August 7 in History

Air India Express Flight 1344 overshoots the runway at Calicut International Airport in the Malappuram district of Kerala, India, and crashes, killing 21 of the 190 people on board.

The start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia.

At AT&T Park, Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record.

The Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade invades neighboring Dagestan.

Bombings at United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya kill approximately 212 people.

Space Shuttle Program: The Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-85 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Fine Air Flight 101 crashes after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing five people.

The Chilean government declares state of emergency in the southern half of the country in response to an event of intense, cold, wind, rain and snowfall known as the White Earthquake.

Ada Deer, a Menominee activist, is sworn in as the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

First American soldiers arrive in Saudi Arabia as part of the Gulf War.

U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.

The National Cold Fusion Institute opened in Salt Lake City.

Cold War: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union.

Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.

The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.

U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently.

Viking program: Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars.

Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center 1,368 feet (417 m) in the air.

California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.

Richard Nixon appoints Luis R. Bruce, a Mohawk-Oglala Sioux and co-founder of the National Congress of American Indians, as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.

Canadian-born American pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey is awarded the U.S. President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for her refusal to authorize thalidomide.

Ivory Coast becomes independent from France.

Explorer program: Explorer 6 launches from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

The government of the Soviet Union presented a note to its Turkish counterparts which refuted the latter's sovereignty over the Turkish Straits, thus beginning the Turkish Straits crisis.

IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).

World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins as the United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.

The Kingdom of Iraq slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele. This date is recognized as Martyrs Day or National Day of Mourning by the Assyrian community in memory of the Simele massacre.

The last confirmed lynching of black people in the Northern United States occurs in Marion, Indiana; two men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, are murdered.

The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.

The first British Grand Prix was held at Brooklands.

Alice Huyler Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York, New York to San Francisco, California.

Anna Månsdotter, found guilty of the 1889 Yngsjö murder, became the last woman to be executed in Sweden.[better source needed]

The first Australian rules football match is played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College.

Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá.

U.S. President George Washington invokes the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.

American troops destroy the Miami town of Kenapacomaqua near the site of present-day Logansport, Indiana in the Northwest Indian War.

The United States Department of War is established.

The first federal Indian Reservation is created by the United States.

George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart.

The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War.

The Battle of Gangut: The first important victory of the Russian Navy.

The brigantine Le Griffon becomes the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America.

Battle of Guinegate: French troops of King Louis XI were defeated by the Burgundians led by Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg.

The Ming dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor.

Coronation of King Otto I of Germany.

Pope Stephen III is elected to office, and quickly seeks Frankish protection against the Lombard threat, since the Byzantine Empire is no longer able to help.

The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Constantinople.

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628: Sassanid troops under general Shahrbaraz conquer the town of Zenobia.

Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the magister militum Ricimer.

Lauren Hemp, English footballer

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, American hurdler and sprinter

Vladimir Barbu, Italian diver

María Belén Bazo, Peruvian windsurfer

Jalen Hurts, American football player

Matty Cash, Polish footballer

Kyler Murray, American football player

Dani Ceballos, Spanish footballer

Martti Nõmme, Estonian ski jumper

Karol Zalewski, Polish sprinter

Adam Yates, English cyclist

Simon Yates, English cyclist

Wout Weghorst, Dutch footballer

Luis Salom, Spanish motorcycle racer (died 2016)

Mike Trout, American baseball player

Mitchell te Vrede, Dutch footballer

Jake Allen, Canadian ice hockey player

Josh Franceschi, English singer-songwriter

DeMar DeRozan, American basketball player

Jonathan Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player

Mohamed Coulibaly, Senegalese footballer

Melody Oliveria, American blogger

Erik Pieters, Dutch footballer

Beanie Wells, American football player

Sidney Crosby, Canadian ice hockey player

Mustapha Dumbuya, Sierra Leonean footballer

Ryan Lavarnway, American baseball player

Rouven Sattelmaier, German footballer

Paul Biedermann, German swimmer

Valter Birsa, Slovenian footballer

Altaír Jarabo, Mexican model and actress

Juan de la Rosa, Mexican boxer

Stratos Perperoglou, Greek basketball player

Tooba Siddiqui, Pakistani model and actress

Yun Hyon-seok, South Korean poet and author (died 2003)

Christian Chávez, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor

Murat Dalkılıç, Turkish singer-songwriter

Danny, Portuguese footballer

Andriy Hrivko, Ukrainian cyclist

Mark Pettini, English cricketer and journalist

Ángeles Balbiani, Argentine actress and singer

Abbie Cornish, Australian actress

Juan Martín Hernández, Argentine rugby player

Marquise Hill, American football player (died 2007)

Vassilis Spanoulis, Greek basketball player

Martin Vučić, Macedonian singer and drummer

David Testo, American soccer player

Randy Wayne, American actor and producer

Carsten Busch, German footballer

Aurélie Claudel, French model and actress

Tácio Caetano Cruz Queiroz, Brazilian footballer

Seiichiro Maki, Japanese footballer

Eric Johnson, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Miguel Llera, Spanish footballer

Birgit Zotz, Austrian anthropologist and author

Alexandre Aja, French director, producer, and screenwriter

Jamey Jasta, American singer-songwriter

Mark McCammon, English-Barbadian footballer

Cirroc Lofton, American actor

Charlotte Ronson, English fashion designer

Samantha Ronson, English singer-songwriter and DJ

Justin Brooker, Australian rugby league player

Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Greek footballer and manager

Shane Lechler, American football player

Koray Candemir, Turkish singer-songwriter

Gerard Denton, Australian cricketer

Megan Gale, Australian model and actress

Ray Hill, American football player (died 2015)

Rebecca Kleefisch, American journalist and politician, 44th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

Édgar Rentería, Colombian baseball player

Charlize Theron, South African actress

Chico Benymon, American actor

Michael Shannon, American actor

Mikhail Gorsheniov, Russian singer-songwriter (died 2013)

Danny Graves, Vietnamese-American baseball player

Kevin Muscat, English-Australian footballer, coach, and manager

Gerry Peñalosa, Filipino boxer and promoter

Dominic Cork, England cricketer and sportscaster

Rachel York, American actress and singer

Eric Namesnik, American swimmer (died 2006)

Markus Bundi, Swiss writer

Paul Lambert, Scottish footballer and manager

Dana G. Peleg, Israeli writer and LGBT activist

Francesca Gregorini, Italian-American director and screenwriter

Trevor Hendy, Australian surfer and coach

Sophie Lee, Australian actress and author

Jason Grimsley, American baseball player

David Cairns, Scottish laicised priest and politician, Minister of State for Scotland (died 2011)

Shobna Gulati, British actress

Kristin Hersh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia

Raul Malo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Elizabeth Manley, Canadian figure skater

John Birmingham, English-Australian journalist and author

Ian Dench, English guitarist and songwriter

Peter Niven, Scottish jockey

Paul Dunn, Australian rugby league player

Nick Gillespie, American journalist and author

Marcus Roberts, American pianist and educator

Alison Brown, American banjo player, songwriter, and producer

Brian Conley, English actor and singer

Yelena Davydova, Russian gymnast

Walter Swinburn, English jockey and trainer (died 2016)

Carlos Vives, Colombian singer, songwriter, and actor

David Duchovny, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Koenraad Elst, Belgian orientalist and author

Ali Shah, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach

Russell Baze, Canadian-American jockey

Bruce Dickinson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Alberto Salazar, Cuban-American runner and coach

Daire Brehan, Irish journalist, lawyer, and actress (died 2012)

Alexander Dityatin, Russian gymnast and colonel

Wayne Knight, American actor, comedian and voice actor

Greg Nickels, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Seattle

Vladimir Sorokin, Russian author and playwright

Valery Gazzaev, Russian footballer, manager and politician

Jonathan Pollard, Israeli spy

Alan Reid, Scottish politician

Anne Fadiman, American journalist and author

Caroline Aaron, American actress and producer

Eamonn Darcy, Irish golfer

Kees Kist, Dutch footballer

Alexei Sayle, English comedian, actor, and author

Rodney Crowell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Alan Keyes, American politician and diplomat, 16th Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

S. Thandayuthapani, Sri Lankan educator and politician

Walid Jumblatt, Lebanese journalist and politician

Matthew Parris, South African-English journalist and politician

Marty Appel, American businessman and author

Greg Chappell, Australian cricketer and coach

Franciscus Henri, Dutch-Australian singer-songwriter

Sofia Rotaru, Ukrainian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Kenny Ireland, Scottish actor and director (died 2014)

Alan Page, American football player and jurist

John Glover, American actor

Robert Mueller, American soldier and lawyer, 6th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (died 2026)

Mohammed Badie, Egyptian religious leader

Lana Cantrell, Australian singer-songwriter and lawyer

Alain Corneau, French director and screenwriter (died 2010)

Garrison Keillor, American humorist, novelist, short story writer, and radio host

Carlos Monzón, Argentinian boxer and actor (died 1995)

Caetano Veloso, Brazilian singer-songwriter, writer and producer

Richard Sykes, English biochemist and academic

B. J. Thomas, American singer (died 2021)

Matthew Evans, Baron Evans of Temple Guiting, English publisher and politician (died 2016)

Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian lawyer and politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (died 2014)

Uwe Nettelbeck, German record producer, journalist and film critic (died 2007)

Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italian automotive designer

Zoltán Berczik, Hungarian table tennis player and coach (died 2011)

Don Wilson, English cricketer and coach (died 2012)

Lee Corso, American college football coach and broadcaster

Rahsaan Roland Kirk, American saxophonist and composer (died 1977)

Sándor Simó, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2001)

Eddie Firmani, South African footballer and manager

Elinor Ostrom, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012)

Jerry Pournelle, American journalist and author (died 2017)

Alberto Romulo, Filipino politician and diplomat

Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian runner (died 1973)

Edward Hardwicke, English actor (died 2011)

Rien Poortvliet, Dutch painter and illustrator (died 1995)

Maurice Rabb Jr., American ophthalmologist and academic (died 2005)

Togrul Narimanbekov, Azerbaijani-French painter and academic (died 2013)

Veljo Tormis, Estonian composer and educator (died 2017)

Don Larsen, American baseball player (died 2020)

Betsy Byars, American author and academic (died 2020)

Owen Luder, English architect, designed Tricorn Centre and Trinity Square (died 2021)

James Randi, Canadian-American stage magician and author (died 2020)

Edwin Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 50th Governor of Louisiana (died 2021)

Stan Freberg, American puppeteer, voice actor, and singer (died 2015)

Felice Bryant, American songwriter (died 2003)

Manitas de Plata, French guitarist (died 2014)

Karel Husa, Czech-American composer and conductor (died 2016)

C. Buddingh', Dutch poet and translator (died 1985)

Gordon Zahn, American sociologist and author (died 2007)

Kermit Love, American actor, puppeteer, and costume designer (died 2008)

István Bibó, Hungarian lawyer and politician (died 1979)

Nicholas Ray, American director and screenwriter (died 1979)

Albert Kotin, Belarusian-American soldier and painter (died 1980)

Ralph Bunche, American political scientist, academic, and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971)

Louis Leakey, Kenyan-English palaeontologist and archaeologist (died 1972)

Ann Harding, American actress and singer (died 1981)

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, American author and activist (died 1964)

Anna Elisabet Weirauch, German author and playwright (died 1970)

Billie Burke, American actress and singer (died 1970)

Nikolai Triik, Estonian painter and illustrator (died 1940)

Johannes Kotze, South African cricketer (died 1931)

Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (died 1917)

Mary Frances Winston, American mathematician (died 1959)

Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian-German economist and statistician (died 1931)

Huntley Wright, English actor (died 1941)

Emil Nolde, Danish-German painter and illustrator (died 1956)

Henri Le Sidaner, French painter (died 1939)

Victoria of Baden (died 1931)

Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist and author (died 1911)

August Ahlqvist, Finnish professor, poet, scholar of the Finno-Ugric languages, author, and literary critic (died 1889)

Carl Ritter, German geographer and academic (died 1859)

Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange (died 1820)

Nathanael Greene, American general (died 1786)

James Bowdoin, American banker and politician, 2nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1790)

Muhammad Shah, Mughal emperor of India (died 1748)

William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Dutch stadtholder (died 1664)

Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet and linguist (died 1672)

Robert Dudley, English explorer and cartographer (died 1649)

Thomas Lupo, English viol player and composer (died 1627)

Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian aristocrat and purported serial killer (died 1614)

Alonso de Ercilla, Spanish soldier and poet (died 1595)

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (died 1316)

Constantius II, Roman emperor (died 361)

Myint Swe, retired army general and acting president of Myanmar (b.1951)

Jon McBride, American astronaut (born 1943)

William Friedkin, American film director (born 1935)

David McCullough, American historian and author (born 1933)

Markie Post, American actress (born 1950)

Trevor Moore, American comedian (born 1980)

David Berman, American musician, singer, poet and cartoonist (born 1967)

M. Karunanidhi, Indian politician, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and prominent leader of Tamils (born 1924)

Stan Mikita, Slovak hockey player (born 1940)

Don Baylor, American baseball player (born 1949)

David Maslanka, American composer (born 1943)

Bryan Clauson, American racing driver (born 1989)

Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (born 1929)

Frances Oldham Kelsey, Canadian pharmacologist and physician (born 1914)

Louise Suggs, American golfer, co-founded LPGA (born 1923)

Víctor Fayad, Argentine lawyer and politician (born 1955)

Perry Moss, American football player and coach (born 1926)

Henry Stone, American record producer (born 1921)

Samuel G. Armistead, American linguist, historian, and academic (born 1927)

Almir Kayumov, Russian footballer (born 1964)

Anthony Pawson, English-Canadian biologist, chemist, and academic (born 1952)

Margaret Pellegrini, American actress and dancer (born 1923)

Meeli Truu, Estonian architect (born 1946)

Alexander Yagubkin, Russian boxer (born 1961)

Murtuz Alasgarov, Azerbaijani academic and politician, Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan (born 1928)

Judith Crist, American critic and academic (born 1922)

Vladimir Kobzev, Russian footballer and coach (born 1959)

Anna Piaggi, Italian journalist and author (born 1931)

Mayer Zald, American sociologist and academic (born 1931)

Dušan Zbavitel, Czech indologist and author (born 1925)

Mark Hatfield, American soldier, academic, and politician, 29th Governor of Oregon (born 1922)

Nancy Wake, New Zealand-English captain and spy (born 1912)

John Nelder, English mathematician and statistician (born 1924)

Louis E. Saavedra, American educator and politician, 48th Mayor of Albuquerque (born 1933)

Mike Seeger, American singer-songwriter (born 1933)

Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (born 1931)

Andrea Pininfarina, Italian engineer and businessman (born 1957)

Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director, and producer (born 1917)

Angus Tait, New Zealand businessman, founded Tait Communications (born 1919)

Mary Anderson Bain, American lawyer and politician (born 1911)

Peter Jennings, Canadian-American journalist and author (born 1938)

Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková, Slovak painter (born 1909)

Red Adair, American firefighter (born 1915)

Colin Bibby, English ornithologist and academic (born 1948)

K. D. Arulpragasam, Sri Lankan zoologist and academic (born 1931)

Mickey McDermott, American baseball player and coach (born 1929)

Algirdas Lauritėnas, Lithuanian basketball player (born 1932)

Brigid Brophy, English author and critic (born 1929)

Larry Martyn, English actor (born 1934)

Mickey Leland, American lawyer and politician (born 1944)

Camille Chamoun, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Lebanon (born 1900)

Grayson Hall, American actress (born 1922)

Gunnar Uusi, Estonian chess player (born 1931)

Eddie Calvert, English trumpeter (born 1922)

Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet and author (born 1925)

Sylvio Mantha, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1902)

Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (born 1895)

Joi Lansing, American model, actress, and singer (born 1929)

Harold Haley, American lawyer and judge (born 1904)

Jonathan P. Jackson, American bodyguard and kidnapper (born 1953)

Jean Bastien, French professional footballer (born 1915)

Joseph Kosma, Hungarian-French composer (born 1905)

Giovanni Bracco, Italian race car driver (born 1908)

Ramon Vila Capdevila, last of the Spanish Maquis, holding out after the end of the Spanish Civil War (born 1908)

Luis Ángel Firpo, Argentine boxer (born 1894)

Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, American author and educator (born 1892)

Oliver Hardy, American actor, singer, and director (born 1892)

Abner Powell, American baseball player and manager (born 1860)

Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director (born 1879)

Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1861)

Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor and director (born 1863)

Edwin Harris Dunning, South African-English commander and pilot (born 1891)

François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and academic (born 1841)

Wilhelm Liebknecht, German lawyer and politician (born 1826)

Jacob Maris, Dutch painter and educator (born 1837)

Alfredo Catalani, Italian composer and academic (born 1854)

Li Xiucheng, Chinese field marshal (born 1823)

Mariano Arista, Mexican general and politician, 19th President of Mexico (born 1802)

Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist and academic (born 1779)

Joseph Marie Jacquard, French weaver and inventor, invented the Jacquard loom (born 1752)

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French economist and politician (born 1739)

Francis Blackburne, English Anglican churchman and activist (born 1705)

Jin Shengtan, Chinese journalist and critic (born 1608)

Martin van den Hove, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (born 1605)

Friedrich Spee, German poet and academic (born 1591)

Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford, English soldier (born 1575)

Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect, designed Teatro Olimpico (born 1548)

Thomas Fleming, English judge and politician, Lord Chief Justice of England (born 1544)

Cajetan, Italian priest and saint (born 1480)

Alexander Stewart, duke of Albany (born 1454)

Joan of Kent, mother of Richard II (born 1328)

Heinrich II von Rotteneck, prince-bishop of Regensburg

Richard Middleton, English Lord Chancellor

Hugh Foliot, bishop of Hereford (born c. 1155)

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1050)

Alfonso V, king of León (born 994)

Li Chongjun, Chinese prince

Majorian, Roman emperor (born 420)