August 8

August 8 in recent years

2024 (Thursday)

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Saturday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Monday)

2015 (Saturday)

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. It's today!

Events

• 1220 – Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
• 1503 – King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland.
• 1576 – The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on Hven.
• 1585 – John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage.
• 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The naval engagement ends, 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.
• 1709 – Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the King of Portugal in Lisbon
• 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 occurs during the French Revolution.
• 1794 – Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
• 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 (LDS 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).
• 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 is the Wright Brothers' first public flight.
• 1918 – World War I: the Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).
• 1927 – The predecessor to the Philippine Stock Exchange opens.
• 1929 – The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.
• 1940 – The "Aufbau Ost" directive is signed by Wilhelm Keitel.
• 1942 – Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mahatma Gandhi's call for swaraj or complete independence.
• 1946 – First flight of the Convair B-36, the world's first mass-produced nuclear weapon delivery vehicle.
• 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 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• 1969 – At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the photo that becomes the cover of the Beatles album Abbey Road, one of the most famous album covers in recording history.
• 1973 – Kim Dae-Jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.
• 1974 – President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.
• 1980 – The Central Hotel Fire occurs in Bundoran, Ireland.
• 1988 – The "8888 Uprising" occurs in Burma.
• 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 – The Warsaw radio mast, at one time the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
• 2000 – Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence and 5 years after being filmed by a dive team funded by novelist Clive Cussler.
• 2007 – An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York State, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.
• 2008 – A EuroCity express train en-route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing 8 people and injuring 64 others.
• 2010 – 2010 China floods: A mudslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu, China, kills more than 1,400 people.

Births

• 1079 – Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107)
• 1518 – Conrad Lycosthenes, French-born German humanist and encyclopedist (d. 1561)
• 1605 – Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, British colonial Governor of Maryland (d. 1675)
• 1640 – Amalia Catharina, German poet and composer (d. 1697)
• 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)
• 1709 – Hermann Anton Gelinek, German monk and musician (d. 1779)
• 1720 – Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician (d. 1796)
• 1790 – Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet and politician (d. 1838)
• 1807 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist (d. 1892)
• 1814 – Esther Morris, American jurist (d. 1902)
• 1824 – Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (d. 1880)
• 1839 – Nelson Miles, American general (d. 1925)
• 1857 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (d. 1944)
• 1866 – Matthew Henson, American Arctic explorer (d. 1955)
• 1875 – Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)
• 1876 – Varghese Payapilly Palakkappilly, Indian Syrian Catholic priest and Servant of God (d. 1929)
• 1879 – Bob Smith, American founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1950)
• 1879 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)
• 1880 – Earle Page, Australian politician (d. 1961)
• 1881 – Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (d. 1954)
• 1882 – Ladislas Starevich, Polish animator (d. 1965)
• 1884 – Sara Teasdale, American poet (d. 1933)
• 1889 – Jack Ryder, Australian cricketer (d. 1977)
• 1891 – Adolf Busch, German violinist (d. 1952)
• 1892 – Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, Spanish footballer (d. 1922)
• 1896 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author (d. 1953)
• 1898 – Alexis Minotis, Greek actor (d. 1990)
• 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. 1990)
• 1909 – Bill Voce, England cricketer (d. 1984)
• 1910 – Sylvia Sidney, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (d. 2002)
• 1915 – James "Jumbo" Elliott, American track coach (d. 1981)
• 1919 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian film producer (d. 2010)
• 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 (d. 2012)
• 1921 – John Herbert Chapman, Canadian 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)
• 1922 – Károly Reich, Hungarian illustrator (d. 1988)
• 1922 – Gertrude Himmelfarb, American historian
• 1925 – Alija Izetbegović, Bosniak politician (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)
• 1930 – Terry Nation, Welsh novelist and screenwriter (d. 1997)
• 1930 – Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball coach
• 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
• 1937 – Cornelis Vreeswijk, Dutch-Swedish musician (d. 1987)
• 1938 – Jacques Hétu, French Canadian composer
• 1938 – Connie Stevens, American singer and actress
• 1939 – Alexander Watson, American ambassador and diplomat
• 1939 – Phil Balsley, baritone singer with The Statler Brothers
• 1940 – Dennis Tito, American businessman and space tourist
• 1940 – Dilip Sardesai, Indian cricketer (d. 2007)
• 1943 – Denis Payton, English saxophonist, member of The Dave Clark Five
• 1944 – Brooke Bundy, American actress
• 1944 – John Holmes, American pornographic actor (d. 1988)
• 1944 – Uli Derickson, TWA Flight 847 survivor
• 1944 – John Renbourn, English musician
• 1944 – Michael Johnson, American pop, country and folk singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1946 – James W. Lewis, American convicted extortionist
• 1947 – José Cruz, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1947 – Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player and parliamentarian
• 1947 – Larry Wilcox, American actor
• 1947 – Terangi Adam, Nauruan politician
• 1948 – Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian cosmonaut
• 1949 – Keith Carradine, American actor
• 1949 – Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver
• 1950 – Ken Kutaragi, Founder of PlayStation
• 1950 – Willie Hall, American drummer
• 1951 – Mamoru Oshii, Japanese film director
• 1951 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
• 1951 – Phil Carlson, Australian cricketer
• 1952 – Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
• 1952 – Robin Quivers, American radio personality
• 1952 – Sudhakar Rao, Indian cricketer
• 1952 – Anton Fig, South African musician
• 1952 – Doug Melvin, Canadian Major League Baseball executive
• 1953 – Nigel Mansell, English race car driver
• 1953 – Don Most, American actor
• 1953 – Mark Lazarowicz, British Politician
• 1955 – Diddú, Icelandic soprano and songwriter
• 1955 – Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer
• 1956 – David Grant, English singer and vocal coach
• 1956 – Branscombe Richmond, American actor
• 1956 – Chris Foreman, English guitarist (Madness)
• 1956 – Cecilia Roth, Argentine actress
• 1957 – Dennis Drew, keyboardist for the band 10,000 Maniacs
• 1958 – Deborah Norville, American television host
• 1960 – Ulrich Maly, German politician
• 1961 – The Edge, Irish guitarist (U2)
• 1961 – Daniel House, American musician and music executive
• 1961 – Bruce Matthews, American football player
• 1961 – Rikki Rockett, American drummer (Poison)
• 1962 – Mike Zanier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 – Kool Moe Dee, American rapper
• 1963 – Ron Karkovice, American baseball player
• 1963 – Jon Turteltaub, American director
• 1963 – Stephen Walkom, Canadian ice hockey official and executive
• 1964 – Anastasia Ashman, American writer
• 1964 – Paul Taylor, England cricketer
• 1964 – Eddie Trunk, American radio show host and author
• 1965 – Kate Langbroek, Australian media personality
• 1965 – Aaron Abeyta, American musician
• 1965 – Angus Fraser, England cricketer
• 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 – Lee Unkrich, American director and film editor
• 1968 – Abey Kuruvilla, Indian cricketer
• 1968 – Huey Morgan, American singer / guitarist (Fun Lovin' Criminals)
• 1969 – Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer and actress
• 1969 – Dick Togo, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1969 – Yvie Burnett, British television vocal coach
• 1970 – Trev Alberts, American football player
• 1970 – Pascal Duquenne, Belgian actor
• 1972 – Joely Collins, Canadian actress
• 1972 – Axel Merckx, Belgian bicycle racer
• 1972 – Andrea de Rossi, Italian rugby player and coach
• 1972 – Steven Tweed, Scottish footballer
• 1973 – Toby Allen, Australian singer (Human Nature)
• 1973 – Shane Lee, Australian cricketer
• 1973 – Senta Moses, American actress
• 1973 – Scott Stapp, American singer (Creed)
• 1974 – Scott D'Amore, Canadian professional wrestler and manager
• 1974 – Brian Harvey, English singer

• 1974 – Andy Priaulx, British racing driver
• 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, American race car driver
• 1977 – Kurt Bernard, Costa Rican footballer
• 1977 – Szilard Nemeth, Slovak footballer
• 1977 – Lindsay Sloane, American actress
• 1977 – Rocky Thompson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Mohammad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer
• 1977 – Nicolas Vogondy, French cyclist
• 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 – Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson, Icelandic handball player
• 1979 – Paris Latsis, Greek shipping heir
• 1979 – Rashard Lewis, American basketball player
• 1979 – Dan Smith, English musician (Noisettes)
• 1980 – Craig Breslow, American baseball player
• 1980 – Mike Hindert, American musician
• 1980 – Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player
• 1980 – Pat Noonan, American soccer player
• 1980 – Michael Urie, American actor and director
• 1980 – Denisse Guerrero, Mexican Singer (Belanova)
• 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
• 1981 – Harel Skaat, Israeli singer
• 1983 – Guy Burnet, British actor
• 1984 – Kirk Broadfoot, Scottish footballer
• 1984 – Martrez Milner, American football player
• 1984 – Norbert Michelisz, Hungarian car racer
• 1984 – Devon McTavish, American soccer player
• 1985 – Brett Ratliff, American football player
• 1985 – Toby Flood, English Rugby Union player
• 1986 – Pierre Garçon, American football player
• 1986 – Peyton List, American actress
• 1986 – Chris Pressley, American football player
• 1986 – Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukrainian tennis player
• 1987 – Katie Leung, Scottish actress
• 1987 – Pierre Boulanger, French actor
• 1987 – Tatjana Malek, German tennis player
• 1988 – Princess Beatrice of York, British royal
• 1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player
• 1989 – Sesil Karatantcheva, Bulgarian/Kazakhstani tennis player
• 1989 – Hannah Miley, British swimmer
• 1991 – Nélson Oliveira, Portuguese footballer
• 1993 – Ben Breedlove, American Internet personality
• 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)
• 1719 – Christoph Ludwig Agricola, German painter (b. 1667)
• 1747 – Madeleine de Verchères, New France heroine (b. 1678)
• 1759 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German composer (b. 1704)
• 1827 – George Canning, British statesman (b. 1770)
• 1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist (b. 1743)
• 1863 – Angus MacAskill, British 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)
• 1909 – Mary MacKillop, Australian Roman Catholic nun (b. 1842)
• 1911 – William P. Frye, American politician (b. 1830)
• 1921 – Juhani Aho, Finnish author and journalist (b. 1861)
• 1928 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian politician (b. 1871)
• 1930 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish weightlifter (b. 1874)
• 1934 – Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player (b. 1863)
• 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 WWII tank commander (b. 1914)
• 1947 – Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (b. 1872)
• 1950 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman (b. 1879)
• 1961 – Mei Lanfang, Chinese opera performer (b. 1894)
• 1965 – Shirley Jackson, American author (b. 1916)
• 1969 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German eugenicist and Nazi physician (b. 1896)
• 1971 – Freddie Spencer Chapman, British army officer (b. 1907)
• 1972 – Andrea Feldman, American actor (b. 1948)
• 1973 – Dean Corll, American serial killer (b. 1939)
• 1973 – Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish author and historian (b. 1898)
• 1973 – Nikos Zachariadis, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1903)
• 1974 – Baldur von Schirach, Nazi youth leader (b. 1907)
• 1975 – Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1928)
• 1977 – Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, British electrophysiologist; 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)
• 1988 – Alan Napier, English actor (b. 1903)
• 1991 – Julissa Gomez, American gymnast (b. 1972)
• 1991 – James Irwin, astronaut (b. 1930)
• 1992 – Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Iranian religious figure (b. 1899)
• 1992 – John Kordic, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1965)
• 1992 – Bertalan Papp, Hungarian fencer (b. 1913)
• 1995 – John Adams, American football player (b. 1937)
• 1996 – Nevill Francis Mott, British physicist; Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1905)
• 1998 – Mahmoud Saremi, Iranian journalist (b. 1968)
• 2003 – Falaba Issa Traoré, Malian playwright (b. 1930)
• 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 preacher (b. 1918)
• 2005 – John H. Johnson, African-American publisher (b. 1918)
• 2005 – Gene Mauch, American baseball player (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Dean Rockwell, American wrestling and football coach (b. 1912)
• 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)
• 2008 – Orville Moody, American golfer (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Leonard Pagliero, British stationer (b. 1913)
• 2009 – Daniel Jarque, Spanish footballer (b. 1983)
• 2010 – Patricia Neal, American actress (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Yuki Takigami, Hilaw na Hapon (b. 1996)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Cyriacus
  • Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Dominican Order.
  • Hormisdas
  • Largus
  • Mary MacKillop
  • Smaragdus (and companions)
  • August 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Earliest day on which Melon Day can fall, while August 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday in August. (Turkmenistan)
• Farmer’s Day or Nane Nane, Swahili for "8-8". (Tanzania)
• Father's Day or Bā bā Day (爸爸節), Bā Bā is Mandarin for "father" and "8-8", or August 8. (Taiwan)
• Flag Day, namesday of Queen Silvia. (Sweden)

External links

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

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