What happened on May 8? There are more than 287 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About May 8
May 8 is the 129th day of the year 2024. There are 237 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday. This day falls under the 19th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Saint Cloud, Minnesota 56372 sunrise will occur at 05:53 AM and sunset will occur at 08:36 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 266 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 21 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For May 8
- 413Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, who are plundered by the Visigoths.
- 589Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo.
- 1450Jack Cade’s Rebellion: Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.
- 1541Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo.
- 1788The French Parlement is suspended to be replaced by the creation of forty-seven new courts.
- 1794Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror by revolutionists, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme Générale, is tried, convicted, and guillotined all on the same day in Paris.
- 1821Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia.
- 1846Mexican-American War: The Battle of Palo Alto – Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
- 1861American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.
- 1877At Gilmore’s Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
- 1886Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named “Coca-Cola” as a patent medicine.
- 1898The first games of the Italian football league system are played.
- 1899The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opens.
- 1902In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
- 1912Paramount Pictures is founded.
- 1919Edward George Honey first proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I, which later results in the creation of Remembrance Day. In the United States it was called Armistice Day and is now Veterans Day.
- 1924the Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania.
- 1927Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli disappeared after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.
- 1933Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.
- 1941The German Luftwaffe launch a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby
- 1942World War II: Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebel in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. Their mutiny is crushed and three of them are executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
- 1942World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
- 1945End of the Prague uprising, today celebrated as a national holiday in the Czech Republic.
- 1945Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.
- 1945World War II: V-E Day, combat ends in Europe. German forces agree in Rheims, France, to an unconditional surrender.
- 1946Estonian school girls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which stood in front of the Bronze Soldier in Tallinn.
- 1963South Vietnamese soldiers of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine.
- 1967The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
- 1970The Hard Hat riot occurs in the Wall Street area of New York City as blue-collar construction workers clash with demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War.
- 1972Four Black September terrorists hijack Sabena Flight 571. Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos recapture the plane the following day.
- 1972Vietnam War – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
- 1973A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.
- 1976The rollercoaster Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
- 1978First ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
- 1980The eradication of smallpox is endorsed by the World Health Organization.
- 1984Corporal Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing three and wounding 13. René Jalbert, sergeant-at-arms of the assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the Cross of Valour.
- 1984Thames Barrier officially opened.
- 1984The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
- 1987The Loughgall Ambush: The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.
- 1988A fire at Illinois Bell‘s Hinsdale Central Office triggers an extended 1AESS network outage once considered the 'worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history’and still the worst to occur on Mother’s Day.
- 1997A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people.
Who Were Born On May 8?
- 1326Joanna I of Auvergne, queen of France (d. 1360)
- 1460Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1536)
- 1521Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (d. 1597)
- 1587Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1637)
- 1622Claes Rålamb, Swedish statesman (d. 1698)
- 1629Niels Juel, Danish admiral (d. 1697)
- 1632Heino Heinrich Graf von Flemming, German marshal (d. 1706)
- 1653Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars, Marshall of France (d. 1734)
- 1668Alain-René Lesage, French writer (d. 1747)
- 1670Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (d. 1726)
- 1735Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter (d. 1811)
- 1738Mikhail Kamensky, Russian general (d. 1809)
- 1753Miguel Hidalgo Mexican revolutionary (d. 1811)
- 1786Jean Vianney, French Catholic priest (d. 1859)
- 1821William Henry Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1885)
- 1825George Bruce Malleson, Indian officer (d. 1898)
- 1828Jean Henri Dunant, Founder of the Red Cross; Nobel laureate (d. 1910)
- 1828Sharbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk (d. 1898)
- 1829Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American musician (d. 1869)
- 1835Bertalan Székely, Hungarian painter (d. 1910)
- 1839Adolphe-Basile Routhier, French Canadian lyricist (d. 1920)
- 1842Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist (d. 1909)
- 1847Oscar Hammerstein I, American theater producer and impresario (d. 1919)
- 1850Ross Barnes, baseball player (d. 1915)
- 1853Dan Brouthers, baseball player (d. 1932)
- 1858Heinrich Berté, Austrian operetta composer (d. 1924)
- 1858John Meade Falkner, English novelist (d. 1932)
- 1859Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician (d. 1925)
- 1884Harry S. Truman, President of the United States (d. 1972)
- 1893Edd Roush, American baseball player (d. 1988)
- 1893Francis Ouimet, American golfer and businessman (d. 1967)
- 1893Teddy Wakelam, English sports broadcaster and rugby player (d. 1963)
- 1895Edmund Wilson, American writer (d. 1972)
- 1895Fulton J. Sheen, American bishop (d. 1979)
- 1895James H. Kindelberger, American aviation executve (d. 1962)
- 1899Arthur Q. Bryan, American voice actor (d. 1959)
- 1899Friedrich Hayek, Austrian-born British economist and philosopher, Nobel laureate (d. 1992)
- 1901Turkey Stearnes, American baseball player (d. 1979)
- 1902André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
- 1903Fernandel, French actor (d. 1971)
- 1904John Snagge, British radio personality (d. 1996)
- 1905Red Nichols, American musician (d. 1965)
- 1906Roberto Rossellini, Italian director (d. 1977)
- 1910Andrew E. Svenson, American children’s book author and publisher (d. 1975)
- 1910Mary Lou Williams, American singer (d. 1981)
- 1911Robert Johnson, American blues musician (d. 1938)
- 1913Bob Clampett, American animator (d. 1984)
- 1914Romain Gary, Polish writer (d. 1980)
- 1915Milton Meltzer, American writer (d. 2009)
- 1916João Havelange, Brazilian industrialist
- 1916Swami Chinmayananda, Indian spiritualist (d. 1993)
- 1919Lex Barker, American actor (d. 1973)
- 1920Saul Bass, American graphic designer and filmmaker (d. 1996)
- 1920Sloan Wilson, American author (d. 2003)
- 1920Tom of Finland, Finnish fetish artist (d. 1991)
- 1925Ali Hassan Mwinyi, President of Tanzania
- 1926David Attenborough, English naturalist
- 1926Don Rickles, American comedian
- 1927Chumy Chúmez, Spanish film director (d. 2003)
- 1928Theodore Sorensen, American lawyer and special counsel to John F. Kennedy (d. 2010)
- 1929Claude Castonguay, Quebec politician
- 1929Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese actress (d. 2007)
- 1930Gary Snyder, American poet
- 1930Heather Harper, Irish singer
- 1932Julieta Campos, Cuban-born Mexican writer (d. 2007)
- 1932Phyllida Law, Scottish actress
- 1932Sonny Liston, American boxer (d. 1970)
- 1935Jack Charlton, English footballer
- 1935Princess Elisabeth of Denmark
- 1937Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian politician
- 1937Mike Cuellar, American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1937Thomas Pynchon, American novelist
- 1940Emilio Delgado, American actor
- 1940Irwin Cotler, Canadian politician
- 1940Peter Benchley, American author (d. 2006)
- 1940Ricky Nelson, American singer (d. 1985)
- 1940Toni Tennille, American singer
- 1941Bill Lockyer, American politician
- 1941John Fred, American singer (d. 2005)
- 1941Mahmoud Ahmed, Ethiopian singer
- 1942Norman Lamont, British politician
- 1942Terry Neill, Northern Irish footballer
- 1943Paul Samwell-Smith, British bassist (The Yardbirds)
- 1944Gary Glitter, English singer
- 1945Keith Jarrett, American musician
- 1946André Boulerice, French-Canadian politician
- 1946Jonathan Dancy, British philosopher
- 1947H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1948Felicity Lott, English singer
- 1948Stephen Stohn, Canadian television producer
- 1948Steve Braun, American baseball player
- 1950Robert Mugge, American music documentary filmmaker
- 1951Chris Frantz, American musician (Talking Heads)
- 1951Deborah Harmon, American actress
- 1951Mike D'Antoni, American professional basketball coach
- 1951Philip Bailey, American singer (Earth, Wind & Fire)
- 1953Alex Van Halen, Dutch-born American drummer (Van Halen)
- 1953Billy Burnette, American singer and guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1954David Keith, American actor
- 1954Stephen Furst, American actor
- 1955Meles Zenawi, Ethiopian politician
- 1956Jeff Wincott, Canadian actor
- 1957Bill Cowher, American professional football coach
- 1957Marie Myriam, French singer
- 1958Lovie Smith, American professional football coach
- 1959Ronnie Lott, American football player
- 1960Eric Brittingham, American bassist
- 1960Franco Baresi, Italian footballer
- 1961Akira Taue, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1961David Winning, Canadian film director
- 1961Janet McTeer, British actress
- 1963Anthony Field, Australian musician and actor
- 1963Izabela Kloc, Polish politician
- 1963Michel Gondry, French director and screenwriter
- 1963Rick Zombo, American ice hockey player
- 1963Robin Jarvis, British writer
- 1963Sylvain Cossette, Quebec singer and songwriter
- 1963Terry Christian, British radio and television presenter
- 1964Bobby Labonte, American race car driver
- 1964Dave Rowntree, British musician (Blur)
- 1964Melissa Gilbert, American actress
- 1966Claudio Taffarel, Brazilian footballer
- 1966Marta Sánchez, Spanish singer
- 1968Jamie Summers, American porn star
- 1968Johan Pehrson, Swedish politician
- 1968Nathalie Normandeau, Quebec politician
- 1969Akebono Taro, American sumo wrestler, the 64th Yokozuna
- 1970Luis Enrique, Spanish football player
- 1970Naomi Klein, Canadian author and activist
- 1972Darren Hayes, Australian singer
- 1972Ray Whitney, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1973Hiromu Arakawa, Japanese artist
- 1973Kris Hudson-Lee, English musician
- 1973Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian
- 1974Jon Tickle, English entertainer
- 1974Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
- 1975Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer
- 1975Gastón Mazzacane, Argentine racing driver
- 1975Jussi Markkanen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1976Ian Watkins, Welsh singer and actor (Steps)
- 1976Martha Wainwright, Canadian musician and songwriter
- 1977Jennifer Walcott, American glamor model
- 1977Joe Bonamassa, American blues rock guitarist and singer
- 1977Theodoros Papaloukas, Greek basketball player
- 1978Jang Woo Hyuk, Korean singer
- 1978Josie Maran, American model
- 1978Lúcio, Brazilian footballer
- 1978Matthew Davis, American actor
- 1980Benny Yau, Canadian entertainer
- 1980Keyon Dooling, American basketball player
- 1980Michelle McManus, Scottish singer
- 1980Panayiotis Kafkis, Greek basketball player
- 1981Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
- 1981Björn Dixgård, Swedish guitarist, singer, songwriter
- 1981John Maine, American baseball player
- 1981Tatyana Dektyareva, Russian athlete
- 1981Yasuko Tajima, Japanese swimmer
- 1982Adrian Gonzalez, American baseball player
- 1982Buakaw Por. Pramuk, Thai Muaythai kickboxer
- 1983Juan Martin Goity, Argentine-born German rugby player
- 1983Lawrence Vickers, American football player
- 1983Matt Willis, British singer (Busted)
- 1983Roberto Vitiello, Italian footballer
- 1984Nadine Chandrawinata, Indonesian beauty pageant contestant
- 1985Mashio Miyazaki, Japanese actress
- 1986Marvell Wynne, American footballer
- 1987Felix Jones, American football player
- 1987Mark Noble, English footballer
- 1989Lars Eller, Danish ice hockey player
- 1990Kemba Walker, American basketball player
- 1991Ethan Gage, Canadian soccer player
Who Died On May 8?
- 1192Duke Ottokar IV of Styria (b. 1163)
- 1278Emperor Duanzong of China (b. 1268)
- 1319King Haakon V of Norway (b. 1270)
- 1473John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English politician (b. 1420)
- 1538Edward Fox, English bishop
- 1672Jean-Armand du Peyrer, Comte de Tréville and French Officer (b. 1598)
- 1766Samuel Chandler, English non-conformist minister (b. 1693)
- 1773Ali Bey Al-Kabir, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (b. 1728)
- 1781Richard Jago, English poet (b. 1715)
- 1785Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, French statesman (b. 1719)
- 1785Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (b. 1701)
- 1788Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-born physician and naturalist (b. 1723)
- 1794Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (executed) (b. 1743)
- 1819King Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii
- 1828Mauro Giuliani, Italian composer (b. 1781)
- 1837Alexander Balashov, Russian general and statesman (b. 1770)
- 1842Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (b. 1790)
- 1853Jan Roothaan, Dutch priest (b. 1785)
- 1873John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (b. 1806)
- 1880Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (b. 1821)
- 1891Helena Blavatsky, Russian-born author (b. 1831)
- 1903Paul Gauguin, French painter (b. 1848)
- 1907Edmund G. Ross, American Senator (b. 1826)
- 1936Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (b. 1880)
- 1943Mordechaj Anielewicz, Polish Resistance Fighter (b. 1919)
- 1944Themistoklis Diakidis, Greek high jumper (b. 1882)
- 1945Bernhard Rust, Nazi education minister (b. 1883)
- 1945Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of Nazi-occupied Norway (b. 1898)
- 1945Wilhelm Rediess, SS and Police leader of Nazi-occupied Norway (b. 1900)
- 1947Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-born department store founder (b. 1858)
- 1948U Saw, Burmese politician (b. 1900)
- 1950Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician (b. 1865)
- 1952William Fox, Austrian-born film producer (b. 1879)
- 1960J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
- 1967LaVerne Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (b. 1911)
- 1969Remington Kellogg, American naturalist (b. 1892)
- 1975Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1887)
- 1981Uri Zvi Grinberg, Israeli poet and journalist (b. 1896)
- 1982Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (b. 1950)
- 1982Neil Bogart, American record executive (b. 1943)
- 1984Gino Bianco, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1916)
- 1984Lila Bell Wallace, American magazine publisher (Reader’s Digest) (b. 1890)
- 1985Dolph Sweet, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1985Karl Marx, German composer (b. 1897)
- 1985Theodore Sturgeon, American science fiction writer (b. 1918)
- 1986Ernle Bradford, English historian and writer (b. 1922)
- 1987Doris Stokes, British psychic medium (b. 1920)
- 1988Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (b. 1907)
- 1990Luigi Nono, Italian composer (b. 1924)
- 1991Jean Langlais, French composer and pianist (b. 1907)
- 1991Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (b. 1903)
- 1992Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player [AAGPBL] (b. 1933)
- 1993Avram Davidson, American writer (b. 1923)
- 1994George Peppard, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1995Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (b. 1953)
- 1996Beryl Burton, English cyclist (b. 1937)
- 1996Dominguín, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1926)
- 1996Garth Williams, American illustrator (b. 1912)
- 1996Larry Levis, American poet (b. 1946)
- 1998Bebe Rebozo, American banker and Watergate figure (b. 1912)
- 1999Dana Plato, American actress (b. 1964)
- 1999Ed Gilbert, American actor (b. 1931)
- 1999Sir Dirk Bogarde, British actor (b. 1921)
- 2000Alexander Chislenko, Russian-American transhumanist (b. 1959)
- 2000Dédé Fortin, singer Québécois to group Les Colocs (b. 1962)
- 2000Guadalupe “Pita” Amor, Mexican poet (b. 1918)
- 2000Henry Nicols, AIDS activist (b. 1973)
- 2001Koby Mandell, Israeli-American terror victim (b. 1987)
- 2005Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentine racing driver (b. 1981)
- 2006Iain Macmillan, Abbey Road photographer (b. 1938)
- 2008Eddy Arnold, country music star (b. 1918)
- 2008François Sterchele, Belgian football player (b. 1982)
- 2009Bud Shrake, American writer (b. 1931)
- 2009Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1917)
- 2011Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (b. 1948)
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