May 8 - Definition and Overview

May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). There are 237 days remaining.

Events

1400-1899

• 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 be named "Coca-Cola".
• 1898 - The first games of the Italian Football League are played.
• 1899 - The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opens.

1900-1999

• 1902 - In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroys the town of St. Pierre, and kills 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 was 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 who were 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 crashed 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

1500-1899

• 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)

1900-1999

• 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)
• 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
• 1972 - Darren Hayes, singer
• 1974 - Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
• 1975 - Enrique Iglesias, singer
• 1975 - Eduardo Falaschi, singer of Angra (band)

Deaths

1700-1899

• 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)

1900-1999

• 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 - 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

• Roman Empire - festival in honour of Mens
• Mother's Day - 1994, 2005, 2011

Recorded this day

• 1906 - "It Takes The Irish To Beat The Dutch" by Billy Murray
• 1941 - "Let Me Off Uptown" by Anita O'Day & Roy Eldridge with Gene Krupa & his Orchestra

May 7 - May 9 - April 8 - June 8 -- listing of all days