May 8
May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years ). There are 237 days remaining.
Events
1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion : Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI .
1541 - Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River naming it Río de Espíritu Santo .
1794 - French chemist Antoine Lavoisier is executed by guillotine .
1846 - Mexican-American War : The Battle of Palo Alto - Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande at Palo Alto, Texas in the first major battle of the war.
1861 - American Civil War : Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America .
1877 - At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City , the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens (ends May 11 ).
1886 - Pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage that would later be named "Coca-Cola ".
1896 - Against Warwickshire, Yorkshire sets a still-standing County Championship record when they accumulate an innings total of 887.
1898 - The first games of the Italian Football League are played.
1899 - The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opens.
1902 - In Martinique , Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of St. Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
1914 - Paramount Pictures is formed.
1933 - Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest of British oppression in India .
1942 - World War II : The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end. This is the first time in the naval history where two enemy fleets fought without visual contact between warring ships.
1945 - World War II: VE Day . German forces agree to an unconditional surrender.
1967 - The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte , Davao del Sur , and Davao Oriental .
1972 - Vietnam 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.
1973 - A 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.
1984 - The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California .
1984 - Cpl. Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing 3 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 .
1987 - The SAS ambushes and kills the Loughall Martyrs .
1997 - A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Shenzhen's Huangtian Airport, killing 35
1999 - Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college.
Births
1521 - Petrus Canisius , Jesuit (d. 1597 )
1735 - Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland , painter (d. 1811 )
1825 - George Bruce Malleson , Indian officer and author (d. 1898 )
1828 - Jean Henri Dunant , founder of the Red Cross and recipient of the Nobel Prize in peace 1901 (d. 1910 )
1829 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk , American composer, pianist (d. 1869 )
1842 - Emil Christian Hansen , fermentation physiologist (d. 1909 )
1850 - Ross Barnes , baseball player (d. 1915 )
1884 - Harry S. Truman , former President of the United States (d. 1972 )
1895 - Fulton J. Sheen , bishop, television personality (d. 1979 )
1903 - Fernandel , actor (d. 1971 )
1905 - Red Nichols , jazz musician (d. 1965 )
1906 - Roberto Rossellini , director (d. 1977 )
1907 - Wof Stefan Traugott Graf von Baudissin , general (d. 1993 )
1911 - Robert Johnson , blues singer and guitarist (d. 1938 )
1914 - Romain Gary , writer (d. 1980 )
1916 - João Havelange , industrialist and former FIFA president
1919 - Lex Barker , actor (d. 1973 )
1925 - Ali Hassan Mwinyi , president of Tanzania
1926 - Sir David Attenborough , British television presenter and producer
1926 - Don Rickles , comedian
1928 - Theodore Sorenson , political operative, writer
1930 - Heather Harper , Irish soprano
1932 - Phyllida Law , actress
1932 - Sonny Liston , boxer (d. 1970 )
1935 - Jack Charlton , footballer
1937 - Thomas Pynchon , novelist
1940 - Ricky Nelson , pop singer, (d. 1985 )
1943 - Toni Tennille , singer
1944 - Gary Glitter , singer
1945 - Keith Jarrett , jazz musician
1948 - Felicity Lott , English soprano
1954 - David Keith , actor
1963 - Helena Blagne Zaman , Slovene singer
1964 - Melissa Gilbert , actress, president of the Screen Actors Guild
1964 - Bobby Labonte , NASCAR driver
1966 - Claudio Taffarel , Brazilian Goalkeeper
1972 - Darren Hayes , singer
1972 - Eduardo Falaschi , singer of Angra (band)
1974 - Korey Stringer , American football player (d. 2001 )
1975 - Enrique Iglesias , singer
Deaths
1794 - Antoine Lavoisier , chemist (b. 1743 )
1842 - Jules Dumont d'Urville , explorer (b. 1790 )
1873 - John Stuart Mill , Empiricist philosopher (b. 1806 )
1880 - Gustave Flaubert , novelist (b. 1821 )
1891 - Helena Blavatsky , author (b. 1831 )
1947 - Harry Gordon Selfridge , founder of Selfridges department store (b. 1858 )
1952 - William Fox , Austro-Hungarian-born American film producer (b. 1879 )
1960 - J. H. C. Whitehead , British mathematician (b. 1904 )
1975 - Avery Brundage , President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1887 )
1982 - Gilles Villeneuve , Canadian racing driver (b. 1950 )
1985 - Theodore Sturgeon , science fiction writer (b. 1918 )
1988 - Robert A. Heinlein , science fiction writer (b. 1907 )
1991 - Jean Langlais , French composer and pianist (b. 1907 )
1991 - Rudolf Serkin , Austrian pianist (b. 1903 )
1993 - Avram Davidson , science fiction writer (b. 1923 )
1994 - George Peppard , actor (b. 1928 )
1999 - Dirk Bogarde , actor (b. 1921 )
1999 - Dana Plato , actress (b. 1964 )
Holidays and observances
Recorded this day
External links
May 7 - May 9 - April 8 - June 8 -- listing of all days
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