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August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days
remaining.
Events
- 1585 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in quest for the North West Passage.
- 1588 - Battle of
Gravelines ends - Defeated by the English during an invasion attempt, the
surviving parts of the Spanish Armada begin to sail home. Only 67 of
the original 130 ships will later reach Spain and most of these will be in poor
condition.
- 1647 - Battle of Dangan Hill - Irish forces are defeated
by British Parliamentary forces.
- 1786 - Mont Blanc was climbed for the
first time by Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat.
- 1844 - During a meeting held in Nauvoo, the
Quorum of Twelve, headed
by Brigham Young, is created as the leading body of the Mormon Church.
- 1863 - American Civil
War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg,
General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
- 1876 - Thomas Edison receives a
patent for his mimeograph.
- 1911 - Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of
Representatives at 435. The law will take effect in 1913.
- 1918 - World War I: Battle of Amiens - Canadian troops, backed by Australians, begin a
string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines.
German General Erich Ludendorff will later call this the "black day
of the German army."
- 1929 - The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight (will end on August 29).
- 1938 - The Mauthausen concentration camp is opened.
- 1942 - World War II: In Washington, DC, six German
would-be saboteurs are executed (two others were cooperative and received life imprisonment instead).
- 1945 - World War II - The Soviet
Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria with more than 1 million troops. This action prompts Emperor Hirohito to plead with the war council to reconsider surrender.
- 1945 - The United Nations Charter is ratified by
the United States, and that nation becomes the first to join the new
international organization.
- 1949 - Bhutan becomes independent
- 1963 - Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15
train robbers steal 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.
- 1967 - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded.
- 1974 - Watergate
scandal: US President Richard Nixon announces his resignation
(effective August 9).
- 1989 - STS-28: The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military
mission.
- 2000 - Confederate submarine H.L.
Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
Births
- 1839 - General Nelson Miles, Indian fighter (d. 1925)
- 1866 - Matthew Henson,
explorer (North Pole)
- 1879 - Emiliano Zapata,
Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)
- 1880 - Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1961)
- 1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author (d. 1953)
- 1902 - Paul Dirac, physicist (d. 1984)
- 1907 - Benny Carter, musician,
arranger
- 1919 - Dino De
Laurentiis, producer
- 1921 - Webb Pierce, country and western singer (d.
1991)
- 1921 - Esther Williams,
actress, swimmer
- 1921 - William Asher, film
producer
- 1921 - John Herbert Chapman, Physicist
- 1922 - Rudi Gernreich,
fashion designer (d. 1985)
- 1922 - Rory Calhoun, actor
(d. 1999)
- 1925 - Alija
Izetbegovic, former Bosnian president (d. 2003)
- 1930 - Andy Warhol, painter (d.
1987)
- 1931 - Sir Roger Penrose,
mathematical physicist
- 1932 - Mel Tillis, country and western singer
- 1936 - Donald P.
Bellisario, television producer
- 1937 - Dustin Hoffman,
actor
- 1938 - Connie Stevens,
singer, actress
- 1944 - Peter Weir, film director
- 1949 - Keith Carradine, actor
- 1951 - Mamoru Oshii, film
director
- 1954 - Nigel Mansell, Formula One racer
- 1958 - Deborah Norville, reporter, television host
- 1961 - The Edge (David Evans), guitarist
of U2
- 1966 - Chris Eubank, world
champion boxer
- 1973 - Scott Stapp, Creed frontman
- 1976 - J.C. Chasez, singer (N
Sync)
- 1976 - Drew Lachey, singer
- 1981 - Vanessa Amorosi,
Australian singer/songwriter
- 1981 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- 1988 - Princess Beatrice of York, 5 in line to the throne of England
Deaths
Holidays and observances
August 7 - August 9 - July 8 - September 8 -- listing of all days
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