What happened on April 8? There are more than 286 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 April 8
April 8 is the 99th day of the year 2024. There are 267 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday. This day falls under the 15th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Drybranch, West Virginia 25061 sunrise occured at 06:58 AM and sunset occured at 07:57 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Aries. The modern birthstone for this month is Diamond while the mystical birthstone is Opal.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 296 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 April 8
- 217Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
- 1093The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
- 1139Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
- 1149Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
- 1271In Syria, sultan Baybars conquers the Krak of Chevaliers.
- 1730Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.
- 1740War of Jenkin’s Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa.
- 1767Ayutthaya kingdom falls to Burmese invaders.
- 1808The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore is promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
- 1820The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.
- 1832Black Hawk War: Around three-hundred United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
- 1864American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield – Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
- 1866Italy and Prussia ally against Austrian Empire.
- 1886William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
- 1893The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
- 1895In Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
- 1904British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of The Book of the Law.
- 1904Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
- 1904The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
- 1906Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, dies.
- 1908Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
- 1911Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity.
- 1913The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law.
- 1916In Corona, California, race car driver Bob Burman crashes, killing three, and badly injuring five, spectators.
- 1918World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City’s financial district.
- 1929Indian Independence Movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest.
- 1935The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 becomes law.
- 1942World War II: Siege of Leningrad – Soviet forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
- 1942World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
- 1943U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
- 1945World War II: After an air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors are massacred by Nazis.
- 1946Électricité de France, the world’s largest utility company, is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
- 1946The last meeting of the League of Nations, the precursor of the United Nations, is held.
- 1950India and Pakistan sign the Liaquat-Nehru Pact.
- 1952U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.
- 1953Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by Kenya’s British rulers.
- 1954A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collided with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
- 1954South African Airways Flight 201 A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
- 1959A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
- 1959The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
- 1960The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
- 1961A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf kills 238.
- 1968BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after take off. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
- 1970Bahr el-Baqar incident: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. 46 children are killed.
- 1974at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth’s 39-year-old record.
- 1975Frank Robinson manages the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball’s first African American manager.
- 1975President Richard Nixon signs into law federal legislation authorizing the establishment of Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota.
- 1985Bhopal disaster: India files suit against Union Carbide for the disaster which killed an estimated 2,000 and injured another 200,000.
- 1987Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over racially charged remarks he had made while on Nightline.
- 1992Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
- 1993The Republic of Macedonia joins the United Nations.
- 1999Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
- 2004Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
- 2005Over four million people attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
- 2006Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Ontario, Canada. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos motorcycle gang.
- 2008The construction of the world’s first building to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain.
Who Were Born On April 8?
- 1320King Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
- 1336Tamerlane (Timur), Central Asian, Turkic conqueror (d. 1405)
- 1533Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (d. 1604)
- 1541Michele Mercati, Italian physician (d. 1593)
- 1605King Philip IV of Spain, (d. 1665)
- 1641Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English statesman (d. 1704)
- 1692Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (d. 1770)
- 1732David Rittenhouse, American astronomer, inventor, and mathematician (d. 1796)
- 1761Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, Founder of the Society of Mary (d. 1850)
- 1818August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (d. 1892)
- 1818King Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1906)
- 1826Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (d. 1890)
- 1827Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican politician, medical doctor and diplomat (d. 1898)
- 1842Elizabeth Bacon Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer (d. 1933)
- 1859Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (d. 1938)
- 1865Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist (d. 1940)
- 1869Harvey Cushing, American neurosurgeon (d. 1939)
- 1871Clarence Hudson White American photographer (d. 1925)
- 1874Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
- 1875King Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
- 1883R. P. Keigwin, English academic (d. 1972)
- 1885Dimitrios Levidis, Greek composer (d. 1951)
- 1888Dennis Chavez, American politician (d. 1964)
- 1889Sir Adrian Boult, British conductor (d. 1983)
- 1892Mary Pickford, Canadian actress (d. 1979)
- 1892Richard Neutra, American architect (d. 1970)
- 1896Yip Harburg, American lyricist (d. 1981)
- 1902Andrew Irvine, British mountaineer (d. 1924)
- 1902Maria Maksakova, Sr., Soviet opera singer (d. 1974)
- 1904Hirsch Jacobs, American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner (d. 1970)
- 1904John Hicks, British economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1989)
- 1905Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (d. 1971)
- 1905Helen Joseph, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1992)
- 1906Raoul Jobin, French Canadian tenor (d. 1974)
- 1908Hugo Fregonese, Argentine film director (d. 1987)
- 1909John Fante, American novelist (d. 1983)
- 1910George Musso, American football player (d. 2000)
- 1911Emil Cioran, Romanian philosopher and essayist (d. 1995)
- 1911Melvin Calvin, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
- 1912Alois Brunner, Austrian Nazi
- 1912Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater and actress (d. 1969)
- 1914María Félix, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
- 1918Betty Ford, Former First Lady of the United States(d. 2011)
- 1918Glendon Swarthout, American author (d. 1992)
- 1919Ian Smith, Former Prime Minister of Rhodesia (d. 2007)
- 1920Carmen McRae, American jazz singer (d. 1994)
- 1921Franco Corelli, Italian tenor (d. 2003)
- 1921Jan Novák, Czech composer (d. 1984)
- 1923Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (d. 1997)
- 1923George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
- 1924Frédéric Back, German-born Canadian short film director and screenwriter
- 1924Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English soldier and historian (d. 2006)
- 1926Henry N. Cobb, American architect
- 1926Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian
- 1926Shecky Greene, American comedian
- 1926Shirley Mills, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1927Tilly Armstrong (alias Tania Langley and Kate Alexander), British writer (d. 2010)
- 1928Leah Rabin, widow of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (d. 2000)
- 1928Monty Sunshine, English jazz clarinetist
- 1929Jacques Brel, Belgian singer/composer (d. 1978)
- 1929Renzo De Felice, Italian historian (d. 1996)
- 1929Walter Berry, Austrian bass-baritone (d. 2000)
- 1930Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma (d. 2010)
- 1931John Gavin, American actor and politician
- 1932Sultan Iskandar of Johor, also the 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2010)
- 1933Fred Ebb, American composer (d. 2004)
- 1934Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect (d. 2007)
- 1935Albert Bustamante, American politician
- 1935Oscar Zeta Acosta, American attorney, politician, and Chicano Movement activist (d. 1974?)
- 1937Seymour Hersh, American journalist
- 1938Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat and former United Nations Secretary General
- 1939Mary Leona Gage, American beauty pageant contestant and actress (d. 2010)
- 1940John Havlicek, American basketball player
- 1941Darlene Gillespie, Canadian-born American actress
- 1941Peggy Lennon, American singer (The Lennon Sisters)
- 1941Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer
- 1942Douglas Trumbull, American film director
- 1942Roger Chapman, British rock singer (Family, Streetwalkers)
- 1943Michael Bennett, American dancer/choreographer (d. 1987)
- 1943Miller Farr, American football player
- 1943Tony Banks, British politician (d. 2006)
- 1944Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor
- 1944Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
- 1945Derrick Walker, British racing team owner
- 1946Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (d. 1999)
- 1946Stuart Pankin, American actor
- 1946Tim Thomerson, American actor
- 1947Larry Norman, American singer/songwriter (d. 2008)
- 1947Pascal Lamy, Director-General of WTO
- 1947Robert Kiyosaki, American investor
- 1947Steve Howe, English guitarist (Yes, Asia, GTR)
- 1947Tom DeLay, American politician and convict
- 1948Michael Leshner, Canadian lawyer and gay rights advocate
- 1949Brenda Russell, American singer/songwriter
- 1949John Madden, English film director
- 1950Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer
- 1951Geir Haarde, former Icelandic prime minister
- 1951Gerd Andres, German politician
- 1954G.V. Loganathan, American professor (d. 2007)
- 1954Gary Carter, American baseball player
- 1955Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist
- 1955David Wu, Taiwanese-born American politician
- 1955Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
- 1955Kane Hodder, American actor and stuntman
- 1955Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
- 1955Ron Johnson, American politician, junior senator of Wisconsin.
- 1956Christine Boisson, French actress
- 1956Jim Piddock, English actor, writer and producer
- 1956Justin Sullivan, English musician (New Model Army)
- 1957Fred Smerlas, American football player
- 1958Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer
- 1960John Schneider, American actor
- 1961Richard Hatch, American reality television personality
- 1962Evan Davis, British journalist and television presenter
- 1962Izzy Stradlin, American musician (Guns N' Roses)
- 1962Paddy Lowe, British engineer
- 1963Alec Stewart, English cricketer
- 1963Julian Lennon, English musician and singer
- 1963Seth Tobias, American financial commentator (d. 2007)
- 1963Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
- 1964Biz Markie, American rapper/disc jockey
- 1964John McGinlay, Scottish footballer
- 1964Lisa Guerrero, American sports broadcaster
- 1965Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1966Bobby Ologun, Nigerian television personality
- 1966Dalton Grant, British high jumper
- 1966Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek politician
- 1966Mark Blundell, British racing driver
- 1966Mazinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1966Robin Wright, American actress
- 1967Arwyn Davies, Welsh actor
- 1968Patricia Arquette, American actress
- 1968Patricia Girard-Léno, French athlete
- 1968Tracy Grammer, American folk singer
- 1972Paul Gray, American bassist (Slipknot) (d. 2010)
- 1973Alex S. Gonzalez, American baseball player
- 1973Emma Caulfield, American actress
- 1973Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
- 1974Chino XL, American rapper
- 1974Holger Hott Johansen, Norwegian orienteerist
- 1974Nayden Todorov, Bulgarian conductor
- 1974Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian American writer
- 1975Anouk, Dutch singer
- 1975Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer
- 1975Timo Pérez, Dominican baseball player
- 1977Mark Spencer, American computer programmer
- 1977Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (d. 2008)
- 1978Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
- 1978Bernt Haas, Swiss footballer
- 1978Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress
- 1979Alexi Laiho, Finnish guitarist and singer (Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Kylähullut)
- 1979Jeremy Guthrie, American baseball player
- 1980Katee Sackhoff, American actress
- 1980Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
- 1981Brian Burres, American baseball player
- 1981Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
- 1981Lito Sheppard, American football cornerback
- 1981Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model
- 1983Adrian Bellani, American actor
- 1983Allu Arjun, Indian film actor
- 1984Ezra Koenig, American singer (Vampire Weekend)
- 1984Júlia Liptáková, Slovak model
- 1984Kirsten Storms, American actress
- 1984Taran Noah Smith, American actor
- 1985Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player
- 1986Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress, model and singer
- 1986Félix Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1986Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
- 1987Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
- 1988Kim Myung-Sung, South Korean baseball player
- 1989Alex DeLeon, American singer (The Cab)
- 1989Hitomi Takahashi, Japanese singer
- 1992Shelby Young, American actress
Who Died On April 8?
- 217Caracalla, Roman Emperor (b. 188)
- 956Gilbert of Chalon, Duke of Burgundy
- 1143John II Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1087)
- 1364King John II of France (b. 1319)
- 1461Georg Purbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
- 1586Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran reformer and theologian (b. 1522)
- 1587John Foxe, English writer (b. 1516)
- 1691Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect (b. 1611)
- 1697Niels Juel, Danish admiral (b. 1629)
- 1704Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English statesman (b. 1641)
- 1704Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist (b. 1624)
- 1725John Wise, English clergyman (b. 1652)
- 1735Francis II Rákóczi, leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburg (b. 1676)
- 1848Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
- 1857Mangal Pandey, Indian soldier (b. 1827)
- 1861Elisha Otis, American elevator builder (b. 1811)
- 1870Charles de Bériot, Belgian composer (b. 1802)
- 1906Auguste D, First recorded Alzheimer’s victim (b. 1850)
- 1919Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist (b. 1848)
- 1920Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)
- 1931Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
- 1936Robert Bárány, Austrian physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1876)
- 1942Kostas Skarvelis, Greek songwriter (b. 1880)
- 1950Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish-born ballet dancer (b. 1890)
- 1958Ethel Turner, Australian author (b. 1872)
- 1965Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)
- 1968Barbara Jane Harrison, Air stewardess (b.1945)
- 1973Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist and sculptor (b. 1881)
- 1974James Charles McGuigan, Catholic archbishop of Toronto (b. 1894)
- 1978Ford Frick, American baseball commissioner (b. 1894)
- 1981Omar Bradley, U.S. general (b. 1893)
- 1984Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1894)
- 1985J. Fred Coots, American songwriter (b. 1897)
- 1986Yukiko Okada, Japanese idol singer (b. 1967)
- 1990Ryan White, American AIDS activist (b. 1971)
- 1991Per Yngve “Dead” Ohlin, Swedish metal singer (Mayhem) (b. 1969)
- 1992Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1907)
- 1993Marian Anderson, American contralto (b. 1897)
- 1994François Rozet, French Canadian actor (b. 1899)
- 1996Ben Johnson, American actor (b. 1918)
- 1996George W. Jenkins, American businessman (b. 1907)
- 1996León Klimovsky, Argentine film director (b. 1906)
- 1997Laura Nyro, American singer and composer (b. 1947)
- 2000Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
- 2002María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
- 2004Enda Colleran, Gaelic footballer (b. 1941)
- 2005Eddie Miksis, American baseball player (b. 1926)
- 2005Onna White, Canadian choreographer (b. 1924)
- 2006Gerard Reve, Dutch writer (b. 1923)
- 2007Sol LeWitt, American artist (b. 1928)
- 2008John Button, Australian politician (b. 1933)
- 2008Stanley Kamel, American actor (b. 1943)
- 2008Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley (b. 1928)
- 2009Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (b. 1976)
- 2010Jack Agnew, Irish-born American World War II veteran (b. 1922)
- 2010Malcolm McLaren, British music manager (b. 1946)
- 2010Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer (b. 1926)
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