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This day in history

This day in history: 8 May

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day169 · 128

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Key facts

350 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 8 May.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2025: The 2025 papal conclave elects Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, taking the name Leo XIV as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: 19 Martyrs of Algeria

Christian feast day: Amato Ronconi

Christian feast day: Apparition of Saint Michael

Christian feast day: Arsenius the Great

Christian feast day: Blessed Catherine of St. Augustine

Christian feast day: Blessed Teresa Demjanovich (Ruthenian Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: Blessed Ulrika Nisch

Christian feast day: Desideratus

Christian feast day: Julian of Norwich (Anglican, Lutheran)

Christian feast day: Magdalene of Canossa

Christian feast day: May 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Our Lady of Luján

Events

2025The 2025 papal conclave elects Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, taking the name Leo XIV as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.

2021A car bomb explodes in front of a school in Kabul, capital city of Afghanistan killing at least 55 people and wounding over 150.

2019British 17-year-old Isabelle Holdaway is reported to be the first patient ever to receive a genetically modified phage therapy to treat a drug-resistant infection.

1997China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people.

1988A fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office triggers an extended 1AESS network outage once considered to be the "worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history".

1987The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.

1984Corporal Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing three people 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.

1984The Soviet Union announces a boycott upon the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles, later joined by 14 other countries.

1984The Thames Barrier is officially opened, preventing the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded except under extreme circumstances.

1980The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.

1978The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.

1976The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

1973A 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.

1972Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place naval mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.

1970The Beatles release their 12th and final studio album Let It Be.

1967The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.

1963South Vietnamese soldiers under the Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.

1957South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem begins a state visit to the United States, his regime's main sponsor.

1950The Tollund Man is discovered in a peat bog near Silkeborg, Denmark.

1946Estonian schoolgirls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.

1945End of the Prague uprising, celebrated now as a national holiday in the Czech Republic.

1945Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.

1945The Halifax riot starts when thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia.

1945World War II: The German Instrument of Surrender signed at Berlin-Karlshorst comes into effect. This is commemorated as Victory in Europe Day.

1942World 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

1942World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington.

1942World War II: The German 11th Army begins Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three Soviet armies defending the Kerch Peninsula.

1941World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.

1933Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.

1927Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappear after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.

1924The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania. It would come back to Germany in 1939.

1921The creation of the Communist Party of Romania.

1919Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended World War I.

1902In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.

1898The first games of the Italian football league system are played.

1886Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.

1877At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.

1846Mexican–American War: American forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.

1842A train derails and catches fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people.

1821Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.

Born on this day

2005Oliver Bearman, English racing driver

2003Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco

2001Jordyn Huitema, Canadian soccer player

19966ix9ine, American rapper

1993Pat Cummins, Australian cricketer

1992Kevin Hayes, American ice hockey player

1992Olivia Culpo, American model and actress

1990Iyo Sky, Japanese wrestler

1990Kemba Walker, American basketball player

1990Lane Johnson, American football player

1989Lars Eller, Danish ice hockey player

1988Trisha Paytas, American media personality

1987Felix Jones, American football player

1987Kurt Tippett, Australian footballer

1987Mark Noble, English footballer

1986Galen Rupp, American runner

1985Tommaso Ciampa, American wrestler

1982Adrián González, American baseball player

1982Buakaw Banchamek, Thai kick-boxer

1981Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer

1981Stephen Amell, Canadian actor

1980Evgeny Lebedev, Russian-English publisher and philanthropist

1980Michelle McManus, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress

1978Lúcio, Brazilian footballer

1977Bad News Brown, Canadian rapper, harmonica player, and actor (died 2011)

1977Joe Bonamassa, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1977Theodoros Papaloukas, Greek basketball player

1976Martha Wainwright, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1975Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

1974Korey Stringer, American football player (died 2001)

1973Jesús Arellano, Mexican footballer

1973Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter

1972Darren Hayes, Australian singer-songwriter

1972Ray Whitney, Canadian ice hockey player

1971Candice Night, American singer-songwriter

1970Luis Enrique, Spanish footballer and manager

1970Michael Bevan, Australian cricketer and coach

1970Naomi Klein, Canadian author and activist

1969Akebono Tarō, American-Japanese sumo wrestler, the 64th Yokozuna (died 2024)

1969John Timu, New Zealand rugby player

Died on this day

2025Simon Mann, British military officer and mercenary (born 1952)

2024Chris Cannon, American politician (born 1950)

2024Jimmy Johnson, American football player (born 1938)

2024Pete McCloskey, American politician (born 1927)

2024Ramón Fonseca Mora, Panamanian novelist and lawyer (born 1952)

2023Rita Lee, Brazilian musician and author (born 1947)

2022Dennis Waterman, English actor and singer (born 1948)

2022Robert Gillmor, British wildlife artist and illustrator (born 1936)

2021Helmut Jahn, German-American architect (born 1940)

2019Sprent Dabwido, President of Nauru from 2011 to 2013 (born 1972)

2018Anne V. Coates, British film editor (Lawrence of Arabia, The Elephant Man, Erin Brockovich), Oscar winner (1963) (born 1925)

2018Big Bully Busick, American professional wrestler (born 1954)

2016William Schallert, American actor; president (1979–81) of the Screen Actors Guild (born 1922)

2015Atanas Semerdzhiev, Bulgarian soldier and politician, 1st Vice President of Bulgaria (born 1924)

2015Juan Schwanner, Hungarian-Chilean footballer and manager (born 1921)

2015Mwepu Ilunga, Congolese footballer (born 1949)

2015Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (born 1943)

2014Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer (born 1939)

2014Joseph P. Teasdale, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Missouri (born 1936)

2014Nancy Malone, American actress, director, and producer (born 1935)

2014Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (born 1921)

2013Bryan Forbes, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1926)

2013Hugh J. Silverman, American philosopher and theorist (born 1945)

2013Jeanne Cooper, American actress (born 1928)

2013Juan José Muñoz, Argentinian businessman (born 1950)

2012Ampon Tangnoppakul, Thai criminal (born 1948)

2012Maurice Sendak, American author and illustrator (born 1928)

2012Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist and educator (born 1911)

2011Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (born 1948)

2009Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (born 1917)

Quote of the day

“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body.”

Seneca

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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