On This Day — 8 April
2000s
2026
Operation Eternal Darkness: Hours after a ceasefire to the Iran war, Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill at least 357 and injures more than 1200 people in the largest airstrikes of the Lebanon war.
8 April 2026 Israeli attacks on Lebanon
2024
Solar eclipse: A total solar eclipse takes place at the Moon's ascending node, visible across North America.
Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024
2020
Bernie Sanders ends his presidential campaign, leaving Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's nominee.
Bernie Sanders
2014
Windows XP reaches its standard End Of Life and is no longer supported.
Windows XP
2010
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign the New START Treaty.
Barack Obama
2005
A solar eclipse occurs, visible over areas of the Pacific Ocean and Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.
Solar eclipse of April 8, 2005
2002
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-110, carrying the S0 truss to the International Space Station. Astronaut Jerry L. Ross also becomes the first person to fly on seven spaceflights.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
1900s
1993
The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on mission STS-56.
Space Shuttle Discovery
1990
The conservative New Democracy party of Constantine Mitsotakis is elected in the Greek parliamentary election.
New Democracy (Greece)
1975
Voyageurs National Park is established by the U.S. Congress.
Voyageurs National Park
1974
Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the all-time leader in career home runs by hitting his 715th home run off of Al Downing at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
Hank Aaron
1970
Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.
Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing
1968
BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after takeoff. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
BOAC Flight 712
1960
The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
Netherlands
1959
A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
Grace Hopper
1959
The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
Organization of American States
1954
A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
North American T-6 Texan
1954
South African Airways Flight 201: A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
South African Airways Flight 201
1940
The Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party elects Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal as General Secretary, marking the beginning of his 44-year-long tenure as de facto leader of Mongolia.
Mongolian People's Party
1933
The Australian state of Western Australia votes to secede from the federation in a non-binding referendum, although efforts to implement the result prove unsuccessful.
Western Australia
1904
The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
French Third Republic
1800s
1895
In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
1886
William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
William Ewart Gladstone
1866
Austro-Prussian War: Italy and Prussia sign a secret alliance against the Austrian Empire.
Austro-Prussian War
1832
Black Hawk War: Around 300 United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
Black Hawk War
1820
The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
Venus de Milo
1812
Czar Alexander I, the Russian Emperor and the Grand Duke of Finland, officially announces the transfer of the status of the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki.
Alexander I of Russia
Before 1800
1730
Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in continental North America, is dedicated.
Congregation Shearith Israel
1605
The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.
Oulu
1271
Fall of Krak des Chevaliers: In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers.
Fall of Krak des Chevaliers
1250
Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur.
Seventh Crusade
1232
Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty.
Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty
1143
Manuel I Komnenos succeeds his father John II Komnenos as Byzantine Emperor.
Manuel I Komnenos
1139
Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Innocent II for supporting Anacletus II as pope for seven years, even though Roger had already publicly recognized Innocent's claim to the papacy.
Roger II of Sicily
876
The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
Battle of Dayr al-Aqul
217
Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
Roman emperor