Today in History for 5th August 2026

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1864 - Battle of Mobile Bay won by the Union Navy, led by Rear Admiral David Farragut with the cry "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
1975 - Stevie Wonder signs a 7-year, 7-album contract with a $13 million advance with Motown Records
1994 - British rocker Billy Idol admitted to the hospital after drug overdose in Los Angeles, California
2005 - Discovery of Skull 5, the earliest complete Homo erectus skull aged 1.8 million years, at Dmanisi, Georgia, by archaeologist David Lordkipanidze, site of the first known hominins to leave Africa
2024 - British graffiti artist Banksy begins a series of animal artworks around London with a goat near Kew Bridge

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Famous Birthdays

1704 - William Allen, American loyalist, Chief Justice of the Province of Pennsylvania and Mayor of Philadelphia, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1780)
1900 - Bodi Rapp [Johanna Goetmakers], Dutch mezzo-soprano and teacher, born in Almelo, Netherlands (d. 1977)
1914 - Anita Colby, American model, author and actress (Mary of Scotland, Cover Girl, Pepsi Cola Playhouse), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1992)
1963 - Mark Strong [Marco Salussolia], English stage and screen actor (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; A View from a Bridge; 1917), born in Islington, London
1997 - Yungblud [Dominic Harrison], English singer-songwriter (Weird!) and actor, born in Doncaster, England

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Famous Deaths

1977 - Charles Carson, British actor (Cry the Beloved Country), dies at 91
1991 - Soichiro Honda, Japanese engineer who founded Honda Motor Company, dies of liver cancr at 84
2005 - Raul Roco, Philippine senator (b. 1941)
2022 - Jô Soares, Brazilian comedian, late night television talk show host, author (O Xangô de Baker Street - A Samba for Sherlock), and jazz musician, dies at 84
2022 - Michael Howard, 21st Earl of Suffolk and 14th Earl of Berkshire (House of Lords, 1956-99), dies at 87

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