Today
Wednesday August 5 2026
- Day of the year
- 217/ 365
- Week
- 322,026
- Days left
- 14859%
- Moon
- 55%Waning gibbous
Today is Wednesday, August 5, 2026. It is day 217 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 148 remain, and 59% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 32.
What's celebrated on this date
No United Nations international day falls on this date.
Coming up
- August 9International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
- August 12International Youth Day
- August 19World Humanitarian Day
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Oswald of NorthumbriaKing of Northumbria
- Salus Populi Romaniartistic theme and title of Mary
- Our Lady of the Snowsfeast day in the General Roman Calendar
- Euthymius I of Constantinoplepriest
- Abel of Reims8th-century Scottish Benedictine monk and archbishop, Catholic saint, companion of Boniface deposed as Archbishop of Reims
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 05:57
- Sunset
- 20:07
- Length of day
- 14h 10m−2 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:02
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Summer
began on June 21, 2026
Next season
Autumn — 48 days, September 22, 2026 (September equinox)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Labor Day — September 7, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waning gibbous
Illumination : 55%
Moon age : 22.3 days
- Next full moon
- August 28, 2026
- Next new moon
- August 12, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Leo
until August 23, 2026 — Virgo
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
642
Battle of Maserfield: Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria. Wikipedia
1100
Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. Wikipedia
1583
Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Wikipedia
1796
The Battle of Castiglione in Napoleon's first Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars results in a French victory. Wikipedia
1864
American Civil War: The Battle of Mobile Bay begins at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports. Wikipedia
1884
The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1914
World War I: The German minelayer SS Königin Luise lays a minefield about 40 miles (64 km) off the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She is intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS Amphion. Wikipedia
1914
In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed. Wikipedia
1949
In Ecuador, an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000. Wikipedia
1963
Cold War: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day August 5
- 1802Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (died 1829)
- 1811Ambroise Thomas, French composer (died 1896)
- 1850Guy de Maupassant, French short story writer, novelist, and poet (died 1893)
- 1890Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor and director (died 1956)
- 1905Wassily Leontief, German-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1999)
- 1906John Huston, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1987)
- 1912Abbé Pierre, French priest and humanitarian (died 2007)
- 1930Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut, first man to walk on the Moon (died 2012)
Died on this day August 5
- 642Oswald, king of Northumbriaaged 38 years
- 1895Friedrich Engels, German philosopher (born 1820)aged 75 years
- 1946Wilhelm Marx, German lawyer and politician, 17th Chancellor of Germany (born 1863)aged 83 years
- 1955Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian actress and singer (born 1909)aged 46 years
- 1957Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1877)aged 80 years
- 1984Richard Burton, Welsh actor (born 1925)aged 59 years
- 2000Alec Guinness, English actor (born 1914)aged 86 years
- 2019Toni Morrison, American author, Pulitzer Prize winner, and Nobel laureate (born 1931).aged 88 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 05:57 and sets at 20:07, giving 14h 10m of daylight — 2 minutes less than yesterday. It has been summer since June 21, 2026; autumn opens in 48 days, on September 22, 2026 (September equinox).
The moon is waning gibbous, 55% illuminated. The next full moon falls on August 28, 2026 and the next new moon on August 12, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches August 5 to Oswald of Northumbria, Salus Populi Romani and Our Lady of the Snows.
No United Nations international day falls on August 5. The next one on the calendar is International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, on August 9.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Battle of Maserfield: Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria (642); Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey (1100). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Niels Henrik Abel was born on August 5, 1802; Oswald died on August 5, 642.
142 days remain until Christmas and 149 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — August 5 falls under the sign of Leo.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 59%
- of the year elapsed
- 142
- until Christmas
- 149
- until New Year
- 573
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26