8 May
Notable Births
Oliver Bearman
b. 2005
British racing driver (born 2005)
Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco
b. 2003
Crown Prince of Morocco (born 2003)
Jordyn Huitema
b. 2001
Canadian soccer player (born 2001)
6ix9ine
b. 1996
American rapper (born 1996)
Pat Cummins
b. 1993
Australian cricketer (born 1993)
Olivia Culpo
b. 1992
American model (born 1992)
Kevin Hayes
b. 1992
American ice hockey player (born 1992)
Lane Johnson
b. 1990
American football player (born 1990)
Iyo Sky
b. 1990
Japanese professional wrestler (born 1990)
Kemba Walker
b. 1990
American basketball player (born 1990)
Lars Eller
b. 1989
Danish ice hockey player (born 1989)
Trisha Paytas
b. 1988
American actress, singer, and YouTuber
Felix Jones
b. 1987
American football player (born 1987)
Mark Noble
b. 1987
English footballer (born 1987)
Ted Sorensen
b. 1928
American lawyer and presidential adviser (1928–2010)
David Attenborough
b. 1926
English broadcaster and naturalist (born 1926)
Don Rickles
b. 1926
American comedian and actor (1926–2017)
Tom of Finland
b. 1920
Finnish artist (1920–1991)
Bob Clampett
b. 1913
American animator (1913–1984)
Harry S. Truman
b. 1884
President of the United States from 1945 to 1953
Notable Deaths
Simon Mann
d. 2025
British Army officer and mercenary (1952–2025)
Chris Cannon
d. 2024
American politician (1950–2024)
Jimmy Johnson (cornerback)
d. 2024
American football player (1938–2024)
Pete McCloskey
d. 2024
American politician (1927–2024)
Ramón Fonseca Mora
d. 2024
Panamanian novelist and lawyer (1952–2024)
Robert Gillmor
d. 2022
English painter (1936–2022)
Dennis Waterman
d. 2022
English actor and singer (1948–2022)
Helmut Jahn
d. 2021
German and American architect (1940–2021)
Sprent Dabwido
d. 2019
President of Nauru from 2011 to 2013
Big Bully Busick
d. 2018
American professional wrestler, powerlifter
Anne V. Coates
d. 2018
British film editor (1925–2018)
William Schallert
d. 2016
American actor (1922-2016)
Zeki Alasya
d. 2015
Turkish actor and film director
Roger L. Easton
d. 2014
American physicist and GPS inventor (1921–2014)
Nancy Malone
d. 2014
American actress and director (1935–2014)
Jair Rodrigues
d. 2014
Musical artist
Joseph P. Teasdale
d. 2014
American politician (1936–2014)
Jeanne Cooper
d. 2013
American actress (1928–2013)
Bryan Forbes
d. 2013
English film director, screenwriter and actor (1926–2013)
Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal
d. 1782
Portuguese noble, diplomat and statesman (1699–1782)
On This Day in History
All 53 ›
2025
The 2025 papal conclave elects Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, taking the name Leo XIV as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.
2025 conclave
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.
2021 Kabul school bombing
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.
Phage therapy
1997
China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people.
China Southern Airlines Flight 3456
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".
Illinois Bell
1987
The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.
Special Air Service
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.
Denis Lortie
1984
The Soviet Union announces a boycott upon the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles, later joined by 14 other countries.
Soviet Union
1984
The Thames Barrier is officially opened, preventing the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded except under extreme circumstances.
Thames Barrier
1980
The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.
World Health Organization
1978
The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
Mount Everest
1976
The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
The Great American Revolution
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.
Wounded Knee Occupation
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.
Vietnam War
1970
The Beatles release their 12th and final studio album Let It Be.
The Beatles
1967
The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
Davao (province)
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.
Huế Phật Đản shootings
1957
South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem begins a state visit to the United States, his regime's main sponsor.
Ngo Dinh Diem
1950
The Tollund Man is discovered in a peat bog near Silkeborg, Denmark.
Tollund Man
1946
Estonian schoolgirls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.
Aili Jõgi