On This Day in History — August 4

• 2007 — NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is launched.
• 2006 — A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).
• 1995 — Operation Storm begins in Croatia.
• 1993 — A federal judge sentences Los Angeles Police Department officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.
• 1987 — The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues "fairly".
• 1984 — The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.

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Notable Births on August 4

• 1995 — Bruna Marquezine, Brazilian actress
• 1994 — Pauli Pauli, Australian rugby league player
• 1992 — Daniele Garozzo, Italian fencer
• 1992 — Dylan Sprouse, American actor
• 1992 — Cole Sprouse, American actor
• 1991 — Thiago Cardoso, Brazilian footballer

Notable Deaths on August 4

• 2015 — Elsie Hillman, American philanthropist and politician (b. 1925)
• 2015 — Les Munro, New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1919)
• 2015 — John Rudometkin, American basketball player (b. 1940)
• 2015 — Billy Sherrill, American songwriter and producer (b. 1936)
• 2015 — Alfred C. Williams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1951)
• 2014 — James Brady, American activist and politician, 15th White House Press Secretary (b. 1940)

Public Holidays on August 5

• 🌍 July Mass Uprising Day (Bangladesh)

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On This Day in History — August 5

• 2015 — The Environmental Protection Agency at Gold King Mine waste water spill releases 3 million gallons of heavy metal toxin tailings and waste water into the Animas River in Colorado.
• 2012 — The Oak Creek shooting took place at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six people; the perpetrator was shot dead by police.
• 2010 — The Copiapó mining accident occurs, trapping 33 Chilean miners approximately 2,300 ft (700 m) below the ground.
• 2010 — Ten members of International Assistance Mission Nuristan Eye Camp team are killed by persons unknown in Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan.
• 2003 — A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.
• 1995 — Yugoslav Wars: The city of Knin, Croatia, a significant Serb stronghold, is captured by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated in Croatia as Victory Day.

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Notable Births on August 5

• 1997 — Jack Cogger, Australian rugby league player
• 1996 — Takakeishō Mitsunobu, Japanese sumo wrestler
• 1995 — Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Danish footballer
• 1991 — Esteban Gutiérrez, Mexican race car driver
• 1991 — Konrad Hurrell, Tongan rugby league player
• 1991 — Andreas Weimann, Austrian footballer

Notable Deaths on August 5

• 2015 — Arthur Walter James, English journalist and politician (b. 1912)
• 2015 — Tony Millington, Welsh footballer (b. 1943)
• 2014 — Harold J. Greene, American general (b. 1962)
• 2014 — Vladimir Orlov, Russian author (b. 1936)
• 2014 — Chapman Pincher, Indian-English historian, journalist, and author (b. 1914)
• 2014 — Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1927)