40 historically significant individuals born on August 8. August 8 is the birth date of several notable historical figures. Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata was born on this day in 1879. Nobel Prize-winning author Shmuel Yosef Agnon, born in 1887, and theoretical physicist Paul Dirac, born in 1902, who contributed to quantum mechanics, also share this date. Additionally, Bosnian politician Alija Izetbegović was born in 1925, and Bolivian military leader Luis García Meza Tejada in 1929.
Total Born
40
Countries
25
Top Century
20th· 21
Top Field
engineer
5 individuals
Headline Figures
scientist
Roger Penrose
1931 – PresentNobel laureate: Nobel Prize in Physics (2020)
scientist
Ernest Lawrence
1901 – 1958Nobel laureate: Nobel Prize in Physics (1939)
engineer
Mohamed Morsi
1951 – 2019Egypt's first democratically elected president (2012-2013) and Muslim Brotherhood leader who was removed from power in a military coup.
Birth Distribution by Century
20th (21)
19th (12)
17th C.20th C.
20th Century
21Figure
Lifespan
Notes
Origin
Roger Penrose
scientist
Nobel laureate: Nobel Prize in Physics (2020)
Ernest Lawrence
scientist
Nobel laureate: Nobel Prize in Physics (1939)
Mohamed Morsi
engineermaterials scientist
Egypt's first democratically elected president (2012-2013) and Muslim Brotherhood leader who was removed from power in a military coup.
Alija Izetbegović
lawyerphilosopher
First President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1990-1996, 1996-2000) who led the country's independence from Yugoslavia and authored influential Islamic philosophical works including 'Islam Between East and West'.
Shawn Mendes
composerguitarist
Canadian pop singer who rose to fame through social media and achieved global success with hits like "Stitches" and "Señorita."
Giuseppe Conte
juristlawyer
Italian law professor who served as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2021, leading two coalition governments during periods of political instability.
Sesil Karatantcheva
tennis player
Bulgarian professional tennis player who reached a career-high WTA ranking and represented Bulgaria in international competitions.
Joël Matip
association football player
Cameroonian center-back who has played over 200 games for Liverpool in the Premier League and Champions League. He chose to represent Cameroon internationally despite being born and raised in Germany.
Luis García Meza Tejada
military officerpolitician
Military general who led a brutal coup in 1980 and ruled Bolivia as dictator for one year, later convicted of genocide and human rights violations.
Bernard Mills
astronomerphysicist
Australian engineer and radio astronomy pioneer (1920-2011)
Paul Dirac
academiceducator
Theoretical physicist who formulated the Dirac equation describing the behavior of fermions and predicted the existence of antimatter, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933.
John Yudkin
biochemistnutritionist
British physiologist (1910–1995)
Johanna Weber
engineermathematician
German mathematician
Mehrdad Avesta
literary scholarpoet
Persian poet (1930–1991)
Marino de Teana
architectpainter
Argentine and Italian sculptor (1920-2012)
Leo Chiosso
lyricistplaywright
Italian lyricist (1920–2006)
Jostein Gaarder
novelistphilosopher
Norwegian author best known for his philosophical novel Sophie's World, which became an international bestseller introducing philosophy to young readers.
Svetlana Savitskaya
aircraft pilotexplorer
Soviet cosmonaut who became the second woman in space in 1982 and the first woman to perform a spacewalk. She flew two missions aboard Salyuz space stations and later served in the Russian State Duma.
Louis van Gaal
association football coachassociation football player
Dutch football manager who led the Netherlands national team and managed top clubs including Ajax, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich.
Abel Hernández
association football player
Uruguayan striker who has earned over 30 caps for the national team and played in the 2018 World Cup. He has been a consistent goalscorer in European leagues, including Hull City and CSKA Moscow.
Roger Federer
tennis player
Swiss tennis legend who won 20 Grand Slam singles titles and held the world No. 1 ranking for 310 weeks.
19th Century
12Figure
Lifespan
Notes
Origin
Emiliano Zapata
farmerpartisan
Mexican revolutionary leader who championed agrarian reform and indigenous rights during the Mexican Revolution, becoming a symbol of social justice.
Nagai Nagayoshi
chemistuniversity teacher
Japanese pharmacologist
Philip Maud
engineermilitary officer
English rugby union player and military officer (1870–1947)
Thomas Matthews
civil engineerengineer
British civil engineer (1849-1930)
Edward Keane
businesspersoncivil engineer
Australian politician
Chellapilla Venkata Sastry
poetwriter
Poet
Eugenio Cambaceres
poet lawyerpolitician
Argentine politician and writer (1843-1889)
Alf Collett
genealogisthistorian
Norwegian genealogist and historian (1844–1919)
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
novelistpoet
Hebrew novelist and short story writer who won the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature for his deeply original narrative art. Born in Galicia, he immigrated to Palestine in 1908.
Alfred Duclos DeCelles
historianjournalist
Canadian journalist, librarian and writer (1843–1925)
Artturi Vuorimaa
journalistpolitical activist
Finnish politician
KC
Kausar Chandpuri
hakimnovelist
Writer
18th Century
5Figure
Lifespan
Notes
Origin
Nathaniel Palmer
engineerexplorer
American explorer (1799–1877)
Johann Friedrich Gmelin
biologistbotanist
German naturalist (1748–1804)
Ferenc Kölcsey
literary criticpoet
Hungarian politician and writer (1790-1838)
Judit Dukai Takách
poetwriter
Hungarian poet (1795-1836)
Bengt Erland Fogelberg
draftspersonsculptor
Swedish sculptor (1786–1854)
17th Century
2Figure
Lifespan
Notes
Origin
Claude Joseph Geoffroy
botanistchemist
French scientist (1685-1752)
Francis Hutcheson
economistphilosopher
Scottish philosopher (1694–1746)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the most famous person born on August 8?
Emiliano Zapata, born in 1879, is the most recognized person born on August 8. He played a major role in the Mexican Revolution and became a symbol of peasant resistance and social justice.
Are there any Nobel Prize winners born on August 8?
Yes, two Nobel Prize winners were born on August 8: Paul Dirac, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933 for quantum mechanics, and Shmuel Yosef Agnon, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966.
What types of professions are represented among famous people born on August 8?
August 8 includes various professions, with revolutionary leaders like Emiliano Zapata, scientists like physicist Paul Dirac, writers such as Nobel laureate Shmuel Yosef Agnon, and political figures like Bosnian leader Alija Izetbegović.