History of Today in India – 08 May

Explore the history of today 08 May in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 08 May 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 08 May in World History

08 May 2025: The 2025 papal conclave elects Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, taking the name Leo XIV as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church. Read more
08 May 2021: A car bomb explodes in front of a school in Kabul, capital city of Afghanistan killing at least 55 people and wounding over 150. Read more
08 May 2019: British 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. Read more
08 May 1997: China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people. Read more
08 May 1988: A 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". Read more
08 May 1987: The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland. Read more
08 May 1984: Corporal 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. Read more
08 May 1984: The Soviet Union announces a boycott upon the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles, later joined by 14 other countries. Read more
08 May 1984: The Thames Barrier is officially opened, preventing the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded except under extreme circumstances. Read more
08 May 1980: The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox. Read more
08 May 1978: The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Read more
08 May 1976: The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Read more
08 May 1973: A 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. Read more
08 May 1972: Vietnam 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. Read more
08 May 1970: The Beatles release their 12th and final studio album Let It Be. Read more
08 May 1967: The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental. Read more
08 May 1963: South 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. Read more
08 May 1957: South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem begins a state visit to the United States, his regime's main sponsor. Read more
08 May 1950: The Tollund Man is discovered in a peat bog near Silkeborg, Denmark. Read more
08 May 1946: Estonian schoolgirls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn. Read more
08 May 1945: World War II: The German Instrument of Surrender signed at Berlin-Karlshorst comes into effect. Read more
08 May 1945: End of the Prague uprising, celebrated now as a national holiday in the Czech Republic. Read more
08 May 1945: Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre. Read more
08 May 1945: The Halifax riot starts when thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia. Read more
08 May 1942: World War II: The German 11th Army begins Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three Soviet armies defending the Kerch Peninsula. Read more
08 May 1942: World 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. Read more
08 May 1942: World 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 for mutiny during the Second World War. Read more
08 May 1941: World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby. Read more
08 May 1933: Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement. Read more
08 May 1927: Attempting 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. Read more
08 May 1924: The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania. Read more
08 May 1921: The creation of the Communist Party of Romania. Read more
08 May 1919: Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended World War I. Read more
08 May 1902: In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast. Read more
08 May 1899: The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin produces its first play. Read more
08 May 1898: The first games of the Italian football league system are played. Read more
08 May 1886: Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine. Read more
08 May 1877: At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens. Read more
08 May 1846: Mexican–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. Read more
08 May 1842: A train derails and catches fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people. Read more
08 May 1821: Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 08 May in World History

08 May 2005: Oliver Bearman, English racing driver Oliver James Bearman is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Haas. Read more
08 May 2003: Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco Moulay Hassan is the Crown Prince of Morocco. He is the elder child of King Mohammed VI and Princess Lalla Salma. He has a younger sister, Princess Khadija. He is named after his grandfather Hassan II. In 2013, he began participating with his father at public official engagements. Read more
08 May 2001: Jordyn Huitema, Canadian soccer player Jordyn Pamela Huitema is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Chicago Stars FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Canada national team. Read more
08 May 1996: 6ix9ine, American rapper Daniel Hernandez, known professionally as 6ix9ine, Tekashi69, or Tekashi 6ix9ine, is an American rapper. His music has been marked by an aggressive style of rapping, while his controversial public persona is characterized by his distinctive rainbow-colored hair, tattoos, legal problems, social media "trolling", and publicized celebrity feuds. Read more
08 May 1993: Pat Cummins, Australian cricketer Patrick James Cummins is an Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian men's cricket team in all three formats, captaining the team in both Test and One Day International cricket. A right-armed pace bowler, he also captains the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. Read more
08 May 1992: Olivia Culpo, American model and actress Olivia Frances Culpo is an American model, actress, and media personality. Culpo has won Miss Rhode Island USA, Miss USA 2012, and Miss Universe 2012. Read more
08 May 1992: Kevin Hayes, American ice hockey player Kevin Patrick Hayes is an American professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Read more
08 May 1990: Lane Johnson, American football player David Lane Johnson is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Eagles fourth overall in the 2013 NFL draft. He played college football for the Kilgore Rangers before transferring to the Oklahoma Sooners. Johnson has made three Super Bowl appearances with the Eagles, winning two. He is a two time first-team All-Pro, three time second All-Pro, and six time Pro Bowl selection. Read more
08 May 1990: Iyo Sky, Japanese wrestler Masami Odate is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Iyo Sky . She was a former Women's Money in the Bank contract holder, former WWE Women's Champion, and former Women's World Champion. Known for her athleticism and in-ring ability, she is regarded as one of the best women's wrestlers in the world. Read more
08 May 1990: Kemba Walker, American basketball player Kemba Hudley Walker is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is a player enhancement coach for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was picked ninth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA draft and also played for the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and the Dallas Mavericks, before finishing his career with AS Monaco. He played college basketball for the Connecticut Huskies. In their 2010–11 season, Walker was the nation's second-leading scorer and was named consensus first-team All-American; he also led the Huskies to a 2011 NCAA championship victory and claimed the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Walker is a four-time NBA All-Star, a one-time All-NBA Team member, two-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award, as well as a LNB Élite champion. Read more
08 May 1989: Lars Eller, Danish ice hockey player Lars Fosgaard Eller is a Danish professional ice hockey player who is a centre for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "the Tiger", he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the first round, 13th overall, in the 2007 NHL entry draft. Eller made his NHL debut in 2009 with the Blues and was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 2010, where he played six seasons, before being traded to the Washington Capitals in 2016. He became the first person from Denmark to win the Stanley Cup when the Capitals won in 2018, scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal. After a brief stint with the Colorado Avalanche, Eller joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023, becoming the first Danish player to play in 1,000 NHL games, before being traded back to the Capitals in 2024. Internationally, Eller has played for the Danish national team at both the junior and senior level, including at five World Championships. Read more
08 May 1988: Trisha Paytas, American media personality Trisha Paytas is an American media personality, actress, singer, and YouTuber. She is known for her multifaceted career on YouTube, marked by numerous online controversies and feuds. Her content spans numerous genres, including lifestyle vlogs and mukbangs. Read more
08 May 1987: Felix Jones, American football player Felix Jones Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, earning consensus All-American honors in 2007. He was selected by the Cowboys in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft. Read more
08 May 1987: Mark Noble, English footballer Mark James Noble is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the sporting director of Premier League club West Ham United. A fan of the club since childhood, Noble spent eighteen years with West Ham playing as a central midfielder, serving as club captain for seven years, before retiring at the end of the 2021–22 season. Aside from two brief loan spells at Hull City and Ipswich Town, Noble played all of his first team matches for the club, earning him the nickname "Mr West Ham". Read more
08 May 1987: Kurt Tippett, Australian footballer Kurt Anthony Tippett is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club and the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Read more
08 May 1986: Galen Rupp, American runner Galen Rupp is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meters in London and the bronze medal in the men's marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Rupp competed for the University of Oregon and trained under Alberto Salazar as a member of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the 2017 Chicago Marathon, becoming the first American to do so since Khalid Khannouchi in 2002. Rupp won the marathon at the 2020 United States Olympic Trials (marathon) in Atlanta with a time of 2:09:20, and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he finished eighth. Read more
08 May 1985: Tommaso Ciampa, American wrestler Tommaso Whitney, better known by the ring name Tommaso Ciampa, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW TNT Champion. Read more
08 May 1982: Buakaw Banchamek, Thai kick-boxer Sombat Banchamek, also known by his ring name Buakaw Banchamek and mononymously as Buakaw is a Thai professional Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. Known for his fierce fighting style, he is regarded as one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters of all time. Read more
08 May 1982: Adrián González, American baseball player Adrián González Savín, also known by his nicknames "A-Gon" and "Titán", is a Mexican-American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets. Read more
08 May 1981: Stephen Amell, Canadian actor Stephen Adam Amell is a Canadian actor. He came to prominence for playing the lead role of Oliver Queen on the CW superhero series Arrow (2012–2020), based on DC Comics. Amell also appeared in subsequent Arrowverse franchise media, along with reprising his role in various video games. Following the conclusion of Arrow, Amell landed the lead roles in both the Starz drama series Heels (2021–2023), and Suits LA, the sequel to Suits. Read more
08 May 1981: Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer Andrea Barzagli is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He was selected to the Serie A Team of the Year four times. Read more
08 May 1980: Evgeny Lebedev, Russian-English publisher and philanthropist Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev, Baron Lebedev is a Russian-British businessman, who owns Lebedev Holdings Ltd, which in turn owns the Evening Standard and the now-defunct ESTV. He is also an investor in The Independent. Read more
08 May 1980: Michelle McManus, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress Michelle McManus is a Scottish singer, columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter who won the second and final series of the UK talent show Pop Idol in 2003. She currently presents the Afternoon radio show broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland, and is the host of The Entertainment Mix (2024–present) which airs on BBC Scotland. In January 2004, McManus made history when she became the first Scottish female artist to debut atop the UK Singles Chart with a debut single. Read more
08 May 1978: Lúcio, Brazilian footballer Lucimar Ferreira da Silva, commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, he is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. His long, surging, galloping runs on the ball earned him the nickname O Cavalo. Read more
08 May 1977: Joe Bonamassa, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Joseph Leonard Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which eleven have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart. Read more
08 May 1977: Bad News Brown, Canadian rapper, harmonica player, and actor (died 2011) Paul Frappier, better known by his stage name Bad News Brown, was a Canadian entertainer, musician, and hip hop MC of Haitian origin. He was known for pairing the sound of his chief instrument, the harmonica, with hip-hop beats and rhymes. Frappier started out busking in Montreal in streets and subway stations. He later toured and opened for many well-known hip hop acts or as background musician. He also appeared as an impromptu host in Music for a Blue Train, the 2003 documentary about busker musicians in the Montreal Metro subway train system. In 2004, he signed a management deal with E-Stunt Entertainment Group. In 2009, he established his own record label, Trilateral Entertainment Inc., and released his debut album Born 2 Sin. Brown was found murdered in an alley near the Lachine Canal in Montreal on February 11, 2011. The feature film BumRush, featuring Brown in a leading role, premiered posthumously on April 1, 2011. Read more
08 May 1977: Theodoros Papaloukas, Greek basketball player Theodoros Papaloukas, commonly known as Theo Papaloukas, is a retired Greek professional basketball player. He was selected to the All-EuroLeague Team four times, was a member of the EuroLeague 2000–2010 All-Decade Team, and was named one of the 50 greatest EuroLeague contributors in 2008. A legendary figure in European basketball, he was renowned for his ability to come off the bench and immediately dominate the game. In 2013, he received the sport’s highest European honor when he was named a EuroLeague Legend in recognition of his career achievements. Read more
08 May 1976: Martha Wainwright, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist Martha Wainwright is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically acclaimed studio albums. Read more
08 May 1975: Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums: Enrique Iglesias, Vivir and Cosas del Amor, becoming the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. Read more
08 May 1974: Korey Stringer, American football player (died 2001) Korey Damont Stringer was an American professional football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was recognized as an All-American. He was selected in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings. On August 1, 2001, Stringer died from complications brought on by heat stroke during the Vikings' training camp in Mankato, Minnesota. Read more
08 May 1973: Jesús Arellano, Mexican footballer José de Jesús Arellano Alcocer is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a winger, and a wanted fugitive. Read more
08 May 1973: Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter Marcus Alexander Brigstocke is a British comedian and actor. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Read more
08 May 1972: Darren Hayes, Australian singer-songwriter Darren Stanley Hayes is an Australian singer, songwriter, music producer and composer. He was the singer of the pop duo Savage Garden from their 1993 establishment until their disbandment in 2001. Their 1997 album Savage Garden peaked at No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in the United Kingdom, and No. 3 in the United States. It spawned the singles "I Want You", "To the Moon and Back", and Australian and US No. 1 hit "Truly Madly Deeply". The duo followed the success of their debut album with Affirmation (1999), which provided additional hits such as Australian and US No. 1 hit "I Knew I Loved You" and Australian No. 3 hit "The Animal Song". Read more
08 May 1972: Ray Whitney, Canadian ice hockey player Raymond D. Whitney is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was given the nickname "The Wizard" for his passing and playmaking skills. Read more
08 May 1971: Candice Night, American singer-songwriter Candice Night is an American singer and musician. She has been the vocalist/lyricist and multi-instrumentalist for the traditional folk rock project Blackmore's Night since its origins in 1997 with her husband, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. She is also the backing vocalist for Rainbow from 1994 to 1997 and 2015–present, again with Blackmore. Her first solo album, Reflections, was released in 2011. Read more
08 May 1970: Michael Bevan, Australian cricketer and coach Michael Gwyl Bevan is an Australian former international cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm wrist spin bowler. Bevan is widely considered as one of the greatest One Day International (ODI) batsmen of all-time, and topped the International Cricket Council's batting rankings in the format on numerous occasions. He was the first Canberra-born player to represent Australia at international level. He played 232 ODIs for Australia, and was a part of the Australian squads which won the 1999 and 2003 Cricket World Cups. He represented Australia at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where cricket was included in the Games for the first time. Read more
08 May 1970: Naomi Klein, Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses, support of ecofeminism and organized labour, and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism and capitalism. Read more
08 May 1970: Luis Enrique, Spanish footballer and manager Luis Enrique Martínez García, known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Read more
08 May 1969: Akebono Tarō, American-Japanese sumo wrestler, the 64th Yokozuna (died 2024) Akebono Tarō was an American-born Japanese professional sumo wrestler and professional wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining sumo in Japan in 1988, he was trained by the pioneering Hawaiian wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reaching the top division in 1990. After two consecutive yusho or tournament championships in November 1992 and January 1993 he made history by becoming the first non-Japanese-born wrestler ever to reach yokozuna, the highest rank in sumo. Read more
08 May 1967: Viviana Durante, Italian ballerina and actress Viviana Durante is an Italian ballet dancer, considered one of the great dramatic ballerinas of recent times. She was a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Teatro alla Scala and K-Ballet. She is the artistic director of English National Ballet School and of the Viviana Durante Company. Read more
08 May 1966: Eileen Bowman, American actress Eileen Josephine Bowman Sylwestrzak is an American actress who performed as Snow White at the 61st Academy Awards and Beach Blanket Babylon. Bowman starred in productions of End of the Rainbow (2015), Hairspray (2018), Looped (2024) and she won a Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Female for Guys and Dolls (2012). Read more
08 May 1966: Cláudio Taffarel, Brazilian footballer and coach Cláudio André Mergen Taffarel is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who is the goalkeeping coach of the Brazil national team. Read more
08 May 1964: Melissa Gilbert, American actress and director Melissa Ellen Gilbert is an American actress. Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous commercials and guest-starring roles on television. From 1974 to 1983, she starred as Laura Ingalls Wilder, the second-oldest daughter of Charles Ingalls on the NBC series Little House on the Prairie. During the run of Little House, Gilbert appeared in several television films, including The Diary of Anne Frank (1980) and The Miracle Worker (1979). As an adult, she continued her career mainly in television films. From 2009 to 2010, Gilbert appeared as Caroline "Ma" Ingalls in the touring production of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. In 2012, she was a contestant on season fourteen of the reality dance competition show Dancing with the Stars on ABC. Read more
08 May 1963: Anthony Field, Australian guitarist, songwriter, producer, and actor Anthony Donald Joseph Field is an Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer. He is best known as the leader of the children's group the Wiggles and a member of the 1980s and 1990s pop band the Cockroaches. While still a teenager, he helped found the Cockroaches with his brothers, Paul and John. The Cockroaches recorded two albums and enjoyed moderate success, interrupted by Field's service in the Army, until they disbanded in the late 1980s. Read more
08 May 1963: Michel Gondry, French director and screenwriter Michel Gondry is a French filmmaker and producer. He is known for directing the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which he co-wrote with Charlie Kaufman, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. His other films include the music documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005), the surrealistic science fantasy comedy The Science of Sleep (2006), the comedy Be Kind Rewind (2008), the superhero comedy The Green Hornet (2011), the drama The We and the I (2012), and the romantic science fantasy tragedy Mood Indigo (2013). Read more
08 May 1961: Bill de Blasio, American politician, 109th Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio is an American former politician who served as the 110th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New York City Public Advocate from 2010 to 2013. Read more
08 May 1961: David Winning, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter David Winning is a Canadian-American film and television director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and occasional actor. Although Winning has worked in numerous film and TV genres, his name is most commonly associated with science fiction, thrillers and drama. Read more
08 May 1960: Franco Baresi, Italian footballer and coach Franchino Baresi is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining the club for 15 seasons. Widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, he was ranked 19th in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. With Milan, he won three European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, six Serie A trophies, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, two European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups, as well as a World Cup with Italy. Read more
08 May 1959: Ronnie Lott, American football player and sportscaster Ronald Mandel Lott is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons from 1981 to 1994. Read more
08 May 1958: Roddy Doyle, Irish novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Roderick Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been made into films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. Doyle's work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. Read more
08 May 1958: Brooks Newmark, American-English businessman and politician, Lord of the Treasury Brooks Phillip Victor Newmark is a former British Conservative politician, who served as a Member of Parliament and minister. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Braintree in the 2005 general election and stood down at the 2015 general election. Read more
08 May 1957: Bill Cowher, American football player, coach, and analyst William Laird Cowher is an American former professional football linebacker and coach who served as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He began his coaching career as an assistant under Marty Schottenheimer for the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, serving as the latter's defensive coordinator from 1989 to 1991. In 1992, Cowher was named head coach of the Steelers, a position he held until his retirement following the 2006 season. After retiring, Cowher joined The NFL Today as a studio analyst. Read more
08 May 1956: Jeff Wincott, Canadian actor and martial artist Jeffrey Wincott is a Canadian actor and martial artist best known for his lead role in the television series Night Heat. Read more
08 May 1955: Patrick Hanrahan, American computer graphics researcher Patrick M. Hanrahan is an American computer graphics researcher, the Canon USA Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering in the Computer Graphics Laboratory at Stanford University.
His research focuses on rendering algorithms, graphics processing units, as well as scientific illustration and visualization. He has received numerous awards, including the 2019 Turing Award. Read more
08 May 1955: Mladen Markač, Croatian general Mladen Markač is a Croatian retired general. He was a Commander of Croatian Special Police during Operation Storm during the Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995), and afterwards held the rank of Colonel General. Later, he was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes committed during Operation Storm by Croatian forces against the Serbs from Croatia. In April 2011, the ICTY found him guilty and sentenced him to 18 years. Read more
08 May 1954: David Keith, American actor and director David Lemuel Keith is an American actor and director. His breakout role was as aspiring Navy pilot Sid Worley in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), earning Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor and New Star of the Year. The role paved the way for leading performances in The Lords of Discipline (1983), Firestarter (1984) and the cult thriller White of the Eye (1987). Keith has since appeared in numerous supporting roles, among them Major League II (1994), The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), Poodle Springs (1998), U-571 (2000), Men of Honor (2000), Behind Enemy Lines (2001) and Daredevil (2003). He also portrayed Elvis Presley in Chris Columbus’s musical comedy Heartbreak Hotel (1988), singing several numbers on the soundtrack—including “Love Me” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”—opposite Tuesday Weld. Read more
08 May 1953: Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American drummer Alexander Arthur Van Halen is an American musician who was the drummer and a co-founder of the rock band Van Halen, which was formed in 1972 by Van Halen and his younger brother Eddie under the name "Mammoth" before adding Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth in 1974 and changing their name to Van Halen. Read more
08 May 1952: Peter McNab, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (died 2022) Peter Maxwell McNab was a Canadian-born American professional ice hockey player. He played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1973 to 1987, with the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, and New Jersey Devils. He later served as the color commentator for the Colorado Avalanche from their inaugural 1995–96 season until his death. Read more
08 May 1951: Philip Bailey, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor Philip James Bailey is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band. Read more
08 May 1951: Mike D'Antoni, American basketball player and coach Michael Andrew D'Antoni is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Read more
08 May 1951: Chris Frantz, American drummer and producer Charton Christopher Frantz is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist, Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frantz was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Talking Heads. Read more
08 May 1947: H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Howard Robert Horvitz ForMemRS NAS AAA&S APS NAM is an American biologist whose research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, together with Sydney Brenner and John E. Sulston, whose "seminal discoveries concerning the genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death" were "important for medical research and have shed new light on the pathogenesis of many diseases". Read more
08 May 1947: John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, Scottish historian and politician, Secretary of State for Defence John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, is a Scottish politician. A member of the Labour Party, he held various Cabinet positions under prime minister Tony Blair from 1999 to 2007, lastly as Home Secretary from 2006 to 2007. He was also a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2010 and has been a member of the House of Lords since 2010. Read more
08 May 1945: Keith Jarrett, American pianist and composer Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a group leader and solo performer in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music. His improvisations draw from the traditions of jazz and other genres, including Western classical music, gospel, blues, and ethnic folk music. Read more
08 May 1944: Gary Glitter, English singer-songwriter Paul Francis Gadd, better known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is a British former singer who achieved fame and success during the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after his 1999 conviction of downloading child sexual abuse material. He was also convicted of child sexual abuse in 2006 and a series of sexual offences in 2015. Read more
08 May 1943: Pat Barker, English author Dame Patricia Mary W. Barker, is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. She is known for her Regeneration Trilogy, published in the 1990s, and, more recently, a series of books set during the Trojan War, starting with The Silence of the Girls in 2018. Read more
08 May 1943: Gamini Lokuge, Sri Lankan politician (died 2025) Gamini Kulawansa Lokuge was a Sri Lankan politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka for the Colombo Electoral District between 1989 and 2024, and had previously represented Kesbewa in the National State Assembly from 1983 to 1989. Throughout his time in Sri Lankan politics, Lokuge held many different cabinet positions, such as Minister of Power, Minister of Energy, Minister of Transport, Minister of Labour, Minister of Sports and Minister of Tourism, among many others, through many national governments. He also served as the President of the National Employees Union as well as the head of the United National Party’s Public Service Trade Union. Read more
08 May 1942: Norman Lamont, Scottish banker and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer in 1998. Lamont was a supporter of the Eurosceptic organisation Leave Means Leave. Read more
08 May 1942: Terry Neill, Irish footballer and manager (died 2022) William John Terence Neill was a Northern Irish football player and manager. A centre-back, he captained and later managed Arsenal, guiding the club to a European final in 1980 and three consecutive FA Cup finals between 1978 and 1980, winning a dramatic final against Manchester United in 1979. Before his seven-year spell as manager of Arsenal, he managed Hull City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Northern Ireland. Read more
08 May 1941: Bill Lockyer, American academic and politician, 30th Attorney General of California William Westwood Lockyer is an American politician and lawyer from the state of California. A Democrat, he served in both houses of the state legislature, having been a member of the California State Assembly from 1973 to 1982 and the California State Senate from 1982 to 1998. He spent the last four years of his State Senate tenure as president pro tempore. He then served as California Attorney General from 1999 to 2007, and as California State Treasurer from 2007 to 2015. Read more
08 May 1941: James Traficant, American lawyer and politician (died 2014) James Anthony Traficant Jr. was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. A staunch economic populist known for his flamboyant personality, he represented the 17th congressional district, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley. Read more
08 May 1940: Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (died 2006) Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author. He is best known for his bestselling novel Jaws and co-wrote its movie adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both cinema and television, including The Deep, The Island, Beast, and White Shark. Read more
08 May 1940: Irwin Cotler, Canadian lawyer and politician, 47th Canadian Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler is a retired Canadian politician who was Member of Parliament for Mount Royal from 1999 to 2015. He served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal government of Paul Martin lost power following the 2006 federal election. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a by-election in November 1999, winning 92% of votes cast. Read more
08 May 1940: Emilio Delgado, Mexican-American actor (died 2022) Emilio Ernest Delgado was an American actor best known for his role as Luis, the Fix-it Shop owner, on the children's television series Sesame Street. He joined the cast of Sesame Street in 1971 and remained until his contract was not renewed, in late 2016, as part of Sesame Workshop's retooling of the series. Read more
08 May 1940: Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 1985) Eric Hilliard "Ricky" or “Rick” Nelson was an American musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1957, he began a long and successful career as a popular recording artist. Read more
08 May 1940: Toni Tennille, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist. A contralto, she is best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song is "Love Will Keep Us Together".
Tennille also performed musical work independently of Dragon, including solo albums and session work. Read more
08 May 1940: William B. Jordan, American art historian (died 2018) William Bryan Jordan Jr. was an American art historian who facilitated acquisitions, curated exhibitions, and authored publications on Spanish artists and still life paintings, particularly from the Golden Age. Read more
08 May 1938: Jean Giraud, French author and illustrator (died 2012) Jean Henri Gaston Giraud was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius for his fantasy/science-fiction work, and to a slightly lesser extent as Gir, which he used for his Western-themed work. Esteemed by Federico Fellini, Stan Lee, and Hayao Miyazaki, among others, he has been described as the most influential bande dessinée artist after Hergé. Read more
08 May 1937: Mike Cuellar, Cuban-American baseball player (died 2010) Miguel Ángel Cuellar Santana was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher in 1959 and from 1964 through 1977, most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles who won the American League (AL) pennant in each of Cuellar's first three seasons with the team. During that time, Cuellar and the Orioles won the 1970 World Series. Cuellar also played for the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros and California Angels. Read more
08 May 1937: Thomas Pynchon, American novelist Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. is an American novelist. He is known for his dense, complex works of postmodern fiction, which are distinguished by their paranoid tone, absurd humor, and references to history, art, science, and popular culture. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novelists. Pynchon is notoriously reclusive. Few photographs of him have been published, and rumors about his location and identity have circulated since the 1960s. Read more
08 May 1935: Jack Charlton, English footballer and manager (died 2020) John Charlton was an English professional footballer and manager who played as a centre-back for Leeds United. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 1996, taking them to two World Cups and one European Championship. He was given Irish citizenship in 1996. He was the elder brother of Manchester United forward Bobby Charlton and one of his teammates in England's World Cup final victory. Read more
08 May 1934: Leonard Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann, South African-English lawyer and judge Leonard Hubert "Lennie" Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann is a senior South African–British judge. Currently, he serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong; he formerly served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1995 to 2009. Read more
08 May 1930: Heather Harper, Northern Irish soprano (died 2019) Heather Mary Harper was a Northern Irish operatic soprano. She was active internationally in both opera and concert. She performed roles such as Helena in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Opera House, Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival, and the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera. She became known internationally when she stepped in for the world premiere of Britten's War Requiem in 1962, and remained associated with the composer's work, but also sang other premieres. Read more
08 May 1930: Doug Atkins, American football player (died 2015) Douglas Leon Atkins was an American professional football defensive end who played for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers under head coach Robert Neyland. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Atkins was also drafted to the NBA in the 17th round by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1953 NBA draft. Read more
08 May 1930: Gary Snyder, American poet, essayist, and translator Gary Sherman Snyder is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of Deep Ecology".
Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the American Book Award. His work, in his various roles, reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. He has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern Japanese. For many years, Snyder was an academic at the University of California, Davis, and for a time served as a member of the California Arts Council. Read more
08 May 1929: John C. Bogle, American businessman, investor, and philanthropist (died 2019) John Clifton "Jack" Bogle was an American investor, business magnate and philanthropist and founder. He was the founder and chief executive of The Vanguard Group and is credited with popularizing the index fund. An avid investor and money manager himself, he preached investment over speculation, long-term patience over short-term action, and reducing broker fees as much as possible. Read more
08 May 1929: Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese-American actress and singer (died 2007) Miyoshi Umeki was a Japanese American singer and actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award and Golden Globe Award and was the first East Asia-born woman to win an Academy Award for acting. Read more
08 May 1928: Ted Sorensen, American lawyer, 8th White House Counsel (died 2010) Theodore Chaikin Sorensen was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. He was the primary speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, as well as one of his closest advisers. President Kennedy once called him his "intellectual blood bank". With Sorensen's assistance, Kennedy would later pen Profiles in Courage, for which he won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. He also assisted in Kennedy's inaugural address and drafted Lyndon Johnson's "Let Us Continue" speech following Kennedy's assassination. Read more
08 May 1926: David Attenborough, English environmentalist and television host Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster, natural historian, conservationist, writer, producer and narrator. His presenting career began as host of Zoo Quest in 1954, and has spanned eight decades; it includes the nine documentary series forming The Life Collection, Natural World, Wildlife on One, the Planet Earth franchise, The Blue Planet and Blue Planet II. He is the only person to have won BAFTA Awards in black-and-white, colour, high-definition, 3D and 4K resolution. Over his life, he has collected dozens of honorary degrees and awards, including three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narrator and one Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Personality – Non-Daily. Read more
08 May 1926: David Hurst, German actor (died 2019) David Hurst was a German actor, best known for his role in the film Hello, Dolly as Rudolph the headwaiter. Read more
08 May 1926: Don Rickles, American comedian and actor (died 2017) Donald Jay Rickles was an American actor and stand-up comedian known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Enter Laughing (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Casino (1995). From 1976 to 1978, Rickles had a two-season starring role in the NBC television sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey, having previously starred in two eponymous half-hour programs, an ABC variety series titled The Don Rickles Show (1968) and a CBS sitcom identically titled The Don Rickles Show (1972). A veteran headline performer at Las Vegas hotel-casinos and peripheral member of the Rat Pack via friendship with Frank Sinatra, Rickles received widespread exposure as a frequent guest on talk and variety shows, including The Dean Martin Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Late Show with David Letterman, and voiced Mr. Potato Head in the first three films of the Toy Story franchise (1995–2010), with archive recordings used for Toy Story 4 (2019). He won a Primetime Emmy Award for the 2006 documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project. In 2014, he was honored by fellow comedians in a show at the Apollo Theater, which was taped and released on Spike TV titled Don Rickles: One Night Only. Read more
08 May 1925: Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Tanzanian politician, 2nd President of Tanzania (died 2024) Ali Hassan Mwinyi was a Tanzanian politician who served as the second president of the United Republic of Tanzania from 1985 to 1995. Previous posts included Minister for Home Affairs and Vice President. He also was chairman of the ruling party, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from 1990 to 1996. Read more
08 May 1920: Saul Bass, American graphic designer and director (died 1996) Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos. Read more
08 May 1920: Barbara Howard, Canadian sprinter and educator (died 2017) Barbara Howard was a Canadian sprinter and educator. Growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Howard gained national media attention as a sprinter in high school when she completed a time trial that broke the standing British Empire Games record for the 100-yard dash. She was selected as a member of the Canadian track and field team for the 1938 British Empire Games, becoming the first Black woman to represent Canada in international athletic competition. Although she did not place in the 100-yard dash, she helped her team win silver and bronze in the 440-yard and 660-yard relay events. The outbreak of the Second World War meant that most international sporting events over the next decade were cancelled, and Howard's window of opportunity as a sprinter ended before she could compete again. Read more
08 May 1920: Tom of Finland, Finnish illustrator (died 1991) Touko Valio Laaksonen, known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized erotic art featuring suggestively hypermasculine male characters. He worked primarily in pencil, producing drawings on paper and for publication in a variety of magazines and other formats. These works profoundly influenced late 20th-century gay culture and sexuality, their rise in popularity coinciding with gay law reform successes and the cultural and political emergence of LGBTQ+ communities from the 1960s onward. Tom of Finland has been called the "most influential creator of gay pornographic images" by cultural historian Joseph W. Slade. Over the course of four decades, he produced some 3,500 illustrations, mostly featuring men with exaggerated sexual traits, wearing tight or partially removed clothing. In 1984, he founded the Tom of Finland Foundation to preserve his catalogue of works and support erotic art generally; it continues to operate from TOM House in Los Angeles. Read more
08 May 1920: Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (died 2000) Gordon Lee McClymont AO was an Australian agricultural scientist, ecologist, and educationist. The originator of the term "sustainable agriculture", McClymont is known for his multidisciplinary approach to farm ecology. McClymont was the foundation chair of the Faculty of Rural Science at the University of New England, the first degree program of its kind to integrate animal husbandry, veterinary science, agronomy, and other disciplines into the field of livestock and agricultural production. In 1978, in recognition of his work and contributions to his field, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia. Read more
08 May 1919: Lex Barker, American actor (died 1973) Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. was an American film and television actor. He played Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953 and portrayed leading characters from Karl May's novels, including Old Shatterhand in a film series by the West German studio Rialto Film. At the height of his fame, he was one of the most popular actors in German-speaking cinema and received Bambi Award and Bravo Otto nominations for the honor. Read more
08 May 1916: João Havelange, Brazilian water polo player, lawyer, and businessman (died 2016) Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and athlete who was the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the second longest in FIFA's history, behind that of Jules Rimet. He received the title of honorary president when leaving office, but resigned in April 2013. He was preceded by Stanley Rous and succeeded by Sepp Blatter. Havelange served as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1963 to 2011. He was the longest-serving active member upon his resignation. In July 2012, a Swiss prosecutor's report revealed that, during his tenure on FIFA's Executive Committee, he and his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira took more than 41 million Swiss francs (£21m) in bribes in connection with the award of World Cup marketing rights. Read more
08 May 1916: Chinmayananda Saraswati, Indian spiritual leader and educator (died 1993) Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati, also known as Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati, was a Hindu spiritual leader and a teacher. In 1953, he founded Chinmaya Mission, a worldwide nonprofit organisation, in order to spread the knowledge of Advaita Vedanta, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and other ancient Hindu scriptures. Through the Mission, Swami Chinmayananda spearheaded a global Hindu spiritual and cultural renaissance that popularised these spiritual texts and values, teaching them in English all across India and abroad. Read more
08 May 1913: Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (died 1984) Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated series from Warner Bros. Cartoons as well as the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil. He was born and raised not far from Hollywood and, early in life, showed an interest in animation and puppetry. After dropping out of high school in 1931, he joined the team at Harman-Ising Productions and began working on the studio's newest short subjects, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Clampett was promoted to a directorial position in 1937. During his 15 years at the studio, he directed 84 cartoons later deemed classic, and designed some of the studio's most famous characters, including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Tweety. Among his most acclaimed films are Porky in Wackyland (1938) and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946). He left Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1946 and turned his attention to television, creating the puppet show Time for Beany in 1949. A later animated version of the series, Beany and Cecil, was initially broadcast on ABC in 1962 and rerun until 1967. It is considered the first fully creator-driven television series and carried the byline "a Bob Clampett Cartoon". Read more
08 May 1913: Sid James, South African-English actor and singer (died 1976) Sidney James was a South African–British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. Noted for his distinctive laugh, he was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Read more
08 May 1912: George Woodcock, Canadian author and poet (died 1995) George Woodcock was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, a philosopher, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet and published several volumes of travel writing. In 1959 he was the founding editor of the journal Canadian Literature which was the first academic journal specifically dedicated to Canadian writing. He is most commonly known outside Canada for his book Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements (1962). Read more
08 May 1911: Wilhelm Friedrich de Gaay Fortman, Dutch jurist and politician, Dutch Minister of The Interior (died 1997) Wilhelm Friedrich "Gaius" de Gaay Fortman was a Dutch jurist and politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP). Read more
08 May 1911: Robert Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1938) Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his recording career spanned only seven months, he is recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style, and as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as perhaps "the first ever rock star". Read more
08 May 1910: Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (died 1981) Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records. Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie. Read more
08 May 1906: Roberto Rossellini, Italian director and screenwriter (died 1977) Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such as Rome, Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), and Germany, Year Zero (1948). He is also known for his films starring his then wife Ingrid Bergman, Stromboli (1950), Europe '51 (1952), Journey to Italy (1954), Fear (1954) and Joan of Arc at the Stake (1954). Read more
08 May 1905: Red Nichols, American cornet player, composer, and bandleader (died 1965) Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader. He was one of the most prolific and influential jazz musicians in the late 1920s and early 1930s, appearing on over 4,000 recordings. In 1959, a biopic was made of his life and career, The Five Pennies, starring Danny Kaye. Read more
08 May 1904: John Snagge, English journalist (died 1996) John Derrick Mordaunt Snagge was a British newsreader and commentator on BBC Radio. Read more
08 May 1903: Fernandel, French actor and singer (died 1971) Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin, better known as Fernandel, was a French comic actor. Born in Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, a town located in the province of Turin, Italy, he became a comedy star, first gaining popularity in French vaudeville, operettas, and music-hall revues. His stage name originated from his marriage to Henriette Manse, the sister of his best friend and frequent cinematic collaborator Jean Manse. So attentive was he to his wife that his mother-in-law amusingly referred to him as Fernand d'elle. Read more
08 May 1902: André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994) André Michel Lwoff was a French microbiologist and Nobel laureate. Read more
08 May 1901: Turkey Stearnes, American baseball player (died 1979) Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes was an American baseball center fielder. He played 18 years in the Negro leagues, including nine years with the Detroit Stars (1923–1931), six years with the Chicago American Giants, and three years with the Kansas City Monarchs (1938–1940). Read more
08 May 1899: Arthur Q. Bryan, American actor, voice actor, comedian and radio personality (died 1959) Arthur Quirk Bryan was an American actor and radio personality. He is best remembered for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr. Gamble on the radio comedy Fibber McGee and Molly and for voicing the Warner Bros. cartoon character Elmer Fudd. Read more
08 May 1899: Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992) Friedrich August von Hayek was an Austrian economist and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Gunnar Myrdal for work on money and economic fluctuations, and the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena. His account of how prices communicate information is widely regarded as an important contribution to economics that led to him receiving the prize. He was a major contributor to the Austrian school of economics. Read more
08 May 1899: Jacques Heim, French fashion designer (died 1967) Jacques Heim was a French fashion designer and costume designer for theater and film, and was a manufacturer of women's furs. From 1930 to his death in 1967, he ran the fashion house Jacques Heim, which closed in 1969. He was president of the Paris Chambre Syndicale de la haute couture from 1958 to 1962, a period of transition from haute couture to ready-to-wear clothing. Read more
08 May 1898: Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (died 1960) Aloysius Viktor Stepinac was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1953, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his death. Read more
08 May 1895: James H. Kindelberger, American businessman (died 1962) James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger was an American aviation pioneer. He led North American Aviation from 1934 until 1960. An extroverted character, Kindelberger was famed for his emphasis on hard work, orderliness and punctuality. Read more
08 May 1895: Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (died 1979) Fulton John Sheen was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1966 to 1969. He was known for his preaching, especially on television and radio. Read more
08 May 1895: Edmund Wilson, American critic, essayist, and editor (died 1972) Edmund Wilson Jr. was an American writer, literary critic, and journalist. He is widely regarded as one of the most important literary critics of the 20th century. Wilson began his career as a journalist, writing for publications such as Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. He helped to edit The New Republic, served as chief book critic for The New Yorker, and was a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. Read more
08 May 1893: Francis Ouimet, American golfer (died 1967) Francis DeSales Ouimet was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Read more
08 May 1893: Edd Roush, American baseball player and coach (died 1988) Edd J. Roush was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1913 to 1931, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds where he was a two-time National League (NL) batting champion and led the team to the 1919 World Series championship. He also played for the New York Giants, Chicago White Sox as well as the Newark Peppers and the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Federal League. Roush accumulated a .323 batting average over his 18-year playing career and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Read more
08 May 1893: Teddy Wakelam, English rugby player and sportscaster (died 1963)

Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Blythe Thornhill Wakelam, known as Teddy Wakelam, was an English sports broadcaster and rugby union player who captained Harlequin F.C. Read more
08 May 1892: Adriaan Pelt, Dutch journalist and diplomat (died 1981) Adriaan Pelt was a Dutch journalist, international civil servant and diplomat, most famous for drafting the post war constitution of Libya. Read more
08 May 1885: Thomas B. Costain, Canadian journalist and author (died 1965) Thomas Bertram Costain was a Canadian-American journalist who became a best-selling author of historical novels at the age of 57. Read more
08 May 1884: Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (died 1972) Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Truman subsequently implemented the Marshall Plan in the aftermath of World War II to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism. A member of the Democratic Party, he proposed numerous New Deal coalition liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the conservative coalition that dominated the United States Congress. Read more
08 May 1879: Wesley Coe, American shot putter, discus thrower, and tug of war competitor (died 1926) Wesley William Coe Jr., sometimes listed as William Wesley Coe Jr., was an American track and field athlete who competed principally in the shot put and also in the hammer throw, discus throw, and tug of war. Read more
08 May 1876: Ludvig Karsten, Norwegian painter (died 1926) Ludvig Karsten was a Norwegian painter. He was a neo-impressionist influenced by Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse and contemporary French painting. He first participated at the Autumn exhibition in Kristiania in 1901, and had his first separate exhibition in 1904. He is represented at museums in many Scandinavian cities, including several paintings at the National Gallery of Norway. Karsten was known for his bohemian lifestyle and quick temper. Read more
08 May 1867: Margarete Böhme, German novelist (died 1939) Margarete Böhme was, arguably, one of the most widely read German writers of the early 20th century. Böhme authored 40 novels – as well as short stories, autobiographical sketches, and articles. The Diary of a Lost Girl, first published in 1905 as Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, is her best known and bestselling book. By the end of the 1920s, it had sold more than a million copies, ranking it among the bestselling books of its time. One contemporary scholar has called it “Perhaps the most notorious and certainly the commercially most successful autobiographical narrative of the early twentieth century.” Read more
08 May 1859: Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (died 1925) Johan Ludwig William Valdemar Jensen, mostly known as Johan Jensen, was a Danish mathematician and engineer. He was the president of the Danish Mathematical Society from 1892 to 1903. Read more
08 May 1858: Heinrich Berté, Slovak-Austrian composer (died 1924) Heinrich Berté, born Heinrich Bettelheim was an Austrian-Hungarian composer of operas and operettas. Read more
08 May 1858: J. Meade Falkner, English author and poet (died 1932) John Meade Falkner was an English novelist and poet, best known for his 1898 novel Moonfleet. An extremely successful businessman, he became chairman of the arms manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth during World War I. Read more
08 May 1856: Pedro Lascuráin, Mexican politician (died 1952) Pedro José Domingo de la Calzada Manuel María Lascuráin Paredes was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 38th president of Mexico for 45 minutes on 19 February 1913, the shortest presidency in history. The grandson of Mariano Paredes, the 15th president of Mexico, Lascuráin previously served as Mexico's foreign secretary for two terms and was the director of a small law school in Mexico City for 16 years. Read more
08 May 1853: Dan Brouthers, American baseball player and manager (died 1932) Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896, with a brief return in 1904. Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighed 207 pounds (94 kg), which was large by 19th-century standards. Read more
08 May 1850: Ross Barnes, American baseball player and manager (died 1915) Charles Roscoe Barnes was one of the stars of baseball's National Association (1871–1875) and the early National League (1876–1881), playing second base and shortstop. He played for the dominant Boston Red Stockings teams of the early 1870s, along with Albert Spalding, Cal McVey, George Wright, Harry Wright, Jim O'Rourke, and Deacon White. Despite playing for these star-studded teams, many claim that Ross was the most valuable to his teams. However, injuries limited his power in his peak and his professional career ended at the age of 31. Read more
08 May 1846: Oscar Hammerstein I, American businessman and composer (died 1919) Oscar Hammerstein I was a German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer in New York City. His passion for opera led him to open several opera houses, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America. He was the grandfather of American playwright/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and the father of theater manager William Hammerstein and American producer Arthur Hammerstein. Read more
08 May 1842: Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist and mycologist (died 1909) Emil Christian Hansen was a Danish mycologist and fermentation physiologist. Read more
08 May 1839: Adolphe-Basile Routhier, Canadian judge, author, and songwriter (died 1920) Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier was a Canadian judge, author, and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics of the original French version of the Canadian national anthem "O Canada". He was born in Saint-Placide, Quebec, to Charles Routhier and Angélique Lafleur. Read more
08 May 1835: Bertalan Székely, Hungarian painter and academic (died 1910) Bertalan Székely was a Hungarian history and portrait painter who worked in the Romantic and Academic styles. Read more
08 May 1829: Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist and composer (died 1869) Louis Moreau Gottschalk was a Louisiana Creole and Jewish-American composer, pianist, and virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States. Read more
08 May 1828: Henry Dunant, Swiss businessman and activist, co-founded the Red Cross, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1910) Henry Dunant, also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, social activist, and co-founder of the Red Cross. His humanitarian efforts won him the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Read more
08 May 1828: Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk and saint (died 1898) Charbel Makhlouf, O.L.M. was a Lebanese Maronite monk and priest. During his life, he obtained a wide reputation for holiness, and for his ability to unite Christians, Muslims and Druze. He was a member of the Baladites. Read more
08 May 1825: George Bruce Malleson, English-Indian colonel and author (died 1898) Colonel George Bruce Malleson was a Bengal Army officer and historian. Read more
08 May 1824: William Walker, American physician, lawyer, journalist and mercenary (died 1860) William Walker was an American journalist and mercenary. In the era of the expansion of the United States, driven by the doctrine of manifest destiny, Walker organized unauthorized military expeditions into Mexico and Central America with the intention of establishing colonies. Such an enterprise was known at the time as "filibustering". Read more
08 May 1821: William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1885) William Henry Vanderbilt was an American businessman and railroad magnate. Known as "Billy", he was the eldest son of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, an heir to his fortune and a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family. Vanderbilt became the richest American after he took over his father's fortune in 1877 until his own death in 1885, passing on a substantial part of the fortune to his wife and children, particularly to his sons Cornelius II and William. He inherited nearly $100 million from his father. The fortune had doubled when he died fewer than nine years later. Read more
08 May 1818: Samuel Leonard Tilley, Canadian pharmacist and politician, 3rd Premier of New Brunswick (died 1896) Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family. As a pharmacist, he went into business as a druggist. Read more
08 May 1815: Edward Tompkins, American lawyer and politician (died 1872) Edward Tompkins (1815–1872) was an American lawyer. He is best known for endowing a chair at the University of California where he had been elected to the board of regents. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 08 May in World History

08 May 2025: Simon Mann, British military officer and mercenary (born 1952) Simon Francis Mann was a British officer in the Special Air Service (SAS), and later a mercenary. He trained to be an officer at Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Scots Guards. He later became a member of the SAS, and on leaving the military, he co-founded Sandline International with fellow ex-Scots Guards colonel Tim Spicer in 1996. Sandline operated mostly in Angola and Sierra Leone, but public protests against a contract with the government of Papua New Guinea led to the resignation of the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, in what became known as the Sandline affair. Read more
08 May 2024: Chris Cannon, American politician (born 1950) Christopher Black Cannon was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, for the Republican Party, representing the third district of Utah from 1997 to 2009. Read more
08 May 2024: Jimmy Johnson, American football player (born 1938) James Earl Johnson was an American professional football player who was a cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1961 to 1976. He was named to the first team on the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, and in 1994, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Read more
08 May 2024: Pete McCloskey, American politician (born 1927) Paul Norton "Pete" McCloskey Jr. was an American politician who represented San Mateo County, California, as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983. Read more
08 May 2024: Ramón Fonseca Mora, Panamanian novelist and lawyer (born 1952) Ramón Fonseca Mora was a Panamanian novelist, lawyer and co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, a former law firm based in Panama with more than 40 offices worldwide. He was minister-counselor of Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, and president of the Panameñista Party until he was dismissed in March 2016, due to the Brazilian Operation Car Wash anti-corruption probe. Read more
08 May 2022: Robert Gillmor, British wildlife artist and illustrator (born 1936) Robert Allen Fitzwilliam Gillmor MBE was a British ornithologist, artist, illustrator, author, and editor. He was a co-founder of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and was its secretary, chairman and president. He contributed to over 100 books, and received numerous awards. Read more
08 May 2022: Dennis Waterman, English actor and singer (born 1948) Dennis Waterman was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks, singing the theme tunes of the latter two. Read more
08 May 2021: Helmut Jahn, German-American architect (born 1940) Helmut Jahn was a German and American architect, known for projects such as the The Center Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany; the Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany; the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago; One Liberty Place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Bangkok, Thailand, among others. Read more
08 May 2019: Sprent Dabwido, President of Nauru from 2011 to 2013 (born 1972) Sprent Arumogo Dabwido was a Nauruan politician who served as President of Nauru between 2011 and 2013, and was also a weightlifter. The son of a parliamentarian, Dabwido was originally elected to the Meneng Constituency in the Parliament of Nauru at the 2004 elections. Having served as Minister for Telecommunications in Marcus Stephen's government from 2009, Dabwido joined the Nauruan opposition faction in November 2011 after Stephen's resignation, and, having passed a motion of no confidence against interim president Freddie Pitcher, was elected president four days later. In his role as president, Dabwido functioned as chairman of the Cabinet of Nauru, and held various portfolios in the Nauruan government. Read more
08 May 2018: Big Bully Busick, American professional wrestler (born 1954) Nicholas Busick was an American professional wrestler and police officer, better known by his ring name Big Bully Busick. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1991, where he portrayed a stereotypical bully from the 1920s with a "turtleneck, bowler hat and king-sized cigar". Busick is also known for his appearances with Georgia All-Star Wrestling (GAF) and the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF). Read more
08 May 2018: Anne V. Coates, British film editor (Lawrence of Arabia, The Elephant Man, Erin Brockovich), Oscar winner (1963) (born 1925) Anne Voase Coates was a British film editor with a more than 60-year-long career. Read more
08 May 2016: William Schallert, American actor; president (1979–81) of the Screen Actors Guild (born 1922) William Joseph Schallert was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1957–1959), Death Valley Days (1955–1962), and The Patty Duke Show (1963–1966). Read more
08 May 2015: Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (born 1943) Zeki Alasya was a Turkish actor and film director. Alasya was of Turkish Cypriot descent and was related to Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kamil Pasha. Read more
08 May 2015: Mwepu Ilunga, Congolese footballer (born 1949) Joseph Mwepu Ilunga was a football defender from Zaire. His name is also written as Alunga Mwepu. Read more
08 May 2015: Juan Schwanner, Hungarian-Chilean footballer and manager (born 1921) Juan Schwanner, János Schwanner was a Hungarian–Chilean football player and manager. Read more
08 May 2015: Atanas Semerdzhiev, Bulgarian soldier and politician, 1st Vice President of Bulgaria (born 1924) Atanas Georgiev Semerdzhiev was a Bulgarian general, statesman and politician. He was a veteran of World War II, as he participated in the Partisan Movement in Bulgaria during 1942–1944. During the same period he became the commander of the Chepinets Partisan Brigade, as he fought against the Tsardom of Bulgaria and Nazi Germany. He is the longest-serving Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian People's Army (1962–1989), first deputy minister of defence (1966–1989), member of the Central Committee of the BKP (1962–1990) and the Supreme Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (1990–1992), Minister of Interior (1989–1990), first vice president of Bulgaria (1990–1992) elected by the National Assembly. People's representative in the VII Supreme Court and V-IX Supreme Court. He is the author of memoirs and military-theoretical works. Read more
08 May 2014: Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (born 1921) Roger Lee Easton Sr. was an American physicist and state representative who was the principal inventor and designer of the Global Positioning System, along with Ivan A. Getting and Bradford Parkinson. Read more
08 May 2014: Nancy Malone, American actress, director, and producer (born 1935) Nancy Malone was an American television actress from the 1950s to 1970s, who later moved into producing and directing in the 1980s and 1990s. Read more
08 May 2014: Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer (born 1939) Jair Rodrigues de Oliveira was a Brazilian musician and singer. He is the father of Luciana Mello and Jair Oliveira, who also followed in his footsteps and became musicians. Read more
08 May 2014: Joseph P. Teasdale, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Missouri (born 1936) Joseph Patrick Teasdale was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as the 48th Governor of Missouri from 1977 to 1981. Teasdale was formerly a prosecutor for Jackson County, Missouri. In 1972, he made his first bid for governor, placing third in the Democratic primary, but attaining name recognition and the nickname "Walking Joe". In 1976, after initially running for U.S. Senate, Teasdale switched races and made a second bid for the Governor's office. He won the nomination and defeated incumbent Kit Bond in an upset. In 1980, Teasdale beat back a primary challenge from State Treasurer Jim Spainhower, but was defeated by Bond in a rematch. After leaving office, Teasdale returned to practicing law until his death. Read more
08 May 2013: Jeanne Cooper, American actress (born 1928) Wilma Jeanne Cooper was an American actress, best known for her role as Katherine Chancellor on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless (1973–2013). At the time of her death, she had played Katherine for nearly 40 years, and her name appears on the list of longest-serving soap opera actors in the United States. Read more
08 May 2013: Bryan Forbes, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1926) Bryan Forbes was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man" and "one of the most important figures in the British film industry". Read more
08 May 2013: Juan José Muñoz, Argentinian businessman (born 1950) Juan José Muñoz was an Argentine businessman. He was an advisor to the current Minister of Interior, Mr. Aníbal Fernández, during the period when the latter was a federal senator. Afterwards, he worked for the trade union that represents State Workers. Read more
08 May 2013: Hugh J. Silverman, American philosopher and theorist (born 1945) Hugh J. Silverman was an American philosopher and cultural theorist whose writing, lecturing, teaching, editing, and international conferencing participated in the development of a postmodern network. He was executive director of the International Association for Philosophy and Literature and professor of philosophy and comparative literary and cultural studies at Stony Brook University, where he was also affiliated with the Department of Art and the Department of European Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. He was program director for the Stony Brook Advanced Graduate Certificate in Art and Philosophy. He was also co-founder and co-director of the annual International Philosophical Seminar since 1991 in South Tyrol, Italy. From 1980 to 1986, he served as executive co-director of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. His work draws upon deconstruction, hermeneutics, semiotics, phenomenology, aesthetics, art theory, film theory, and the archeology of knowledge. Read more
08 May 2012: Maurice Sendak, American author and illustrator (born 1928) Maurice Bernard Sendak was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak illustrated his own books as well as those by other authors, such as the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik. He achieved acclaim with Where the Wild Things Are (1963), the first of a trilogy followed by In the Night Kitchen (1970) and Outside Over There (1981). He also designed sets for operas, notably Mozart's The Magic Flute. Read more
08 May 2012: Ampon Tangnoppakul, Thai criminal (born 1948) Ampon Tangnoppakul, commonly known in Thai as Ah Kong or in English as Uncle SMS, was a Thai national accused of sending four Short Message Service (SMS) messages from his cell phones to Somkiat Khrongwatthanasuk, secretary of then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that were deemed offensive to the King and Queen of Thailand, as proscribed by section 112 of the Criminal Code of Thailand and the law on computer-related offences. Having been found guilty of four charges in November 2011, he was sentenced by the Criminal Court to four consecutive five-year terms, for a total of twenty years in prison. His death in prison during the first year of his sentence attracted national and international criticism, prompting a national discussion of Thailand's lèse majesté law. Read more
08 May 2012: Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist and educator (born 1911) Roman Totenberg was a Polish-American violinist and educator. A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27. He performed and taught nationally and internationally throughout his life. Read more
08 May 2011: Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (born 1948) Lionel Edmund Rose MBE was an Australian professional boxer who competed from 1964 to 1976. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles from 1968 to 1969, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to win a world title. He later became the first Indigenous Australian to be named Australian of the Year. Read more
08 May 2009: Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (born 1917) Dominic Paul DiMaggio, nicknamed "the Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio was the youngest of three brothers who each became major league center fielders, the others being Joe and Vince. Read more
08 May 2008: Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1918) Richard Edward Arnold was an American country music singer. He was a Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more than 85 million records. A member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, Arnold ranked 22nd on Country Music Television's 2003 list of "The 40 Greatest Men of Country Music." Read more
08 May 2008: François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (born 1982) François Sterchele was a Belgian professional footballer who played for Germinal Beerschot and Club Brugge. The striker was the top scorer of the Jupiler League in 2006–07. Sterchele died in a single-person car accident on 8 May 2008. Read more
08 May 2007: Philip R. Craig, American author and poet (born 1933) Philip R. Craig was a writer known for his Martha's Vineyard mysteries. Read more
08 May 2007: Carson Whitsett, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (born 1945) James Carson Whitsett was an American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Read more
08 May 2006: Iain Macmillan, Scottish photographer and author (born 1938) Iain Stewart Macmillan was the Scottish photographer famous for taking the cover photograph for the Beatles' album Abbey Road in 1969. He grew up in Scotland, then moved to London to become a professional photographer. He used a photo of Yoko Ono in a book that he published in 1966, and Ono invited him to photograph her exhibit at Indica Gallery. She introduced him to John Lennon, and Lennon invited him to photograph the cover for Abbey Road. He worked with Lennon and Ono for several years, staying for a while at their home in New York. Read more
08 May 2005: Jean Carrière, French author (born 1928) Jean Carrière was a French writer. Read more
08 May 2005: Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentinian race car driver (born 1981) Nicolás Vuyovich was a sportscar driver from Argentina. Read more
08 May 2003: Elvira Pagã, Brazilian vedette, singer, and artist (born 1920) Elvira Olivieri Cozzolino, better known by her stage name Elvira Pagã, was a Brazilian vedette, actress, singer, writer, and painter. She was the first Rio Carnival Queen, the first woman to wear a bikini in public, and one of the first women to undergo cosmetic surgery in Brazil. Talented and controversial, she defied the status quo and challenged prevailing machismo with fearless audacity during the Brazilian military dictatorship and the revolutionary 1960s. In her later years, Pagã withdrew from public life, devoting herself to writing and painting, and eventually died in seclusion. Read more
08 May 2000: Pita Amor, Mexican poet and author (born 1918) Guadalupe Teresa Amor Schmidtlein, who wrote as Pita Amor, was a Mexican poet. Read more
08 May 2000: Dédé Fortin, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1962) André "Dédé" Fortin was a founding member, frontman, and guitarist of the Québécois band Les Colocs, formed in 1990. Read more
08 May 2000: Henry Nicols, American activist (born 1973) Henry Joseph Nicols was an American HIV/AIDS activist who became the first American student to intentionally disclose his HIV infection to his community in March 1991. Read more
08 May 1999: Dirk Bogarde, English actor and screenwriter (born 1921) Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House (1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess". Read more
08 May 1999: Ed Gilbert, American actor (born 1931) Ed Gilbert was an American actor, with extensive credits in both live-action roles and voice work in animation, although he was better known for the latter. He is also credited, under his birth name, with research in entomology and the discovery of new beetle species. Read more
08 May 1999: Dana Plato, American actress (born 1964) Dana Michelle Plato was an American actress. She rose to fame for playing Kimberly Drummond on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986), which established her as a teen idol of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Read more
08 May 1999: Soeman Hs, Indonesian author and educator (born 1904) Soeman Hasibuan better known by his pen name Soeman Hs, was an Indonesian author recognized for pioneering detective fiction and short story writing in the country's literature. Born in Bengkalis, Riau, Dutch East Indies, to a family of farmers, Soeman studied to become a teacher and, under the author Mohammad Kasim, a writer. He began working as a Malay-language teacher after completing normal school in 1923, first in Siak Sri Indrapura, Aceh, then in Pasir Pengaraian, Rokan Hulu, Riau. Around this time he began writing, publishing his first novel, Kasih Tak Terlarai, in 1929. In twelve years he published five novels, one short story collection, and thirty-five short stories and poems. Read more
08 May 1998: Johannes Kotkas, Estonian wrestler (born 1915) Johannes Kotkas was a heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Estonia who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He held the European title in 1938, 1939 and 1947 and placed second at the 1953 world championships. Read more
08 May 1998: Charles Rebozo, American banker and businessman (born 1912) Charles Gregory "Bebe" Rebozo was an American Florida-based banker and businessman who was a close friend and confidant of President Richard Nixon. Read more
08 May 1996: Beryl Burton, English cyclist (born 1937) Beryl Burton OBE was an English racing cyclist who dominated the women's sport, winning more than 90 domestic championships and seven world titles, and setting numerous national records. In 1967, she set a world record for the 12-hour time-trial which exceeded the men's record for two years. Read more
08 May 1996: Luis Miguel Dominguín, Spanish bullfighter (born 1926) Luis Miguel González Lucas, better known as Luis Miguel Dominguín, was a Spanish bullfighter. The son of the noteworthy bullfighter Domingo Dominguín, he adopted his father's pseudonymic last name to gain popularity. Read more
08 May 1996: Larry Levis, American poet, author, and critic (born 1946) Larry Patrick Levis was an American poet and teacher who published five books of poetry during his lifetime. Two more volumes of previously unpublished poems appeared posthumously, and received general acclaim. Read more
08 May 1996: Garth Williams, American illustrator (born 1912) Garth Montgomery Williams was an American artist who came to prominence in the American postwar era as an illustrator of children's books. Many of the books he illustrated have become classics of American children's literature.In Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and in the Little House series of books of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Williams['s] drawings have become inseparable from how we think of those stories. In that respect … Williams['s] work belongs in the same class as Sir John Tenniel's drawings for Alice in Wonderland, or Ernest Shepard's illustrations for Winnie the Pooh. Read more
08 May 1995: Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (born 1953) Teng Li-Chun, also known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, television personality, musician, and philanthropist. Widely regarded as one of the most culturally significant figures in the Chinese-speaking world of the 20th century, she is considered to be one of the most successful and influential Asian musicians of all time. Her contributions to Chinese pop has given birth to the phrase, "Wherever there are Chinese-speaking people, there is music of Teresa Teng." A polyglot, Teng's music has transcended geographical, linguistic, and political boundaries across Asia for several decades. Read more
08 May 1994: George Peppard, American actor and producer (born 1928) George Peppard was an American actor. He secured a major role as struggling writer Paul Varjak when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and later portrayed a character based on Howard Hughes in The Carpetbaggers (1964). On television, he played the title role of millionaire insurance investigator and sleuth Thomas Banacek in the early-1970s mystery series Banacek. He played Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, the cigar-smoking leader of a renegade commando squad in the 1980s action television series The A-Team. Read more
08 May 1993: Avram Davidson, American soldier and author (born 1923) Avram Davidson was an American writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy Awards in the science fiction and fantasy genres, a World Fantasy Life Achievement award, and an Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine short story award and an Edgar Award in the mystery genre. Davidson edited The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1962 to 1964. His last novel The Boss in the Wall: A Treatise on the House Devil was completed by Grania Davis and was a Nebula Award finalist in 1998. His posthumous collection The Avram Davidson Treasury won the Locus Award for Best Collection in 1999. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says "he is perhaps sf's most explicitly literary author". Read more
08 May 1992: Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (born 1933) Joyce Ricketts was a right fielder who played from 1953 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). She batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Read more
08 May 1991: Jean Langlais, French pianist and composer (born 1907) Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "Breton, de foi Catholique". Read more
08 May 1991: Rudolf Serkin, Czech-Austrian pianist and educator (born 1903) Rudolf Serkin was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Read more
08 May 1990: Luigi Nono, Italian composer and educator (born 1924) Luigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Read more
08 May 1988: Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (born 1907) Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often presented provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science fiction genre and on modern culture more generally. Read more
08 May 1987: Doris Stokes, English psychic and author (born 1920) Doris May Fisher Stokes, born Doris Sutton, was a British spiritualist, professional medium, and author. Her public performances, television appearances, and memoirs made her a household name in Britain. While some believed her to possess psychic abilities, investigations published after her death demonstrated that she used fraudulent techniques including cold reading, hot reading, and planting accomplices in her audience. Read more
08 May 1986: Ernle Bradford, English historian and author (born 1922) Ernle Dusgate Selby Bradford was a noted 20th-century British historian specializing in the Mediterranean world and naval topics. He was also an authority on antique jewellery and was the founder editor of the Antique Dealers and Collector's Guide. Read more
08 May 1985: Robert Halperin, American yachtsman (born 1908) Robert Sherman "Bob" Halperin, nicknamed "Buck", was an American business executive, decorated WWII naval officer and Star class yacht racer, who became an Olympic bronze medalist and Pan American Games gold medalist in the sport in the 1960s. He is best known professionally as co-founder of Lands' End, and chairman of Chicago's Commercial Light Company, founded by his father. He had formerly been a college and National Football League (NFL) football quarterback for the Brooklyn Dodgers. As a Naval officer and beach reconnaissance scout who observed, maintained, and guided critical beach landings throughout WWII, he became one of Chicago's most-decorated veterans. Read more
08 May 1985: Karl Marx, German conductor and composer (born 1897) Karl Julius Marx was a German composer and music teacher. Read more
08 May 1985: Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (born 1918) Theodore Sturgeon was an American author of primarily fantasy, science fiction, and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 short stories, 11 novels, and two scripts for Star Trek: The Original Series. Read more
08 May 1985: Dolph Sweet, American actor (born 1920) Adolphus Jean Sweet was an American actor credited with nearly 60 television and film roles and more than 50 roles in stage productions, including performances on Broadway. He often played policemen throughout his career, and may be best known for his portrayal of police chief and father Carl Kanisky on the sitcom Gimme a Break! from 1981 until his death in May 1985. Read more
08 May 1984: Lila Bell Wallace, American publisher, co-founded Reader's Digest (born 1890) Lila Bell Wallace was an American magazine publisher and philanthropist. She co-founded Reader's Digest with her husband Dewitt Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922. Read more
08 May 1984: Gino Bianco, Italian-Brazilian race car driver (born 1916) Luigi Emilio Rodolfo Bertetti Bianco, better known as Gino Bianco was a racing driver from Brazil. Born in Milan, Italy, he emigrated to Brazil as a child and started racing there. He raced a Maserati A6GCM for the Escuderia Bandeirantes team and took part in four Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, with a best result of 18th at the 1952 British Grand Prix. Bianco later raced in hillclimbs and died in Rio de Janeiro, aged 67, after suffering from breathing problems. Read more
08 May 1983: John Fante, American author and screenwriter (born 1909) John Fante was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel Ask the Dust (1939) about the life of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer in Depression-era Los Angeles. It is widely considered the great Los Angeles novel, and is one in a series of four, published between 1938 and 1985, that are now collectively called "The Bandini Quartet." Ask the Dust was adapted into a 2006 film starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek. Fante's published works while he lived included five novels, one novella, and a short story collection. Additional works, including two novels, two novellas, and two short story collections, were published posthumously. His screenwriting credits include, most notably, Full of Life, Jeanne Eagels (1957), and the 1962 films Walk on the Wild Side and The Reluctant Saint. Read more
08 May 1982: Neil Bogart, American record producer, co-founded Casablanca Records (born 1943) Neil E. Bogart was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Read more
08 May 1982: Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (born 1950) Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve was a Canadian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1977 to 1982. Villeneuve was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1979 with Ferrari, and won six Grands Prix across six seasons. Read more
08 May 1981: Uri Zvi Greenberg, Israeli poet and journalist (born 1896) Uri Zvi Greenberg was an Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew. Read more
08 May 1980: Geoffrey Baker, English Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the British Army (born 1920) Field Marshal Sir Geoffrey Harding Baker, was Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, from 1968 to 1971. He served in the Second World War and became Director of Operations and Chief of Staff for the campaign against EOKA in Cyprus during the Cyprus Emergency and later in his career provided advice to the British Government on the deployment of troops to Northern Ireland at the start of the Troubles. Read more
08 May 1975: Avery Brundage, American businessman and art collector (born 1887) Avery Brundage was the fifth president of the International Olympic Committee, serving from 1952 to 1972, the only American and first non-European to attain that position. Brundage is remembered as a zealous advocate of amateurism and for his involvement with the 1936 and 1972 Summer Olympics, both held in Germany. Read more
08 May 1972: Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indian Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (born 1880) Pandurang Vaman Kane was an Indian academic, historian, lawyer, Indologist, and Sanskrit scholar. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award in 1963. Read more
08 May 1972: Beatrice Helen Worsley, Mexican-Canadian computer scientist (born 1921) Beatrice Helen Worsley, better known as "Trixie" Worsely, was a Canadian computer scientist, the first woman in the country to work in that profession. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge with Douglas Hartree as adviser, also with advice from Alan Turing, one of the earliest Ph.D.s to be granted in what would today be known as computer science, in parallel with David Wheeler's Ph.D. studies at Cambridge under Maurice Wilkes. She wrote the first program to run on EDSAC, co-wrote the first compiler for Toronto's Ferranti Mark 1, wrote numerous papers in computer science, and taught computers and engineering at Queen's University and the University of Toronto for over 20 years before her death at the early age of 50. Read more
08 May 1969: Remington Kellogg, American zoologist and paleontologist (born 1892) Arthur Remington Kellogg was an American naturalist and a director of the United States National Museum. His work focused on marine mammals. Read more
08 May 1965: Wally Hardinge, English cricketer and footballer (born 1886) Harold Thomas William Hardinge, known as Wally Hardinge, was an English professional sportsman who played both cricket and association football for England. His professional cricket career lasted from 1902 to 1933 during which he played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and made one Test match appearance for England. He was described as being "for years … one of the leading opening batsmen in England". Read more
08 May 1960: J. H. C. Whitehead, Indian-English mathematician and academic (born 1904) John Henry Constantine Whitehead FRS, known as "Henry", was a British mathematician and was one of the founders of homotopy theory. He was born in Chennai, in India, and died in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1960. Read more
08 May 1959: John Fraser, Canadian soccer player (born 1881) Read more
08 May 1952: William Fox, Austrian businessman, founded Fox Theatres (born 1879) Vilmos Fried, known professionally as William Fox, was a Hungarian-American film industry executive who founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915 and the Fox West Coast Theatres chain in the 1920s. Although he lost control of his film businesses in 1930, his name was used by 20th Century Fox and continues to be used in the trademarks of the present-day Fox Corporation, including the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox News, Fox Sports, and Foxtel. Read more
08 May 1950: Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician and immunologist (born 1865) Vital Brazil Mineiro da Campanha, known as Vital Brazil, was a Brazilian physician, biomedical scientist and immunologist, known for the discovery of the polyvalent anti-ophidic serum used to treat bites of venomous snakes of the Crotalus, Bothrops and Elaps genera. He went on to be also the first to develop anti-scorpion and anti-spider serums. He was the founder of the Butantan Institute, a research center located in São Paulo, which was the first in the world dedicated exclusively to basic and applied toxicology, the science of venomous animals. Read more
08 May 1948: U Saw, Burmese politician, Prime Minister of Burma (born 1900) U Saw, also known as Galon U Saw, was a leading Burmese politician who served as Prime Minister of British Burma during the colonial era before the Second World War. He is also known for his role in the assassination of Burma's national hero Aung San and other independence leaders in July 1947, only months before Burma gained independence from Britain in January 1948. He and five others were executed by hanging for the assassination. Read more
08 May 1947: Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-English businessman, founded Selfridges (born 1858) Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. was an American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. The early years of his leadership led to his becoming one of the wealthiest and most respected retail magnates in the United Kingdom. He was known as "the Earl of Oxford Street". Read more
08 May 1945: Frank Bourne, British soldier, last survivor of the Battle of Rorke's Drift (born 1854) Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Edward Bourne OBE DCM was a decorated British soldier and the last living survivor of the defence of Rorke's Drift during the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. He also served during World War I. Read more
08 May 1945: Julius Hirsch, German footballer (born 1892) Julius Hirsch was a German international footballer. A Jew, he was executed at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. He helped the Karlsruher FV win the 1910 German football championship, and also played for the Germany national team, including at the 1912 Summer Olympics. He then joined SpVgg Fürth, with whom he won the 1914 German football championship. Read more
08 May 1945: Wilhelm Rediess, German SS officer (born 1900) Friedrich Wilhelm Rediess was a German Nazi official who served as the SS and police leader during the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War. He was also the commander of all SS troops stationed in occupied Norway and assumed command from 22 June 1940 until his death by suicide in 1945. Read more
08 May 1945: Bernhard Rust, German lieutenant and politician (born 1883) Bernhard Rust was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture (Reichserziehungsminister) in Nazi Germany. A combination of school administrator and zealous Nazi, he issued decrees, often bizarre, at every level of the German educational system to immerse German youth in Nazi ideology. He also served as the party Gauleiter in Hanover and Brunswick from 1925 to 1940. Read more
08 May 1945: Josef Terboven, German lieutenant and politician (born 1898) Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven was a German Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving Gauleiter of Gau Essen and the Reichskommissar for Norway during the German occupation. Read more
08 May 1944: Themistoklis Diakidis, Greek high jumper (born 1882) Themistoklis Diakidis was a Greek track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. Read more
08 May 1943: Mordechai Anielewicz, Polish commander (born 1919) Mordechai Anielewicz was the Polish leader of the Jewish Combat Organization during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; the largest Jewish resistance movement during the Second World War. Anielewicz inspired further rebellions in both ghettos and extermination camps with his leadership. His character was engraved as a symbol of courage and sacrifice, and was a major figure of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. Read more
08 May 1942: Nikolai Reek, Estonian general and politician, 11th Estonian Minister of War (born 1890) Nikolai Reek VR I/2, VR II/2, VR II/3 was the Estonian military commander during the Estonian War of Independence. Read more
08 May 1941: Natalie, queen consort of Serbia (born 1859) Natalija Obrenović, née Keshko, known as Natalie of Serbia, was the Princess of Serbia from 1875 to 1882 and then Queen of Serbia from 1882 to 1889 as the wife of Milan I of Serbia, born in a old noble Moldavian family Kesco. Read more
08 May 1941: Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (born 1858) Olof Teodor "Tore" Svennberg was a Swedish actor and theatre director whose career spanned more than five decades. Read more
08 May 1936: Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (born 1880) Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best known for his two-volume work The Decline of the West, published in 1918 and 1922, covering human history. Spengler's model of history postulates that human cultures and civilizations are akin to biological entities, each with a limited, predictable, and deterministic lifespan. He predicted that Western civilization would enter the period of pre‑death emergency around the year 2000, which would lead to 200 years of Caesarism before Western civilization's final collapse. Read more
08 May 1925: John Beresford, Irish polo player (born 1847) John Graham Hope Horsley de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies PC, styled The Hon. John Beresford until 1910, was an Anglo-Irish army officer, civil servant, and polo player in the 1900 Summer Olympics. Read more
08 May 1907: Edmund G. Ross, American soldier and politician, 13th Governor of New Mexico Territory (born 1826) Edmund Gibson Ross was an American politician who represented Kansas after the American Civil War and was later the governor of New Mexico Territory. His vote against convicting President Andrew Johnson of "high crimes and misdemeanors" allowed Johnson to stay in office by the margin of one vote. As the seventh of seven Republican U.S. Senators to break with his party, he proved to be the person whose decision would result in conviction or acquittal. When he chose the latter, the vote of 35–19 in favor of Johnson's conviction failed to reach the required two-thirds vote. Ross lost his bid for re-election two years later. Read more
08 May 1903: Paul Gauguin, French painter and sculptor (born 1848) Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influential practitioner of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms. While only moderately successful during his lifetime, Gauguin has since been recognized for his experimental use of color and Synthetist style that were distinct from Impressionism. Read more
08 May 1893: Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and president, 1880–1884 (born 1833) José Manuel del Refugio González Flores was a Mexican general and liberal politician who served as the 35th President of Mexico from 1880 to 1884. Read more
08 May 1891: Helena Blavatsky, Russian-English mystic and author (born 1831) Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian and American mystic and writer who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an international following as the primary founder of Theosophy as a belief system. Read more
08 May 1891: John Robertson, English-Australian politician, 5th Premier of New South Wales (born 1816) Sir John Robertson was a London-born Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales on five occasions. Robertson is best remembered for land reform and in particular the Robertson Land Acts of 1861, which sought to open up the selection of Crown land and break the monopoly of the squatters. Read more
08 May 1880: Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (born 1821) Gustave Flaubert was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. He is known especially for his debut novel Madame Bovary (1857), his Correspondence, and his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics. The celebrated short story writer Guy de Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert. Read more
08 May 1853: Jan Roothaan, Dutch priest, 21st Superior General of the Society of Jesus (born 1785) Jan Philipp Roothaan, SJ was a Dutch Jesuit, elected twenty-first Superior-General of the Society of Jesus. Roothaan was a decisive figure in the reestablishment of the order after the Suppression of the Society of Jesus. Read more
08 May 1842: Jules Dumont d'Urville, French admiral and explorer (born 1790) Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his name to several seaweeds, plants and shrubs and to places such as d'Urville Island in New Zealand. Read more
08 May 1837: Alexander Balashov, Russian general and politician, Russian Minister of Police (born 1770) Alexander Dmitriyevich Balashov was a Russian general and statesman. Read more
08 May 1828: Mauro Giuliani, Italian guitarist, cellist, and composer (born 1781) Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. One of his best known works is his Grand Overture, which has become standard early Romantic classical guitar repertoire. Read more
08 May 1822: John Stark, American general (born 1728) John Stark was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. A major general, he became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777. Read more
08 May 1819: Kamehameha I, king of the Hawaiian Islands (born 1738) Kamehameha I, also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The state of Hawaii gave a statue of him to the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C., as one of two statues it is entitled to install there. Read more

Why is 08 May Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 08 May, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 08 May in World history?

On 08 May, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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