41st year - Nr 217 Wednesday, 5 August 2026

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
41st year - Nr 217 Wednesday, 5 August 2026

5 August / Today's 33 Events:

---

(+) 262 years ago Sunday 5th of August 1764 Cop killer Whiting Sweeting is born in Norton, Massachusetts, United States.

---

(+) 176 years ago Monday 5th of August 1850 Writer Guy Henri René Albert de Maupassant is born in Château de Miromesnil, Tourville-sur-Arques, Seine-Maritime, France.

---

(+) 166 years ago He Began to Develop Swellings Sunday 5th of August 1860 Joseph Carey Merrick aka The Elephant Man is born in 50 Lee Street, Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Merrick began to develop swellings on his lips at the age of 21 months followed by a bony lump on his forehead and a loosening and roughening of the skin. The Merrick family explained his symptoms as the result of his mother Mary Jane Potterton being knocked over and frightened by a fairground elephant while she was pregnant with Joseph.

---

(x) 131 years ago No Notice Was Taken Monday 5th of August 1895 40-year-old Bigamist and multiple murderer Johann Otto Hoch, originally John Schmidt aka The Bluebeard Murderer marries Mrs. Maria Steimbucher as Jacob Hoch in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Steimbucher died four months later and Hoch sold property for $4.000. Before dying Steimbucher made a declaration that she had been poisoned but no notice was taken of her statement.

---

(-) 131 years ago Monday 5th of August 1895 Philosopher Friedrich Engels dies of throat cancer at the age of 75 in London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

---

(+) 120 years ago Sunday 5th of August 1906 Film director John Marcellus Huston is born in Nevada, Missouri, United States.

---

(+) 119 years ago Monday 5th of August 1907 Artist, recurring mental hospital patient and murderer Robert George Irwin aka The Mad Sculptor is born in Arroyo Seco Park, Pasadena, California, United States.

---

(+) 117 years ago Thursday 5th of August 1909 Bank robber Adam 'Eddie' Richetti is born in Strawn, Texas, United States.

---

(x) 108 years ago She Had a Serious Gash Monday 5th of August 1918 Mrs. Edward Schneider is attacked by serial killer The Axeman of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schneider had a serious gash in her head and some teeth were knocked out but she and her unborn child survived.

---

(+) 96 years ago Tuesday 5th of August 1930 Astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong known for becoming the first person to walk on the Moon is born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, United States.

---

(-) 95 years ago Wednesday 5th of August 1931 Murderer Oliver 'Tiggy' Newman is executed by hanging by Robert Baxter at the age of 61 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, Islington, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

---

(-) 95 years ago Wednesday 5th of August 1931 Murderer William 'Moosh' Shelley is executed by hanging by Robert Baxter at the age of 57 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, Islington, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

---

(+) 92 years ago Sunday 5th of August 1934 Victim of Joachim Kroll aka The Ruhr Hunter Klara Frieda Tesmer is born in Thüringen, Germany.

---

(-) 74 years ago Tuesday 5th of August 1952 Jack Cecil Drummond is presumably shot dead by presumed murderer Gaston Dominici in La Grand'Terre, Lurs, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Also killed were his 44-year-old wife Anne Drummond and their 10-year-old daughter Elizabeth.

---

(x) 66 years ago Friday 5th of August 1960 33-year-old Serial killer Harvey Louis Carignan aka The Want-Ad Killer aka Harv the Hammer is arrested on charges of burglary and assault in Duluth, Minnesota, United States.

---

(-) 64 years ago Sunday 5th of August 1962 Actress Marilyn Monroe, originally Norma Jeane Mortenson commits suicide by acute barbiturate poisoning at the age of 36 in 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, United States. At the subsequent autopsy eight mg/dL of chloral hydrate and 4.5 mg/dL of Nembutal were found in Monroe's system. It was reported that President Kennedy was the last person Monroe called.

---

(x) 51 years ago Tuesday 5th of August 1975 Communist militant group the Japanese Red Army takes over 50 hostages including the U.S. consul and the Swedish chargé d'affaires in American Insurance Associates Building, 99 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia. The gunmen won the release of five imprisoned comrades and flew with them to Libya.

---

(+) 50 years ago Thursday 5th of August 1976 Murderer Napoleon Beazley is born in Houston, Texas, United States.

---

(-) 49 years ago Friday 5th of August 1977 Anna Kenny is abducted and strangled by serial killer The Bible John Killer in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Kenny's body was found in Argyll on 23 April 1979.

---

(-) 47 years ago She Had Her Vengeance Sunday 5th of August 1979 Nurse Sally Potterton commits suicide by a shot in the head in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. The same day she lured 21-year-old drug dealer Maurice Searle to her house, whom she held responsible for her 17-year-old daughter Penny's drug addiction, aborted pregnancy and suicide. Searle was knocked out and tied to a bed, then slowly drained of all his blood while Sally explained her revenge on him. Then she called the police and told them what she had done and turned a German army pistol at herself.

---

(-) 47 years ago Sunday 5th of August 1979 Marcus Grabs is beaten and stabbed 77 times by serial killer William Bonin aka The Freeway Killer in Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach, California, United States. Grabs is presumed to be Bonin's first victim.

---

(-) 42 years ago Sunday 5th of August 1984 Actor Richard Burton, originally Richard Walter Jenkins dies of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 59 in Céligny, Genève, Switzerland.

---

(-) 39 years ago Wednesday 5th of August 1987 Circus acrobat and director Joseph Bouglione aka The King of Circus dies of unknown causes at the age of 83 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

---

(-) 39 years ago He Bit into His Penis Wednesday 5th of August 1987 Larry Wayne Pearson is suffocated by a plastic bag by serial killer Robert Berdella aka The Kansas City Butcher in 4315 Charlotte Street, Kansas City, Missouri, United States. After six weeks of captivity Pearson deeply bit into Berdella's penis before screaming he could not continue to tolerate being treated in this manner. In response Berdella killed Pearson by first bludgeoning him into unconsciousness with a tree limb, then suffocating him with a bag and ligature, before driving to hospital to receive treatment for his wound.

---

(-) 35 years ago Monday 5th of August 1991 Engineer and industrialist Soichiro Honda dies of liver failure at the age of 85 in Tokyo, Kantō, Japan.

---

(-) 33 years ago He Was Cryosectioned Thursday 5th of August 1993 Murderer Joseph Paul Jernigan known from the Visible Human Project is executed by lethal injection at the age of 39 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States. Jernigan's cadaver was sectioned and photographed for the Visible Human Project and the University of Colorado School of Medicine by Dr. Vic Spitzer and associates.

---

(x) 27 years ago They Spread Rumours about Him Being Gay Thursday 5th of August 1999 34-year-old Spree killer Alan Eugene Miller shoots and kills two of his co-workers, 32-year-old Lee Holdbrooks and 28-year-old Christopher Yancy, then drives five miles to a business where he had previously worked to shoot and kill his former supervisor, 39-year-old Terry Jarvis in Pelham, Alabama, United States. Miller's supposed motive behind the murders was that he believed the men were spreading rumors about him being gay.

---

(-) 27 years ago Thursday 5th of August 1999 Triple murderer Charles Anthony Boyd aka The Bathroom Slayer is executed by lethal injection at the age of 40 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

---

(-) 26 years ago Saturday 5th of August 2000 Actor Alec Guinnes, originally Alec Guinness de Cuffe dies of liver cancer at the age of 86 in King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, Sussex, United Kingdom.

---

23 years ago The Eyes had it Tuesday 5th of August 2003 Preparations for a Buddhist ceremony in Geylang, Singapore, Singapore.

---

(-) 21 years ago Friday 5th of August 2005 Game addict Lee Seung Seop dies of cardiac arrest due to exhaustion and dehydration at the age of 28 in Daegu, Yeongnam, South Korea. Seung Seop had played StarCraft almost continuously for fifty hours.

---

(-) 18 years ago Tuesday 5th of August 2008 Actor and political activist Charlton Heston, originally John Charles Carter dies of pneumonia at the age of 85 in Beverly Hills, California, United States.

---

(x) 13 years ago Monday 5th of August 2013 70-year-old Accomplice of spree killer Charles Starkweather aka Little Red Caril Ann Fugate is seriously injured in a single vehicle accident in Interstate 69, Tekonsha, Michigan, United States. Fugate's husband Fredrick Clair, who was driving their SUV when it went off the road and overturned, died at the scene of the accident.

---