May 8

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

Events

Up to 1900

413 – Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.
1541 – Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River.
1654 – The Peace of Westminster ends the First Anglo-Dutch War.
1781 – Battle of Pensacola in Florida: Spanish troops reconquer Pensacola.
1788 – The French parliament is suspended to be replaced by the creation of forty–seven new courts.
1794 – French chemist Antoine Lavoisier is executed on the guillotine.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.
1842 – French explorer Jules Dumont D'Urville and his family, are among those killed in a major train crash.
1842 – The Great Fire of Hamburg is brought under control. It had killed 51 people and made 20,000 homeless.
1846 – Mexican-American War: 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 declared capital city of the Confederate States of America.
1886 – John Pemberton creates the drink that is now known as Coca-Cola.
1898 – The Italian football league is held for the first time; all in one day.

1901 – 2000

1901 – The Australian Labor Party is founded.
1902 – The Volcano Mt. Pelée erupts on the Caribbean Island of Martinique, killing 30,000 people.
1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.
1919 – Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a Moment of Silence to commemorate the World War I Armistice on November 11.
1927 – Attempting to make the first Transatlantic flight from Paris to New York City, Frenchmen Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli disappear after taking off aboard the White Bird airplane.
1933 – Mahatma Gandhi begins a 21–day fast against British colonial oppression.
1941 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.
1942 – World War II: In the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Japanese Navy aircraft attacks the ship USS Lexington.
1945 – End of World War II in Europe; this day is known as VE Day for "Victory in Europe".
1945 – Thousands of Algerian civilians are massacred by French colonial troops.
1945 – End of Prague uprising.
1963 – South Vietnamese soldiers of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists who were defying a ban on the Buddhist flag, killing 9.
1967 – The Philippines province of Davao is spilt into three, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
1969 – The movie Easy Rider, starring Dennis Hopper, has its premiere in Cannes, France.
1970 – The last Beatles album, Let it Be, is released.
1973 – Members of the American Indian Movement leave the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, after a 71–day protest.
1976 – The rollercoaster "Revolution", the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
1978 – Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler reach the top of Mt. Everest without Oxygen supplies, becoming the first people to do so.
1980 – The WHO announces the eradication of Smallpox.
1984 – The Soviet Union decides to boycott the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
1984 – The Thames Barrier officially opens.
1988 – Francois Mitterrand is elected to a second term as President of France.
1993 – Lennox Lewis wins his Heavyweight Boxing fight against Tony Tucker in Las Vegas.
1995 – The 50th anniversary of VE Day is marked.
1997 – A China Southeast Airlines Boeing 737 crashes at Shenzhen Bao'an Airport, killing 35 people.

From 2001

2003 – A train is sliced in two in a collision with a tourist bus in Siofok, Hungary, killing 30 German bus passengers and the driver.
2007 – A new power–sharing deal takes effect in Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley becomes First Minister and Martin McGuinness becomes his Deputy.
2007 – Archaeologists in Israel announce that they have discovered the grave of Herod the Great.
2008 – Silvio Berlusconi becomes Prime Minister of Italy for a third time.
2010 – Laura Chinchilla becomes President of Costa Rica.
2013 – Manchester United football manager Alex Ferguson announces his upcoming retirement, which takes effect on May 19. He had been in charge of the team for over 26 ¹⁄₂ years, making him one of the game's longest–serving managers. David Moyes replaces him, but is already sacked on April 22, 2014.
2014 – The African National Congress wins elections in South Africa, allowing Jacob Zuma to serve a second full term as President.
2015 – 2015 Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash: A helicopter carrying foreign diplomats crashes near Gilgit in the far north of Pakistan. The Norwegian and Filipino Ambassadors are among those killed in the accident.
2015 – United Kingdom general election, 2015: As David Cameron starts his second term as Prime Minister, and the Scottish National Party adds 50 more MPs, three party leaders resign – Ed Miliband (Labour Party), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats) and Nigel Farage (UKIP). Farage later decides to stay on as UKIP leader.
2018 – President Donald Trump decides to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement.
2019 – The African National Congress wins the most votes in the elections held in South Africa, but with a reduced number of votes.
2025 – Leo XIV is elected Pope through 2025 papal conclave.

Births

Up to 1900

1326 – Joanna I of Auvergne, Queen of France (d. 1360)
1460 – Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1536)
1521 – Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (d. 1597)
1587 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1637)
1629 – Niels Juel, Danish admiral (d. 1697)
1639 – Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Italian painter (d. 1709)
1653 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general (d. 1734)
1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French writer and playwright (d. 1747)
1720 – William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1764)
1735 – Nathaniel Dance-Holland, English painter (d. 1811)
1737 – Edward Gibbon, British historian (d. 1794)
1738 – Mikhail Kamensky, Russian general (d. 1809)
1744 – Nikolay Novikov, Russian writer (d. 1818)
1753 – Miguel Hidalgo, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1811)
1781 – Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Palmela, Portuguese politician (d. 1850)
1786 – John Vianney, French priest and saint (d. 1859)
1818 – Samuel Leonard Tilley, Canadian politician, 3rd Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1896)
1821 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman (d. 1885)
1824 – William Walker, American physician, lawyer, journalist and mercenary (d. 1860)
1828 – Henry Dunant, Swiss co–founder of the Red Cross, co–winner of first Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1910)
1828 – Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk and saint (d. 1898)
1847 – Oscar Hammerstein I, American theatre producer and impresario (d. 1919)
1856 – Pedro Lascuráin, Mexican politician, shortest–serving President (d. 1952)
1859 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician (d. 1925)
1867 – Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1952)
1874 – E. W. Marland, Governor of Oklahoma (d. 1941)
1884 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
1889 – Song Jin-woo, Korean politician, educationist and journalist (d. 1945)
1889 – Louis Van Hege, Belgian footballer (d. 1975)
1895 – James H. Kindelberger, American aviation executive (d. 1962)
1895 – Fulton J. Sheen, American bishop (d. 1979)
1895 – Edmund Wilson, American writer (d. 1972)
1895 – Joselito, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1920)
1898 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (d. 1960)
1899 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (d. 1992)

1901 – 1925

1902 – André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist (d. 1994)
1903 – Fernandel, French comedy actor and singer (d. 1971)
1904 – John Snagge, British radio personality (d. 1996)
1905 – Red Nichols, American musician (d. 1965)
1906 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian movie director (d. 1977)
1909 – Count Lennart Bernadotte, Swedish royal (d. 2004)
1910 – Mary Lou Williams, American singer (d. 1981)
1911 – Robert Johnson, American blues musician (d. 1938)
1913 – Bob Clampett, American animator, producer and director (d. 1984)
1913 – Sid James, English actor (d. 1976)
1914 – Romain Gary, Polish writer (d. 1980)
1916 – Chinmayananda Saraswati, Indian spiritualist (d. 1993)
1916 – Joao Havelange, Brazilian sports official (d. 2016)
1917 – John Anderson, Jr., American politician, 36th Governor of Kansas (d. 2014)
1919 – Lex Barker, American actor (d. 1973)
1920 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and movie maker (d. 1996)
1920 – Tom of Finland, Finnish fetish artist (d. 1991)
1923 – Cheikha Rimitti, Algerian singer (d. 2006)
1924 – Tapan Raychaudhuri, Indian historian (d. 2014)
1925 – Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former President of Tanzania

1926 – 1950

1926 – David Attenborough, British naturalist, TV presenter and writer
1926 – Don Rickles, American actor (d. 2017)
1927 – Laszlo Paskai, Hungarian cardinal (d. 2015)
1928 – Manfred Gerlach, East German politician (d. 2011)
1928 – Ted Sorensen, American lawyer and 8th White House counsel (d. 2010)
1929 – Girija Devi, Indian singer (d. 2017)
1929 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese actress (d. 2007)
1930 – Doug Atkins, American baseball player (d. 2015)
1930 – Heather Harper, Irish–English soprano (d. 2019)
1930 – Gary Snyder, American poet
1932 – Phyllida Law, Scottish actress
1932 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (d. 1970)
1935 – Jack Charlton, English footballer
1935 – Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (d. 2018)
1936 – Kazuo Koike, Japanese manga artist
1937 – Thomas Pynchon, American writer
1938 – Jean Giraud, French comic book artist and production designer (d. 2012)
1939 – Paul Drayton, American sprinter (d. 2010)
1940 – Peter Benchley, American writer (d. 2006)
1940 – Ricky Nelson, American singer and actor (d. 1985)
1940 – Irwin Cotler, Canadian politician
1940 – Toni Tennille, American singer (Captain & Tennille)
1941 – James Traficant, American politician (d. 2014)
1942 – Norman Lamont, British politician
1943 – Pat Barker, British writer
1944 – Bill Legend, British musician
1944 – Gary Glitter, British musician
1945 – Keith Jarrett, American musician
1945 – Mike German, Baron German, Welsh politician
1946 – Jonathan Dancy, British philosopher
1947 – John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, British politician
1947 – H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist
1947 – Felicity Lott, British singer
1947 – Aram I, Armenian church leader
1948 – Norbert Nigbur, German footballer
1949 – Mohammed bin Hammam, Qatari FIFA official

1951 – 1975

1951 – Philip Bailey, American musician (Earth, Wind & Fire)
1951 – Chris Frantz, rock musician
1952 – Charles Camarda, American astronaut
1953 – Alex Van Halen, Dutch–American musician
1953 – Billy Burnette, American singer-songwriter
1954 – Pam Arciero, American voice actress
1954 – John Michael Talbot, American monk, singer and musician
1954 – Clive Wood, English actor
1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister and President of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
1955 – Asgeir Sigurvinsson, Icelandic footballer
1956 – David Provan, Scottish footballer
1957 – Marie Myriam, French singer
1958 – Roddy Doyle, Irish writer
1958 – Kevin McCloud, English writer, designer and television presenter
1958 – Lovie Smith, American football coach
1958 – Simone Kleinsma, Dutch musical theatre actress
1958 – Brooks Newmark, American–English politician
1959 – Ronnie Lott, American football player
1959 – David Pearce, British professional boxer (d. 2000)
1960 – Franco Baresi, Italian footballer
1961 – Akira Taue, Japanese professional wrestler
1961 – Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City
1961 – Andrea Pollack, German swimmer (d. 2019)
1962 – David Sole, Scottish rugby player
1962 – Natalia Molchanova, Russian diver (d. 2015)
1963 – Michel Gondry, French director and screenwriter
1963 – Aleksandr Kovalenko, Soviet triple jumper
1963 – Anthony Field, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
1964 – Dave Rowntree, British musician (Blur)
1964 – Melissa Gilbert, American actress
1965 – Mario Frick, Liechtenstein politician
1967 – Viviana Durante, Italian ballet dancer
1968 – Chris Lighty, American music executive and talent agent (d. 2012)
1968 – Nathalie Normandeau, Canadian politician
1969 – Akebono Taro, American sumo wrestler
1970 – Luis Enrique Martínez García, Spanish footballer
1970 – Naomi Klein, Canadian writer and activist
1971 – Shaolin, Brazilian cartoonist, comedian and presenter (d. 2016)
1972 – Darren Hayes, Australian singer
1973 – Hiromu Arakawa, Japanese manga artist
1973 – Jesús Arellano, Mexican footballer
1973 – Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian
1974 – Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
1975 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer

From 1976

1976 – Martha Wainwright, Canadian singer-songwriter
1976 – Ian "H" Watkins, Welsh singer and actor
1977 – Joe Bonamassa, American musician
1977 – Bad News Brown, Canadian rapper (d. 2011)
1978 – Matthew Davis, American actor
1978 – Lúcio, Brazilian footballer
1979 – Gennaro Sardo, Italian footballer
1980 – Evgeny Lebedev, Russian businessman and newspaper owner
1980 – Michelle McManus, Scottish singer
1981 – Stephen Amell, Canadian actor
1981 – Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
1982 – Buakaw Banchamek, Thai Muay–Thai boxer
1982 – Adrian Gonzalez, American baseball player
1983 – Elyes Gabel, English actor
1983 – Vicky McClure, English actress
1983 – Matt Willis, English singer (Busted)
1984 – Julia Whelan, American actress
1985 – Sarah Vaillancourt, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Galen Rupp, American long–distance runner
1987 – Aneurin Barnard, Welsh actor
1987 – Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, Miss Sweden winner
1987 – Mark Noble, English footballer
1987 – Felix Jones, American football player
1988 – Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (d. 2014)
1989 – Liam Bridcutt, English–Scottish footballer
1989 – Nora Arnezeder, French actress
1989 – Benoit Paire, French tennis player
1990 – Kemba Walker, American basketball player
1992 – Ana Mulvoy-Ten, English–Spanish actress
1995 – Park Jung-hwa, South Korean singer and actress
2003 – Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco

Deaths

Up to 1900

535 – Pope John II
685 – Pope Benedict II
840 – Emperor Junna of Japan (b. 786)
1192 – Duke Ottokar IV of Syria (b. 1163)
1278 – Emperor Duanzongof China (b. 1268)
1319 – Haakon V of Norway (b. 1270)
1782 – Marques de Pombal, Portuguese politician (b. 1699)
1785 – Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (b. 1701)
1785 – Etienne François duc de Choiseul, French general and politician (b. 1719)
1788 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician and naturalist (b. 1723)
1794 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (executed) (b. 1743)
1819 – Kamehameha I, King of Hawai'i (b. c. 1758)
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)
1884 – Judah P. Benjamin, American politician (b. 1811)
1887 – Lorenzo Batlle, President of Uruguay (b. 1810)
1891 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian–born writer (b. 1831)

1901 – 2000

1903 – Paul Gauguin, French painter (b. 1846)
1904 – Eadweard Muybridge, British photographer (b. 1830)
1907 – Edmund G. Ross, Territorial Governor of New Mexico (b. 1826)
1936 – Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (b. 1880)
1941 – Natalie of Serbia (b. 1859)
1941 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (b. 1858)
1943 – Mordechai Anielewicz, Polish Resistance activist (b. 1919)
1944 – Ethel Smyth, English composer, conductor and writer (b. 1858)
1945 – Bernhard Rust, Nazi education minister (b. 1883)
1945 – Josef Terboven, Nazi Reichskommissar in Norway (b. 1898)
1945 – Paul Giesler, German politician, Prime minister of Bavaria (b. 1895)
1947 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, department store founder (b. 1858)
1948 – U Saw, Burmese politician (b. 1900)
1950 – Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician and immunologist (b. 1865)
1952 – William Fox, Austro–Hungarian–born American movie producer (b. 1879)
1960 – J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
1965 – Wally Hardinge, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1886)
1967 – LaVerne Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (b. 1911)
1971 – Lars Pettersson, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1925)
1975 – Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1887)
1982 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (b. 1950)
1985 – Theodore Sturgeon, American science fiction writer (b. 1918)
1988 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction 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)
1993 – Avram Davidson, American science fiction writer (b. 1923)
1994 – George Peppard, American actor (b. 1928)
1996 – Dominguin, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1926)
1998 – Jennings Randolph, American politician (b. 1902)
1999 – Dirk Bogarde, British actor (b. 1921)
1999 – Dana Plato, American actress (b. 1964)

From 2001

2008 – Eddy Arnold, American singer (b. 1918)
2008 – Luigi Malerba, Italian writer (b. 1927)
2008 – François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (b. 1982)
2009 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1917)
2010 – Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian chess player (b. 1911)
2011 – Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (b. 1948)
2011 – Cornell Dupree, American musician (b. 1942)
2012 – Maurice Sendak, American writer (b. 1928)
2012 – Roman Totenberg, Polish–American violinist (b. 1911)
2012 – Nicholas Katzenbach, former United States Attorney General (b. 1922)
2013 – Jeanne Cooper, American actress (b. 1928)
2013 – Dallas Willard, American philosopher (b. 1935)
2013 – Bryan Forbes, British movie director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1926)
2013 – Taylor Mead, American actor (b. 1924)
2014 – Yago Lamela, Spanish athlete (b. 1977)
2014 – Joseph P. Teasdale, 48th Governor of Missouri (b. 1936)
2014 – Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian musician and singer (b. 1939)
2014 – Mercedes Salisachs, Spanish writer (b. 1917)
2014 – Nancy Malone, American producer, director and actress (b. 1935)
2015 – Deaths in the 2015 Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash:
- Domingo Lucenario, Jr., Ambassador of the Philippines to Pakistan (b. 1960)
- Leif Holger Larsen, Ambassador of Norway to Pakistan (b. 1954)
2015 – Phil Skoglund, New Zealand lawn bowls player (b. 1937)
2015 – Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (b. 1943)
2015 – Atanas Semerdzhiev, Vice President of Bulgaria (b. 1924)
2015 – Menashe Kadishman, Israeli artist (b. 1932)
2015 – Martin Nag, Norwegian writer (b. 1926)
2016 – Philippe Beaussant, French writer and musicologist (b. 1930)
2016 – Tonita Castro, American actress (b. 1953)
2016 – Ken Gorgal, American football player (b. 1929)
2016 – Nick Lashaway, American actor (b. 1988)
2016 – Elisa Mainardi, Italian actress (b. 1927)
2016 – William Schallert, American actor (b. 1922)
2016 – John Bradshaw, American self–help writer (b. 1933)
2016 – John Young, American baseball player (b. 1949)
2017 – Allan H. Meltzer, American economist (b. 1928)
2017 – Lou Richards, Australian footballer (b. 1923)
2017 – Cécile DeWitt-Morette, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1922)
2017 – Curt Lowens, German–born American actor (b. 1925)
2017 – Lawson Soulsby, Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, British microbiologist and life peer (b. 1926)
2017 – Juan Carlos Tedesco, Argentine politician (b. 1944)
2017 – Mary Tsoni, Greek actress (b. 1987)
2018 – Anne V. Coates, British film editor (b. 1925)
2018 – George Deukmejian, American politician, former Governor of California (b. 1928)
2018 – Lara Saint Paul, Italian–Eritrean singer (b. 1945)
2018 – Big Bully Busick, American professional wrestler (b. 1954)
2019 – Jens Beutel, German politician (b. 1946)
2019 – Sprent Dabwido, President of Nauru (b. 1972)
2019 – Yevgeny Krylatov, Russian composer (b. 1934)
2019 – David Montgomery, American baseball player (b. 1946)
2019 – Bob Zeman, American football player and coach (b. 1937)

Observances

Victory in Europe Day, marking the end of World War II in Europe in 1945.
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, birthday of Henry Dunant, co–founder of the International Red Cross.
Parents' Day (South Korea).
Truman Day (Missouri).
Miguel Hidalgo's birthday (Mexico).