August 8
August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years ), with 145 days remaining.
Events
1585 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in quest for the North West Passage .
1588 - Battle of Gravelines ends - Defeated by the English during an invasion attempt, the surviving parts of the Spanish Armada begin to sail home. Only 67 of the original 130 ships will later reach Spain and most of these will be in poor condition.
1647 - Battle of Dangan Hill - Irish forces are defeated by British Parliamentary forces.
1786 - Mont Blanc is climbed for the first time by Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat .
1844 - During a meeting held in Nauvoo , the Quorum of Twelve , headed by Brigham Young , is created as the leading body of the Mormon Church.
1863 - American Civil War : Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg , General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
1876 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph .
1911 - Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law will take effect in 1913 .
1918 - World War I : Battle of Amiens - Canadian troops, backed by Australians , begin a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines. German General Erich Ludendorff will later call this the "black day of the German army."
1929 - The German airship Graf Zeppelin August 29 ).
1938 - The Mauthausen concentration camp opens.
1942 - World War II : In Washington, DC , six German would-be saboteurs are executed (two others cooperate and receive life imprisonment instead).
1942 - Quit India resolution was passed by the Bombay session of the AICC, which leads to the start of a historical civil disobedience movement across India
1945 - World War II - The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria with more than 1 million troops. This action prompts Emperor Hirohito to plead with the war council to reconsider surrender.
1945 - The United Nations Charter is ratified by the United States , and that nation becomes the first to join the new international organization.
1949 - Bhutan becomes independent
1962 - Elizabeth Ann Duncan becomes the last woman to be executed in the United States prior to the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1977. She and the two men she hired to murder her pregnant daughter-in-law in 1958 die in San Quentin 's gas chamber.
1963 - Great Train Robbery : In England , a gang of 15 train robbers steal 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.
1967 - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded.
1974 - Watergate scandal : US President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (effective the next day, August 9 ).
1978 - Odie makes his first appearance in the cartoon strip Garfield
1988 - General Ne Win , ruler of Burma since 1962 , resigned suddenly.
1989 - STS-28 : The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
1991 - Collapse of Warsaw radio mast , the tallest construction ever built
2000 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley 2000 - 'Universal 2000 Talent and Beauty Girl Contest' occurred. As a result, S.H.E was formed.
Births
1839 - General Nelson Miles , Indian fighter (d. 1925 )
1866 - Matthew Henson , explorer (North Pole )
1879 - Emiliano Zapata , Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919 )
1880 - Earle Page , eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1961 )
1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings , author (d. 1953 )
1902 - Paul Dirac , physicist (d. 1984 )
1907 - Benny Carter , musician, arranger
1908 - Arthur Goldberg , American statesman, Supreme Court justice
1910 - Sylvia Sidney , actress (d. 1999 )
1915 - James "Jumbo" Elliott , hall of fame track coach (d. 1981 )
1919 - Dino De Laurentiis , producer
1920 - Leo Chiosso , Italian lyricist
1921 - Webb Pierce , country and western singer (d. 1991 )
1921 - Esther Williams , actress, swimmer
1921 - William Asher , film producer
1921 - John Herbert Chapman , Physicist
1921 - Vulimiri Ramalingaswami ,Medical scientist
1922 - Rudi Gernreich , fashion designer (d. 1985 )
1922 - Rory Calhoun , actor (d. 1999 )
1922 - Rafael Moreno Aranzadi , Spanish football player (d. 1922 )
1925 - Alija Izetbegovic , former Bosnian president (d. 2003 )
1927 - Johnny Temple , Major League Baseball second baseman (d. 1994 )
1931 - Sir Roger Penrose , mathematical physicist
1932 - Mel Tillis , country and western singer
1936 - Donald P. Bellisario , television producer
1937 - Dustin Hoffman , actor
1938 - Connie Stevens , singer, actress
1939 - Alexander Watson , American ambassador and diplomat
1944 - Peter Weir , film director
1944 - Uli Derickson , heroic flight attendant
1949 - Keith Carradine , actor
1951 - Mamoru Oshii , film director
1952 - Jostein Gaarder , Norwegian author
1954 - Nigel Mansell , Formula One racer
1958 - Deborah Norville , reporter, television host
1961 - The Edge (David Evans), guitarist of U2
1966 - Chris Eubank , world champion boxer
1973 - Scott Stapp , Creed frontman
1976 - J.C. Chasez , singer (N Sync)
1976 - Drew Lachey , singer
1980 - Pat Noonan , New England Revolution Striker
1981 - Vanessa Amorosi , Australian singer/songwriter
1981 - Roger Federer , Swiss tennis player
1986 - Todd Shorey , Korea Coolest Kid Ever
1988 - Princess Beatrice of York , 5 in line to the throne of the United Kingdom
1988 - Jeffrey Weise , Red Lake High School massacre gunman (d. 2005 )
Deaths
869 - Lothair II of Lotharingia (b. 825 )
1887 - Alexander William Doniphan , American lawyer and soldier (b. 1808 )
1902 - James Tissot , French artist (b. 1836 )
1911 - William P. Frye , American politician
1940 - Johnny Dodds , jazz musician (b. 1892 )
1944 - Chaim Soutine , Russian painter (b. 1894 )
1965 - Shirley Jackson , American author (b. 1919 )
1972 - Andrea Feldman , actor
1975 - Cannonball Adderley , American jazz saxophonist
1985 - Milton Greene , celebrity photographer
1985 - Louise Brooks , silent film actress
1987 - Danilo Blanusa , Croatian mathematician (b. 1903 )
1991 - James Irwin , astronaut
1997 - Sviatoslav Richter , Ukrainian pianist (b. 1915 )
2004 - Fay Wray , American actress
Holidays and observances
External links
August 7 - August 9 - July 8 - September 8 -- listing of all days
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