Died on Wednesday, 13th August – Famous Deaths

13/08/2024

Richard Alatorre, American politician (born 1943)

Richard Alatorre was an American politician who was a member of the California State Assembly from 1973 to 1985 and the Los Angeles City Council from 1985 to 1999, the second Latino to serve on the council in the 20th century. While working as a lobbyist, he had been called "one of the most influential Latino politicians in the state".

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Wally Amos, American entrepreneur, founder of Famous Amos (born 1936)

Wallace Amos Jr. was an American writer and businessman. He was the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and was the host of the adult reading program Learn to Read.

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Sergio Donati, Italian screenwriter (born 1933)

Sergio Donati was an Italian screenwriter. He wrote for more than 70 films beginning in 1952. He was born in Rome, Italy. He started as a writer and had some of his books optioned for film. He is well known for his collaboration with Italian director Sergio Leone, who encouraged him to take up screenwriting as a full-time career, and with Italian producer Dino de Laurentis.What is film? In the first act, you hang a man up in a tree. In the second act, you throw stones at him. In the third act, he falls down. If he is alive, it is a comedy. If he is dead, it is a drama.

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Greg Kihn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1949)

Gregory Stanley Kihn was an American rock musician, radio personality, and novelist. He founded and led the Greg Kihn Band and he wrote several popular horror novels. He is best known for the hits "The Breakup Song " in 1981 and "Jeopardy" in 1983.

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Frank Selvy, American basketball player and coach (born 1932)

Franklin Delano Selvy was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player who was best known for holding the record for the most points (100) in a Division I college basketball game. Born in Corbin, Kentucky, Selvy was an All-State basketball player at Corbin High School and was a teammate of College Football Hall of Fame inductee Roy Kidd. Selvy was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1954 NBA draft and was a two-time NBA All-Star, playing nine seasons.

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13/08/2021

Nanci Griffith, American singer-songwriter (born 1953)

Nanci Caroline Griffith was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program Austin City Limits, starting in 1985 during season 10. In 1994, Griffith won a Grammy Award for the album Other Voices, Other Rooms.

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13/08/2018

Jim Neidhart, American wrestler (born 1955)

James Henry Neidhart was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag Team Champion with his real-life brother-in-law Bret Hart in the Hart Foundation. He also won titles in Stampede Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Mid-South Wrestling, Memphis Championship Wrestling and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation. He was part of the Hart wrestling family through marriage to his wife Ellie Hart, teaming with various members throughout his career, and appearing with his daughter Natalya Neidhart on the reality television show Total Divas.

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13/08/2016

Kenny Baker, English actor and musician (born 1934)

Kenneth George Baker was an English actor, comedian and musician. He portrayed the character R2-D2 in the Star Wars franchise and also appeared in The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Willow, Flash Gordon, Amadeus and Labyrinth.

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Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Indian Hindu leader (born 1921)

Pramukh Swami Maharaj was the guru and Pramukh, or president, of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a major branch of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, a Hindu denomination. BAPS regards him as the fifth spiritual successor of Swaminarayan, following Gunatitanand Swami, Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, and Yogiji Maharaj. He was believed by his followers to be in constant communion with Swaminarayan, and ontologically, the manifestation of Akshar, the eternal abode of Swaminarayan.

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13/08/2015

Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraqi politician, Iraqi Minister of Interior (born 1952)

Watban Ibrahim al-Nasiri was an Iraqi politician and former interior minister of Iraq. He was the half-brother of Saddam Hussein and the brother of Barzan al-Tikriti. He was taken into coalition custody on April 13, 2003, following his capture as he tried fleeing to Syria. He died in prison of natural causes in 2015.

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Bob Fillion, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (born 1920)

Joseph Louis Robert Edgar Fillion was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played seven seasons for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1943 and 1950. He was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams during his career with Montreal; in 1944 and 1946. He also spent time with the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL and the Sherbrooke Saints of the Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL). He died on August 13, 2015. At the time of his death, Fillion was the last surviving member of the Canadiens' 1944 Stanley Cup team.

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Om Prakash Munjal, Indian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Hero Cycles (born 1928)

Om Prakash Munjal was an Indian businessman, poet and philanthropist. He was the founder and chairman of Hero Cycles, the world's largest integrated bicycle manufacturing company by volume and Hero Motors, an Indian two-wheeler components manufacturer, and ventured into newer business fields including luxury hotels and four-wheeler components. He is also known for philanthropic activities of running various schools and hospitals. He died on 13 August 2015 at DMC Hero Heart Centre, Ludhiana.

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13/08/2014

Frans Brüggen, Dutch flute player and conductor (born 1934)

Franciscus ("Frans") Jozef Brüggen was a Dutch conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist.

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Eduardo Campos, Brazilian politician, 14th Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology (born 1965)

Eduardo Henrique Accioly Campos was a Brazilian congressman and governor. Born and raised in Recife, in the Northeast Brazil, he graduated in Economics from the Recife's Federal University of Pernambuco. Campos' maternal grandfather, the governor of the Brazilian state, Pernambuco, made him his Financial Secretary. Campos became a federal congressman in Brazil and got Pernambuco federal money for a shipyard, railways and an oil refinery. Later, as Brazil's Minister for Science and Technology, he supported stem-cell research. He served two terms as governor of his home state, Pernambuco. He helped hospitals, secondary schools, wind power, farms, poor people and anti-crime data-mining. In his 2014 campaign for president of Brazil he criticized the incumbent and her Workers' Party and positioned himself as the business-friendly leader of the Brazilian Socialist Party. For outdoor rallies and local radio interviews, he criss-crossed the country by rented jet. He died on 13 August 2014, three days after his 49th birthday, when his plane crashed in poor weather in the city of Santos.

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Martino Finotto, Italian race car driver (born 1933)

Martino Finotto was an Italian racing driver, mainly known for his success in touring car and sports car racing.

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Süleyman Seba, Turkish footballer and manager (born 1926)

Süleyman Seba was a Turkish football player of Abkhazian origin and was the longest presiding chairman of the Istanbul-based multisports club Beşiktaş. He was also an intelligence officer for National Intelligence Organization (Turkey) in the mission of countering communism.

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13/08/2013

Lothar Bisky, German politician (born 1941)

Lothar Bisky was a German politician. He was the chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the successor of East Germany's Socialist Unity Party (SED). In June 2007, he became co-chairman of The Left party, formed by a merger of the PDS and the much smaller Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative. From 2007 until 2010, he was the President of the Party of the European Left. Also, he was the Publisher of the socialist newspaper Neues Deutschland.

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Aaron Selber, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (born 1927)

Aaron Rosenbaum Selber Jr. was an American businessman, the last president of the former Selber Bros. department store chain, and a philanthropist from Shreveport, the largest city in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana.

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Jean Vincent, French footballer and manager (born 1930)

Jean Vincent was a French international footballer and manager who played as a left winger.

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13/08/2012

Hugo Adam Bedau, American philosopher and academic (born 1926)

Hugo Adam Bedau was the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Tufts University. He is best known for his work on capital punishment.

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Helen Gurley Brown, American journalist and author (born 1922)

Helen Gurley Brown was an American author, publisher, and businesswoman. She was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years.

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Ray Jordon, Australian cricketer and coach (born 1937)

Raymond Clarence "Slug" Jordon was an Australian first-class cricketer who represented Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and toured with the Australian national cricket team. He was also a successful Australian rules football coach and acted as both reserves and under-19s coach at various clubs in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

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Johnny Pesky, American baseball player and manager (born 1919)

John Michael Pesky, nicknamed "the Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a shortstop and third baseman during a ten-year major league playing career, appearing in 1,270 games played in 1942 and from 1946 to 1954 for three teams. He missed the 1943–45 seasons while serving in World War II. Pesky was associated with the Boston Red Sox for 61 of his 73 years in baseball—from 1940 through June 3, 1952, 1961 through 1964, and from 1969 until his death. Pesky also managed the Red Sox from 1963 to 1964, and in September 1980.

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Joan Roberts, American actress and singer (born 1917)

Joan Roberts was an American actress, most famous for creating the role of Laurey in the original Broadway production of Oklahoma! in 1943.

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13/08/2011

Tareque Masud, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1957)

Tareque Masud was a Bangladeshi independent film director, film producer, screenwriter and lyricist. He first found success with the films Muktir Gaan (1995) and Matir Moina (2002), for which he won three international awards, including the International Critics' FIPRESCI Prize, in the Directors' Fortnight at 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The film became Bangladesh's first film to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Mishuk Munier, Bangladeshi journalist and cinematographer (born 1959)

Ashfaque Munier was a Bangladeshi media specialist and broadcast journalist. He was known for his photography direction and for being the cofounder of the global news channel The Real News Network. He was one of three sons of Munier Chowdhury. Mishuk served as the chief executive officer and chief editor of satellite TV channel ATN News. He died in a road accident, along with Tareque Masud, on August 13, 2011. He was awarded Ekushey Padak for his contribution to journalism in 2012 by the Bangladeshi government.

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13/08/2010

Panagiotis Bachramis, Greek footballer (born 1976)

Panagiotis Bachramis was a Greek professional footballer who played as midfielder. On 13 August 2010, he was killed when a speedboat struck him while he was snorkeling near the beach in Kyparissia.

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Lance Cade, American wrestler (born 1981)

Lance Kurtis McNaught was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he performed under the ring names Garrison Cade and Lance Cade.

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Edwin Newman, American journalist and author (born 1919)

Edwin Harold Newman was an American newscaster, journalist, and author. After beginning his career with the wire services and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Newman worked in radio for CBS News. He is known for a 23-year career with NBC News, from 1961 to 1984.

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13/08/2009

Lavelle Felton, American basketball player (born 1980)

Lavelle R Felton was an American professional basketball player. In 2009, he was killed in an unsolved shooting.

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13/08/2008

Henri Cartan, French mathematician and academic (born 1904)

Henri Paul Cartan was a French mathematician who made substantial contributions to algebraic topology.

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Bill Gwatney, American politician (born 1959)

William Alan Gwatney was an American politician who served as the State Chair of the Democratic Party of Arkansas. He had previously served as a State Senator for ten years and as the financial chair of Mike Beebe's campaign for Governor of Arkansas in 2006. Gwatney was selected as a superdelegate at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, but was assassinated before the convention.

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Jack Weil, American businessman (born 1901)

Jack Arnold Weil was the founder and CEO of the Denver-based Western clothing manufacturer Rockmount Ranch Wear and was believed to be the oldest working CEO in the United States.

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13/08/2007

Brian Adams, American wrestler (born 1964)

Brian Keith Adams was an American professional wrestler. Adams is known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), under the name Crush, and for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name Brian Adams. Trained in Japan by Antonio Inoki, he was a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, a one-time WWF Tag Team Champion and a one-time AJPW World Tag Team Champion, among other accomplishments. He was a challenger for various singles titles in the WWF and WCW, including the WWF Championship. In 2002, he briefly tried a career in boxing until retiring due to back and shoulder injuries.

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Brooke Astor, American philanthropist and socialite (born 1902)

Roberta Brooke Astor was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer. She served as the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, who was a member of the Astor family. Brooke Astor was the author of two novels and two volumes of personal memoirs.

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Phil Rizzuto, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1917)

Philip Francis Rizzuto, nicknamed "the Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

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13/08/2006

Tony Jay, English actor and singer (born 1933)

Tony Jay was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive raspy baritone voice, which often led to him being cast in villainous or authoritative roles. His voice acting roles included Claude Frollo in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Megabyte in ReBoot (1994–2001), Shere Khan in The Jungle Book 2, as well as the TV series TaleSpin, the Elder God in the Legacy of Kain series of video games and Dr. Lipschitz in Rugrats.

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Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish musician (born 1975)

Jon Andreas Nödtveidt was a Swedish musician best known as the founder, vocalist and lead guitarist of the melodic black/death metal band Dissection. With the band, he released the seminal and influential extreme metal albums The Somberlain (1993) and Storm of the Light's Bane (1995). In addition to Dissection, Nödtveidt performed with several other projects, including Ophthalamia, The Black, De Infernali and Nifelheim, and also worked as a journalist for Metal Zone, where he covered the growing black metal scene.

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Kermit L. Hall, American legal historian and university president (born 1944)

Kermit Lance Hall was a noted legal historian and university president. He served from 1994 to 1998 on the Assassination Records Review Board to review and release to the public documents related to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

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13/08/2005

Miguel Arraes, Brazilian lawyer and politician (born 1916)

Miguel Arraes de Alencar was a Brazilian lawyer and politician. He was mayor of Recife, State Deputy, Federal Deputy and three times Governor of Pernambuco.

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David Lange, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1942)

David Russell Lange was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the minister of Education and the minister of Foreign Affairs alongside his term as prime minister. He was also the attorney-general of New Zealand from 1989 to 1990.

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13/08/2004

Julia Child, American chef, author, and television host (born 1912)

Julia Carolyn Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.

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Akku Yadav, Indian gangster and serial rapist (born 1971 or 1972)

Bharat Kalicharan Yadav, also known as Akku Yadav, was an Indian gangster, robber, home invader, kidnapper, serial rapist, serial killer, and extortionist. Akku grew up in the Kasturba Nagar slum, which is located in the Indian central city of Nagpur, Maharashtra. He lived and did business in the slum which housed a number of criminals and two rival gangs.

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13/08/2003

Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1929)

Edward Benjamin Townsend was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He performed and composed "For Your Love", a rhythm and blues doo-wop classic, and co-wrote "Let's Get It On" with Marvin Gaye.

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13/08/2001

Otto Stuppacher, Austrian race car driver (born 1947)

Otto Leopold Stuppacher was a racing driver from Vienna, Austria. He competed in hill-climbs and sports car racing before entering 3 Formula One Grands Prix with the ÖASC Racing Team in 1976, with a Tyrrell 007. He was refused entry to the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix, along with teammate Karl Oppitzhauser, despite trying to raise a petition from the other teams.

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Jim Hughes, American baseball player and manager (born 1923)

James Robert Hughes was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher appeared in all or part of six seasons (1952–1957) in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox and worked in 172 games, all but one as a relief pitcher. In 1954, he led the National League in saves with 24 and tied for the league leadership in games pitched with 60. Hughes was a native of Chicago who was listed as 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and 200 pounds (91 kg). His baseball career began in 1946, after he had served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

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Betty Cavanna, American author (born 1909)

Betty Cavanna was the author of popular teen romance novels, mysteries, and children's books for 45 years. She also wrote under the names Elizabeth Headley and Betsy Allen. She was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile in 1970 and 1972.

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13/08/2000

Nazia Hassan, Pakistani singer-songwriter (born 1965)

Nazia Hassan was a Pakistani-English singer, songwriter, and philanthropist. Regarded as the "Queen of South Asian Pop,” she is considered one of the most influential musical figures in Pakistan history and is the subcontinent's first ever pop star. Starting in the 1980s, as part of the duo Nazia and Zoheb, she and her brother Zoheb Hassan, have sold over 65 million records worldwide.

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13/08/1999

Ignatz Bubis, German Jewish religious leader (born 1927)

Ignatz Bubis, German Jewish leader, was the influential chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany from 1992 to 1999. In this capacity he led a public campaign against German antisemitism. Bubis's high-profile both in Frankfurt and nationwide involved him in a number of public controversies.

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Jaime Garzón, Colombian journalist and lawyer (born 1960)

Jaime Hernando Garzón Forero was a Colombian comedian, journalist, politician, and peace activist. He was popular on Colombian television during the 1990s for his unique political satire. In addition to his work on television, he also had roles as a peace negotiator during the Colombian conflict, working for the release of FARC guerrillas' hostages.

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13/08/1998

Nino Ferrer, Italian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1934)

Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari, known as Nino Ferrer, was an Italian-born French singer-songwriter and author.

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Edward Ginzton, Ukrainian-American physicist and academic (born 1915)

Edward Leonard Ginzton was a Ukrainian-American engineer.

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Julien Green, American author (born 1900)

Julien Green often Julian Green, was an American writer who lived most of his life in France and wrote mostly in French and only occasionally in English. Over a long and prolific career, he authored novels and essays, several plays, and a biography of Francis of Assisi, produced a four-volume autobiography, and for decades maintained a daily journal that he edited and published in nineteen volumes. The posthumous publication of the unexpurgated text of his journals presented a different version of his personality and sexuality, revealed details of the lives of many of his prominent contemporaries, and documented the gay subculture of 20th-century France.

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Rafael Robles, Dominican-American baseball player (born 1947)

Rafael Orlando Robles Natera was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He was born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic. He was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent before the 1967 season, and later drafted by the San Diego Padres from the San Francisco Giants as the 51st pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft. He played for the San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1970, and again in 1972.

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13/08/1996

António de Spínola, Portuguese general and politician, 14th President of Portugal (born 1910)

António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola was a Portuguese military officer, author and conservative politician. During the Estado Novo regime he became one of Portugal's most senior military commanders, leading military operations against independence movements. After the Carnation Revolution, partially organised by under-ranked military captains, he was invited to be the president of Portugal. His role in Portugal's transition to democracy remains highly controversial, particularly regarding his role in leading the 11 March 1975 attempted coup as well as the anticommunist terrorist organisation Movimento Democrático de Libertação de Portugal. He was noted for wearing a monocle on his right eye.

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13/08/1995

Alison Hargreaves, English mountaineer (born 1963)

Alison Jane Hargreaves was a British mountaineer. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great north faces of the Alps in a single season—a first for any climber. This feat included climbing the difficult north face of the Eiger in the Alps. Hargreaves also climbed 6,812-metre (22,349 ft) Ama Dablam in Nepal.

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Jan Křesadlo, Czech-English psychologist and author (born 1926)

Václav Jaroslav Karel Pinkava, better known by his pen name Jan Křesadlo, was a Czech psychologist who was also a prizewinning novelist and poet.

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Mickey Mantle, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1931)

Mickey Charles Mantle, nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees, primarily as a center fielder. Mantle is regarded by many as one of the best players and sluggers of all time. He was an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player three times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

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13/08/1991

James Roosevelt, American general and politician (born 1907)

James Roosevelt II was an American businessman, Marine officer, activist, and Democratic Party politician. The eldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, he served as an official Secretary to the President for his father and was later elected to the United States House of Representatives representing California, serving five terms from 1955 to 1965. Roosevelt received the Navy Cross while serving as a Marine Corps officer during World War II.

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13/08/1989

Tim Richmond, American race car driver (born 1955)

Timothy Lee Richmond was an American race car driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in IndyCar racing before transferring to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one of the first drivers to change from open wheel racing to NASCAR stock cars full-time, which later became an industry trend. He won the 1980 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award and had 13 victories during eight NASCAR seasons.

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Larkin I. Smith, American police officer and politician (born 1944)

Larkin Irvin Smith was an American congressman from Mississippi serving for seven months until he was killed in a plane crash in Perry County, Mississippi in 1989.

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13/08/1986

Helen Mack, American actress (born 1913)

Helen Mack was an American actress. She started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving to Broadway plays and touring one of the vaudeville circuits. Her greater success as an actress was as a leading lady in the 1930s. She made the transition to performing on radio and then into writing, directing, and producing shows during the Golden Age of Radio. She later wrote for Broadway, stage and television. Her career spanned the infancy of the motion picture industry, the beginnings of Broadway, the final days of vaudeville, the transition to sound movies, the Golden Age of Radio, and the rise of television.

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13/08/1984

Tigran Petrosian, Georgian-Armenian chess player (born 1929)

Tigran Vardani Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster. The ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969, he was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasized safety above all else. Petrosian is often credited with popularizing chess in Armenia.

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13/08/1979

Andrew Dasburg, American painter and sculptor (born 1887)

Andrew Michael Dasburg was an American modernist painter and "one of America's leading early exponents of cubism".

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13/08/1978

Lonnie Mayne, American wrestler (born 1944)

Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. He wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories, as well as the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1973.

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13/08/1975

Murilo Mendes, Brazilian poet and telegrapher (born 1901)

Murilo Monteiro Mendes was a Brazilian Modernist poet, considered to be one of the forerunners of the Surrealist movement in Brazil.

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13/08/1974

Ida McNeil, American broadcaster and designer of the flag of South Dakota (born 1888)

Ida McNeil was an American broadcaster and the designer of the first state flag of South Dakota. She and her husband, Dana McNeil, founded KGFX, in Pierre, South Dakota, one of the first radio stations in South Dakota, in 1927. She continued to run the station after his death in 1936 until her retirement in 1962. She has been nicknamed "Mrs. Pierre" for her work in broadcasting and "the Betsy Ross of South Dakota" for her state flag design.

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13/08/1971

W. O. Bentley, English race car driver and engineer, founded Bentley Motors Limited (born 1888)

Walter Owen Bentley, was an English engineer who founded Bentley in London. He was a motorcycle and car racer as a young man. After making a name for himself as a designer of aircraft and automobile engines, Bentley established his own firm in 1919. He built the firm into one of the world's premier luxury and performance auto manufacturers, and led the marque to multiple victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After selling his namesake company to Rolls-Royce in 1931, he was employed as a designer for Lagonda, Aston Martin and Armstrong Siddeley.

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13/08/1965

Hayato Ikeda, Japanese lawyer and politician, 58th Prime Minister of Japan (born 1899)

Hayato Ikeda was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964. He is best known for his Income Doubling Plan, which promised to double the size of Japan's economy in 10 years, and for presiding over the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

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13/08/1963

Louis Bastien, French cyclist and fencer (born 1881)

Eugène Louis Bastien was a French racing cyclist and fencer who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He participated in Cycling at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the gold medal in the men's 25 kilometre race. He also competed in the individual épée event at the same games.

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13/08/1958

Francis J. McCormick, American football, basketball player, and coach (born 1903)

Francis J. "Mickey" McCormick was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at St. Norbert College from 1934 to 1942 and at Carroll College—now known as Carroll University—in Waukesha, Wisconsin from 1949 to 1957, compiling a career college football record of 69–57–9. McCormick was also the head basketball coach at St. Norbert from 1934 to 1943 and again during the 1944–45 season, tallying a mark of 62–74. He was one of the more outspoken coaches against the NCAA rule change on "free substitution" in 1953.

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13/08/1954

Demetrius Constantine Dounis, Greek violinist and mandolin player (born 1886)

Demetrius Constantine Dounis, also known as D. C. Dounis, was an influential teacher of violin and string instrument technique, as well as violinist, violist, and mandolin player.

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13/08/1946

H. G. Wells, English novelist, historian, and critic (born 1866)

Herbert George Wells was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than forty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, history, popular science, satire, biography, and autobiography. Wells is most known today for his groundbreaking science fiction novels; he has sometimes been called the "father of science fiction", a title that has also been given to Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback.

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13/08/1937

Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot of Polish origin (born 1902)

Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky was a Soviet pioneer of long-range flight who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1934 for his role in the SS Chelyuskin rescue.

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13/08/1934

Mary Hunter Austin, American author and playwright (born 1868)

Mary Hunter Austin was an American writer. One of the early nature writers of the American Southwest, her classic The Land of Little Rain (1903) describes the fauna, flora, and people of the region between the High Sierra and the Mojave Desert of southern California.

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13/08/1917

Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1860)

Eduard Buchner was a German chemist and expert on fermentation, awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on fermentation.

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13/08/1912

Jules Massenet, French composer (born 1842)

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music.

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13/08/1910

Florence Nightingale, Italian-English nurse and theologian (born 1820)

Florence Nightingale was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople. She significantly reduced death rates by improving hygiene and living standards. Nightingale gave nursing a favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.

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13/08/1900

Collis Potter Huntington, American railway magnate (born 1821)

Collis Potter Huntington was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading who invested in Theodore Judah's idea to build the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad. Huntington helped lead and develop other major interstate lines, such as the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O), which he was recruited to help complete. The C&O, completed in 1873, fulfilled a long-held dream of Virginians of a rail link from the James River at Richmond to the Ohio River Valley. The new railroad facilities adjacent to the river there resulted in expansion of the former small town of Guyandotte, West Virginia, into part of a new city which was named Huntington in his honor.

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13/08/1865

Ignaz Semmelweis, Hungarian physician and obstetrician (born 1818)

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures and was described as the "saviour of mothers". Postpartum infection, also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever, consists of any bacterial infection of the reproductive tract following birth and in the 19th century was common and often fatal. Semmelweis demonstrated that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands. In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had thrice the mortality of midwives' wards. The maternal mortality rate dropped from 18% to less than 2%, and he published a book of his findings, Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever, in 1861.

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13/08/1863

Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (born 1798)

Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.

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13/08/1826

René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (born 1781)

René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec was a French medical doctor and musician. His skill at carving his own wooden flutes led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker. He pioneered its use in diagnosing various chest conditions. He became a lecturer at the Collège de France in 1822 and professor of medicine in 1823. His final appointments were that of head of the medical clinic at the Hôpital de la Charité and professor at the Collège de France. He went into a coma and subsequently died of tuberculosis on 13 August 1826, at age 45.

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13/08/1795

Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of Indore (born 1725)

Ahilyabai Holkar, also spelled Ahalya Bai, was the Rajamata and later the ruling queen of Indore within the Maratha Empire. She established Maheshwar as the seat of the Holkar Dynasty. She is renowned for good governance, social welfare, and humanitarian work along with religious, educational, and cultural advancements. She contributed to the growth of Indian architecture through the commission of various temples, Ghats, and Dharmshalas. Ahilyabai's Matha, or charitable endowments, spread across India. She is remembered as a Sadhvi, or holy woman.

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13/08/1766

Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English painter (born 1726)

Margaret Fownes-Luttrell was a British heiress, the wife of Henry Fownes Luttrell. She was the heiress of Dunster Castle, under the stipulation in her father's will that her husband should take the additional surname of Luttrell. Four portraits of her exist in Dunster castle and a fifth at Bathealton Court.

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13/08/1749

Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (born 1719)

Johann Elias Schlegel was a German critic and dramatic poet.

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13/08/1744

John Cruger, Danish-American businessman and politician, 39th Mayor of New York City (born 1678)

John Cruger was an immigrant to colonial New York with an uncertain place of birth, but his family was originally Danish. In New York from at least 1696, he became a prosperous merchant and established a successful family. He served as an alderman for twenty-two years and as 39th Mayor of New York City from 1739 until his death in 1744.

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13/08/1721

Jacques Lelong, French priest and author (born 1665)

Jacques Lelong was a French bibliographer born in Paris. He joined the Knights of Malta at the age of ten, but later joined the Oratorians.

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13/08/1686

Louis Maimbourg, French priest and historian (born 1610)

Louis Maimbourg was a French Jesuit and historian.

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13/08/1667

Jeremy Taylor, Irish bishop and saint (born 1613)

Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is frequently cited as one of the greatest prose writers in the English language.

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13/08/1617

Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss clergyman and theologian (born 1540)

Johann Jakob Grynaeus or Gryner was a Swiss Protestant divine.

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13/08/1608

Giambologna, Italian sculptor (born 1529)

Giambologna, also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small works in bronze and marble in a late Mannerist style.

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13/08/1523

Gerard David, Flemish painter (born 1460)

Gerard David was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester gheraet van brugghe who became a master of the Antwerp guild in 1515. He was very successful in his lifetime and probably ran two workshops, in Antwerp and Bruges. Like many painters of his period, his reputation diminished in the 17th century until he was rediscovered in the 19th century.

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13/08/1447

Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan (born 1392)

Filippo Maria Visconti was the Duke of Milan from 1412 until his death in 1447. Contemporary accounts described him as paranoid, yet politically shrewd.

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13/08/1382

Eleanor of Aragon, queen of Castile (born 1358)

Eleanor of Aragon was the daughter of King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily. She was a member of the House of Barcelona and Queen of Castile by her marriage.

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13/08/1311

Pietro Gradenigo, doge of Venice

Pietro Gradenigo was the 49th Doge of Venice, reigning from 1289 until his death.

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13/08/1297

Nawrūz, Mongol emir

Nawrūz was a son of governor Arghun Aqa and a powerful 13th-century Oirat emir who played an important role in the politics of the Mongol Ilkhanate.

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13/08/1134

Irene of Hungary, Byzantine empress (born 1088)

Irene of Hungary was the Byzantine empress by marriage to John II Komnenos. She is venerated as an Eastern Orthodox saint.

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13/08/0981

Gyeongjong, king of Goryeo (Korea) (born 955)

Gyeongjong, personal name Wang Chu, was the fifth ruler of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. He was the eldest son of King Gwangjong, and was confirmed as Crown Prince in the year of his birth. He was also the maternal and paternal grandson of King Taejo.

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13/08/0908

Al-Muktafi, Abbasid caliph

Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Muktafī bi'Llāh, better known by his regnal name al-Muktafī bi-Llāh, was the caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 902 to 908. More liberal and sedentary than his militaristic father al-Mu'tadid, al-Muktafi essentially continued his policies, although most of the actual conduct of government was left to his viziers and officials. His reign saw the defeat of the Qarmatians of the Syrian Desert, and the reincorporation of Egypt and the parts of Syria ruled by the Tulunid dynasty. The war with the Byzantine Empire continued with alternating success, although the Arabs scored a major victory in the Sack of Thessalonica in 904. His death in 908 opened the way for the installation of a weak ruler, al-Muqtadir, by the palace bureaucracy, and began the terminal decline of the Abbasid Caliphate that ended in 946 with the caliphs becoming puppet rulers under the Buyid dynasty.

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13/08/0900

Zwentibold, king of Lotharingia (born 870)

Zwentibold, a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf. In 895, his father granted him the Kingdom of Lotharingia, which he ruled until his death.

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13/08/0696

Takechi, Japanese prince

Prince Takechi was a member of the royal family in Japan during the Asuka period.

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13/08/0662

Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine theologian

Maximus the Confessor, also spelled Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople, was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar.

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13/08/0612

Fabia Eudokia, Byzantine empress (born 580)

Eudokia or Eudocia, originally named Fabia, was a Greek woman who became Eastern Roman empress as the first wife of Heraclius from 610 to her death. She was a daughter of Rogas, a landowner in the Exarchate of Africa, according to Theophanes the Confessor.

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13/08/0604

Wen, emperor of the Sui Dynasty (born 541)

Emperor Wen of Sui, personal name Yang Jian (楊堅), childhood name Naluoyan (那羅延), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (普六茹堅), was the founding emperor of the Sui dynasty of China. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state.

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13/08/0587

Radegund, Frankish princess and saint (born 520)

Radegund was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patroness saint of several churches in France and England and of Jesus College, Cambridge.

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