August 8

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August 8 is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 145 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1220 - Sweden was defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
• 1509 - The Emperor Krishnadeva Raya is crowned, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire.
• 1576 - The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on Hven.
• 1585 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in quest for the Northwest Passage.
• 1588 - Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines - The naval engagement ends, thus ending the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England.
• 1605 - The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.
• 1647 - The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungans Hill - English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.
• 1786 - Mont Blanc on the French- Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
• 1793 - The insurrection of Lyon occurred during the French Revolution.
• 1794 - Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver lead an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
• 1810 - Eminent Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib married Maaroof, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Baksh, and moved to Delhi.
• 1839 - Beta Theta Pi is founded in Oxford, Ohio.
• 1844 - The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or 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 (which is refused upon receipt).
• 1863 - American Civil War: Tennessee's "military" Gov. Andrew Johnson freed his personal slaves. During the early 20th century, the day was celebrated by blacks in Tennessee as a holiday.
• 1870 - The Republic of Ploieşti, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.
• 1876 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
• 1908 - Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It's the Wright Brothers' first public flight and the French public goes wild.
• 1910 - The US Army installs the first tricycle landing gear on the Army's Wright Flyer.
• 1911 - The millionth patent is filed in the United States Patent Office by Francis Holton for a tubeless vehicle tire.
• 1911 - Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law would come into effect in 1913.
• 1918 - World War I: Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines.
• 1929 - The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.
• 1931 - Workers go on strike at the Hoover dam
• 1938 - The building of Mauthausen concentration camp begins.
• 1940 - "Aufbau Ost" directive was signed by Wilhelm Keitel.
• 1942 - World War II: In Washington, DC, six German would-be saboteurs are executed.
• 1942 - Quit India resolution was passed by the Bombay session of the AICC, which leads to the start of a civil disobedience movement across India
• 1945 - World War II - The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.
• 1945 - The United Nations Charter is signed by the United States, which becomes the third nation to join.
• 1946 - First flight of the Convair B-36.
• 1947 - Pakistan's National Flag is approved.
• 1949 - Bhutan becomes independent.
• 1960 - South Kasai secedes from the Congo.
• 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.
• 1968 - Jurō Wada successfully performs Japan's first heart transplant.
• 1973 - U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew goes on television to denounce accusations he had taken kickbacks while governor of Maryland.
• 1973 - Kim Dae-Jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.
• 1974 - Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation, effective the next day.
• 1980 - The Central Hotel Fire, Bundoran occurred in Ireland.
• 1986 - Altaf Hussain's address at Nishtar Park Karachi, announcement of establishing political movement MQM.
• 1988 - The "8888 Uprising" occurs in Burma.
• 1988 - The lights are turned on at Wrigley Field for the first time, making it the last major league stadium to host night games
• 1989 - Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission - Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
• 1990 - Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.
• 1991 - Collapse of Warsaw radio mast, at one time the tallest construction ever built
• 1991 - John McCarthy, British Journalist held hostage in Lebanon for more than five years by Islamic Jihad, is released.
• 2000 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
• 2007 - An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.

Births

• 1079 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107)
• 1518 - Conrad Lycosthenes, humanist and encyclopedist (d. 1561)
• 1605 - Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, colonial Governor of Maryland (d. 1675)
• 1646 - Godfrey Kneller, German-born painter (d. 1723)
• 1673 - John Ker, Scottish spy (d. 1726)
• 1693 - Laurent Belissen, French composer (d. 1762)
• 1694 - Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher (d. 1746)
• 1720 - Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician (d. 1796)
• 1807 - Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist (d. 1892)
• 1814 - Esther Morris, first U. S. female judge (d. 1902)
• 1824 - Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), Tsarina of Russia (d. 1880)
• 1839 - Nelson Miles, U.S. general (d. 1925)
• 1857 - Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (d. 1944)
• 1866 - Matthew Henson, Arctic explorer (d. 1955)
• 1875 - Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)
• 1879 - Bob Smith, American physician and surgeon, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1950)
• 1879 - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)
• 1880 - Earle Page, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1961)
• 1881 - Albert Kesselring, German field marshal (d. 1960)
• 1881 - Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (d. 1954)
• 1882 - Ladislas Starevich, Polish stop-motion animation filmmaker (d. 1965)
• 1884 - Sara Teasdale, American poet (d. 1933)
• 1891 - Adolf Busch, German violinist (d. 1952)
• 1892 - Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, Spanish footballer (d. 1922)
• 1898 - Alexis Minotis, Greek actor (d. 1990)
• 1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author (d. 1953)
• 1901 - Ernest O. Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1902 - Paul Dirac, English physicist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1904 - Achille Varzi, Italian race car driver (d. 1948)
• 1905 - André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974)
• 1907 - Benny Carter, American musician (d. 2003)
• 1908 - Arthur Goldberg, U.S. Supreme Court justice (d. 1980)
• 1910 - Sylvia Sidney, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1911 - Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (d. 2002)
• 1915 - Jumbo Elliott, American track coach (d. 1981)
• 1919 - Dino De Laurentiis, Italian film producer
• 1920 - Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist (d. 2006)
• 1920 - Carol Lambrino, son of Carol II of Romania and Zizi Lambrino (d. 2006)
• 1920 - Jimmy Witherspoon, American singer (d. 1997)
• 1921 - William Asher, American film producer
• 1921 - John Herbert Chapman, British physicist (d. 1979)
• 1921 - Webb Pierce, American singer (d. 1991)
• 1921 - Vulimiri Ramalingaswami, Indian medical scientist (d. 2001)
• 1921 - Esther Williams, American actress and swimmer
• 1922 - Rory Calhoun, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1922 - Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-born fashion designer (d. 1985)
• 1925 - Alija Izetbegovic, Former President of Bosnia-Herzegovina (d. 2003)
• 1926 - Richard Anderson, American actor
• 1927 - Johnny Temple, American baseball player (d. 1994)
• 1928 - Don Burrows, Australian musician
• 1929 - Ronald Biggs, British criminal
• 1929 - Larisa Bogoraz, Soviet dissident (d. 2004)
• 1931 - Sir Roger Penrose, British physicist
• 1932 - Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian dictator
• 1932 - Mel Tillis, American singer
• 1933 - Joe Tex, American singer (d. 1982)
• 1933 - Serena Wilson, American belly dancer (d. 2007)
• 1935 - Donald P. Bellisario, American television producer
• 1935 - John Laws, Australia radio personality
• 1936 - Keith Barron, English actor
• 1936 - Frank Howard, American baseball player
• 1937 - Dustin Hoffman, American actor
• 1938 - Jacques Hétu, French Canadian composer
• 1938 - Connie Stevens, American singer and actress
• 1939 - Alexander Watson, American ambassador and diplomat
• 1940 - Dennis Tito, first space tourist
• 1944 - Brooke Bundy, American actress
• 1947 - José Cruz, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1947 - Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player and parliamentarian
• 1947 - Larry Wilcox, American actor
• 1948 - Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian cosmonaut
• 1949 - Keith Carradine, American actor
• 1949 - Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver
• 1951 - Mamoru Oshii, Japanese film director
• 1951 - Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
• 1952 - Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
• 1952 - Robin Quivers, American radio personality
• 1953 - Nigel Mansell, English one-time Formula One World Champion
• 1953 - Don Most, American actor
• 1955 - Diddú (Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir), Icelandic soprano and songwriter
• 1955 - Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer
• 1956 - David Grant, English singer and vocal coach
• 1956 - Branscombe Richmond, American actor
• 1958 - Deborah Norville, American television host
• 1958 - Cecilia Roth, Argentine actress
• 1960 - Ulrich Maly, Mayor of Nuremberg, Germany
• 1961 - The Edge, Irish guitarist (U2)
• 1961 - Daniel House, Owner C/Z Records
• 1961 - Bruce Matthews, American football player
• 1961 - Rikki Rockett, American drummer (Poison)
• 1962 - Mike Zanier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1963 - Chidi Anthony Opara, Nigerian Poet
• 1963 - Jon Turteltaub, American director
• 1963 - Stephen Walkom, Canadian ice hockey official and executive
• 1964 - Anastasia Ashman, American writer
• 1965 - Kate Langbroek, Australian media personality
• 1965 - El Hefe, Guitarist for NOFX
• 1966 - Chris Eubank, English boxer
• 1966 - John Hudek, American baseball player
• 1967 - Eric Angle, American wrestler
• 1967 - Marcelo Balboa, American soccer player
• 1967 - Rena Mero, American wrestler
• 1967 - Jessica Moore, Italian actress
• 1967 - Lee Unkrich, American director and film editor
• 1969 - Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer and actress
• 1970 - Trev Alberts, American football player
• 1970 - Pascal Duquenne, Belgian actor
• 1972 - Axel Merckx, Belgian bicycle racer
• 1972 - Lüpüs Thünder, American musician (The Bloodhound Gang)
• 1973 - Toby Allen, Australian singer
• 1973 - Shane Lee, Australian cricketer
• 1973 - Senta Moses, American actress
• 1973 - Scott Stapp, American singer (Creed)
• 1974 - Ulises De la Cruz, Ecuadoran footballer
• 1974 - Scott D'Amore, professional wrestler and manager
• 1974 - Brian Harvey, English singer
• 1974 - Andy Priaulx, British racing driver and three-time WTCC champion
• 1974 - Sam Totman, English guitarist (Dragonforce)
• 1976 - JC Chasez, American singer (*NSYNC)
• 1976 - Tawny Cypress, American actress
• 1976 - Drew Lachey, American singer
• 1976 - Seung-Yeop Lee, Korean baseball player
• 1976 - Jeff Simmons, IRL racing driver
• 1977 - Kurt Bernard, Costa Rican footballer
• 1977 - Szilard Nemeth, Slovak footballer
• 1977 - Lindsay Sloane, American actress
• 1977 - Rocky Thompson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 - Alan Maybury, Irish footballer
• 1978 - Louis Saha, French footballer
• 1978 - Miho Shiraishi, Japanese actress
• 1978 - Countess Vaughn, American actress and singer
• 1979 - Richard Harwood, British cellist
• 1979 - Paris Latsis, Greek shipping heir
• 1979 - Rashard Lewis, National Basketball Association player
• 1979 - Sam Totman, Musician/Songwriter for power metal band DragonForce
• 1980 - Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player
• 1980 - Pat Noonan, American soccer player
• 1980 - Michael Urie, American actor and director
• 1981 - Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter
• 1981 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
• 1981 - Meagan Good, American actress
• 1981 - Kaori Iida, Japanese singer and actress
• 1981 - Bradley McIntosh, British pop singer
• 1983 - Guy Burnet, British actor
• 1984 - Martrez Milner, National Football League player
• 1985 - Brayan Ruiz, Costa Rican soccer player
• 1986 - Peyton List, American actress
• 1987 - Katie Leung, Scottish actress
• 1988 - Princess Beatrice of York
• 1989 - Sesil Karatantcheva, Bulgarian tennis player
• 1995 - Malin Reitan, Norwegian singer

Deaths

• 869 - Lothair II of Lotharingia (b. 825)
• 1445 - Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian composer
• 1553 - Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician (b. 1478)
• 1555 - Oronce Finé, French mathematician (b. 1494)
• 1588 - Alonso Sánchez Coello, Spanish painter
• 1604 - Horio Tadauji, Japanese warlord (b. 1578)
• 1631 - Konstantinas Sirvydas, Lithuanian lexicographer (b. 1579)
• 1684 - George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (b. 1622)
• 1747 - Madeleine de Verchères, New France heroine (b. 1678)
• 1759 - Carl Heinrich Graun, German composer (b. 1704)
• 1827 - George Canning, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770)
• 1828 - Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist (b. 1743)
• 1863 - Angus MacAskill known as 'Giant MacAskill', circus performer (b.1825)
• 1879 - Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1797)
• 1887 - Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (b. 1808)
• 1897 - Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss art historian (b. 1818)
• 1898 - Eugène Boudin, French painter (b. 1824)
• 1902 - James Tissot, French artist (b. 1836)
• 1911 - William P. Frye, American politician (b. 1830)
• 1933 - Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (b. 1870)
• 1940 - Johnny Dodds, American musician (b. 1892)
• 1944 - Chaim Soutine, Russian painter (b. 1894)
• 1944 - Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (b. 1881)
• 1944 - Michael Wittmann, German Tank ace and Knight's Cross holder, killed in action, Normandy. (b. 1914)
• 1947 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (b. 1872)
• 1950 - Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman (b. 1879)
• 1961 - Méi Lánfāng, Chinese opera performer (b. 1894)
• 1965 - Shirley Jackson, American author (b. 1916)
• 1969 - Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German eugenicist and Nazi physician (b. 1896)
• 1972 - Andrea Feldman, American actor (b. 1948)
• 1973 - Dean Corll, American serial killer (b. 1939)
• 1973 - Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish author and historian (b. 1898)
• 1974 - Baldur von Schirach, Nazi youth leader (b. 1907)
• 1975 - Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1928)
• 1977 - Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1889)
• 1979 - Nicholas Monsarrat, British novelist (b. 1910)
• 1980 - Paul Triquet, French Canadian army officer (b. 1910)
• 1982 - Eric Brandon, British racing driver (b. 1920)
• 1984 - Ellen Raskin, American author(b.1928)
• 1985 - Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906)
• 1987 - Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician (b. 1903)
• 1988 - Félix Leclerc, Quebec singer and songwriter (b. 1914)
• 1998 - Alan Napier, English actor (b. 1903)
• 1988 - Ramón Valdés, Mexican actor (b. 1923)
• 1991 - James Irwin, astronaut (b. 1930)
• 1992 - Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qasim Khoei, considered to be the Supreme Shi'ite authority at the time of his death
• 1992 - John Kordic, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1965)
• 1996 - Nevill Mott, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1905)
• 1998 - Mahmoud Saremi, Iranian journalist
• 2004 - Fay Wray, American actress (b. 1907)
• 2004 - Dimitris Papamichael, Greek actor (b. 1934)
• 2005 - Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (b. 1922)
• 2005 - Ahmed Deedat, Islamic scholar (b. 1918)
• 2005 - John H. Johnson, African-American publisher (b. 1918)
• 2005 - Gene Mauch, American athlete (b. 1925)
• 2005 - Monica Sjöö, Swedish artist (b. 1938)
• 2005 - Ilse Werner, German actress (b. 1921)
• 2007 - Joybubbles, A notable phone phreak. (b. 1949)
• 2007 - Ma Lik, Chinese politician (b. 1952)
• 2007 - Melville Shavelson, American film director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances

• Sweden - Namesday of Queen Silvia, an Official Flag Day.
• Taiwan: Father's Day. (In Mandarin, Ba Ba means father and 8-8, or August 8).
• Roman Catholicism - the feasts of at least 5 saints:
  • St. Dominic de Guzman, priest, (1170-1221).
  • St. Cyriacus
  • St. Largus
  • St. Smaragdus (and companions)
  • St. Hormisdas

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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