May 8th in History

Michael Dobson | May 8

Today in History

  • Richmond, Virginia, becomes capital of the Confederate States of America (1861)
  • The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens (1877)
  • Coca-Cola goes on sale as a patent medicine (1886)
  • Paramount Pictures is founded (1912)
  • Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappear while trying to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York (1927)
  • The Battle of the Coral Sea ends (1942)
  • Nazi Germany surrenders unconditionally (1945)
  • The Wounded Knee incident ends with the surrender of militants to Federal authorities (1973)
  • The first steel roller coaster with a vertical lop opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain (1976)
  • The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen takes place.
  • The WHO announces the eradication of smallpox (1980)

Birthdays

  • Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross (1828)
  • Louis Gottschalk, composer (1829)
  • Oscar Hammerstein I, impressario and composer (1847)
  • Dan Brouthers, baseball player (1858)
  • Harry S. Truman, 33rd US President (1884)
  • Edd Roush, baseball player (1893)
  • Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, televangelist (1895)
  • Arthur Q. Bryan, voice of Elmer Fudd (1899)
  • Friedrich Hayek, economist (1899)
  • Red Nichols, cornet player (1905)
  • Robert Johnson, blues musician (1911)
  • Bob Clampett, animator and puppeteer (1913)
  • Lex Barker, tenth Tarzan (1919)
  • David Attenborough, naturalist and television host (1926)
  • Don Rickles, comedian (1926)
  • Ted Sorensen, JFK advisor (1928)
  • Mike Cuellar, baseball player (1937)
  • Thomas Pynchon, author (1937)
  • Mœbius (Jean Giraud), comics artist, writer, and painter (1938)
  • Peter Benchley, author (1940)
  • Ricky Nelson, singer-songwriter (1940)
  • Toni Tennille, singer-songwriter (1940)
  • Gary Glitter, singer-songwriter (1944)
  • Keith Jarrett, pianist and composer (1945)
  • Chris Frantz, drummer (1951)
  • Alex Van Halen, drummer (1953)
  • Stephen Furst, actor (1955)
  • Melissa Gilbert, actress (1964)
  • Enrique Iglesias, singer-songwriter (1975)

Deaths

  • Antoine Lavosier, chemist (1794)
  • Kamehameha I, Hawaiian monarch (1919)
  • John Stuart Mill, economist (1873)
  • Gustave Flaubert, author (1880)
  • Еле́на Блава́тская (Helena Blavatsky), occultist (1891)
  • Paul Gauguin, painter (1903)
  • Oswald Spengler, historian (1936)
  • William Fox, theater owner and network namesake (1952)
  • J. H. C. Whitehead, mathematician (1960)
  • Lila Bell Wallace, co-founder of Reader’s Digest (1894)
  • Theodore Sturgeon, science fiction writer (1985)
  • Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction writer (1988)
  • Rudolf Serkin, pianist (1991)
  • Avram Davidson, science fiction writer (1993)
  • George Peppard, actor (1994)
  • Dirk Bogarde, actor (1999)
  • Dana Plato, actress (1999)
  • Eddy Arnold, country musician (2008)
  • Maurice Sendak, artist (2012)
  • Dan Adkins, illustrator (2013)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Miguel Hidalgo’s Birthday (Mexico)
  • National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day (US Federal Emergency Management Agency)
  • National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
  • Parent’s Day (South Korea)
  • Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives During the Second World War (international, continues until May 9)
  • Truman Day (Missouri)
  • Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, (US and Europe)
  • White Lotus Day (Theosophy)
  • World Ovarian Cancer Day (international)
  • World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (international)
Informal and made-up holidays include Free Trade Day (birth of Friedrich Hayek), Iris Day, National Coconut Cream Pie Day, and No Socks Day.