May 8
| May 8 in recent years |
| 2024 (Wednesday) |
| 2023 (Monday) |
| 2022 (Sunday) |
| 2021 (Saturday) |
| 2020 (Friday) |
| 2019 (Wednesday) |
| 2018 (Tuesday) |
| 2017 (Monday) |
| 2016 (Sunday) |
| 2015 (Friday) |
May 8 is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 237 days remain until the end of the year.
Events
- 413 – Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, who are plundered by the Visigoths.
- 589 – Reccared I summons the Third Council of Toledo.
- 1450 – Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.
- 1541 – Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo.
- 1788 – The French Parlement is suspended to be replaced by the creation of forty-seven new courts.
- 1794 – Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror by revolutionists, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme Générale, is tried, convicted, and guillotined all on the same day in Paris.
- 1821 – Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.
- 1846 – Mexican–American War: The 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 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.
- 1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.
- 1898 – The first games of the Italian football league system are played.
- 1899 – The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin produced its first play.
- 1902 – In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
- 1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.
- 1919 – Edward George Honey first proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I, which later results in the creation of Remembrance Day. In the United States it was called Armistice Day and is now Veterans Day.
- 1924 – The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania.
- 1927 – Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappeared after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.
- 1933 – Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against the British rule in India.
- 1941 – The German Luftwaffe launch a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
- 1942 – World War II: Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebel in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. Their mutiny is crushed and three of them are executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
- 1945 – Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.
- 1945 – World War II: V-E Day, combat ends in Europe. German forces agree in Rheims, France, to an unconditional surrender.
- 1945 – The Halifax Riot started when thousands of civilians and servicemen went on a rampage through Halifax.
- 1945 – End of the Prague uprising, today celebrated as a national holiday in the Czech Republic.
- 1946 – Estonian school girls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which stood in front of the Bronze Soldier in Tallinn.
- 1963 – South Vietnamese soldiers of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine.
- 1967 – The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
- 1970 – The Hard Hat Riot occurs in the Wall Street area of New York City as blue-collar construction workers clash with demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War.
- 1972 – Vietnam War – U.S. President Richard 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.
- 1972 – Four Black September terrorists hijack Sabena Flight 571. Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos recapture the plane the following day.
- 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.
- 1976 – The rollercoaster Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
- 1978 – First ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
- 1980 – The eradication of smallpox is endorsed by the World Health Organization.
- 1984 – The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
- 1984 – Corporal Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing three 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.
- 1984 – Thames Barrier officially opened.
- 1987 – The Loughgall Ambush: The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.
- 1988 – A fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office triggers an extended 1AESS network outage once considered the 'worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history' and still the worst to occur on Mother's Day.
- 1997 – A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people.
Births
- 1326 – Joan I, Countess of Auvergne (d. 1360)
- 1460 – Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1536)
- 1521 – Peter Canisius, Dutch priest (d. 1597)
- 1587 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1637)
- 1622 – Claes Rålamb, Swedish statesman (d. 1698)
- 1629 – Niels Juel, Danish admiral (d. 1697)
- 1632 – Heino Heinrich Graf von Flemming, German marshal (d. 1706)
- 1653 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Duke of Villars, French general, Marshal General of France(d. 1734)
- 1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French writer (d. 1747)
- 1670 – Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (d. 1726)
- 1735 – Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter (d. 1811)
- 1738 – Mikhail Kamensky, Russian general (d. 1809)
- 1753 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Mexican priest and revolutionary (d. 1811)
- 1786 – Jean Vianney, French priest (d. 1859)
- 1821 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman (d. 1885)
- 1825 – George Bruce Malleson, Indian officer (d. 1898)
- 1828 – Henry Dunant, Swiss businessman and social activist, founder of the Red Cross, Nobel laureate (d. 1910)
- 1828 – Sharbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk (d. 1898)
- 1829 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (d. 1869)
- 1835 – Bertalan Székely, Hungarian painter (d. 1910)
- 1839 – Adolphe-Basile Routhier, Canadian judge, author, and lyricist (d. 1920)
- 1842 – Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist (d. 1909)
- 1847 – Oscar Hammerstein I, American businessman, impresario, and composer (d. 1919)
- 1850 – Ross Barnes, American baseball player (d. 1915)
- 1853 – Dan Brouthers, American baseball player (d. 1932)
- 1858 – Heinrich Berté, Austrian composer (d. 1924)
- 1858 – J. Meade Falkner, English novelist and poet (d. 1932)
- 1859 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician (d. 1925)
- 1879 – Wesley Coe, American athlete (d. 1926)
- 1884 – Harry S. Truman, American politician, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
- 1893 – Edd Roush, American baseball player (d. 1988)
- 1893 – Teddy Wakelam, English rugby player and broadcaster (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Francis Ouimet, American golfer and businessman (d. 1967)
- 1895 – James H. Kindelberger, American aviation executive (d. 1962)
- 1895 – Fulton J. Sheen, American bishop (d. 1979)
- 1895 – Edmund Wilson, American writer (d. 1972)
- 1898 – Alojzije Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (d. 1960)
- 1899 – Arthur Q. Bryan, American voice actor (d. 1959)
- 1899 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian-bEnglish economist and philosopher, Nobel laureate (d. 1992)
- 1901 – Turkey Stearnes, American baseball player (d. 1979)
- 1902 – André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
- 1903 – Fernandel, French actor (d. 1971)
- 1904 – John Snagge, English newsreader and commentator (d. 1996)
- 1905 – Red Nichols, American cornettist, composer, and bandleader (The California Ramblers) (d. 1965)
- 1906 – Esther Hoffe, Israeli mistress of Max Brod (d. 2007)
- 1906 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian director (d. 1977)
- 1910 – Andrew E. Svenson, American author and publisher (d. 1975)
- 1910 – Mary Lou Williams, American pianist, composer, and arranger (d. 1981)
- 1911 – Robert Johnson, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1938)
- 1913 – Bob Clampett, American animator (d. 1984)
- 1914 – Romain Gary, Polish writer (d. 1980)
- 1915 – Milton Meltzer, American writer (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Chinmayananda, Indian spiritual leader and teacher (d. 1993)
- 1916 – João Havelange, Brazilian industrialist
- 1919 – Lex Barker, American actor (d. 1973)
- 1920 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and filmmaker (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Tom of Finland, Finnish artist (d. 1991)
- 1920 – Sloan Wilson, American author (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Tanzanian politician, 2nd President of Tanzania
- 1926 – David Attenborough, English broadcaster and naturalist
- 1926 – Don Rickles, American comedian
- 1927 – Chumy Chúmez, Spanish director (d. 2003)
- 1928 – Theodore Sorensen, American presidential advisor, lawyer, and writer (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Claude Castonguay, Canadian politician
- 1929 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese actress (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Heather Harper, Irish-English soprano
- 1930 – Gary Snyder, American poet
- 1932 – Julieta Campos, Cuban-Mexican writer (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Phyllida Law, Scottish actress
- 1932 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (d. 1970)
- 1935 – Princess Elisabeth of Denmark
- 1935 – Jack Charlton, English footballer
- 1937 – Bernard Cleary, Canadian politician
- 1937 – Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian politician
- 1937 – Thomas Pynchon, American novelist
- 1937 – Mike Cuellar, American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1940 – Peter Benchley, American author (d. 2006)
- 1940 – Irwin Cotler, Canadian politician
- 1940 – Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 1985)
- 1940 – Toni Tennille, American singer (Captain & Tennille)
- 1940 – Emilio Delgado, American actor
- 1941 – Mahmoud Ahmed, Ethiopian singer
- 1941 – John Fred, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2005)
- 1941 – Bill Lockyer, American politician
- 1942 – Norman Lamont, English politician
- 1942 – Pierre Morency, Canadian poet and playwright
- 1942 – Terry Neill, Irish footballer
- 1943 – Paul Samwell-Smith, English bassist and producer (The Yardbirds and Box of Frogs)
- 1944 – Gary Glitter, English singer-songwriter and musician
- 1944 – Bill Legend, English drummer (T. Rex)
- 1945 – Keith Jarrett, American pianist and composer
- 1946 – André Boulerice, French-Canadian politician
- 1946 – Jonathan Dancy, English philosopher
- 1947 – H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1948 – Felicity Lott, English soprano
- 1948 – Steve Braun, American baseball player
- 1948 – Stephen Stohn, Canadian television producer and lawyer
- 1950 – Robert Mugge, American filmmaker
- 1951 – Philip Bailey, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (Earth, Wind & Fire)
- 1951 – Mike D'Antoni, American basketball coach
- 1951 – Chris Frantz, American musician and producer (Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club)
- 1951 – Deborah Harmon, American actress
- 1952 – Peter McNab, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1953 – Billy Burnette, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1953 – Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American drummer (Van Halen)
- 1954 – David Keith, American actor
- 1954 – John Michael Talbot, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Pam Arciero, American puppeteer and voice actor
- 1955 – Stephen Furst, American actor
- 1955 – Meles Zenawi, Ethiopian politician, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
- 1956 – Jeff Wincott, Canadian actor
- 1957 – Bill Cowher, American football coach
- 1957 – Gary Lunn, Canadian politician
- 1957 – Marie Myriam, French singer
- 1958 – Lovie Smith, American football coach
- 1959 – Ronnie Lott, American football player
- 1960 – Franco Baresi, Italian footballer
- 1960 – Eric Brittingham, American bassist (Cinderella and Naked Beggars)
- 1961 – Janet McTeer, English actress
- 1961 – Akira Taue, Japanese wrestler
- 1961 – David Winning, Canadian director
- 1963 – Terry Christian, English broadcaster
- 1963 – Sylvain Cossette, Canadian singer-songwriter (Paradox)
- 1963 – Anthony Field, Australian musician, songwriter, producer, and actor (The Cockroaches and The Wiggles)
- 1963 – Michel Gondry, French director and screenwriter
- 1963 – Robin Jarvis, English writer
- 1963 – Izabela Kloc, Polish politician
- 1963 – Rick Zombo, American ice hockey player
- 1964 – Melissa Gilbert, American actress
- 1964 – Bobby Labonte, American race car driver
- 1964 – Dave Rowntree, English musician, animator, solicitor, and activist (Blur and The Ailerons)
- 1966 – Marta Sánchez, Spanish singer and guitarist
- 1966 – Cláudio Taffarel, Brazilian footballer
- 1968 – Chris Lighty, American talent manager, co-founded Violator Entertainment (d. 2012)
- 1968 – Nathalie Normandeau, Canadian politician
- 1968 – Johan Pehrson, Swedish politician
- 1968 – Jamie Summers, American porn actress
- 1969 – Akebono Tarō, American sumo wrestler, the 64th Yokozuna
- 1970 – Luis Enrique Martínez García, Spanish football player
- 1970 – Naomi Klein, Canadian author and activist
- 1972 – Darren Hayes, Australian singer-songwriter (Savage Garden)
- 1972 – Ray Whitney, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Hiromu Arakawa, Japanese artist
- 1973 – Jesús Arellano, Mexican footballer
- 1973 – Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian
- 1973 – Kris Hudson-Lee, English bassist
- 1974 – Jon Tickle, English television presenter
- 1974 – Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
- 1975 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1975 – Jussi Markkanen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1975 – Gastón Mazzacane, Argentine race car driver
- 1976 – Martha Wainwright, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1976 – Ian "H" Watkins, Welsh singer and actor (Steps and H & Claire)
- 1977 – Bad News Brown, Canadian rapper, singer, harmonica player, and actor (d. 2011)
- 1977 – Joe Bonamassa, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bloodline and Black Country Communion)
- 1977 – Theodoros Papaloukas, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Jennifer Walcott, American model
- 1978 – Matthew Davis, American actor
- 1978 – Jang Woo Hyuk, Korean singer and dancer (H.O.T. and jtL)
- 1978 – Lúcio, Brazilian footballer
- 1978 – Josie Maran, American model and actress
- 1980 – Keyon Dooling, American basketball player
- 1980 – Panagiotis Kafkis, Greek basketball player
- 1980 – Michelle McManus, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress
- 1980 – Kimberlee Peterson, American actress
- 1980 – Benny Yau, Canadian actor and tenor
- 1981 – Namosh, German singer and musician
- 1981 – Stephen Amell, Canadian actor
- 1981 – Ayesha Antoine, English actress
- 1981 – Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Tatyana Dektyareva, Russian athlete
- 1981 – Björn Dixgård, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mando Diao)
- 1981 – Manvel Gamburyan, Armenian-American mixed martial artist
- 1981 – John Maine, American baseball player
- 1981 – Yasuko Tajima, Japanese swimmer
- 1981 – Elizabeth Whitmere, Canadian actress
- 1982 – Buakaw Banchamek, Thai kick-boxer
- 1982 – Christina Cole, English actress
- 1982 – Adrian Gonzalez, American baseball player
- 1982 – Ninja Sarasalo, Finnish model and singer
- 1983 – Elyes Gabel, English actor
- 1983 – Juan Martin Goity, Argentine-German rugby player
- 1983 – Lawrence Vickers, American football player
- 1983 – Roberto Vitiello, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Matt Willis, English singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (Busted)
- 1984 – Nadine Chandrawinata, Indonesian model, Puteri Indonesia 2005
- 1984 – Martin Compston, Scottish footballer and actor
- 1984 – Mascha Müller, German actress
- 1984 – Cynthia Deyanira Rodríguez Ruiz, Mexican singer
- 1984 – Yara Sofia, Puerto Rican drag queen performer
- 1984 – Julia Whelan, American actress
- 1985 – Tommaso Ciampa, American wrestler
- 1985 – Mashio Miyazaki, Japanese actress
- 1985 – Devon Soltendieck, Canadian reporter
- 1985 – Silvia Stroescu, Romanian gymnast
- 1985 – Sarah Vaillancourt, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Usama Young, American football player
- 1986 – Marvell Wynne, American soccer player
- 1987 – Aneurin Barnard, Welsh actor
- 1987 – Felix Jones, American football player
- 1987 – Mark Noble, English footballer
- 1989 – Lars Eller, Danish ice hockey player
- 1989 – Liam Bridcutt, English Footballer
- 1990 – Kemba Walker, American basketball player
- 1991 – Ethan Gage, Canadian soccer player
- 1991 – Anamaria Tămârjan, Romanian gymnast
- 1992 – Ana Mulvoy Ten, English-American actress
- 1993 – Pat Cummins, Australian cricketer
- 1995 – Bree Seanna Wall, American actress
Deaths
- 535 – Pope John II
- 685 – Benedict II (b. 635)
- 1192 – Ottokar IV, Duke of Styria (b. 1163)
- 1278 – Emperor Duanzong of Song (b. 1268)
- 1319 – Haakon V of Norway (b. 1270)
- 1473 – John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English politician (b. 1420)
- 1538 – Edward Foxe, English bishop
- 1668 – Catherine de Saint-Augustin, French-Canadian nun (b. 1632)
- 1672 – Comte de Troisville, French officer (b. 1598)
- 1766 – Samuel Chandler, English minister (b. 1693)
- 1773 – Ali Bey Al-Kabir, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (b. 1728)
- 1781 – Richard Jago, English poet (b. 1715)
- 1785 – Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul, French statesman (b. 1719)
- 1785 – Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (b. 1701)
- 1788 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician and naturalist (b. 1723)
- 1794 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (b. 1743)
- 1819 – Kamehameha I (b. 1758)
- 1822 – John Stark, American general (b. 1728)
- 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)
- 1891 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian author (b. 1831)
- 1903 – Paul Gauguin, French painter (b. 1848)
- 1907 – Edmund G. Ross, American senator (b. 1826)
- 1925 – John Beresford, Irish polo player (b. 1847)
- 1936 – Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (b. 1880)
- 1941 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor, theatre director (b. 1858)
- 1943 – Mordechai Anielewicz, Polish Resistance Fighter (b. 1919)
- 1944 – Themistoklis Diakidis, Greek high jumper (b. 1882)
- 1945 – Wilhelm Rediess, German Nazi SS and Police leader (b. 1900)
- 1945 – Bernhard Rust, German Nazi education minister (b. 1883)
- 1945 – Josef Terboven, German Nazi leader(b. 1898)
- 1947 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American businessman, founded Selfridges (b. 1858)
- 1948 – U Saw, Burmese politician (b. 1900)
- 1950 – Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician (b. 1865)
- 1952 – William Fox, Austrian film producer (b. 1879)
- 1959 – John Fraser, Canadian soccer player (b. 1881)
- 1960 – J. H. C. Whitehead, English mathematician (b. 1904)
- 1967 – LaVerne Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (b. 1911)
- 1969 – Remington Kellogg, American naturalist (b. 1892)
- 1975 – Avery Brundage,American athlete, art collector, and philanthropist (b. 1887)
- 1981 – Uri Zvi Grinberg, Israeli poet and journalist (b. 1896)
- 1982 – Neil Bogart, American record executive, co-founder of Casablanca Records (b. 1943)
- 1982 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (b. 1950)
- 1984 – Lila Bell Wallace, American magazine publisher (b. 1890)
- 1984 – Gino Bianco, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1916)
- 1985 – Karl Marx, German composer (b. 1897)
- 1985 – Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (b. 1918)
- 1985 – Dolph Sweet, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1986 – Ernle Bradford, English historian and writer (b. 1922)
- 1987 – Doris Stokes, English psychic medium (b. 1920)
- 1988 – Robert A. Heinlein, American 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)
- 1992 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (b. 1933)
- 1993 – Avram Davidson, American writer (b. 1923)
- 1994 – George Peppard, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1995 – Teresa Teng, Chinese singer (b. 1953)
- 1996 – Beryl Burton, English cyclist (b. 1937)
- 1996 – Luis Miguel Dominguín, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1926)
- 1996 – Garth Williams, American illustrator (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Larry Levis, American poet (b. 1946)
- 1998 – Charles Rebozo, American banker (b. 1912)
- 1999 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor (b. 1921)
- 1999 – Ed Gilbert, American voice actor (b. 1931)
- 1999 – Dana Plato, American actress (b. 1964)
- 2000 – Pita Amor, Mexican poet (b. 1918)
- 2000 – Alexander Chislenko, Russian-American theorist (b. 1959)
- 2000 – Dédé Fortin, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician (Les Colocs) (b. 1962)
- 2000 – Henry Nicols, American AIDS activist (b. 1973)
- 2001 – Koby Mandell, Israeli-American murder victim (b. 1987)
- 2001 – Yosef Ishran, Israeli murder victim (b. 1987)
- 2005 – Jean Carrière, French writer (b. 1928)
- 2005 – Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentine race car driver (b. 1981)
- 2006 – Iain Macmillan, English photographer (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (b. 1918)
- 2008 – François Sterchele, Belgian football player (b. 1982)
- 2009 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1917)
- 2009 – Bud Shrake, American writer (b. 1931)
- 2011 – Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Lau Teng Chuan, Singaporean sports administrator, teacher, and coach (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Everett Lilly, American musician (The Lilly Brothers) (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Jerry McMorris, American baseball executive (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Stacy Robinson, American football player (b. 1962)
- 2012 – Maurice Sendak, American author and illustrator (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist and educator (b. 1911)
- 2012 – Ampon Tangnoppakul, Thai lèse majesté prisoner (b. 1948)
Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Earliest day on which Father's Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (Romania)
- Earliest day on which Mother's Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (United States and others)
- Earliest day on which State Flag and State Emblem Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (Belarus)
- Earliest day on which World Fair Trade Day can fall, while May 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (International)
- Miguel Hidalgo's birthday (Mexico)
- Parents' Day (South Korea)
- Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War, continues to May 9 (International)
- Truman Day (Missouri)
- Victory in Europe Day (Europe)
- White Lotus Day (Theosophy)
- World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (International)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to May 8.