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 and names it Río de Espíritu Santo.
• 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, was tried, convicted, and guillotined all on one day in Paris.
• 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 (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 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.
• 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.
• 2005 – The new Canadian War Museum first opens to commemorate the 60th anniversary of V-E Day.

Births

• 1521 – Petrus Canisius, Jesuit (d. 1597)
• 1653 – Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars, Marshall of France (d. 1734)
• 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, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1910)
• 1829 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (d. 1869)
• 1842 – Emil Christian Hansen, fermentation physiologist (d. 1909)
• 1850 – Ross Barnes, baseball player (d. 1915)
• 1884 – Harry S. Truman, President of the United States (d. 1972)
• 1895 – Fulton J. Sheen, bishop and 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 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, American 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
• 1951 – Chris Frantz, drummer (Talking Heads)
• 1953 – Alex Van Halen, drummer of Van Halen rock band
• 1954 – David Keith, actor
• 1963 – Helena Blagne Zaman, Slovenian singer
• 1964 – Melissa Gilbert, actress and president of the Screen Actors Guild
• 1964  – Bobby Labonte, American race car driver
• 1966 – Claudio Taffarel, Brazilian footballer
• 1972 – Darren Hayes, singer
• 1972 – Eduardo Falaschi, singer (Angra (band))
• 1974 – Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
• 1975 – Enrique Iglesias, singer

Deaths

• 1794 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (executed) (b. 1743)
• 1828 – Mauro Giuliani, Italian composer (b. 1781)
• 1842 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (b. 1790)
• 1873 – John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (b. 1806)
• 1880 – Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (b. 1821)
• 1891 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian-born author (b. 1831)
• 1947 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, department store founder (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 race car driver (b. 1950)
• 1985 – Theodore Sturgeon, science fiction writer (b. 1918)
• 1988 – Robert A. Heinlein, American 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, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1999 – Dana Plato, actress (b. 1964)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire – festival in honour of Mens
• Mother's Day – 1988, 1994, 2005, 2011
• World Red Cross Day
• VE Day

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

External links

• BBC: On This Day

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