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August 8 is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar . There are 145 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
1220 - Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula .1509 - The Emperor Krishnadeva Raya is crowned, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire .1576 - The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe 's Uraniborg observatory is laid on Hven .1585 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage .1588 - Anglo-Spanish War : Battle of Gravelines - The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada 's attempt to invade England.1605 - The city of Oulu , Finland , is founded by Charles IX of Sweden .1647 - The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms : Battle of Dungans Hill - English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.1709 - Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the King of Portugal in Lisbon 1786 - Mont Blanc on the French - Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard .1793 - The insurrection of Lyon occurs during the French Revolution.1794 - Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver lead an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska .1810 - Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib marries Maaroof , daughter of Nawab Ilahi Baksh, and moves to Delhi .1839 - Beta Theta Pi is founded in Oxford, Ohio .1844 - The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles , headed by Brigham Young , is reaffirmed as the leading body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or 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 (which is refused upon receipt).1863 - American Civil War: Tennessee's "military" Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves. During the early 20th century, the day was celebrated by blacks in Tennessee as a holiday.
1870 - The Republic of Ploieşti Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania .1876 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph .1908 - Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans , France. It is the Wright Brothers' first public flight.1910 - The US Army installs the first tricycle landing gear on the Army's Wright Flyer .1911 - The millionth patent is filed in the United States Patent Office by Francis Holton for a tubeless vehicle tire.1911 - Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law would come into effect in 1913 .
1918 - World War I : the Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive ).1929 - The German airship Graf Zeppelin 1931 - Workers go on strike at the Hoover dam .1938 - The building of Mauthausen concentration camp begins.1940 - The "Aufbau Ost " directive is signed by Wilhelm Keitel .1942 - World War II : in Washington, DC , six German would-be saboteurs (Operation Pastorius ) are executed.1942 - The Quit India resolution was passed by the Bombay session of the AICC, leading to the start of a civil disobedience movement across India .
1945 - World War II: the Soviet Union declares war on Japan and begins the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation .1945 - The United Nations Charter is signed by the United States , which becomes the third nation to join.
1946 - First flight of the Convair B-36 .1947 - Pakistan 's National Flag is approved.1949 - Bhutan becomes independent.1960 - South Kasai secedes from the Congo .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) is founded by Indonesia , Malaysia , the Philippines , Singapore and Thailand .1968 - Jurō Wada successfully performs Japan's first heart transplant .1973 - U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew appears on television to denounce accusations he had taken kickbacks while governor of Maryland .1973 - Kim Dae-Jung , a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped .
1974 - Watergate scandal : U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation, effective the next day.1980 - The Central Hotel Fire, Bundoran occurs in Ireland.1986 - Altaf Hussain 's address at Nishtar Park Karachi , announcing the establishment of the MQM political movement.1988 - The "8888 Uprising " occurs in Burma .1988 - The lights are turned on at Wrigley Field for the first time, making it the last major league stadium to host night games. (The game, against the Philadelphia Phillies , is rained out after three-and-a-half innings.)
1989 - Space Shuttle program : STS-28 Mission - Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.1990 - Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.1991 - The Warsaw radio mast , at one time the tallest construction ever built, collapses.1991 - John McCarthy , British journalist held hostage in Lebanon for more than five years by Islamic Jihad, is released.
2000 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley 2007 - An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County , New York State , the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.
Births
1079 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107 )1518 - Conrad Lycosthenes , French-born German humanist and encyclopedist (d. 1561 )1605 - Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , British colonial Governor of Maryland (d. 1675 )1646 - Godfrey Kneller , German-born painter (d. 1723 )1673 - John Ker , Scottish spy (d. 1726 )1693 - Laurent Belissen , French composer (d. 1762 )1694 - Francis Hutcheson , Irish philosopher (d. 1746 )1720 - Carl Fredrik Pechlin , Swedish politician (d. 1796 )1807 - Emilie Flygare-Carlén , Swedish novelist (d. 1892 )1814 - Esther Morris , American jurist (d. 1902 )1824 - Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse) , Tsarina of Russia (d. 1880 )1839 - Nelson Miles , American general (d. 1925 )1857 - Cécile Chaminade , French pianist and composer (d. 1944 )1866 - Matthew Henson , Arctic explorer (d. 1955 )1875 - Artur da Silva Bernardes , President of Brazil (d. 1955 )1879 - Bob Smith , American founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1950 )1879 - Emiliano Zapata , Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919 )
1880 - Earle Page , Australian politician (d. 1961 )1881 - Albert Kesselring , German field marshal (d. 1960 )1881 - Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist , German field marshal (d. 1954 )
1882 - Ladislas Starevich , Polish animator (d. 1965 )1884 - Sara Teasdale , American poet (d. 1933 )1889 - Jack Ryder , Australain cricketer (d. 1977 )1891 - Adolf Busch , German violinist (d. 1952 )1892 - Rafael Moreno Aranzadi , Spanish footballer (d. 1922 )1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings , American author (d. 1953 )1898 - Alexis Minotis , Greek actor (d. 1990 )1901 - Ernest O. Lawrence , American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958 )1902 - Paul Dirac , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984 )1904 - Achille Varzi , Italian race car driver (d. 1948 )1905 - André Jolivet , French composer (d. 1974 )1907 - Benny Carter , American musician (d. 2003 )1908 - Arthur Goldberg , U.S. Supreme Court justice (d. 1980 )1909 - Bill Voce , England cricketer (d. 1984 )1910 - Sylvia Sidney , American actress (d. 1999 )1911 - Rosetta LeNoire , American actress (d. 2002 )1915 - Jumbo Elliott , American track coach (d. 1981 )1919 - Dino De Laurentiis , Italian film producer1920 - Leo Chiosso , Italian lyricist (d. 2006 )1920 - Carol Lambrino , son of Carol II of Romania and Zizi Lambrino (d. 2006 )
1920 - Jimmy Witherspoon , American singer (d. 1997 )
1921 - William Asher , American film producer1921 - John Herbert Chapman , British physicist (d. 1979 )
1921 - Webb Pierce , American singer (d. 1991 )
1921 - Vulimiri Ramalingaswami , Indian medical scientist (d. 2001 )
1921 - Esther Williams , American actress and swimmer
1922 - Rory Calhoun , American actor (d. 1999 )1922 - Rudi Gernreich , Austrian-born fashion designer (d. 1985 )
1922 - Gertrude Himmelfarb , American historian
1925 - Alija Izetbegović , Bosniak politician (d. 2003 )1926 - Richard Anderson , American actor1927 - Johnny Temple , American baseball player (d. 1994 )1928 - Don Burrows , Australian musician1929 - Ronald Biggs , British criminal1929 - Larisa Bogoraz , Soviet dissident (d. 2004 )
1931 - Sir Roger Penrose , British physicist1932 - Luis García Meza Tejada , Bolivian dictator1932 - Mel Tillis , American singer
1933 - Joe Tex , American singer (d. 1982 )1933 - Serena Wilson , American belly dancer (d. 2007 )
1935 - Donald P. Bellisario , American television producer1935 - John Laws , Australia radio personality
1936 - Keith Barron , English actor1936 - Frank Howard , American baseball player
1937 - Dustin Hoffman , American actor1938 - Jacques Hétu , French Canadian composer1938 - Connie Stevens , American singer and actress
1939 - Alexander Watson , American ambassador and diplomat1940 - Dennis Tito , American businessman and space tourist1940 - Dilip Sardesai , Indian cricketer (d. 2007 )
1944 - Brooke Bundy , American actress1944 - John Renbourn , English musician
1946 - James W. Lewis , American convicted extortionist1947 - José Cruz , Puerto Rican baseball player1947 - Ken Dryden , Canadian ice hockey player and parliamentarian
1947 - Larry Wilcox , American actor
1948 - Svetlana Savitskaya , Russian cosmonaut1949 - Keith Carradine , American actor1949 - Ricardo Londoño , Colombian racing driver
1950 - Ken Kutaragi , Founder of PlayStation 1951 - Mamoru Oshii , Japanese film director1951 - Randy Shilts , American journalist and author (d. 1994 )
1951 - Phil Carlson , Australian cricketer
1952 - Jostein Gaarder , Norwegian author1952 - Robin Quivers , American radio personality
1952 - Sudhakar Rao , Indian cricketer
1953 - Nigel Mansell , English race car driver1953 - Don Most , American actor
1955 - Diddú , Icelandic soprano and songwriter1955 - Herbert Prohaska , Austrian footballer
1956 - David Grant , English singer and vocal coach1956 - Branscombe Richmond , American actor
1956 - Chris Foreman , English guitarist (Madness )
1958 - Deborah Norville , American television host1958 - Cecilia Roth , Argentine actress
1960 - Ulrich Maly , German politician1961 - The Edge , Irish guitarist (U2 )1961 - Daniel House , American music executive
1961 - Bruce Matthews , American football player
1961 - Rikki Rockett , American drummer (Poison )
1962 - Mike Zanier , Canadian ice hockey player1963 - Jon Turteltaub , American director1963 - Stephen Walkom , Canadian ice hockey official and executive
1964 - Anastasia Ashman , American writer1964 - Paul Taylor , England cricketer
1965 - Kate Langbroek , Australian media personality1965 - Aaron Abeyta , American musician
1965 - Angus Fraser , England cricketer
1966 - Chris Eubank , English boxer1966 - John Hudek , American baseball player
1967 - Eric Angle , American wrestler1967 - Marcelo Balboa , American soccer player
1967 - Rena Mero , American wrestler
1967 - Jessica Moore , Italian actress
1967 - Lee Unkrich , American director and film editor
1968 - Abey Kuruvilla , Indian cricketer1969 - Faye Wong , Hong Kong singer and actress1969 - Dick Togo , Japanese professional wrestler
1970 - Trev Alberts , American football player1970 - Pascal Duquenne , Belgian actor
1972 - Axel Merckx , Belgian bicycle racer1972 - Lüpüs Thünder , American musician (The Bloodhound Gang )
1973 - Toby Allen , Australian singer (Human Nature )1973 - Shane Lee , Australian cricketer
1973 - Senta Moses , American actress
1973 - Scott Stapp , American singer (Creed )
1974 - Scott D'Amore , Canadian professional wrestler and manager1974 - Brian Harvey , English singer
1974 - Andy Priaulx , British race car driver
1975 - Zydrunas Ilgauskas , Best basketball player ever
1976 - JC Chasez , American singer (*NSYNC )1976 - Tawny Cypress , American actress
1976 - Drew Lachey , American singer
1976 - Seung-Yeop Lee , Korean baseball player
1976 - Jeff Simmons , American race car driver
1977 - Kurt Bernard , Costa Rican footballer1977 - Szilard Nemeth , Slovak footballer
1977 - Lindsay Sloane , American actress
1977 - Rocky Thompson , Canadian ice hockey player
1977 - Mohammad Wasim , Pakistani cricketer
1978 - Alan Maybury , Irish footballer1978 - Louis Saha , French footballer
1978 - Miho Shiraishi , Japanese actress
1978 - Countess Vaughn , American actress and singer
1979 - Richard Harwood , British cellist1979 - Paris Latsis , Greek shipping heir
1979 - Rashard Lewis , American basketball player
1979 - Sam Totman , English musician (Dragonforce )
1980 - Mike Hindert , American musician1980 - Sabine Klaschka , German tennis player
1980 - Pat Noonan , American footballer
1980 - Michael Urie , American actor and director
1981 - Vanessa Amorosi , Australian singer and songwriter1981 - Roger Federer , Swiss tennis player
1981 - Meagan Good , American actress
1981 - Kaori Iida , Japanese singer and actress
1981 - Bradley McIntosh , British pop singer
1982 - David Florence , British canoeist1983 - Guy Burnet , British actor1984 - Martrez Milner , American football player1984 - Devon McTavish , American footballer
1985 - Brayan Ruiz , Costa Rican football player1986 - Peyton List , American actress1987 - Katie Leung , Scottish actress1988 - Princess Beatrice of York 1988 - Danilo Gallinari , Italian basketball player
1989 - Sesil Karatantcheva , Bulgarian tennis player1995 - Malin Reitan , Norwegian singer
Deaths
869 - Lothair II of Lotharingia (b. 825 )1445 - Oswald von Wolkenstein , Austrian composer1553 - Girolamo Fracastoro , Italian physician (b. 1478 )1555 - Oronce Finé , French mathematician (b. 1494 )1588 - Alonso Sánchez Coello , Spanish painter1604 - Horio Tadauji , Japanese warlord (b. 1578 )1631 - Konstantinas Sirvydas , Lithuanian lexicographer (b. 1579 )1684 - George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (b. 1622 )1747 - Madeleine de Verchères , New France heroine (b. 1678 )1759 - Carl Heinrich Graun , German composer (b. 1704 )1827 - George Canning , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770 )1828 - Carl Peter Thunberg , Swedish naturalist (b. 1743 )1863 - Angus MacAskill known as 'Giant MacAskill', circus performer (b.1825 )1879 - Immanuel Hermann Fichte , German philosopher (b. 1797 )1887 - Alexander William Doniphan , American lawyer and soldier (b. 1808 )1897 - Jacob Burckhardt , Swiss art historian (b. 1818 )1898 - Eugène Boudin , French painter (b. 1824 )1902 - James Tissot , French artist (b. 1836 )1911 - William P. Frye , American politician (b. 1830 )1928 - Stjepan Radić , Croatian politician (b. 1871 )1933 - Adolf Loos , Austrian architect (b. 1870 )1934 - Wilbert Robinson , American baseball player and hall-of-famer (b. 1863 )1940 - Johnny Dodds , American musician (b. 1892 )1944 - Chaim Soutine , Russian painter (b. 1894 )1944 - Erwin von Witzleben , German field marshal (b. 1881 )
1944 - Michael Wittmann , German Tank ace and Knight's Cross holder, killed in action , Normandy . (b. 1914 )
1947 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin , Russian general (b. 1872 )1950 - Fergus McMaster , Australian businessman (b. 1879 )1961 - Méi Lánfāng , Chinese opera performer (b. 1894 )1965 - Shirley Jackson , American author (b. 1916 )1969 - Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer , German eugenicist and Nazi physician (b. 1896 )1972 - Andrea Feldman , American actor (b. 1948 )1973 - Dean Corll , American serial killer (b. 1939 )1973 - Vilhelm Moberg , Swedish author and historian (b. 1898 )
1974 - Baldur von Schirach , Nazi youth leader (b. 1907 )1975 - Julian "Cannonball" Adderley , American jazz saxophonist (b. 1928 )1977 - Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian , Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1889 )1979 - Nicholas Monsarrat , British novelist (b. 1910 )1980 - Paul Triquet , French Canadian army officer (b. 1910 )1982 - Eric Brandon , British racing driver (b. 1920 )1984 - Ellen Raskin , American author(b.1928 )1985 - Louise Brooks , American actress (b. 1906 )1987 - Danilo Blanuša , Croatian mathematician (b. 1903 )1988 - Félix Leclerc , Quebec singer and songwriter (b. 1914 )1988 - Alan Napier , English actor (b. 1903 )
1988 - Ramón Valdés , Mexican actor (b. 1923 )
1991 - Julissa Gomez , American gymnast (b. 1972 )1991 - James Irwin , astronaut (b. 1930 )1992 - Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qasim Khoei , considered to be the Supreme Shi'ite authority at the time of his death1992 - John Kordic , Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1965 )
1996 - Nevill Mott , Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1905 )1998 - Mahmoud Saremi , Iranian journalist2004 - Fay Wray , American actress (b. 1907 )2004 - Dimitris Papamichael , Greek actor (b. 1934 )
2005 - Barbara Bel Geddes , American actress (b. 1922 )2005 - Ahmed Deedat , Islamic scholar (b. 1918 )
2005 - John H. Johnson , African-American publisher (b. 1918 )
2005 - Gene Mauch , American baseball player (b. 1925 )
2005 - Monica Sjöö , Swedish artist (b. 1938 )
2005 - Ilse Werner , German actress (b. 1921 )
2007 - Joybubbles , A notable phone phreak. (b. 1949 )2007 - Ma Lik , Chinese politician (b. 1952 )
2007 - Melville Shavelson , American film director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1917 )
2008 - Orville Moody , American golfer (b. 1933 )
Holidays and observances
External links
