2005 through 2019. A six-time All-Star, Hernández led MLB in wins in 2009, led the American League in earned run average in 2010 and 2014, and won the AL Cy Young Award in 2010. He also played on the Venezuelan national team at two editions of the World Baseball Classic.

Carlos Santana, Dominican baseball player

Carlos Santana is a Dominican-American professional baseball first baseman and catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians / Guardians, Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago Cubs. He plays with the Dominican Republic national team internationally, winning the gold medal in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Santana was both an All-Star selection and Silver Slugger Award winner in 2019 with Cleveland. In 2024, he won a Gold Glove with Minnesota.

08/04/1985

Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player

Patrick Schliwa is a German international rugby union player, playing for the Heidelberger RK in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team.

Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian runner

Yemane Adhane Tsegay is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He won the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon with a personal best time of 2:04:48 hours. He has also won marathons in Eindhoven, Gyeongju, Macau and Taipei.

08/04/1984

Michelle Donelan, British politician

Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan is a British former politician. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology from February 2023 to July 2024.

Ezra Koenig, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Ezra Michael Koenig is an American musician, record producer, and radio personality. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additionally, Koenig is the creator of the Netflix animated comedy series Neo Yokio and also hosts the Apple Music radio talk show Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig. Time Crisis is airing its tenth season, as of 2024.

Pablo Portillo, Mexican singer and actor

Pablo Alberto Portillo Heredia is a Mexican singer and actor.

Taran Noah Smith, American actor

Taran Noah Smith is an American businessman and former actor. He played Mark Taylor on the sitcom Home Improvement, for which he won two Young Artist Awards in 1992 and 1994.

08/04/1983

Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russian runner

Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova is a Russian runner. She is a former specialist in the 3000 metres steeplechase, and won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She later moved up to marathon and won the Olympic bronze medal in that event at the 2012 London Games.

08/04/1982

Gennady Golovkin, Kazakhstani boxer

Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin, often known by his nickname "GGG" or "Triple G", is a Kazakhstani former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2022. He has held multiple middleweight world championships, and is a two-time former unified champion. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles at varying points between 2014 and 2023, and challenged once for the undisputed super middleweight championship in 2022. He is also a former International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight champion, having held the title twice between 2011 and 2023. Golovkin was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2026.

Brett White, Australian rugby league player

Brett White is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Canberra Raiders and the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL). Both an Ireland and Australian international, and New South Wales State of Origin representative prop forward, he played the majority of his career at the Storm, before signing with the Canberra Raiders from 2011. Married Cassie Adland in 2009, with whom he has 4 children.

Allu Arjun, Indian actor

Allu Arjun is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has been featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014. Referred to as the "Icon Star," he is known for his versatility and acclaimed dancing abilities. He has appeared in over 25 films and is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, six Filmfare Awards, and three Nandi Awards.

08/04/1981

Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer

Frédérick Bousquet is a retired freestyle and butterfly swimmer from France. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics and formerly held the world record in the 50 m freestyle.

Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model

Taylor Kitsch is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Tim Riggins in the NBC television series Friday Night Lights (2006–2011). He has also worked in films such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Battleship (2012), John Carter (2012), Savages (2012), Lone Survivor (2013), The Grand Seduction (2014), American Assassin (2017), Only The Brave (2017), and 21 Bridges (2019).

Ofer Shechter, Israeli model, actor, and screenwriter

Ofer Shechter is an Israeli actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and former model.

08/04/1980

Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer

Manuel Hanke, known professionally as Manuel Ortega, is an Austrian singer of Spanish origin.

Katee Sackhoff, American actress

Katee Sackhoff is an American actress known for playing Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on Battlestar Galactica (2003–2009), Niko Breckenridge on Another Life (2019–2021), Victoria "Vic" Moretti on Longmire and Bo-Katan Kryze on The Mandalorian (2020–2023). She also provided the voice of Bo-Katan in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels (2017) and Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (2024), as well as the voice of Bitch Pudding on Robot Chicken (2005–present). She was nominated for four Saturn Awards for Battlestar Galactica and won Best Supporting Actress on Television in 2005.

Mariko Seyama, Japanese announcer, photographer, and model

Mariko Seyama is a Japanese announcer and former model who is represented by the talent agency Shabell. She was an announcer for Nippon Television.

08/04/1979

Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2020)

Alexi Laiho was a Finnish guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and founding member of the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, and a guitarist for Sinergy, the Local Band, Kylähullut, and Bodom After Midnight, which formed just prior to his death. Laiho had previously played with Thy Serpent and Impaled Nazarene on occasion, as well as Warmen and Hypocrisy.

Amit Trivedi, Indian singer-songwriter

Amit Trivedi is an Indian composer, singer and lyricist. He began his career composing music for theatre productions, advertising jingles and independent music projects before making his film debut with the Hindi-language film Aamir (2008).

08/04/1978

Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and voice actor

Daigo Naitō , known mononymously as Daigo, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, television personality and voice actor. He debuted in 2003 as Daigo Stardust under Victor Entertainment. In 2007, he formed the visual kei rock band Breakerz. Daigo resumed his solo project in 2013, but dropped the "Stardust" surname.

Bernt Haas, Austrian-Swiss footballer

Bernt Haas is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He is the sporting director of FC Schaffhausen.

Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress

Rachel Roberts is a Canadian model and actress. Roberts has appeared in numerous ad campaigns, most notably for Biotherm Skin Care Products, and she became well known in the United States as the title character in the 2002 film Simone.

Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player and coach

Jocelyn Robichaud is a former tour professional tennis player. Robichaud captured three junior Grand Slam titles and played Davis Cup for Canada. More of a doubles specialist, he won three Challenger events in doubles and reached a career-high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 119.

Evans Rutto, Kenyan runner

Evans Rutto is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specialises in road running events. He made the fastest-ever marathon debut by winning the 2003 Chicago Marathon in a time of 2:05:50. He won the London Marathon and a second title in Chicago the following year.

08/04/1977

Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress

Anabell Gardoqui de la Reguera is a Mexican actress. She has starred in telenovelas, films, the HBO television series Eastbound & Down and Capadocia, the Amazon television series Goliath, and the 2006 comedy film Nacho Libre.

Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and author (died 2008)

Mehran Ghassemi was an Iranian journalist. He was an expert on Iranian Nuclear Dossier and Foreign Policy and published hundreds of articles in Iranian newspapers.

Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer

Mark Spencer is an American computer engineer and is the original author of the GTK+-based instant messaging client Gaim, the L2TP daemon l2tpd and the Cheops Network User Interface.

08/04/1975

Anouk, Dutch singer

Anouk Schemmekes, professionally known by the mononym Anouk, is a Dutch singer, songwriter and producer. After her 1997 breakthrough rock single "Nobody's Wife", she had additional hit records in the Dutch and Belgian charts. Many of her albums topped the Dutch album charts, all of them going Platinum and several debuting in the number 1 position. Anouk has a total of 15 number 1 albums, the most for any solo artist in the Netherlands. Her most famous singles include "Nobody's Wife", "Michel", "It's So Hard", "R U Kiddin' Me", "Girl", "Lost", "Modern World", "Three Days in a Row", "Birds", and "Woman".

Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer

Francesco Flachi is an Italian former professional footballer, currently playing for Promozione amateurs Praese.

Timo Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player

Timoniel M. Pérez is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. Between 2000 and 2007, he played for the New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and Detroit Tigers. Prior to his MLB career, Pérez spent four seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Funda Arar, Turkish singer

Funda Arar is a Turkish singer.

08/04/1974

Toutai Kefu, Tongan-Australian rugby player

Rodger Siaosi Toutai Kefu is a Tongan-Australian professional rugby union coach and former player who has been coaching the Tonga national team since 2016.

Chris Kyle, American sniper and memoirist (died 2013)

Christopher Scott Kyle was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and a Combat Action Ribbon. Despite Kyle’s claims of receiving two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars, the Navy later stated that his retirement paperwork was inaccurate and clarified that he had been awarded one Silver Star and three Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor.

Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American author and educator

Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her Binti Series and her novels Who Fears Death, Zahrah the Windseeker, Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, Lagoon and Remote Control. She has also written for comics and film.

Nayden Todorov, Bulgarian conductor and culture minister

Nayden Todorov is a Bulgarian conductor, cultural manager, and author. He has served as Artistic Director of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra since 2017, under whose direction the orchestra has performed at major venues including the Musikverein in Vienna, the Berliner Philharmonie, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. He has also served as Bulgaria's caretaker Minister of Culture on three occasions, in 2023, 2024–2025, and 2026.

08/04/1973

Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer

Khaled Badra is a Tunisian former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Emma Caulfield, American actress

Emma Caulfield Ford is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as former demon Anya Jenkins on the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998–2003), which earned her a nomination for the Satellite Award for Best Cast. She had recurring roles as Susan Keats on the Fox teen drama series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1995–1996), as Nurse Lorraine Miller on General Hospital (1997-1998), as Emma Bradshaw on the CW teen drama series Life Unexpected (2010–2011), and as Sarah Proctor on the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021), a role she reprised in its spin-off Agatha All Along (2024). She starred in the supernatural horror film Darkness Falls (2003) and in the romantic comedy film Timer (2009), and had a supporting role in the comedy film Back in the Day (2014).

Christof May, German theologian

Christof May was a German Catholic theologian and priest. He worked for the Diocese of Limburg, as Regens of the seminary, as Bischofsvikar responsible for development of the church, and as Domkapitular in the cathedral chapter. He advocated for changes in the Catholic Church.

08/04/1972

Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (died 2010)

Paul Dedrick Gray, also known as the Pig, was an American musician who was the bassist, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #2.

Sergei Magnitsky, Russian lawyer and accountant (died 2009)

Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky was a Russian tax advisor responsible for exposing corruption and misconduct by Russian government officials while representing client Hermitage Capital Management. His arrest in 2008 and subsequent death after eleven months in police custody generated international attention and triggered both official and unofficial inquiries into allegations of fraud, theft and human rights violations in Russia. His posthumous trial was the first in the Russian Federation.

08/04/1971

Darren Jessee, American singer-songwriter and drummer

Darren Michael Jessee is an American drummer and singer-songwriter who was the drummer in the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five. He has also worked as an instrumentalist for Sharon Van Etten and Hiss Golden Messenger and released three solo albums and four albums as singer and songwriter for indie band Hotel Lights. His first solo album, The Jane, Room 217, was released on August 24, 2018, to near-universal acclaim from critics.

08/04/1968

Patricia Arquette, American actress and director

Patricia Arquette is an American actress. Known for her roles on film and television, she has received an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Patricia Girard, French runner and hurdler

Patricia Girard is a French athlete who competed mainly in the 100 m hurdles.

Tracy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Tracy Grammer is an American folk singer known for her work as half of the folk duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer and for the solo career that she has continued since Carter's death. She released three albums with Dave Carter during his lifetime, at first doing instrumental work and providing backing vocals, and then, by their last album together, singing lead vocals on half of the tracks. Four albums by the duo have been released since Carter's death. She has also released four solo recordings, some of which have included previously unreleased songs by Carter, as well as four songbooks.

08/04/1967

Kenny Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer

Kenneth Charlie Griffith Benjamin is a former cricketer from Antigua and Barbuda who played 26 Tests and 26 One Day Internationals for the West Indies.

08/04/1966

Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress (died 2014)

Iveta Bartošová was a Czech singer, actress and celebrity, three-time best female vocalist in the music poll Zlatý slavík. She was also known for her turbulent lifestyle attracting the attention of the Czech tabloid media.

Mark Blundell, English race car driver

Mark Blundell is a British former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from 1991 to 1995, and IndyCar from 1996 to 2000. In endurance racing, Blundell won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1992 with Peugeot.

Andy Currier, English rugby league player

Andrew S. Currier is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain national representative goal-kicking centre, he played most of his club rugby with English club Widnes as well as stints with Featherstone Rovers and the Australian team Balmain Tigers. At the time of his retirement, he was co-holder of the Widnes club record for most points in a match, with 34. He played out the last years of his career with English rugby union teams.

Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand-Australian television host (died 2014)

Charlotte Dawson was a New Zealand–Australian television personality. She was known in New Zealand for her roles as host of Getaway, and in Australia as a host on The Contender Australia and as a judge on Australia's Next Top Model. In 2014, her death by suicide attracted Australasian-wide news coverage.

Dalton Grant, English high jumper

Dalton Grant is a former high jumper who competed at three Olympic Games.

Mazinho, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager

Iomar do Nascimento, known as Mazinho, is a Brazilian football manager and former player. Mazinho played primarily as a defensive midfielder and a full-back in his professional playing career. As a manager, he had a short spell at Greek club Aris in 2009.

Harri Rovanperä, Finnish race car driver

Harri Tapani "Rovis" Rovanperä is a Finnish rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 1993 to 2006. He drove for SEAT (1997–00), Peugeot (2001–04), Mitsubishi (2005) and Red Bull Škoda Team (2006). Rovanperä was known as a loose surface specialist. He is the father of 2022 and 2023 World Rally Drivers' Champion Kalle Rovanperä. He was married to Tiina Rovanperä.

Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior

Evripidis Stylianidis is a Greek politician who has served as Minister for the Interior, Minister for Education and Minister for Transport and Communications. He is a member of New Democracy.

Robin Wright, American actress, director, producer

Robin Gayle Wright is an American actress, producer and director. She has received accolades including a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for eight Primetime Emmy Awards.

08/04/1965

Steven Blaney, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Public Safety

Steven Blaney is a Canadian businessman and politician who has been the mayor of Lévis, Quebec, since 2025. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Minister of Public Safety Canada from 2013 to 2015 and previously as the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State for La Francophonie in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2011 to 2013. He represented the Québec riding of Lévis—Bellechasse in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2021. Despite his anglophone-sounding name, Blaney is a Francophone; his English has a marked Quebecois accent. He ran in the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, being eliminated in the 7th round of voting.

Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach

Sir Michael Niko Jones is a New Zealand former rugby union player and coach.

08/04/1964

Biz Markie, American rapper, producer, and actor (died 2021)

Marcel Theo Hall, known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer who gained prominence during hip-hop's golden age. He was known for his comedic style and often called the "Clown Prince of Hip-Hop".

John McGinlay, Scottish footballer and manager

John McGinlay is a Scottish football manager, scout and former professional player who is the club ambassador of Bolton Wanderers.

08/04/1963

Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian bassist

Tine Asmundsen is a Norwegian jazz bassist, known from her own band, Lonely Woman, playing with David Murray at Kongsberg Jazzfestival 2010.

Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter

Julian Charles John Lennon is an English musician, photographer, author, and philanthropist. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia; Julian is named after his paternal grandmother Julia. Julian inspired three Beatles songs: "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1967), "Hey Jude" (1968), and "Good Night" (1968).

Dean Norris, American actor

Dean Joseph Norris is an American actor. He is best known for playing Hank Schrader on the AMC series Breaking Bad (2008–2013). Throughout his career, he has amassed over 154 credits across film and television, including over 40 law enforcement roles.

Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach

Terry Porter is an American former college basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was most recently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Portland. A native of Wisconsin, he played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point before being drafted 24th by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1985 NBA draft. In Portland, he played ten seasons with two All-Star Game appearances. Porter spent 17 years in the NBA as a player. Following his retirement as a player in 2002, he began coaching in the league. Porter has twice been a head coach, first with his hometown Milwaukee Bucks and then with the Phoenix Suns.

Donita Sparks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Donita Sparks is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter most notable for being the co-founder of the band L7. Sparks also initiated, performed, and released original material with her solo project, the band Donita Sparks and the Stellar Moments.

Alec Stewart, English cricketer

Alec James Stewart is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most-capped English cricketer ever in Test matches and third-most-capped in One Day Internationals (ODIs), having played in 133 Tests and 170 ODIs. An attacking batsman in tests against the new ball, Stewart is regarded as one of England's greatest openers. Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram considers him one of the most difficult batsmen he ever bowled to. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

08/04/1962

Paddy Lowe, English engineer

Patrick Allen Lowe is the founder and CEO of the fossil-free synthetic fuel company Zero. A former motor racing engineer and computer scientist, he spent 32 years working in Formula One, serving as Chief Technical Officer at Williams Racing, Executive Director (Technical) at Mercedes Formula One team, and Technical Director at McLaren. He was involved with cars that won 12 World Championships and secured 158 race wins. He left Formula One in 2019 and co-founded Zero in 2020.

Izzy Stradlin, American guitarist and songwriter

Jeffrey Dean Isbell, known professionally as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded four studio albums and left at the height of their fame in 1991.

08/04/1961

Richard Hatch, American reality contestant

Richard Holman Hatch Jr. is an American reality television contestant. In 2000, he became the first Survivor winner (Borneo) in its debut season, originally broadcast on CBS. He subsequently competed in All-Stars season of Survivor, the fourth celebrity edition of Celebrity Apprentice, season 17 of The Biggest Loser, and season 2 of House of Villains. In January 2006, he was convicted with three counts related to attempted tax evasion and fraudulent tax return. He served fifty-one months in prison and then, after failing to amend his 2000 and 2001 tax returns, an additional nine months in prison.

Brian McDermott, English footballer and manager

Brian James McDermott is a former professional football player and coach. He is currently a consultant at Major League Soccer club Charlotte.

08/04/1960

John Schneider, American actor and country singer

John Richard Schneider is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of Bo Duke in the television action comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985), as Clark Kent's father: Jonathan Kent, in the television series Smallville (2001–2011), and Jim Cryer in the television series The Haves and the Have Nots (2013–2021).

08/04/1959

Alain Bondue, French cyclist

Alain Bondue is a former racing cyclist from France. He competed for France in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Soviet Union in the individual pursuit event where he finished in second place.

08/04/1958

Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer

Detlef Bruckhoff is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. He made a total of 16 Bundesliga appearances for Tennis Borussia Berlin and Darmstadt 98.

Tom Petranoff, American javelin thrower and coach

Thomas Alan Petranoff is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He held the world record from May 1983 to July 1984; his 99.72 m throw was almost the length of an American football field (360 feet. During his career, he was a silver medalist at the World Championships in 1983 and represented the United States at the Summer Olympics in 1984 and 1988. He transferred to South Africa in the 1990s and was twice a winner at the African Championships. His personal best with the new implement javelin is 89.16 m. In the final years of his career, he returned to the United States and won a medal at the 1999 Pan American Games.

08/04/1956

Michael Benton, Scottish-English paleontologist and academic

Michael James Benton is a British palaeontologist, and professor of vertebrate palaeontology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. His published work has mostly concentrated on the evolution of Triassic reptiles but he has also worked on extinction events and faunal changes in the fossil record.

Christine Boisson, French actress

Christine Boisson was a French actress.

Roman Dragoun, Czech singer-songwriter and keyboard player

Roman Dragoun is a Czech singer, songwriter, and keyboardist. From 1980 to 1983 and again since 2007, he has been a member of the band Progres 2. He has also been a member of Stromboli, T4, and Futurum. He has additionally been a session player for a number of other musicians, and he has sung in musical theatre. In 2012, Dragoun was inducted into the Beatová síň slávy.

08/04/1955

Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer (died 2023)

Gerhardus Christian Coetzee OIB was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1986, and in 1993 and 1997. He was the first African in history to ever fight for, and win, a world heavyweight championship, having held the WBA title from 1983 to 1984. He held notable knockout wins against WBA world heavyweight champion Michael Dokes and undisputed world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, as well as a draw with future WBC world heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas and wins over top contenders Ron Stander, Scott LeDoux and James Tillis.

Ron Johnson, American businessman and politician

Ronald Harold Johnson is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold. He was reelected in 2016, defeating Feingold in a rematch, and in 2022, narrowly defeating Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. Before entering politics, he was chief executive officer of a plastics manufacturer in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist, essayist and poet

Barbara Ellen Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include The Poisonwood Bible, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo; and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a nonfiction account of her family's attempts to eat locally. In 2023, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the novel Demon Copperhead. Her work often focuses on topics such as social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments.

David Wu, Taiwanese-American lawyer and politician

David Wu is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Oregon's 1st congressional district from 1999 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

08/04/1954

Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (died 2012)

Gary Edmund Carter was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "The Kid" for his youthful exuberance, Carter was named an All-Star 11 times and was a member of the 1986 World Series champion Mets.

Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (died 2012)

Princess Lalla Amina was a member of the Moroccan royal family and former President of the Royal Moroccan Federation of Equestrian Sports.

G.V. Loganathan, Indian-American engineer and academic (died 2007)

Gobichettipalayam Vasudevan "G. V." Loganathan was an Indian-American engineer, who, at the time of his death, was a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering, part of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

08/04/1952

Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician (died 2004)

Ahmet Piriştina was a Turkish politician who was Mayor of İzmir from 1999 to 2004. His Family was of Albanian Turkish descent, his family was from the city of Prishtina.

08/04/1951

Gerd Andres, German politician

Gerd Andres is a German politician and member of the SPD. From 1987 to 2009 he was a member of the Bundestag.

Geir Haarde, Icelandic economist, journalist, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Iceland

Geir Hilmar Haarde is an Icelandic politician who served as prime minister of Iceland from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009, and as president of the Nordic Council in 1995. Geir was chairman of the Icelandic Independence Party from 2005 to 2009. From 2015 to 2019 he served as the ambassador of Iceland to the United States and several Latin American countries. Since 2019 he has been a chief representative at the World Bank Group.

Mel Schacher, American bass player

Melvin George Schacher is an American musician who is the bassist and a founding member of the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad.

Joan Sebastian, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor (died 2015)

José Manuel Figueroa Sr., known professionally as Joan Sebastian, was a Mexican singer and songwriter. Born in Juliantla, Guerrero, he composed more than 1,000 songs, including compositions for artists such as Bronco, Vicente Fernández, Lucero, Pepe Aguilar, and Rocío Dúrcal. The first several years of his career were primarily focused on Soft rock and Latin pop songs, but later focused primarily on regional Mexican music, specifically banda, mariachi, and norteño. Throughout his career, he also recorded various country songs in Spanish. Sebastian was awarded seven Latin Grammy Awards and five Grammy Awards, making him the most awarded Mexican performer in Grammy history.

Phil Schaap, American jazz disc jockey and historian (died 2021)

Philip van Noorden Schaap was an American radio host, who specialized in jazz as a broadcaster, historian, archivist, and producer. He hosted an assortment of jazz programs at WKCR and WNYC in New York City and WBGO in Newark, N.J. He began presenting jazz shows on Columbia University's WKCR in 1970, and hosted Bird Flight and Traditions In Swing on WKCR for 40 years, shows which are broadcast in archival versions to this day, beginning in 1981. He received six Grammy Awards over the course of his career.

08/04/1950

Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer and coach

Grzegorz Bolesław Lato is a Polish former professional football player and manager who played as a winger. He was a member of Poland's golden generation of football players who rose to fame in the 1970s and early 80s. Over a decade, he represented Poland at five major tournaments starting with gold at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich and ending with a third-place finish at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. He reached the peak of his career at the 1974 World Cup, where he was the leading scorer and the only Pole to-date to have won the honour. In 1981, he won the Polish Footballer of the Year Award presented by the Piłka Nożna football weekly. After retiring from his playing career, he had a brief stint as manager in several clubs in and out of Poland.

08/04/1949

K. C. Kamalasabayson, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 39th Attorney General of Sri Lanka (died 2007)

Kandapper Chinniah Kamalasabayson was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, Solicitor General of Sri Lanka and Attorney General of Sri Lanka.

John Madden, English director and producer

John Philip Madden is an English director of stage, film, television, and radio. He is known for directing the period romantic comedy film Shakespeare in Love (1998), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 71st Academy Awards ceremony.

Brenda Russell, African-American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player

Brenda Russell is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses R&B, pop, soul, dance, and jazz. She has received five Grammy nominations, winning in 2017 for writing the music for The Color Purple.

John Scott, English sociologist and academic

John Peter Scott is an English sociologist working on issues of economic and political sociology, social stratification, the history of sociology, and social network analysis. He is currently working independently, and has previously worked at the Universities of Strathclyde, Leicester, Essex, and Plymouth. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He has been a member of the British Sociological Association since 1970. In 2015 he became Chair of Section S4 of the British Academy. In 2016 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Essex University.

08/04/1948

Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, Scottish academic and politician

Barbara Scott Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, is a Scottish Labour member of the House of Lords. She was created a life peer on 4 November 1997 as Baroness Young of Old Scone, of Old Scone in Perth and Kinross.

08/04/1947

Tom DeLay, American lawyer and politician

Thomas Dale DeLay is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He served as House majority leader from 2003 to 2005.

Steve Howe, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer

Stephen James Howe is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to learn the instrument himself at age 12. He embarked on a music career in 1964, first playing in several London-based blues, covers, and psychedelic rock bands for six years, including the Syndicats, Tomorrow, and Bodast.

Pascal Lamy, French businessman and politician, European Commissioner for Trade

Pascal Lucien Fernand Lamy is a French political consultant, businessman and former civil servant and politician. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy for a second 4-year term, beginning on 1 September 2009. He was then succeeded by Roberto Azevêdo. Lamy was previously European Commissioner for Trade for 5 years, from 13 September 1999 to 22 November 2004.

Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (died 2008)

Larry David Norman was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 albums.

08/04/1946

Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (died 1999)

James Augustus "Catfish" Hunter was an American professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). From 1965 to 1979, he was a pitcher for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. Hunter is the only pitcher since 1915 to win 200 games by age 31. He is often referred to as baseball's first big-money free agent, and was a member of five World Series championship teams.

Tim Thomerson, American actor and producer

Joseph Timothy Thomerson is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jack Deth in the Trancers film series, his work in numerous low-budget features, and his comedic television roles. He appeared in the films Uncommon Valor, Air America, Volunteers, Who's Harry Crumb?, Iron Eagle, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

08/04/1945

Derrick Walker, Scottish businessman

Derrick Walker is a former British auto racing team owner. In May 2013 Walker became President of operations and competition of IndyCar until the finalization of the 2015 Indycar season.

Jang Yong, South Korean actor

Jang Yong is a South Korean actor.

08/04/1944

Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor (died 2017)

Hywel Thomas Bennett was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in The Family Way (1966) and played the "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom Shelley (1979–1992).

Odd Nerdrum, Swedish-Norwegian painter and illustrator

Odd Nerdrum is a Norwegian figurative painter. A controversial figure in Norway, he is known for his anti-modernist stance while he is also admired internationally for his skill and technique, as well as his extraordinary subject matter. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work reference anecdote and narrative. Primary influences by the painters Rembrandt and Caravaggio help place his work in direct conflict with abstraction and conceptual art. Works include still life paintings of small, everyday objects, portraits and self-portraits, and large paintings allegorical and apocalyptic in nature. The figures in Nerdrum's paintings are often dressed as if from another time and place.

08/04/1943

Michael Bennett, American dancer, choreographer, and director (died 1987)

Michael Bennett was an American musical theatre director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven.

Miller Farr, American football player (died 2023)

Miller Farr Jr. was an American professional football player who was a cornerback for 10 seasons in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL).

James Herbert, English author and illustrator (died 2013)

James John Herbert, OBE was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 languages, including Chinese and Russian.

Chris Orr, English painter and illustrator

Christopher Orr MBE RA is an English artist and printmaker who has exhibited worldwide and published over 400 limited edition prints in lithography, etching and silkscreen.

08/04/1942

Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (died 2006)

Anthony Louis Banks, Baron Stratford was a British politician who served as Minister for Sport from 1997 to 1999. A member of the Labour Party, he was a member of Parliament from 1983 to 2005 and subsequently as a member of the House of Lords. He was well known in the House of Commons for his acid tongue.

Roger Chapman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Roger Maxwell Chapman, also known as Chappo, is an English rock vocalist. He is best known as a member of the progressive rock band Family, which he joined along with Charlie Whitney in 1966, and also the rock and R&B band Streetwalkers formed in 1974. His idiosyncratic brand of showmanship when performing and vocal vibrato led him to become a cult figure on the British rock scene. Chapman is claimed to have said that he was trying to sing like both Little Richard and his idol Ray Charles. Since the early 1980s he has spent much of his time in Germany and has made occasional appearances there and elsewhere.

Douglas Trumbull, American director, producer, and special effects artist (died 2022)

Douglas Hunt Trumbull was an American film director and visual effects supervisor, who pioneered innovative methods in special effects. He created scenes for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner and The Tree of Life, and directed the movies Silent Running and Brainstorm.

08/04/1941

Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer (died 2022)

Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood was an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, Sky Arts ranked her the 4th most influential artist in Britain of the past 50 years.

08/04/1940

John Havlicek, American basketball player (died 2019)

John Joseph Havlicek, often nicknamed Hondo, was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire 16-year career with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Havlicek won eight NBA championships — one of three NBA players with an unsurpassed 8–0 record in the NBA Finals series — and was voted the NBA Finals MVP in 1974.

08/04/1939

Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer, composer and songwriter (died 1989)

Manolis Angelopoulos was a Greek singer of Romani origin.

John Arbuthnott, Scottish microbiologist and academic (died 2023)

Sir John Peebles Arbuthnott was a Scottish microbiologist who was Principal of the University of Strathclyde. He succeeded Lord Wilson of Tillyorn as President of The Royal Society of Edinburgh in October 2011 and was succeeded by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell in October 2014.

Trina Schart Hyman, American author and illustrator (died 2004)

Trina Schart Hyman was an American illustrator of children's books. She illustrated over 150 books, including fairy tales and Arthurian legends. She won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing Saint George and the Dragon, retold by Margaret Hodges.

Martin J. Schreiber, American politician, 39th Governor of Wisconsin

Martin James Schreiber is an American politician, publisher, author, and lobbyist who served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1977, and as the 39th governor of Wisconsin from 1977 to 1979. Schreiber has become an advocate on issues related to Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

08/04/1938

Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 2018)

Kofi Atta Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat and statesman who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela.

John Hamm, Canadian physician and politician, 25th Premier of Nova Scotia

John Frederick Hamm is a Canadian physician and politician who served as the 25th premier of Nova Scotia from 1999 to 2006.

Mary W. Gray, American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer

Mary Lee Wheat Gray is an American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer. She is the author of books and papers in the fields of mathematics, mathematics education, computer science, applied statistics, economic equity, discrimination law, and academic freedom.

08/04/1937

Tony Barton, English footballer and manager (died 1993)

Anthony Edward Barton was an English footballer, playing as an outside right, and football manager. He managed Aston Villa to victory in the 1982 European Cup, three months after taking charge. He followed this up by beating Barcelona in the 1982 European Super Cup.

Seymour Hersh, American journalist and author

Seymour Myron Hersh is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. During the 1970s, Hersh covered the Watergate scandal for The New York Times, also reporting on the secret U.S. bombing of Cambodia and the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) program of domestic spying. In 2004, he detailed the U.S. military's torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq for The New Yorker. Hersh has won five George Polk Awards and two National Magazine Awards. He is the author of 11 books, including The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House (1983), an account of the career of Henry Kissinger that won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Momo Kapor, Serbian author and painter (died 2010)

Momčilo "Momo" Kapor was a Serbian novelist and painter.

08/04/1936

Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian author and politician (died 1972)

Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani was a prominent Palestinian author and militant, considered to be a leading novelist of his generation and one of the Arab world's leading Palestinian writers. Kanafani's works have been translated into more than 17 languages.

08/04/1935

Oscar Zeta Acosta, American lawyer and politician (died 1974)

Oscar "Zeta" Acosta Fierro was a Mexican American attorney, author and activist in the Chicano Movement. He wrote the semi-autobiographical novels Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972) and The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973), and was friends with American author Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson characterized him as a heavyweight Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in his 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Acosta disappeared in 1974 during a trip in Mexico and is presumed dead.

Albert Bustamante, American soldier, educator, and politician (died 2021)

Albert Garza Bustamante was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 23rd district. A Democrat, he served as a member and one-time Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

08/04/1934

Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower and Singapore Flyer (died 2007)

Kisho Kurokawa was a leading Japanese architect and a founder of the Metabolist Movement.

08/04/1933

James Lockhart, American scholar of colonial Latin America, especially Nahua peoples (died 2014)

James Lockhart was a U.S. historian of colonial Spanish America, especially the Nahua people and Nahuatl language.

08/04/1932

Iskandar of Johor (died 2010)

Iskandar ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail was Sultan of Johor, succeeding his father Sultan Ismail upon the latter's death in 1981. He reigned as the eighth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch of Malaysia, from 1984 to 1989. Sultan Iskandar's reign as Sultan of Johor lasted almost 29 years until his death in 2010.

08/04/1931

John Gavin, American actor and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Mexico (died 2018)

John Gavin was an American actor and diplomat who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–1973), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–1986). Among the films he appeared in were A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), Imitation of Life (1959), Spartacus (1960), Psycho (1960), Midnight Lace (1960) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), playing leading roles for producer Ross Hunter.

Jack Le Goff, French equestrian (died 2009)

Jack Louis Joseph Marie Le Goff was a French equestrian, best known as the coach of the American three-day eventing team from 1970 to 1984. He coached the team to multiple international championships, winning 18 international medals, including several in the Olympics. Le Goff is known for having a large impact on the American eventing world, and the era in which he coached has been called the golden era for American equestrianism.

08/04/1930

Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (died 2010)

Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and Piacenza was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma from 1977 until his death. Carlos Hugo was a Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain and sought to change the political direction of the Carlist movement through the Carlist Party, of which he was the official head during the fatal Montejurra incidents. His marriage to Princess Irene of the Netherlands in 1964 caused a constitutional crisis in the Netherlands.

08/04/1929

Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor (died 1978)

Jacques Romain Georges Brel was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson.

Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (died 1996)

Renzo De Felice was an Italian historian who specialized in the Fascist era. Among other works, he authored a 6000-page biography of Mussolini. He argued that Mussolini was a revolutionary modernizer in domestic issues but a pragmatist in foreign policy who continued the Realpolitik policies of Italy from 1861 to 1922. Historian of Italy Philip Morgan has called De Felice's biography of Mussolini "a very controversial, influential and at the same time problematic re-reading of Mussolini and Fascism" and rejected the contention that his work rose above politics to "scientific objectivity", as claimed by the author and his defenders.

08/04/1928

Fred Ebb, American lyricist (died 2004)

Fred Ebb was an American lyricist and playwright who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera.

08/04/1927

Tilly Armstrong, English author (died 2010)

Tilly Armstrong was a British writer of romance novels from 1978 to 1998. She also wrote as Tania Langley and Kate Alexander.

Ollie Mitchell, American trumpet player and bandleader (died 2013)

Oliver Edward Mitchell was an American musician and bandleader. He was the son of Harold Mitchell, lead trumpeter for MGM Studios, who taught Ollie to play the trumpet.

08/04/1926

Henry N. Cobb, American architect and academic, co-founded Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (died 2020)

Henry Nichols Cobb was an American architect and founding partner with I.M. Pei and Eason H. Leonard of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, an international architectural firm based in New York City.

Shecky Greene, American comedian (died 2023)

Shecky Greene was an American comedian and actor. He was known for his nightclub performances in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he became a headliner in the 1950s and 1960s. He appeared in several films, including Tony Rome; History of the World, Part I; and Splash. In television, he guest-starred on such television shows as Love, American Style and Combat!, and later Laverne & Shirley and Mad About You.

Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian and academic (died 2024)

Jürgen Moltmann was a German Reformed theologian who was a professor of systematic theology at the University of Tübingen and was known for his books such as the Theology of Hope, The Crucified God, God in Creation and other contributions to systematic theology. His works were translated into many languages.

08/04/1924

Frédéric Back, German-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (died 2013)

Frédéric Back was a French-Canadian artist and film director of short animated films. During a long career with Radio-Canada, the French-language service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two, for his 1981 film Crac and the 1987 film The Man Who Planted Trees.

Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English general and historian (died 2006)

General Sir Anthony Heritage Farrar-Hockley, nicknamed Farrar the Para, was a British Army officer and a military historian who fought in a number of conflicts and ended his career as Commander-in-Chief of NATO's Allied Forces Northern Europe. Throughout his four decades of army life, he spoke plainly; and both before and after his retirement in 1982, he wrote on the conflicts he had experienced and the Second World War.

Kumar Gandharva, Hindustani classical singer (died 1992)

Pandit Kumar Gandharva, originally known as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath was an Indian classical singer, well known for his unique vocal style and for his refusal to be bound by the tradition of any gharana. The name, Kumar Gandharva, is a title given to him when he was a child prodigy; a Gandharva is a musical spirit in Hindu mythology.

Sara Northrup Hollister, American occultist (died 1997)

Sara Elizabeth Bruce Northrup Hollister was an American occultist and second wife of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. She played a major role in the creation of Dianetics, which evolved into the religious movement Scientology. Hubbard would evolve into the leader of the Church of Scientology.

08/04/1923

George Fisher, American cartoonist (died 2003)

George Fisher was an American political cartoonist.

Edward Mulhare, Irish-American actor (died 1997)

Edward Mulhare was an Irish actor whose career spanned five decades. He is best known for his starring roles in two television series, sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968-70) and action drama Knight Rider (1982-86).

08/04/1921

Franco Corelli, Italian tenor and actor (died 2003)

Franco Corelli was an Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian and French repertories, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, passionate singing and remarkable performances. Dubbed the "prince of tenors", audiences were enchanted by his handsome features and charismatic stage presence. He had a long and fruitful partnership with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City between 1961 and 1975. He also appeared on the stages of most of the major opera houses in Europe and with opera companies throughout North America.

Jan Novák, Czech composer (died 1984)

Jan Novák was a Czech composer of classical music. Novák was primarily active in the 1960s and composed the music for several films of Karel Kachyňa. Novák also composed music for the films of animators Jiří Trnka and Karel Zeman, the leading figures of the Czech animated film, as well as for Wir.

Herman van Raalte, Dutch footballer (died 2013)

Herman van Raalte was a Dutch football player.

08/04/1920

Carmen McRae, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress (died 1994)

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.

08/04/1919

Ian Smith, Zimbabwean lieutenant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (died 2007)

Ian Douglas Smith was a Rhodesian and later Zimbabwean politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979. He was the country's first leader to be born and raised in Rhodesia, and led the predominantly white government that unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in November 1965 in opposition to the demands for the implementation of majority rule as a condition for independence. His 15 years in power were defined by the country's international isolation and involvement in the Rhodesian Bush War, which pitted the Rhodesian Security Forces against the Soviet and Chinese-funded military wings of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).

08/04/1918

Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (died 2011)

Elizabeth Anne Ford was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. As first lady, she was active in social policy, and set a precedent as a politically active presidential spouse. She was also Second Lady of the United States from 1973 to 1974, when her husband was vice president.

Glendon Swarthout, American author and academic (died 1992)

Glendon Fred Swarthout was an American writer and novelist.

08/04/1917

Winifred Asprey, American mathematician and computer scientist (died 2007)

Winifred "Tim" Alice Asprey was an American mathematician and computer scientist. She was one of only around 200 women to earn PhDs in mathematics from American universities during the 1940s, a period of women's underrepresentation in mathematics at this level. She was involved in developing the close contact between Vassar College and IBM that led to the establishment of the first computer science lab at Vassar.

Lloyd Bott, Australian public servant (died 2004)

Lloyd Forrester Bott was a senior Australian public servant.

Hubertus Ernst, Dutch bishop (died 2017)

Hubertus Cornelis Antonius Ernst was a Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. A centenarian, he was the oldest Dutch Roman Catholic bishop at the time of his death in 2017.

Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer (died 1988)

Grigori Kuzmin was an Estonian astronomer, who worked mainly in the field of stellar dynamics.

08/04/1915

Ivan Supek, Croatian physicist, philosopher and writer (died 2007)

Ivan Supek was a Croatian physicist, philosopher, writer, playwright, peace activist and humanist.

08/04/1914

María Félix, Yaqui/Basque-Mexican actress (died 2002)

María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, her strong personality and taste for finesse garnered her the title of diva early in her career. She was known as La Doña, a name derived from her character in Doña Bárbara (1943), and María Bonita, thanks to the anthem composed exclusively for her as a wedding gift by her second husband, Agustín Lara. Her acting career consists of 47 films made in Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, and Argentina.

08/04/1912

Alois Brunner, Austrian-German SS officer (died 2001 or 2010)

Alois Brunner was an Austrian officer who held the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) during World War II. Brunner played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust through rounding up and deporting Jews in occupied Austria, Greece, France, and Slovakia. He was known as Final Solution architect Adolf Eichmann's right-hand man.

Sonja Henie, Norwegian-American figure skater and actress (died 1969)

Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champion (1931–1936). Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies' figure skater. She is one of only two skaters to successfully defend a ladies' singles Olympic title, the other being Katarina Witt, and her six consecutive European titles have only been matched by Witt.

08/04/1911

Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997)

Melvin Ellis Calvin was an American biochemist known for discovering the Calvin cycle along with Andrew Benson and James Bassham. He was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants". He spent most of his five-decade career at the University of California, Berkeley.

Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and academic (died 1995)

Emil Cioran was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorisms. His works frequently engaged with issues of suffering, decay, and nihilism. In 1937, Cioran moved to the Latin Quarter of Paris, which became his permanent residence, wherein he lived in seclusion with his partner, Simone Boué, until his death in 1995.

08/04/1910

George Musso, American football player and police officer (died 2000)

George Francis Musso was an American professional football guard and offensive tackle who spent his entire 12-year career for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.

08/04/1909

John Fante, American author and screenwriter (died 1983)

John Fante was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel Ask the Dust (1939) about the life of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer in Depression-era Los Angeles. It is widely considered the great Los Angeles novel, and is one in a series of four, published between 1938 and 1985, that are now collectively called "The Bandini Quartet." Ask the Dust was adapted into a 2006 film starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek. Fante's published works while he lived included five novels, one novella, and a short story collection. Additional works, including two novels, two novellas, and two short story collections, were published posthumously. His screenwriting credits include, most notably, Full of Life, Jeanne Eagels (1957), and the 1962 films Walk on the Wild Side and The Reluctant Saint.

08/04/1908

Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (died 1987)

Hugo Geronimo Fregonese was an Argentine film director and screenwriter who worked both in Hollywood and his home country during the classical era of Argentine cinema.

08/04/1906

Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator (died 1974)

Raoul Jobin, was a French-Canadian operatic tenor, particularly associated with the French repertory.

08/04/1905

Joachim Büchner, German sprinter and graphic designer (died 1978)

Joachim Jochen Büchner was a German sprint runner who competed at two Olympic Games.

Helen Joseph, English-South African activist (died 1992)

Helen Beatrice Joseph OMSG was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Born in Sussex, England, Helen graduated with a degree in English from the University of London in 1927 and then departed for India, where she taught for three years at Mahbubia School for girls in Hyderabad. In about 1930 she left India for England via South Africa. However, she settled in Durban, where she met and married a dentist, Billie Joseph, whom she later divorced.

Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (died 1971)

Erwin Keller was a field hockey player from Germany, who won the silver medal for his country at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

08/04/1904

John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989)

Sir John Richard Hicks was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economics were his statement of consumer demand theory in microeconomics, and the IS–LM model (1937), which summarised a Keynesian view of macroeconomics. His book Value and Capital (1939) significantly extended general-equilibrium and value theory. The compensated demand function is named the Hicksian demand function in memory of him.

Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer (died 1970)

Hirsch Jacobs was an American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner.

08/04/1902

Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer (died 1924)

Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine was a British mountaineer who took part in the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition, the third British expedition to the world's highest mountain. He and his climbing partner George Mallory disappeared high on the mountain's Northeast Ridge, and were last seen alive below the summit. Irvine's partial remains were discovered in 2024.

Maria Maksakova Sr., Russian soprano (died 1974)

Maria Petrovna Maksakova was a Soviet opera singer, mezzo-soprano, a leading soloist in the Bolshoi Theatre (1923–1953), who enjoyed great success in the 1920s and 1930s, in the times often referred to as the golden age of Soviet opera. Maria Maksakova, the three times laureate of the Stalin Prize first degree, was designated as a People's Artist of the USSR in 1971. The actress Lyudmila Maksakova is her daughter; singer and TV presenter Maria Maksakova her granddaughter.

08/04/1900

Marie Byles, Australian solicitor (died 1979)

Marie Beuzeville Byles was an Australian solicitor, conservationist, feminist, explorer and journalist who was the first practising female solicitor in New South Wales. She was an original member of the Buddhist Society in New South Wales. She was also a travel and non-fiction writer.

08/04/1896

Yip Harburg, American composer (died 1981)

Edgar Yipsel "Yip" Harburg was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", "April in Paris", and "It's Only a Paper Moon", as well as all of the songs for the film The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow". Harburg was known for the social commentary of his lyrics, as well as his left-wing political leanings. He championed racial, sexual, and gender equality and labor unionism, and was an ardent critic of high society and religion.

08/04/1892

Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designer of the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (died 1970)

Richard Joseph Neutra was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most notable works include the Kaufmann Desert House, in Palm Springs, California.

Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of United Artists (died 1979)

Gladys Louise Smith, baptised as Gladys Marie Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian American film actress and producer. A pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood career spanning five decades, Pickford was one of the most popular actresses of the silent film era. Beginning her film career in 1909, Pickford became Hollywood's first millionaire by 1916, and, at the height of her career, had complete creative control of her films and was one of the most recognizable women in the world. Due to her popularity, unprecedented international fame, and success as an actress and businesswoman, she was known as the "Queen of the Movies". She was a significant figure in the development of film acting and is credited with having defined the ingénue type in cinema, a persona that also earned her the nickname "America's Sweetheart".

08/04/1889

Adrian Boult, English conductor (died 1983)

Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1924. When the British Broadcasting Corporation appointed him director of music in 1930, he established the BBC Symphony Orchestra and became its chief conductor. The orchestra set standards of excellence that were rivalled in Britain only by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), founded two years later.

08/04/1888

Dennis Chávez, American journalist and politician (died 1962)

Dionisio "Dennis" Chávez was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1931 to 1935, and in the United States Senate from 1935 to 1962. He was the first Hispanic person to be elected to a full term in the Senate and the first U.S. Senator to be born in New Mexico, which was still a territory at the time of his birth. In 1920, he became the first Latino lawyer in the United States.

08/04/1886

Margaret Ayer Barnes, American author and playwright (died 1967)

Margaret Ayer Barnes was an American playwright, novelist, and short-story writer. Her 1930 novel Years of Grace was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

08/04/1885

Dimitrios Levidis, Greek-French soldier, composer, and educator (died 1951)

Dimitrios Levidis was a Greek composer, later naturalized French (1929).

08/04/1883

R. P. Keigwin, English cricketer and academic (died 1972)

Richard Prescott Keigwin was an English schoolmaster, sportsman, translator, and author. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, the Marylebone Cricket Club, Essex, and Gloucestershire, and hockey for Essex and England.

Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (died 1936)

Julius Friedrich Seljamaa was an Estonian politician, diplomat and journalist. From 1933 to 1936, he was the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

08/04/1875

Albert I of Belgium (died 1934)

Albert I was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King or Soldier King in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I.

08/04/1874

Manuel Díaz, Cuban fencer (died 1929)

Manuel Dionysios Díaz Martínez was a Cuban fencer who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was born in Havana and died in Rochester, Minnesota.

Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (died 1960)

Stanisław Taczak was a Polish general.

08/04/1871

Clarence Hudson White, American photographer and educator (died 1925)

Clarence Hudson White was an American photographer, teacher and a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement. He grew up in small towns in Ohio, where his primary influences were his family and the social life of rural America. After visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, he took up photography. Although he was completely self-taught in the medium, within a few years he was internationally known for his pictorial photographs that captured the spirit and sentimentality of America in the early twentieth century. As he became well known for his images, White was sought out by other photographers who often traveled to Ohio to learn from him. He became friends with Alfred Stieglitz and helped advance the cause of photography as a true art form. In 1906 White and his family moved to New York City in order to be closer to Stieglitz and his circle and to further promote his own work. While there he became interested in teaching photography and in 1914 he established the Clarence H. White School of Photography, the first educational institution in America to teach photography as art. Due to the demands of his teaching duties, his own photography declined and White produced little new work during the last decade of his life. In 1925 he suffered a heart attack and died while teaching students in Mexico City.

08/04/1869

Harvey Cushing, American surgeon and academic (died 1939)

Harvey Williams Cushing was an American neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. Known as the "father of neurosurgery," he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cushing's disease. He wrote a biography of physician William Osler in three volumes.

08/04/1867

Allen Butler Talcott, American painter and educator (died 1908)

Allen Butler Talcott was an American landscape painter. After studying art in Paris for three years at Académie Julian, he returned to the United States, becoming one of the first members of the Old Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut. His paintings, usually landscapes depicting the local scenery and often executed en plein air, were generally Barbizon and Tonalist, sometimes incorporating elements of Impressionism. He was especially known and respected for his paintings of trees. After eight summers at Old Lyme, he died there at the age of 41.

08/04/1864

Carlos Deltour, French rower and rugby player (died 1920)

Carlos Deltour, also known as Charles Deltour, was a Mexican-born French rower who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics.

08/04/1859

Edmund Husserl, German Jewish-Austrian mathematician and philosopher (died 1938)

Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of phenomenology.

08/04/1842

Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator (died 1933)

Elizabeth Bacon Custer was the wife of George Armstrong Custer, United States Army. She spent most of their twelve-year marriage in relative proximity to him despite his numerous military campaigns in the American Civil War and subsequent postings on the Great Plains as a commanding officer in the United States Cavalry.

08/04/1827

Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican ophthalmologist, journalist, and politician (died 1898)

Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán was a Puerto Rican independence leader, abolitionist and medical doctor. He led the nation's independence movement and was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolt and designer of the Lares flag. Betances is considered to be the father of the Puerto Rican revolutionary movement and El Padre de la Patria . His charitable deeds for people in need, earned him the moniker of El Médico de los Pobres .

08/04/1826

Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (died 1890)

Pancha Carrasco, born Francisca Carrasco Jiménez, was Costa Rica's first woman in the military. Carrasco is most famous for joining the defending forces at the Battle of Rivas in 1856 with a rifle and a pocketful of bullets. The strength and determination she showed there made her a symbol of national pride and she was later honored with a Costa Rican postage stamp, a Coast Guard vessel, and the creation of the "Pancha Carrasco Police Women's Excellence Award".

08/04/1818

Christian IX, King of Denmark (died 1906)

Christian IX was King of Denmark from 15 November 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. He became one of the most influential monarchs of 19th-century Europe through the dynastic marriages of his children, earning the nickname "Father-in-law of Europe". Because many later European monarchs descended from him, he is also sometimes informally described as the Grandfather of Europe.

August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (died 1892)

August Wilhelm von Hofmann was a German chemist who made considerable contributions to organic chemistry. His research on aniline helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry, and his research on coal tar laid the groundwork for his student Charles Mansfield's practical methods for extracting benzene and toluene and converting them into nitro compounds and amines. Hofmann's discoveries include formaldehyde, hydrazobenzene, the isonitriles, and allyl alcohol. He prepared three ethylamines and tetraethylammonium compounds and established their structural relationship to ammonia.

08/04/1798

Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and author (died 1857)

Dionysios Solomos was a Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty, which was set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros and became the Greek and Cypriot national anthem in 1865 and 1966 respectively. He was the central figure of the Heptanese School of poetry. He is considered the national poet of Greece, not only because he wrote the national anthem, but also because he contributed to the preservation of earlier poetic tradition and highlighted its usefulness to modern literature. Other notable poems include Ὁ Κρητικός, Ἐλεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι. A characteristic of his work is that no poem except the Hymn to Liberty was completed, and almost nothing was published during his lifetime.

08/04/1770

John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian banker and politician (died 1830)

John Thomas Campbell (1770–1830) was a public servant and politician in the New South Wales Legislative Council during the early Australian colonial period.

08/04/1761

William Joseph Chaminade, French priest, founded the Society of Mary (died 1850)

Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade, SM was a French Catholic priest who survived persecution during the French Revolution and later founded the Society of Mary, usually called the Marianists, in 1817. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 September 2000. His feast day is celebrated on 22 January.

08/04/1732

David Rittenhouse, American astronomer and mathematician (died 1796)

David Rittenhouse was an American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman, and public official. Rittenhouse was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the first director of the United States Mint.

08/04/1726

Lewis Morris, American judge and politician (died 1798)

Lewis Morris was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress from New York.

08/04/1692

Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (died 1770)

Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in Pirano in the Republic of Venice. Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred pieces for the violin, the majority of them violin concertos. He is best remembered for his Violin Sonata in G Minor.

08/04/1641

Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (died 1704)

Lieutenant-General Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney was an English Army officer and Whig politician who served as Master-General of the Ordnance from 1693 to 1702. He is best known as one of the Immortal Seven, a group of seven Englishmen who drafted an invitation to William of Orange, which led to the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and subsequent deposition of James II of England.

08/04/1605

Philip IV of Spain (died 1665)

Philip IV, also called the Planet King, was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years' War.

Mary Stuart, English-Scottish princess (died 1607)

Mary Stuart was the third daughter and sixth child of James VI and I and Anne of Denmark. Her birth was much anticipated. She developed pneumonia at 17 months and died the following year.

08/04/1596

Juan van der Hamen, Spanish artist (died 1631)

Juan van der Hamen y (Gómez de) León was a Spanish painter, a master of still life paintings, also called bodegones. Prolific and versatile, he painted allegories, landscapes, and large-scale works for churches and convents. Today he is remembered mostly for his still lifes, a genre he popularized in 1620s Madrid.

08/04/1580

William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, English noble, courtier and patron of the arts (died 1630)

William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, of Wilton House in Wiltshire, was an English nobleman, politician and courtier. He served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford and together with King James I founded Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1608 he was appointed Warden of the Forest of Dean, Constable of St Briavels Castle, Gloucestershire, and in 1609 Governor of Portsmouth, all of which offices he retained until his death. He served as Lord Chamberlain from 1615 to 1625. In 1623 the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays was dedicated to him and his brother and successor Philip Herbert, 1st Earl of Montgomery.

08/04/1541

Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (died 1593)

Michele Mercati was a physician who was superintendent of the Vatican Botanical Garden under Popes Pius V, Gregory XIII, Sixtus V, and Clement VIII. He was one of the first scholars to recognise prehistoric stone tools as human-made rather than natural or mythologically created thunderstones.

08/04/1536

Barbara of Hesse (died 1597)

Barbara of Hesse, Duchess of Württemberg-Mömpelgard was a German noblewoman and the wife of Count George I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard. Her second husband was Daniel, Count of Waldeck.

08/04/1533

Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (died 1604)

Claudio Merulo was an Italian composer, publisher and organist of the late Renaissance period, most famous for his innovative keyboard music and his ensemble music composed in the Venetian polychoral style. He was born in Correggio and died in Parma. Born Claudio Merlotti, he Latinised his surname when he became famous in Venetian cultural clubs.

08/04/1435

John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, English noble (died 1461)

John Clifford, 9th Baron Clifford, 9th Lord of Skipton was a Lancastrian military leader during the Wars of the Roses in England. The Clifford family was one of the most prominent families among the northern English nobility of the fifteenth century, and by the marriages of his sisters, John Clifford had links to some very important families of the time, including the earls of Devon. His father was slain by partisans of the House of York at the first battle of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of St Albans in 1455. It was probably as a result of his father's death there that Clifford became one of the strongest supporters of Queen Margaret, who ended up as the effective leader of the Lancastrian faction because of the illness of her husband, King Henry VI.

08/04/1408

Jadwiga of Lithuania, Polish princess (died 1431)

Hedwig Jagiellon was a Polish and Lithuanian princess, and a member of the Jagiellon dynasty. For most of her life she, as the only child of Władysław II Jagiełło, was considered to be heiress of the Polish and Lithuanian thrones. After the birth of Jagiello's sons in 1424 and 1427, Hedwig had some support for her claims to the throne. She died in 1431 amidst rumors that she was poisoned by her stepmother Sophia of Halshany.

08/04/1320

Peter I of Portugal (died 1367)

Peter I, known as Peter the Justicier, was King of Portugal from 1357 until his death in 1367.

Lives Remembered on 8th April

On 8th April, 102 remarkable people passed away — from 217 to 2025. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

08/04/2025

Nelsy Cruz, Dominican politician, governor of Monte Cristi (born 1982)

Nelsy Milagros Cruz Martínez was a Dominican politician who served as governor of Monte Cristi Province from 2020 until her death in 2025. A member of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), she died after a nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo.

08/04/2024

Keith Barnes, Welsh-Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1934)

William Keith Barnes AM, also known by the nickname of "Golden Boots", was a Welsh-born Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was a fullback for the Australian national team and for the Balmain Tigers. He played in 14 tests between 1959 and 1966, as national captain on 12 occasions. He was known as "Golden Boots" due to his exceptional goal-kicking ability. After his playing days he became a referee and later co-commentated on the Amco Cup on Network Ten with Ray Warren in the 1970s. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.

Peter Higgs, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1929)

Peter Ware Higgs was a British theoretical physicist, professor at the University of Edinburgh, and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the mass of subatomic particles.

Ralph Puckett, American Army officer, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1926)

Ralph Puckett Jr. was a United States Army officer. He led the Eighth Army Ranger Company during the Korean War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on November 25, 1950, when his company of 51 Rangers was attacked by several hundred Chinese soldiers at the battle for Hill 205. He later served in the Vietnam War and retired from the army in 1971 as a colonel. After being appointed on July 19, 1996, he served as the Honorary Colonel of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

08/04/2022

Mimi Reinhardt, Jewish Austrian secretary (born 1915)

Mimi Reinhardt was an Austrian Jewish secretary. She worked for Oskar Schindler and typed his list of Jewish workers to recruit for his factory.

08/04/2020

Rick May, American-Canadian voice actor (born 1940)

Richard James May was a Canadian-American actor, theatrical performer, director, and teacher. May provided the English-language voice for Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64, the Soldier in Team Fortress 2, and Dr. M in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, among other video game characters. He also played Inspector Lestrade in the long running radio show The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes from 1998 through 2020.

Abdul Momin Imambari, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar (born 1930)

Abdul Momin Imambari was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, teacher and politician. He was the former president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh.

08/04/2019

Josine Ianco-Starrels, Romanian-born American art curator (born 1926)

Josine Ianco-Starrels was a Romanian-born American art curator who worked as a museum director in Los Angeles, California.

08/04/2015

Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (born 1934)

D. Jayakanthan, popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, filmmaker, critic and activist. Born in Cuddalore, he dropped out of school at the age of 9 and went to Madras, where he joined the Communist Party of India. In a career spanning six decades, he authored around 40 novels, 200 short stories, apart from two autobiographies. Outside literature, he made two films. In addition, four of his other novels were adapted into films by others.

Rayson Huang, Hong Kong chemist and academic (born 1920)

Rayson Lisung Huang,, was a Hong Kong chemist, who was an expert on radicals. He was the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong, a position in which he served from 1972 until 1986.

Sergei Lashchenko, Ukrainian kick-boxer (born 1987)

Serhiy Lashchenko, also spelled as Sergii Lashchenko and Sergei Lascenko, was a Ukrainian kickboxer. He was a K-1 and Superkombat Heavyweight.

David Laventhol, American journalist and publisher (born 1933)

David Abram Laventhol was an American newspaper editor and publisher at The Washington Post, Newsday and the Los Angeles Times. He was known for his work designing newspapers, most notably as first editor of the Style section of The Washington Post. He was also known for his shy and humble style, being called an "unlikely mogul".

Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (born 1936)

Jean-Claude Turcotte was a Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal who served as the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal from 1990 to 2012.

08/04/2014

Emmanuel III Delly, Iraqi patriarch (born 1927)

Mar Emmanuel III Delly was an Iraqi Catholic prelate who served as Patriarch of Baghdad and primate of the Chaldean Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic sui juris particular church of the Catholic Church.

Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (born 1924)

Karl Heinrich Leopold Deschner was a German researcher and writer who achieved public attention in Europe for his trenchant and fiercely critical treatment of Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular, as expressed in several articles and books, culminating in his 10 volume Christianity's Criminal History.

Ivan Mercep, New Zealand architect, designed the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum (born 1930)

Ivan Mercep was a New Zealand architect. He received the NZIA Gold Medal in 2008.

08/04/2013

Mikhail Beketov, Russian journalist (born 1958)

Mikhail Vasilyevich Beketov was a Russian journalist who came to widespread attention when he was attacked in an assault thought to be connected with his coverage of the planned destruction of the Khimki Forest to make way for the Moscow–Saint Petersburg motorway.

Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (born 1942)

Annette Joanne Funicello was an American actress and singer. She began her professional career at age 12, becoming one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. In her teenage years, Funicello had a successful career as a pop singer recording under the name "Annette". Her most notable singles are "O Dio Mio", "First Name Initial", "Tall Paul", and "Pineapple Princess". During the mid-1960s, she established herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon.

Sara Montiel, Spanish-Mexican actress and singer (born 1928)

María Antonia Abad Fernández, known professionally as Sara Montiel, also Sarita Montiel, was a Spanish actress and singer. She began her career in the 1940s and became the most internationally popular and highest paid star of Spanish cinema in the 1960s. She appeared in nearly fifty films and recorded around 500 songs in five different languages.

José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author (born 1917)

José Luis Sampedro Sáez was a Spanish economist and writer who advocated an economy "more humane, more caring, able to help develop the dignity of peoples". Academician of the Real Academia Española since 1990, he was the recipient of the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain, the Menéndez Pelayo International Prize (2010) and the Spanish Literature National Prize (2011). He became an inspiration for the anti-austerity movement in Spain.

Margaret Thatcher, English politician, first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1925)

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the office. As prime minister, she implemented policies that came to be known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.

08/04/2012

Blair Kiel, American football player and coach (born 1961)

Blair Armstrong Kiel was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL), Canadian Football League (CFL), and Arena Football League (AFL). He was a four-year starting quarterback and punter in college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1980 to 1983. He was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

Jack Tramiel, Polish-American businessman, founded Commodore International (born 1928)

Jack Tramiel was a Polish-American businessman and Holocaust survivor, best known for founding Commodore International. The PET, VIC-20, and Commodore 64 are some home computers produced while he was running the company. Tramiel later formed Atari Corporation after he purchased the remnants of the original Atari, Inc. from its parent company. He was one of six people spotlighted when the computer was denoted "Machine of the Year" by Time magazine in 1982.

Janusz K. Zawodny, Polish-American soldier, historian, and political scientist (born 1921)

Janusz Kazimierz Zawodny was a Polish-American historian, political scientist, and World War II soldier and resistance fighter of the Polish Underground State.

08/04/2011

Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (born 1910)

Hedda Sterne was a Romanian-born American artist who was an active member of the New York School of painters. Her work is often associated with Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism. She was also the only woman to appear in a notable photograph of abstract expressionist artists dubbed The Irascibles, although the group included other women, and Sterne herself later said she had actually not been an Irascible.

08/04/2010

Antony Flew, English philosopher and academic (born 1923)

Antony Garrard Newton Flew was an English philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, Flew worked on the philosophy of religion. During the course of his career he taught philosophy at the universities of Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele, and Reading in the United Kingdom, and at York University in Toronto, Canada.

Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter (born 1946)

Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English fashion designer, entrepreneur and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow, and was an early influencer of the punk subculture.

Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer (born 1926)

Dorothea Margaretha "Teddy" Scholten was a Dutch singer and television presenter. She is known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the song "Een beetje", representing the Netherlands.

08/04/2009

Richard de Mille, American Scientologist, author, investigative journalist, and psychologist (born 1922)

Richard de Mille was an American author. He was the son of screenwriters Lorna Moon and William C. deMille and the adopted son of director Cecil B. DeMille. He was briefly a member of the Scientology movement during the early 1950s and spent much of his career as an academic psychologist. He is noted for his 1976 book Castaneda's Journey, an exposé on the spiritual writer Carlos Castaneda, as well as a 1998 biography of his mother, My Secret Mother: Lorna Moon.

Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (born 1976)

Piotr Morawski was a Polish mountaineer. He achieved the first successful winter ascent together with Simone Moro of Shishapangma on 14 January 2005. Morawski died aged 32 during an international Dhaulagiri/Manaslu expedition in Nepal. He fell into a crevasse at an elevation of 5500 m while acclimatizing.

08/04/2008

Kazuo Shiraga, Japanese painter (born 1924)

Kazuo Shiraga was a Japanese abstract painter and the first-generation member of the postwar artists collective Gutai Art Association (Gutai). As a Gutai member, he was a prolific, inventive, and pioneering experimentalist who tackled a range of media: in addition to painting, he worked in performance art, three-dimensional object making, conceptual art, and installations, many of which are preserved only in documentary photos and films.

08/04/2007

Sol LeWitt, American painter and sculptor (born 1928)

Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism.

08/04/2006

Gerard Reve, Dutch author and poet (born 1923)

Gerard Kornelis van het Reve was a Dutch writer. He started writing as Simon Gerard van het Reve and adopted the shorter Gerard Reve in 1973. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war literature. His 1981 novel De vierde man was the basis for Paul Verhoeven's 1983 film.

08/04/2005

Onna White, Canadian choreographer and dancer (born 1922)

Onna White was a Canadian choreographer and dancer, nominated for eight Tony Awards.

08/04/2004

Werner Schumacher, German actor (born 1921)

Werner Schumacher was a German actor. From 1971 until 1986 he starred in the Süddeutscher Rundfunk version of the popular television crime series Tatort.

08/04/2002

María Félix, Mexican actress (born 1914)

María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, her strong personality and taste for finesse garnered her the title of diva early in her career. She was known as La Doña, a name derived from her character in Doña Bárbara (1943), and María Bonita, thanks to the anthem composed exclusively for her as a wedding gift by her second husband, Agustín Lara. Her acting career consists of 47 films made in Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, and Argentina.

Harvey Quaytman, American painter (born 1937)

Harvey Quaytman was a geometric abstraction painter best known for large modernist canvases with powerful monochromatic tones, in layered compositions, often with hard edges - inspired by Malevich and Mondrian. He had more than 60 solo exhibitions in his career, and his works are held in the collections of many top public museums.

08/04/2000

František Šťastný, Czech motorcycle racer (born 1927)

František Šťastný was a Czech Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Claire Trevor, American actress (born 1910)

Claire Trevor was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Key Largo (1948), and received nominations for her roles in The High and the Mighty (1954) and Dead End (1937). Trevor received top billing, ahead of John Wayne, for Stagecoach (1939).

08/04/1997

Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1947)

Laura Nyro was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and the 5th Dimension recording her songs. Wider recognition for her artistry was posthumous, while contemporaries such as Elton John idolized her. She was praised for her emotive three-octave mezzo-soprano voice.

08/04/1996

Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (born 1918)

Francis Benjamin Johnson Jr. was an American film and television actor, stuntman, and world-champion rodeo cowboy. Johnson brought authenticity to many roles in Westerns with his droll manner and expert horsemanship.

León Klimovsky, Argentinian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1906)

León Klimovsky Dulfán was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and producer notable for his work during the classical era of Argentine cinema. He was known mainly for his work in Spanish cinema during the 1960s and '70s.

Mick Young, Australian politician (born 1936)

Michael Jerome Young was an Australian politician. He rose through the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to become its National Secretary, before serving as a Labor member of the House of Representatives from the 1974 election to 1988. He was a senior minister in the Hawke government, and was a prominent political figure during the 1970s and 1980s. Young was also President of the Australian Labor Party from 1986 to 1988.

08/04/1994

François Rozet, French-Canadian actor (born 1899)

François Rozet, was a French-born Canadian actor.

08/04/1993

Marian Anderson, American operatic singer (born 1897)

Marian Anderson was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United States and Europe between 1925 and 1965.

08/04/1992

Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907)

Daniel Bovet was a Swiss-born Italian pharmacologist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of drugs that block the actions of specific neurotransmitters. He is best known for his discovery in 1937 of antihistamines, which block the neurotransmitter histamine and are used in allergy medication. His other research included work on chemotherapy, sulfa drugs, the sympathetic nervous system, the pharmacology of curare, and other neuropharmacological interests.

08/04/1991

Per Ohlin, Swedish musician (born 1969)

Per Yngve "Pelle" Ohlin, known professionally as Dead, was a Swedish musician, best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem from 1988 until his suicide in 1991. Prior to Mayhem, he performed as the vocalist in the Swedish death/thrash band Morbid. Roadrunner Records ranked him No. 48 out of 50 of The Greatest Metal Front-Men of All Time.

08/04/1990

Ryan White, American activist, inspired the Ryan White Care Act (born 1971)

Ryan Wayne White was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after his school barred him from attending classes following a diagnosis of AIDS.

08/04/1985

John Frederick Coots, American pianist and composer (born 1897)

John Frederick Coots, better known as J. Fred Coots or Fred Coots, was an American songwriter. He composed more than 700 popular songs and more than a dozen Broadway shows. In 1934, Coots wrote the melody with his then chief collaborator, lyricist Haven Gillespie, for the biggest success of either man's career, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." The song became one of the biggest sellers in American history.

08/04/1984

Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1894)

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa or Peter Kapitza was a leading Soviet Russian physicist and Nobel laureate, whose research focused on low-temperature physics.

08/04/1983

Isamu Kosugi, Japanese actor and director (born 1904)

Isamu Kosugi was a Japanese actor and film director.

08/04/1981

Omar Bradley, American general (born 1893)

Omar Nelson Bradley was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army. He was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and oversaw the U.S. military's policy-making in the Korean War.

08/04/1979

Breece D'J Pancake, American short story writer (born 1952)

Breece Dexter John Pancake was an American short story writer, called "one of the greatest authors you've never heard of" in an article on his work in Study Breaks. Pancake was a native of West Virginia. Several of his short stories were published in The Atlantic Monthly and other periodicals during his lifetime.

08/04/1974

James Charles McGuigan, Canadian cardinal (born 1894)

James Charles McGuigan was a Canadian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the longest-serving Archbishop of Toronto, serving for almost 37 years from 1934 to 1971. He became the first English-speaking cardinal from Canada in 1946.

08/04/1973

Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1881)

Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and the anti-war painting Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War. His career spanned more than 76 years, from his late teens to his death in 1973.

08/04/1969

Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian astronomer (born 1900)

Zinaïda Mikolaïevna Aksentieva was a Ukrainian/Soviet astronomer and geophysicist.

08/04/1965

Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (born 1886)

Lars Mauritz Hanson was a Swedish film and stage actor, internationally mostly remembered for his motion picture roles during the silent film era.

08/04/1962

Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (born 1892)

Juan Belmonte García was a Spanish bullfighter. He fought in a record number of bull fights and was responsible for changing the art of bullfighting. He had minor deformities in his legs which forced him to design new techniques and styles of bullfighting.

08/04/1961

Joseph Carrodus, Australian public servant (born 1885)

Joseph Aloysius Carrodus was a senior Australian public servant.

08/04/1959

Marios Makrionitis, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens (born 1913)

Marios Makrionitis, SJ was a Greek Jesuit prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of Athens from 1953 until 1959, when he died from injuries caused by an automobile accident.

08/04/1950

Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish dancer and choreographer (born 1890)

Vaslav or Vatslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish ancestry. He is regarded as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. He is often associated with the Ballets Russes and its impresario Sergei Diaghilev, for which he choreographed such influential ballets as L'après-midi d'un faune (1912), Le Sacre du Printemps (1913), Jeux (1913), and Till Eulenspiegel (1916). He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time, and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps.

08/04/1947

Olaf Frydenlund, Norwegian target shooter (born 1862)

Olaf Emil Frydenlund was a Norwegian sport shooter who competed in the early 20th century in rifle shooting. He participated in Shooting at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the silver medal with the Norwegian Military Rifle team.

08/04/1942

Kostas Skarvelis, Greek guitarist and composer (born 1880)

Kostas Skarvelis was a Greek composer of popular music, of the rembetiko (ρεμπέτικο) genre. He also wrote the lyrics for his songs and was an excellent guitar player, having participated in many recordings.

08/04/1941

Marcel Prévost, French novelist and playwright (born 1862)

Marcel Prévost was a French author and dramatist.

08/04/1936

Róbert Bárány, Austrian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1876)

Robert Bárány was an Austrian-born otologist. He received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus.

Božena Benešová, Czech poet and novelist (born 1873)

Božena Benešová, née Zapletalová, was a Czech author and poet whose work is considered to have been at the forefront of psychological prose. The greater part of her youth was spent in Uherské Hradiště and Napajedla, where in 1896 she married a railway clerk named Josef Beneš. In 1908 she and her husband moved to Prague.

08/04/1931

Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet Nobel Prize laureate (born 1864)

Erik Axel Karlfeldt was a Swedish poet whose highly symbolist poetry masquerading as regionalism was popular and won him the 1931 Nobel Prize in Literature posthumously after he had been nominated by Nathan Söderblom, member of the Swedish Academy. Karlfeldt had been offered the award already in 1919 but refused to accept it, because of his position as permanent secretary to the Swedish Academy (1913–1931), which awards the prize.

08/04/1920

Charles Griffes, American pianist and composer (born 1884)

Charles Tomlinson Griffes was an American composer for piano, chamber ensembles and voice. His initial works are influenced by German Romanticism, but after he relinquished the German style, his later works make him the most famous American representative of musical Impressionism, along with Charles Martin Loeffler. He was fascinated by the exotic, mysterious sound of the French Impressionists, and was compositionally much influenced by them while he was in Europe. He also studied the work of contemporary Russian composers such as Scriabin, whose influence is also apparent in his use of synthetic scales.

08/04/1919

Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist, academic, and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (born 1848)

Baron Loránd Eötvös de Vásárosnamény, also called Baron Roland von Eötvös in English literature, was a Hungarian physicist. He is remembered today largely for his work on gravitation and surface tension, and the invention of the torsion pendulum.

08/04/1906

Auguste Deter, German woman, first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (born 1850)

Auguste Deter was a German woman notable for being the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

08/04/1894

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (born 1838)

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was an Indian Bengali novelist, poet, essayist and journalist. He was the author of the 1882 Bengali language novel Anandamath, which is one of the landmarks of modern Bengali and Indian literature. He was the composer of Vande Mataram, written in highly Sanskritised Bengali, personifying India as a mother goddess. Chattopadhayay wrote fourteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treatises in Bengali. He is known as Sahitya Samrat in Bengali.

08/04/1877

Bernardino António Gomes, Portuguese physician and naturalist (born 1806)

Bernardino António Gomes was a Portuguese physician and scientist. He is perhaps most widely remembered for his pioneering work in Portugal in the field of anaesthesiology, as the first physician in the country to use chloroform in a surgical procedure ; he is also credited with the popularization of the use of creosote and of the first ether inhalers.

08/04/1870

Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (born 1802)

Charles Auguste de Bériot was a Belgian violinist, artist and composer.

08/04/1861

Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (born 1811)

Elisha Graves Otis was an American industrialist and founder of the Otis Elevator Company. In 1853, he invented a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails. On March 23, 1857, he installed the first safety elevator for passenger service in the store of E.V. Haughwout & Co. in New York City.

08/04/1860

István Széchenyi, Hungarian statesman and reformer (born 1791)

Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék was a Hungarian politician, political theorist, and writer. Widely considered one of the greatest statesmen in his nation's history, within Hungary he is still known to many as "the Greatest Hungarian".

08/04/1848

Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (born 1797)

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer of the early Romantic era, best known for his over 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century and a probable influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy. At an early age he was taken up by Simon Mayr who enrolled him with a full scholarship in a school which he had set up. There he received detailed musical training. Mayr was instrumental in obtaining a place for Donizetti at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy Il Pigmalione, which may never have been performed during his lifetime.

08/04/1735

Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince (born 1676)

Francis II Rákóczi was a Hungarian nobleman and leader of the Rákóczi's War of Independence against the Habsburgs in 1703–1711 as the prince of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was also Prince of Transylvania, an Imperial Prince, and a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Today he is considered a national hero in Hungary.

08/04/1725

John Wise, American minister (born 1652)

John Wise was a Congregationalist reverend and political leader in Massachusetts during the American colonial period. Wise was noted for his political activism, specifically his protests against British taxation, for which he was once jailed As the pastor of the Chebacco Parish from 1680 to his death in 1725, Wise lived in Ipswich, Massachusetts, often called "the birthplace of American independence."

08/04/1709

Wolfgang Dietrich of Castell-Remlingen, German nobleman (born 1641)

Wolfgang Dietrich of Castell-Remlingen was a German nobleman. From 1668 until his death he was the ruler of the county of Castell-Remlingen, sharing power with his brother Friedrich Magnus of Castell-Remlingen. He also held other offices in the Margraviate of Ansbach and the Electoral Palatinate.

08/04/1704

Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (born 1624)

Hiob or Job Ludolf, also known as Job Leutholf, was a German orientalist, born at Erfurt. Edward Ullendorff rates Ludolf as having "the most illustrious name in Ethiopic scholarship".

Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English colonel and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1641)

Lieutenant-General Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney was an English Army officer and Whig politician who served as Master-General of the Ordnance from 1693 to 1702. He is best known as one of the Immortal Seven, a group of seven Englishmen who drafted an invitation to William of Orange, which led to the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and subsequent deposition of James II of England.

08/04/1697

Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (born 1629)

Admiral Niels Juel was a Danish naval officer who served as supreme commander of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw its development into a blue-water navy. His victory against Sweden at the Battle of Køge Bay (1677) is regarded as the greatest victory in Danish naval history. He also won, one month earlier, the Battle of Møn.

08/04/1691

Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect, designed the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto (born 1611)

Carlo Rainaldi was an Italian architect of the Baroque period.

08/04/1612

Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (born 1575)

Anne Catherine of Brandenburg was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1597 to 1612 as the first spouse of King Christian IV of Denmark.

08/04/1608

Magdalen Dacre, English noble (born 1538)

Magdalen Dacre, Viscountess Montagu was an English noblewoman. She was the daughter of William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland, and the second wife of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu. Magdalen, a Roman Catholic, was a Maid of Honour to Mary I of England and was bridesmaid at Mary's wedding to Philip II of Spain in Winchester Cathedral. Despite being Catholic, she managed to remain in high regard with Elizabeth I, the Protestant half-sister who succeeded Mary.

08/04/1586

Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran theologian and reformer (born 1522)

Martin Chemnitz was an eminent second-generation German, Evangelical Lutheran, Christian theologian, and a Protestant reformer, churchman, and confessor. In the Evangelical Lutheran tradition he is known as Alter Martinus, the "Second Martin": Si Martinus non fuisset, Martinus vix stetisset goes a common saying concerning him. He is listed and remembered in the Calendar of Saints and Commemorations in the Liturgical Church Year as a pastor and confessor by both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

08/04/1551

Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (born 1510)

Oda Nobuhide was a Japanese daimyō and magistrate of the Sengoku period known as "Tiger of Owari" and also the father of Oda Nobunaga, the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobuhide was a deputy shugo (Shugodai) of lower Owari Province and head of the Oda clan which controlled most of Owari.

08/04/1492

Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian ruler (born 1449)

Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was an Italian statesman, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lorenzo held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of states that stabilized political conditions on the Italian Peninsula for decades, and his life coincided with the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance and the golden age of Florence. As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. On the foreign policy front, Lorenzo manifested a clear plan to stem the territorial ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV, in the name of the balance of the Italic League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), in which his brother Giuliano was assassinated. The Peace of Lodi of 1454 that he supported among the various Italian states collapsed with his death. He is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.

08/04/1461

Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer (born 1423)

Georg von Peuerbach was an Austrian astronomer, poet, mathematician and instrument maker, best known for his streamlined presentation of Ptolemaic astronomy in the Theoricae Novae Planetarum. Peuerbach was instrumental in making astronomy, mathematics and literature simple and accessible for Europeans during the Renaissance and beyond.

08/04/1450

Sejong the Great, Korean king (born 1397)

Sejong, commonly known as Sejong the Great, was the fourth monarch of the Koreanic state Joseon. He ruled from 1418 to his death in 1450. He is widely regarded as the greatest king in Korean history, and is particularly remembered for the creation of Hangul, the native alphabet of the Korean language.

08/04/1364

John II, French king (born 1319)

John II, called John the Good, was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which killed between a third and a half of its population; popular revolts known as Jacqueries; free companies of routiers who plundered the country; and English aggression during the Hundred Years' War that resulted in catastrophic military losses, including the Battle of Poitiers of 1356, in which John was captured.

08/04/1338

Stephen Gravesend, bishop of London

Stephen Gravesend was a medieval Bishop of London.

08/04/1321

Thomas of Tolentino, Italian-Franciscan missionary (born c. 1255)

Thomas of Tolentino, OFM was an Italian Franciscan missionary who was martyred with his three companions in Thane, India, for blaspheming Muhammad. His relics were removed to Quanzhou, China, and Tolentino, Italy, by Odoric of Pordenone. Venerated as a saint, his feast day falls on 9 April.

08/04/1150

Gertrude of Babenberg, duchess of Bohemia (born 1118)

Gertrude of Babenberg, a member of the House of Babenberg, was Duchess consort of Bohemia from 1140 until her death, by her marriage to the Přemyslid duke Vladislaus II.

08/04/1143

John II Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (born 1087)

John II Komnenos or Comnenus was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good", he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina and the second emperor to rule during the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire. As he was born to a reigning emperor, he had the status of a porphyrogennetos. John was a pious and dedicated monarch who was determined to undo the damage his empire had suffered following the Battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier.

08/04/0967

Mu'izz al-Dawla, Buyid emir (born 915)

Ahmad ibn Buya, after 945 better known by his laqab of Mu'izz al-Dawla, was the first of the Buyid emirs of Iraq, ruling from 945 until his death.

08/04/0956

Gilbert, Frankish nobleman

Gilbert of Chalon was count of Chalon, Autun, Troyes, Avallon and Dijon, and duke of Burgundy between 952 and 956. He became the ruler of the Duchy of Burgundy de facto. By his wife Ermengarde, he had two daughters: Adelais and Liutgarde. Gilbert never managed to maintain the independence of the duchy in the struggles for power of 10th-century France. In 952, he became a vassal of Hugh the Great, count of Paris, and married his oldest daughter, Liutgard, to Hugh's son Otto of Paris. Adelais married Robert of Vermandois.

08/04/0944

Wang Yanxi, Chinese emperor

Wang Yanxi, known as Wang Xi (王曦) during his reign, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Jingzong of Min (閩景宗), was an emperor of Min during China's Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He became Min's ruler after a coup that overthrew his nephew Wang Jipeng in 939. With his reign being a cruel one, the imperial guard officers Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu assassinated him and slaughtered the imperial Wang clan. Zhu thereafter claimed the title of Emperor of Min.

08/04/0894

Adalelm, Frankish nobleman

Adalelm was the Count of Troyes from 886 to his death. He was a son of Emenon, Count of Poitou, and a Robertian.

08/04/0632

Charibert II, Frankish king (born 607)

Charibert II, a son of Clotaire II and his junior wife Sichilde, was the first King of Aquitaine from 629 to his death, with his capital at Toulouse. There are no direct statements about when Charibert was born exactly, the only known fact being that he was "a few years younger" than his half-brother Dagobert. His father Clotaire evidently had a bigamous marriage and he was the offspring of the junior wife.

08/04/0622

Shōtoku, Japanese prince (born 572)

Prince Shōtoku , also known as Prince Umayado or Prince Kamitsumiya , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Hashihito no Anahobe, who was also Yōmei's younger half-sister. But later, he was adopted by Prince Shōtoken. His parents were relatives of the ruling Soga clan and also he was involved in the defeat of the rival Mononobe clan. The primary source of the life and accomplishments of Prince Shōtoku comes from the Nihon Shoki. The Prince is renowned for modernizing the government administration and for promoting Buddhism in Japan. He also had two different families that fought over his custody.

08/04/0217

Caracalla, Roman emperor (born 188)

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname Caracalla, was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then ruling alone after 211 AD. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna. Severus proclaimed Caracalla co-ruler in 198, doing the same with his other son Geta in 209. The two brothers briefly shared power after their father's death in 211, but Caracalla soon had Geta murdered by the Praetorian Guard and became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Julia Domna had a significant share in governance, since Caracalla found administration to be mundane. His reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples.

Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 8th April

Buddha's Birthday, also known as Hana Matsuri, "Flower Festival" (Japan)

Buddha's Birthday or Buddha Day is a primarily Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of South, Southeast and East Asia, commemorating the birth of the prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition and archaeologists, Gautama Buddha, c. 623 BCE, was born at Lumbini in Nepal. Buddha's mother was Queen Maya Devi, who delivered the Buddha while undertaking a journey to her native home, and his father was King Śuddhodana. The Mayadevi Temple, its gardens, and an Ashoka Pillar dating from 249 BCE mark the Buddha's birthplace at Lumbini.

Christian feast day: Anne Ayres (Episcopal Church (USA))

Anne Ayres was a nun and the founder of the first Episcopalian religious order for women.

Christian feast day: Blessed August Czartoryski

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".

Christian feast day: Constantina

Flavia Valeria Constantina, later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great and his second wife Fausta, daughter of Emperor Maximian. Constantina may have received the title of Augusta from her father, and is venerated as a saint, having developed a medieval legend wildly at variance with what is known of her actual character.

Christian feast day: Pope Dionysius of Alexandria

Dionysius the Great was the 14th Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria from 28 December 248 until his death on 22 March 264. Most information known about him comes from a large corpus of correspondence. Only one complete letter survives; the remaining letters are excerpted in the works of Eusebius.

Christian feast day: Julie Billiart of Namur

Julie Billiart, SNDdeN was a French Catholic nun, educator, and cofounder of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

Christian feast day: Perpetuus

Perpetuus was the sixth Bishop of Tours, serving from 460 to 490.

Christian feast day: Walter of Pontoise

Walter of Pontoise was a French abbot. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, the last saint to be canonized by an ecclesiastical authority other than the pope.

Christian feast day: William Augustus Muhlenberg (Episcopal Church (USA))

William Augustus Muhlenberg was an Episcopal clergyman and educator. Muhlenberg is considered the father of church schools in the United States. An early exponent of the Social Gospel, he founded St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. Muhlenberg was also an early leader of the liturgical movement in Anglican Christianity. His model schools on Long Island had a significant impact on the history of American education. Muhlenberg left his work in secondary education in 1845.

Christian feast day: April 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

April 7 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - April 9

Earliest day on which Fast and Prayer Day can fall, while April 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Friday in April (Liberia)

The following are public holidays in Liberia.

International Romani Day

The International Romani Day is a day to celebrate Romani culture and raise awareness of the issues facing Romani people.

What Happened on 8th April?

36 significant events took place on Saturday, 8th April — stretching from 217 to 2026. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

08/04/2026

Operation Eternal Darkness: Hours after a ceasefire to the Iran war, Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill at least 357 and injures more than 1200 people in the largest airstrikes of the Lebanon war.

On 8 April 2026, shortly after the announcement of a ceasefire to the 2026 Iran war and Hezbollah signalling a pause in attacks against Israel according to the ceasefire, Israel launched what it described as its "most powerful attacks" on Lebanon, killing at least 357 people. The casualty count was among the highest of the 2026 Lebanon war.

08/04/2024

Solar eclipse: A total solar eclipse takes place at the Moon's ascending node, visible across North America.

A total solar eclipse, known as the Great North American Eclipse, occurred on April 8, 2024, and was visible across a band covering parts of North America, from Mexico to Canada and crossing the contiguous United States. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the Sun. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, which blocks all direct sunlight and allows some of the Sun's corona and solar prominences to be seen. Totality occurs only in a limited path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a larger surrounding region.

08/04/2020

Bernie Sanders ends his presidential campaign, leaving Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's nominee.

Bernard Sanders is an American politician and activist serving as the senior United States senator from Vermont, a seat he has held since 2007. He is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history, but maintains a close relationship with the Democratic Party, having caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career and sought the party's presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. Ideologically a democratic socialist, Sanders is regarded as one of the main leaders of the modern American progressive movement.

08/04/2014

Windows XP reaches its standard End Of Life and is no longer supported.

Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users and Windows Me for home users.

08/04/2010

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign the New START Treaty.

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

08/04/2005

A solar eclipse occurs, visible over areas of the Pacific Ocean and Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, April 8, 2005, with a magnitude of 1.0074. It was a hybrid event, a narrow total eclipse, and beginning and ending as an annular eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A hybrid solar eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes its appearance from annular to total and back as the Moon's shadow moves across the Earth's surface. Totality occurs between the annularity paths across the surface of the Earth, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 4.3 days after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

08/04/2002

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-110, carrying the S0 truss to the International Space Station. Astronaut Jerry L. Ross also becomes the first person to fly on seven spaceflights.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985.

08/04/1993

The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on mission STS-56.

Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.

08/04/1990

The conservative New Democracy party of Constantine Mitsotakis is elected in the Greek parliamentary election.

New Democracy is a liberal-conservative political party in Greece. In contemporary Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main centre-right to right wing political party and one of the two major parties along with its historic rival, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). New Democracy and PASOK were created in the wake of the toppling of the military junta in 1974, ruling Greece in succession for the next four decades. Following the electoral decline of PASOK, New Democracy remained one of the two major parties in Greece, the other being the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). The party was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and in the same year it formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. New Democracy is a member of the European People's Party, the largest European political party since 1999, the Centrist Democrat International, and the International Democracy Union.

08/04/1975

Voyageurs National Park is established by the U.S. Congress.

Voyageurs National Park is a national park of the United States in northern Minnesota established in 1975. It is located near the city of International Falls. The park's name commemorates the voyageurs—French-Canadian fur traders who were the first European settlers to frequently travel through the area. Notable for its outstanding water resources, the park is popular with canoeists, kayakers, other boaters, and fishermen. The Kabetogama Peninsula, which lies entirely within the park and makes up most of its land area, is only accessible by boat. To the east of the park lies the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

08/04/1974

Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the all-time leader in career home runs by hitting his 715th home run off of Al Downing at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

Henry Louis Aaron, nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one of the greatest baseball players in history, he spent 21 seasons with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves in the National League (NL) and two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League (AL). At the time of his retirement, Aaron held most of the game's key career power-hitting records. He broke the long-standing MLB record for career home runs held by Babe Ruth and remained the career leader for 33 years, until Barry Bonds surpassed his famous total of 755 in 2007. He hit 24 or more home runs every year from 1955 through 1973 and is one of only two players to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least 15 times.

08/04/1970

Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.

The Bahr el-Baqar primary school in the Egyptian village of Bahr el-Baqar was bombed by the Israeli Air Force on 8 April 1970. Of the 130 children who were attending the school, 46 were killed and over 50 wounded. The school itself was completely demolished. A part of the War of Attrition, the attack was one of a series of airstrikes conducted in Egypt by Israel during Operation Priha. There has been significant dispute between both parties and their allies over the intentionality and motive of the attack and, consequently, its appropriate designation.

08/04/1968

BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after takeoff. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.

BOAC Flight 712 was a British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) service operated by a Boeing 707-465 from London Heathrow Airport bound for Sydney via Zurich and Singapore. On Monday 8 April 1968, it suffered an engine failure on takeoff that quickly led to a major fire; the engine detached from the aircraft in flight. After the aircraft had made a successful emergency landing, confusion over checklists and distractions from the presence of a check pilot contributed to the deaths of 5 of the 127 on board. The direct cause of the fire was the failure of a compressor wheel, due to metal fatigue.

08/04/1960

The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.

The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and three overseas special municipalities. European Netherlands has land borders with Germany to the east and with Belgium to the south, and a coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium in the North Sea. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories. People from the Netherlands are referred to as Dutch.

08/04/1959

A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.

Grace Brewster Hopper was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy rear admiral. She was a pioneer of computer programming. Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages, and used this theory to develop the FLOW-MATIC programming language and COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today. She was also one of the first programmers on the Harvard Mark I computer. She is credited with writing the first computer manual, "A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator."

The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.

The Organization of American States is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.

08/04/1954

A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.

The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1970s.

South African Airways Flight 201: A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.

South African Airways Flight 201, a de Havilland Comet 1, took off at 18:32 UTC on 8 April 1954 from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy, en route to Cairo, Egypt, on the second stage of its flight from London, England to Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight crashed at around 19:07 UTC, killing all on board. The flight was operated as a charter by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) using the aircraft registration G-ALYY, with a South African crew of seven, and carrying fourteen passengers.

08/04/1940

The Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party elects Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal as General Secretary, marking the beginning of his 44-year-long tenure as de facto leader of Mongolia.

The Mongolian People's Party (MPP) is a social democratic political party in Mongolia. It was founded as a communist party in 1920 by Mongolian revolutionaries and is the oldest political party in Mongolia.

08/04/1933

The Australian state of Western Australia votes to secede from the federation in a non-binding referendum, although efforts to implement the result prove unsuccessful.

Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a land area of 2,527,013 square kilometres (975,685 sq mi), and is also the second-largest subdivision of any country on Earth.

08/04/1904

The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.

The French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France during World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government. The French Third Republic was a parliamentary republic.

08/04/1895

In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.

Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, 157 U.S. 429 (1895), affirmed on rehearing, 158 U.S. 601 (1895), was a landmark case of the Supreme Court of the United States. In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the income tax imposed by the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act for being an unapportioned direct tax. This decision was superseded in 1913 by the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which allows Congress to levy income taxes without apportioning them among the states.

08/04/1886

William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.

William Ewart Gladstone was a British statesman who served four times as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He began in politics as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Newark and ended as the face of the Liberal Party. His four non-consecutive terms — the most of any British prime minister — took place between 1868 and 1894. He also served four times as Chancellor of the Exchequer, five times as Leader of the House of Commons, and MP for over 60 years, from 1832 to 1845 and from 1847 to 1895, representing a total of five constituencies. His political career thus spanned nearly the entire Victorian era.

08/04/1866

Austro-Prussian War: Italy and Prussia sign a secret alliance against the Austrian Empire.

The Austro-Prussian War was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation. Prussia had also allied with the Kingdom of Italy, linking this conflict to the Third Independence War of Italian unification. The Austro-Prussian War was part of the wider rivalry between Austria and Prussia, and resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states, having confirmed Prussia's superior military organization and technology compared to Austria at the time.

08/04/1832

Black Hawk War: Around 300 United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.

The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crossed the Mississippi River, to the U.S. state of Illinois, from Iowa Indian Territory in April 1832. Black Hawk's motives were ambiguous, but he was apparently hoping to reclaim land that was taken over by the United States in the disputed 1804 Treaty of St. Louis.

08/04/1820

The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.

The Venus de Milo or Aphrodite of Melos is an ancient Greek marble sculpture that was created during the Hellenistic period. Its exact dating is uncertain, but the modern consensus places it in the 2nd century BC, perhaps between 160 and 110 BC. It was discovered in 1820 on the island of Milos, Greece, and has been displayed at the Louvre Museum since 1821. Since the statue's discovery, it has become one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture in the world.

08/04/1812

Czar Alexander I, the Russian Emperor and the Grand Duke of Finland, officially announces the transfer of the status of the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki.

Alexander I of Russia, nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russia during the chaotic period of the Napoleonic Wars.

08/04/1730

Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in continental North America, is dedicated.

The Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 2 West 70th Street, at Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States.

08/04/1605

The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.

Oulu is a major port city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the north-western coast of the country at the mouth of the River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately 217,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 265,000. It is the 5th most populous municipality in Finland, and the fourth most populous urban area in the country. Oulu is also the most populous city in Northern Finland.

08/04/1271

Fall of Krak des Chevaliers: In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers.

The Crusader fortress of Krak des Chevaliers fell to the Mamluk sultan Baybars in 1271. Baybars went north to deal with Krak des Chevaliers after the death of Louis IX of France on 29 November 1270.

08/04/1250

Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur.

The Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) was the first of the two Crusades led by Louis IX of France. Also known as the Crusade of Louis IX to the Holy Land, it aimed to reclaim the Holy Land by attacking Egypt, the main seat of Muslim power in the Near East. The Crusade was conducted in response to setbacks in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, beginning with the loss of the Holy City in 1244, and was preached by Innocent IV in conjunction with a crusade against emperor Frederick II, Baltic rebellions and Mongol incursions. After initial success, the crusade ended in defeat, with most of the army – including the king – captured by the Muslims.

08/04/1232

Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty.

The Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty, also known as the Mongol–Jin War, was fought between the Mongol Empire and the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in Manchuria and North China. The war, which started in 1211, lasted over 23 years and ended with the complete conquest of the Jin dynasty by the Mongols in 1234.

08/04/1143

Manuel I Komnenos succeeds his father John II Komnenos as Byzantine Emperor.

Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire experienced a resurgence of military and economic power and enjoyed a cultural revival.

08/04/1139

Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Innocent II for supporting Anacletus II as pope for seven years, even though Roger had already publicly recognized Innocent's claim to the papacy.

Roger II or Roger the Great was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in 1127, then King of Sicily in 1130 and King of Africa in 1148.

08/04/0876

The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.

The Battle of Dayr al-Aqul was fought on 8 April 876, between forces of the Saffarid ruler Ya'qub ibn Laith and the Abbasid Caliphate. Taking place some 80 km southeast (downstream) of Baghdad, the battle ended in a decisive victory for the Abbasids, forcing Ya'qub to halt his advance into Iraq.

08/04/0217

Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.

The Roman emperor was the ruler and monarchical head of state of the Roman Empire, starting with the granting of the title augustus to Octavian in 27 BC. The title of imperator, originally a military honorific, was usually used alongside caesar, originally a cognomen. When a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it generally reflects his accession as augustus, and later as basileus. Early emperors also used the title princeps alongside other Republican titles, notably consul and pontifex maximus.

On this day

What the Weather Had in Store for Lissabon on 8th April 2026

8th April in the Stars – Star Sign Aries

Personality Profile

Fun Facts About 8th April

Famous Birthdays on 8th April

Big Justice, American social media personality

Zaccharie Risacher, French basketball player

Jamie Drysdale, Canadian ice hockey player

Viktória Forster, Slovak track and field athlete

Skai Jackson, American actress

CeeDee Lamb, American football player

Lavinia Valbonesi, Ecuadorian nutritionist, businesswoman and First Lady of Ecuador

Kim Woo-jin, South Korean singer

Saygrace, Australian singer and songwriter

Roquan Smith, American football player

Arno Verschueren, Belgian footballer

Keira Walsh, English footballer

Anna Korakaki, Greek Olympic shooter

Forrest Frank, American singer-songwriter

Cedi Osman, Turkish professional basketball player

Josh Chudleigh, Australian rugby league player

Viktor Arvidsson, Swedish ice hockey player

TBJZL, English YouTuber

Jeff McNeil, American baseball player

Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer (died 2017)

Matty Healy, English singer-songwriter and producer

Jenni Asserholt, Swedish ice hockey player

Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer

Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player

Elton John, Trinidadian footballer

Sam Rapira, New Zealand rugby league player

Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer

Félix Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player

Carlos Santana, Dominican baseball player

Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player

Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian runner

Michelle Donelan, British politician

Ezra Koenig, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Pablo Portillo, Mexican singer and actor

Taran Noah Smith, American actor

Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russian runner

Gennady Golovkin, Kazakhstani boxer

Brett White, Australian rugby league player

Allu Arjun, Indian actor

Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer

Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model

Ofer Shechter, Israeli model, actor, and screenwriter

Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer

Katee Sackhoff, American actress

Mariko Seyama, Japanese announcer, photographer, and model

Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2020)

Amit Trivedi, Indian singer-songwriter

Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and voice actor

Bernt Haas, Austrian-Swiss footballer

Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress

Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player and coach

Evans Rutto, Kenyan runner

Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress

Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and author (died 2008)

Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer

Anouk, Dutch singer

Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer

Timo Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player

Funda Arar, Turkish singer

Toutai Kefu, Tongan-Australian rugby player

Chris Kyle, American sniper and memoirist (died 2013)

Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American author and educator

Nayden Todorov, Bulgarian conductor and culture minister

Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer

Emma Caulfield, American actress

Christof May, German theologian

Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (died 2010)

Sergei Magnitsky, Russian lawyer and accountant (died 2009)

Darren Jessee, American singer-songwriter and drummer

Patricia Arquette, American actress and director

Patricia Girard, French runner and hurdler

Tracy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Kenny Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer

Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress (died 2014)