May 8
date
(Redirected from May 08)
May 8 is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 237 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
changeUp to 1900
change- 413 - Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.
- 1541 – Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River.
- 1654 - The Peace of Westminster ends the First Anglo-Dutch War.
- 1781 – Battle of Pensacola in Florida: Spanish troops reconquer Pensacola.
- 1788 - The French parliament is suspended to be replaced by the creation of forty-seven new courts.
- 1794 – French chemist Antoine Lavoisier is executed on the guillotine.
- 1821 - Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.
- 1842 – French explorer Jules Dumont D'Urville and his family, are among those killed in a major train crash.
- 1842 – The Great Fire of Hamburg is brought under control. It had killed 51 people and made 20,000 homeless.
- 1846 - Mexican-American War: Battle of Palo Alto - Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is declared capital city of the Confederate States of America.
- 1886 – John Pemberton creates the drink that is now known as Coca-Cola.
- 1898 – The Italian football league is held for the first time; all in one day.
1901 – 2000
change- 1901 - The Australian Labor Party is founded.
- 1902 – The Volcano Mt. Pelée erupts on the Caribbean Island of Martinique, killing 30,000 people.
- 1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.
- 1919 - Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a Moment of Silence to commemorate the World War I Armistice on November 11.
- 1927 - Attempting to make the first Transatlantic flight from Paris to New York City, Frenchmen Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli disappear after taking off aboard the White Bird airplane.
- 1933 – Mahatma Gandhi begins a 21-day fast against British colonial oppression.
- 1941 - World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.
- 1942 – World War II: In the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Japanese Navy aircraft attacks the ship USS Lexington.
- 1945 – End of World War II in Europe; this day is known as VE Day for "Victory in Europe".
- 1945 – Thousands of Algerian civilians are massacred by French colonial troops.
- 1945 – End of Prague uprising.
- 1963 - South Vietnamese soldiers of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists who were defying a ban on the Buddhist flag, killing 9.
- 1967 - The Philippines province of Davao is spilt into three, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
- 1969 – The movie Easy Rider, starring Dennis Hopper, has its premiere in Cannes, France.
- 1970 – The last Beatles album, Let it Be, is released.
- 1973 – Members of the American Indian Movement leave the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, after a 71-day protest.
- 1976 - The rollercoaster "Revolution", the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
- 1978 – Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler reach the top of Mt. Everest without Oxygen supplies, becoming the first people to do so.
- 1980 – The WHO announces the eradication of Smallpox.
- 1984 – The Soviet Union decides to boycott the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
- 1984 – The Thames Barrier officially opens.
- 1988 - Francois Mitterrand is elected to a second term as President of France.
- 1993 - Lennox Lewis wins his Heavyweight Boxing fight against Tony Tucker in Las Vegas.
- 1995 – The 50th anniversary of VE Day is marked.
- 1997 – A China Southeast Airlines Boeing 737 crashes at Shenzhen Bao'an Airport, killing 35 people.
From 2001
change- 2003 - A train is sliced in two in a collision with a tourist bus in Siofok, Hungary, killing 30 German bus passengers and the driver.
- 2007 – A new power-sharing deal takes effect in Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley becomes First Minister and Martin McGuinness becomes his Deputy.
- 2007 - Archaeologists in Israel announce that they have discovered the grave of Herod the Great.
- 2008 – Silvio Berlusconi becomes Prime Minister of Italy for a third time.
- 2010 – Laura Chinchilla becomes President of Costa Rica.
- 2013 - Manchester United football manager Alex Ferguson announces his upcoming retirement, which takes effect on May 19. He had been in charge of the team for over 26 1⁄2 years, making him one of the game's longest-serving managers. David Moyes replaces him, but is already sacked on April 22, 2014.
- 2014 - The African National Congress wins elections in South Africa, allowing Jacob Zuma to serve a second full term as President.
- 2015 - 2015 Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash: A helicopter carrying foreign diplomats crashes near Gilgit in the far north of Pakistan. The Norwegian and Filipino Ambassadors are among those killed in the accident.
- 2015 - United Kingdom general election, 2015: As David Cameron starts his second term as Prime Minister, and the Scottish National Party adds 50 more MPs, three party leaders resign - Ed Miliband (Labour Party), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats) and Nigel Farage (UKIP). Farage later decides to stay on as UKIP leader.
- 2018 - President Donald Trump decides to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement.
- 2019 - The African National Congress wins the most votes in the elections held in South Africa, but with a reduced number of votes.
Births
changeUp to 1900
change- 1326 – Joanna I of Auvergne, Queen of France (d. 1360)
- 1460 - Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1536)
- 1521 – Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (d. 1597)
- 1587 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1637)
- 1629 - Niels Juel, Danish admiral (d. 1697)
- 1639 - Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Italian painter (d. 1709)
- 1653 - Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general (d. 1734)
- 1668 - Alain-René Lesage, French writer and playwright (d. 1747)
- 1720 – William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1764)
- 1735 – Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter (d. 1811)
- 1737 – Edward Gibbon, British historian (d. 1794)
- 1738 – Mikhail Kamensky, Russian general (d. 1809)
- 1744 - Nikolay Novikov, Russian writer (d. 1818)
- 1753 – Miguel Hidalgo, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1811)
- 1781 – Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Palmela, Portuguese politician (d. 1850)
- 1786 – John Vianney, French priest and saint (d. 1859)
- 1818 - Samuel Leonard Tilley, Canadian politician, 3rd Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1896)
- 1821 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman (d. 1885)
- 1824 - William Walker, American physician, lawyer, journalist and mercenary (d. 1860)
- 1828 – Henry Dunant, Swiss co-founder of the Red Cross, co-winner of first Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1910)
- 1828 - Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk and saint (d. 1898)
- 1847 – Oscar Hammerstein I, American theatre producer and impresario (d. 1919)
- 1856 – Pedro Lascuráin, Mexican politician, shortest-serving President (d. 1952)
- 1859 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician (d. 1925)
- 1867 - Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1952)
- 1874 - E. W. Marland, Governor of Oklahoma (d. 1941)
- 1884 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
- 1889 – Song Jin-woo, Korean politician, educationist and journalist (d. 1945)
- 1889 - Louis Van Hege, Belgian footballer (d. 1975)
- 1895 – James H. Kindelberger, American aviation executive (d. 1962)
- 1895 – Fulton J. Sheen, American bishop (d. 1979)
- 1895 – Edmund Wilson, American writer (d. 1972)
- 1895 – Joselito, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1920)
- 1898 - Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (d. 1960)
- 1899 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (d. 1992)
1901 – 1925
change- 1902 – André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist (d. 1994)
- 1903 – Fernandel, French comedy actor and singer (d. 1971)
- 1904 – John Snagge, British radio personality (d. 1996)
- 1905 – Red Nichols, American musician (d. 1965)
- 1906 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian movie director (d. 1977)
- 1909 – Count Lennart Bernadotte, Swedish royal (d. 2004)
- 1910 – Mary Lou Williams, American singer (d. 1981)
- 1911 – Robert Johnson, American blues musician (d. 1938)
- 1913 - Bob Clampett, American animator, producer and director (d. 1984)
- 1913 - Sid James, English actor (d. 1976)
- 1914 – Romain Gary, Polish writer (d. 1980)
- 1916 – Chinmayananda Saraswati, Indian spiritualist (d. 1993)
- 1916 – Joao Havelange, Brazilian sports official (d. 2016)
- 1917 - John Anderson, Jr., American politician, 36th Governor of Kansas (d. 2014)
- 1919 - Lex Barker, American actor (d. 1973)
- 1920 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and movie maker (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Tom of Finland, Finnish fetish artist (d. 1991)
- 1923 - Cheikha Rimitti, Algerian singer (d. 2006)
- 1924 - Tapan Raychaudhuri, Indian historian (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former President of Tanzania
1926 – 1950
change- 1926 – David Attenborough, British naturalist, TV presenter and writer
- 1926 – Don Rickles, American actor (d. 2017)
- 1927 - Laszlo Paskai, Hungarian cardinal (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Manfred Gerlach, East German politician (d. 2011)
- 1928 - Ted Sorensen, American lawyer and 8th White House counsel (d. 2010)
- 1929 - Girija Devi, Indian singer (d. 2017)
- 1929 - Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese actress (d. 2007)
- 1930 - Doug Atkins, American baseball player (d. 2015)
- 1930 - Heather Harper, Irish-English soprano (d. 2019)
- 1930 - Gary Snyder, American poet
- 1932 – Phyllida Law, Scottish actress
- 1932 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (d. 1970)
- 1935 – Jack Charlton, English footballer
- 1935 – Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Kazuo Koike, Japanese manga artist
- 1937 – Thomas Pynchon, American writer
- 1938 – Jean Giraud, French comic book artist and production designer (d. 2012)
- 1939 - Paul Drayton, American sprinter (d. 2010)
- 1940 – Peter Benchley, American writer (d. 2006)
- 1940 – Ricky Nelson, American singer and actor (d. 1985)
- 1940 - Irwin Cotler, Canadian politician
- 1940 - Toni Tennille, American singer (Captain & Tennille)
- 1941 - James Traficant, American politician (d. 2014)
- 1942 - Norman Lamont, British politician
- 1943 - Pat Barker, British writer
- 1944 – Bill Legend, British musician
- 1944 – Gary Glitter, British musician
- 1945 – Keith Jarrett, American musician
- 1945 - Mike German, Baron German, Welsh politician
- 1946 – Jonathan Dancy, British philosopher
- 1947 – John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, British politician
- 1947 – H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist
- 1947 – Felicity Lott, British singer
- 1947 - Aram I, Armenian church leader
- 1948 – Norbert Nigbur, German footballer
- 1949 – Mohammed bin Hammam, Qatari FIFA official
1951 – 1975
change- 1951 – Philip Bailey, American musician (Earth, Wind & Fire)
- 1951 – Chris Frantz, rock musician
- 1952 – Charles Camarda, American astronaut
- 1953 – Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American musician
- 1953 – Billy Burnette, American singer-songwriter
- 1954 – Pam Arciero, American voice actress
- 1954 – John Michael Talbot, American monk, singer and musician
- 1954 - Clive Wood, English actor
- 1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister and President of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
- 1955 – Asgeir Sigurvinsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1956 - David Provan, Scottish footballer
- 1957 – Marie Myriam, French singer
- 1958 – Roddy Doyle, Irish writer
- 1958 – Kevin McCloud, English writer, designer and television presenter
- 1958 – Lovie Smith, American football coach
- 1958 – Simone Kleinsma, Dutch musical theatre actress
- 1958 – Brooks Newmark, American-English politician
- 1959 – Ronnie Lott, American football player
- 1959 – David Pearce, British professional boxer (d. 2000)
- 1960 – Franco Baresi, Italian footballer
- 1961 – Akira Taue, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1961 – Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City
- 1961 – Andrea Pollack, German swimmer (d. 2019)
- 1962 – David Sole, Scottish rugby player
- 1962 – Natalia Molchanova, Russian diver (d. 2015)
- 1963 – Michel Gondry, French director and screenwriter
- 1963 – Aleksandr Kovalenko, Soviet triple jumper
- 1963 - Anthony Field, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
- 1964 – Dave Rowntree, British musician (Blur)
- 1964 – Melissa Gilbert, American actress
- 1965 – Mario Frick, Liechtenstein politician
- 1967 – Viviana Durante, Italian ballet dancer
- 1968 – Chris Lighty, American music executive and talent agent (d. 2012)
- 1968 – Nathalie Normandeau, Canadian politician
- 1969 – Akebono Taro, American sumo wrestler
- 1970 – Luis Enrique Martínez García, Spanish footballer
- 1970 – Naomi Klein, Canadian writer and activist
- 1971 – Shaolin, Brazilian cartoonist, comedian and presenter (d. 2016)
- 1972 – Darren Hayes, Australian singer
- 1973 – Hiromu Arakawa, Japanese manga artist
- 1973 – Jesús Arellano, Mexican footballer
- 1973 – Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian
- 1974 – Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
- 1975 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer
From 1976
change- 1976 – Martha Wainwright, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1976 - Ian "H" Watkins, Welsh singer and actor
- 1977 - Joe Bonamassa, American musician
- 1977 – Bad News Brown, Canadian rapper (d. 2011)
- 1978 – Matthew Davis, American actor
- 1978 – Lúcio, Brazilian footballer
- 1979 - Gennaro Sardo, Italian footballer
- 1980 - Evgeny Lebedev, Russian businessman and newspaper owner
- 1980 – Michelle McManus, Scottish singer
- 1981 - Stephen Amell, Canadian actor
- 1981 – Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Buakaw Banchamek, Thai Muay-Thai boxer
- 1982 – Adrian Gonzalez, American baseball player
- 1983 - Elyes Gabel, English actor
- 1983 - Vicky McClure, English actress
- 1983 – Matt Willis, English singer (Busted)
- 1984 - Julia Whelan, American actress
- 1985 – Sarah Vaillancourt, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 - Galen Rupp, American long-distance runner
- 1987 - Aneurin Barnard, Welsh actor
- 1987 – Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, Miss Sweden winner
- 1987 - Mark Noble, English footballer
- 1987 - Felix Jones, American football player
- 1988 - Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (d. 2014)
- 1989 - Liam Bridcutt, English-Scottish footballer
- 1989 - Nora Arnezeder, French actress
- 1989 - Benoit Paire, French tennis player
- 1990 - Kemba Walker, American basketball player
- 1992 - Ana Mulvoy-Ten, English-Spanish actress
- 1995 - Park Jung-hwa, South Korean singer and actress
- 2003 - Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco
Deaths
changeUp to 1900
change- 535 – Pope John II
- 685 – Pope Benedict II
- 840 – Emperor Junna of Japan (b. 786)
- 1192 – Duke Ottokar IV of Syria (b. 1163)
- 1278 – Emperor Duanzongof China (b. 1268)
- 1319 – Haakon V of Norway (b. 1270)
- 1782 – Marques de Pombal, Portuguese politician (b. 1699)
- 1785 - Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (b. 1701)
- 1785 - Etienne François duc de Choiseul, French general and politician (b. 1719)
- 1788 - Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician and naturalist (b. 1723)
- 1794 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (executed) (b. 1743)
- 1819 – Kamehameha I, King of Hawai'i (b. c. 1758)
- 1828 – Mauro Giuliani, Italian composer (b. 1781)
- 1837 - Alexander Balashov, Russian general and statesman (b. 1770)
- 1842 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (b. 1790)
- 1853 - Jan Roothaan, Dutch priest (b. 1785)
- 1873 – John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (b. 1806)
- 1880 – Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (b. 1821)
- 1884 - Judah P. Benjamin, American politician (b. 1811)
- 1887 - Lorenzo Batlle, President of Uruguay (b. 1810)
- 1891 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian-born writer (b. 1831)
1901 – 2000
change- 1903 – Paul Gauguin, French painter (b. 1846)
- 1904 – Eadweard Muybridge, British photographer (b. 1830)
- 1907 - Edmund G. Ross, Territorial Governor of New Mexico (b. 1826)
- 1936 – Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (b. 1880)
- 1941 - Natalie of Serbia (b. 1859)
- 1941 - Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (b. 1858)
- 1943 - Mordechai Anielewicz, Polish Resistance activist (b. 1919)
- 1944 - Ethel Smyth, English composer, conductor and writer (b. 1858)
- 1945 – Bernhard Rust, Nazi education minister (b. 1883)
- 1945 – Josef Terboven, Nazi Reichskommissar in Norway (b. 1898)
- 1945 - Paul Giesler, German politician, Prime minister of Bavaria (b. 1895)
- 1947 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, department store founder (b. 1858)
- 1948 – U Saw, Burmese politician (b. 1900)
- 1950 - Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician and immunologist (b. 1865)
- 1952 – William Fox, Austro-Hungarian-born American movie producer (b. 1879)
- 1960 – J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
- 1965 - Wally Hardinge, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1886)
- 1967 - LaVerne Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (b. 1911)
- 1971 - Lars Pettersson, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1925)
- 1975 – Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1887)
- 1982 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (b. 1950)
- 1985 – Theodore Sturgeon, American science fiction writer (b. 1918)
- 1988 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (b. 1907)
- 1990 - Luigi Nono, Italian composer (b. 1924)
- 1991 – Jean Langlais, French composer and pianist (b. 1907)
- 1991 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Avram Davidson, American science fiction writer (b. 1923)
- 1994 – George Peppard, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1996 – Dominguin, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1926)
- 1998 – Jennings Randolph, American politician (b. 1902)
- 1999 – Dirk Bogarde, British actor (b. 1921)
- 1999 – Dana Plato, American actress (b. 1964)
From 2001
change- 2008 - Eddy Arnold, American singer (b. 1918)
- 2008 - Luigi Malerba, Italian writer (b. 1927)
- 2008 – François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (b. 1982)
- 2009 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1917)
- 2010 – Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian chess player (b. 1911)
- 2011 – Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (b. 1948)
- 2011 – Cornell Dupree, American musician (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Maurice Sendak, American writer (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist (b. 1911)
- 2012 - Nicholas Katzenbach, former United States Attorney General (b. 1922)
- 2013 - Jeanne Cooper, American actress (b. 1928)
- 2013 - Dallas Willard, American philosopher (b. 1935)
- 2013 - Bryan Forbes, British movie director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1926)
- 2013 - Taylor Mead, American actor (b. 1924)
- 2014 - Yago Lamela, Spanish athlete (b. 1977)
- 2014 - Joseph P. Teasdale, 48th Governor of Missouri (b. 1936)
- 2014 - Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian musician and singer (b. 1939)
- 2014 - Mercedes Salisachs, Spanish writer (b. 1917)
- 2014 - Nancy Malone, American producer, director and actress (b. 1935)
- 2015 - Deaths in the 2015 Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash:
- Domingo Lucenario, Jr., Ambassador of the Philippines to Pakistan (b. 1960)
- Leif Holger Larsen, Ambassador of Norway to Pakistan (b. 1954)
- 2015 - Phil Skoglund, New Zealand lawn bowls player (b. 1937)
- 2015 - Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (b. 1943)
- 2015 - Atanas Semerdzhiev, Vice President of Bulgaria (b. 1924)
- 2015 - Menashe Kadishman, Israeli artist (b. 1932)
- 2015 - Martin Nag, Norwegian writer (b. 1926)
- 2016 - Philippe Beaussant, French writer and musicologist (b. 1930)
- 2016 - Tonita Castro, American actress (b. 1953)
- 2016 - Ken Gorgal, American football player (b. 1929)
- 2016 - Nick Lashaway, American actor (b. 1988)
- 2016 - Elisa Mainardi, Italian actress (b. 1927)
- 2016 - William Schallert, American actor (b. 1922)
- 2016 - John Bradshaw, American self-help writer (b. 1933)
- 2016 - John Young, American baseball player (b. 1949)
- 2017 - Allan H. Meltzer, American economist (b. 1928)
- 2017 - Lou Richards, Australian footballer (b. 1923)
- 2017 - Cécile DeWitt-Morette, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1922)
- 2017 - Curt Lowens, German-born American actor (b. 1925)
- 2017 - Lawson Soulsby, Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, British microbiologist and life peer (b. 1926)
- 2017 - Juan Carlos Tedesco, Argentine politician (b. 1944)
- 2017 - Mary Tsoni, Greek actress (b. 1987)
- 2018 - Anne V. Coates, British film editor (b. 1925)
- 2018 - George Deukmejian, American politician, former Governor of California (b. 1928)
- 2018 - Lara Saint Paul, Italian-Eritrean singer (b. 1945)
- 2018 - Big Bully Busick, American professional wrestler (b. 1954)
- 2019 - Jens Beutel, German politician (b. 1946)
- 2019 - Sprent Dabwido, President of Nauru (b. 1972)
- 2019 - Yevgeny Krylatov, Russian composer (b. 1934)
- 2019 - David Montgomery, American baseball player (b. 1946)
- 2019 - Bob Zeman, American football player and coach (b. 1937)
Observances
change- Victory in Europe Day, marking the end of World War II in Europe in 1945.
- International Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, birthday of Henry Dunant, co-founder of the International Red Cross.
- Parents' Day (South Korea).
- Truman Day (Missouri).
- Miguel Hidalgo's birthday (Mexico).