Today August 8th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1220 – Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
1509 – The Emperor Krishnadeva Raya is crowned, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire.
1576 – The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe s Uraniborg observatory is laid on Hven.
1585 – John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage.
1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada s attempt to invade England.
1605 – The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.
1647 – The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungans Hill – English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.
1709 – Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the King of Portugal in Lisbon
1786 – Mont Blanc on the French- Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
1793 – The insurrection of Lyon occurs during the French Revolution.
1794 – Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver lead an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
1810 – Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib marries Maaroof, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Baksh, and moves to Delhi.
1839 – Beta Theta Pi is founded in Oxford, Ohio.
1844 – The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or Mormon Church).
1863 – American Civil War: following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).
1863 – American Civil War: Tennessee s military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves. During the early 20th century, the day was celebrated by blacks in Tennessee as a holiday.
1870 – The Republic of Ploiesti, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.
1876 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
1908 – Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers first public flight.
1910 – The US Army installs the first tricycle landing gear on the Army s Wright Flyer.
1911 – The millionth patent is filed in the United States Patent Office by Francis Holton for a tubeless vehicle tire.
1911 – Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law would come into effect in 1913.
1918 – World War I: the Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).
1929 – The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.
1931 – Workers go on strike at the Hoover dam.
1938 – The building of Mauthausen concentration camp begins.
1940 – The Aufbau Ost directive is signed by Wilhelm Keitel.
1942 – World War II: in Washington, DC, six German would-be saboteurs (Operation Pastorius) are executed.
1942 – The Quit India resolution was passed by the Bombay session of the AICC, leading to the start of a civil disobedience movement across India.
1945 – World War II: the Soviet Union declares war on Japan and begins the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.
1945 – The United Nations Charter is signed by the United States, which becomes the third nation to join.
1946 – First flight of the Convair B-36.
1947 – Pakistan s National Flag is approved.
1949 – Bhutan becomes independent.
1960 – South Kasai secedes from the Congo.
1963 – Great Train Robbery: in England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.
1967 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
1968 – Juro Wada successfully performs Japan s first heart transplant.
1973 – U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew appears on television to denounce accusations he had taken kickbacks while governor of Maryland.
1973 – Kim Dae-Jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.
1974 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation, effective the next day.
1980 – The Central Hotel Fire, Bundoran occurs in Ireland.
1986 – Altaf Hussain s address at Nishtar Park Karachi, announcing the establishment of the MQM political movement.
1988 – The 8888 Uprising occurs in Burma.
1988 – The lights are turned on at Wrigley Field for the first time, making it the last major league stadium to host night games. (The game, against the Philadelphia Phillies, is rained out after three-and-a-half innings.)
1989 – Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission – Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
1990 – Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.
1991 – The Warsaw radio mast, at one time the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
1991 – John McCarthy, British journalist held hostage in Lebanon for more than five years by Islamic Jihad, is released.
2000 – Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
2007 – An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York State, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.
Births
1079 – Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107)
1518 – Conrad Lycosthenes, French-born German humanist and encyclopedist (d. 1561)
1605 – Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, British colonial Governor of Maryland (d. 1675)
1646 – Godfrey Kneller, German-born painter (d. 1723)
1673 – John Ker, Scottish spy (d. 1726)
1693 – Laurent Belissen, French composer (d. 1762)
1694 – Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher (d. 1746)
1720 – Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician (d. 1796)
1807 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist (d. 1892)
1814 – Esther Morris, American jurist (d. 1902)
1824 – Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), Tsarina of Russia (d. 1880)
1839 – Nelson Miles, American general (d. 1925)
1857 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (d. 1944)
1875 – Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)
1879 – Bob Smith, American founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1950)
1879 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)
1880 – Earle Page, Australian politician (d. 1961)
1881 – Albert Kesselring, German field marshal (d. 1960)
1881 – Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (d. 1954)
1882 – Ladislas Starevich, Polish animator (d. 1965)
1884 – Sara Teasdale, American poet (d. 1933)
1889 – Jack Ryder, Australian cricketer (d. 1977)
1891 – Adolf Busch, German violinist (d. 1952)
1892 – Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, Spanish footballer (d. 1922)
1896 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author (d. 1953)
1898 – Alexis Minotis, Greek actor (d. 1990)
1901 – Ernest O. Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1902 – Paul Dirac, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
1904 – Achille Varzi, Italian race car driver (d. 1948)
1905 – André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974)
1907 – Benny Carter, American musician (d. 2003)
1908 – Arthur Goldberg, U.S. Supreme Court justice (d. 1980)
1909 – Bill Voce, England cricketer (d. 1984)
1910 – Sylvia Sidney, American actress (d. 1999)
1911 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (d. 2002)
1915 – Jumbo Elliott, American track coach (d. 1981)
1919 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian film producer
1920 – Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist (d. 2006)
1920 – Carol Lambrino, son of Carol II of Romania and Zizi Lambrino (d. 2006)
1920 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American singer (d. 1997)
1921 – William Asher, American film producer
1921 – John Herbert Chapman, British physicist (d. 1979)
1921 – Webb Pierce, American singer (d. 1991)
1921 – Vulimiri Ramalingaswami, Indian medical scientist (d. 2001)
1921 – Esther Williams, American actress and swimmer
1922 – Rory Calhoun, American actor (d. 1999)
1922 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-born fashion designer (d. 1985)
1922 – Gertrude Himmelfarb, American historian
1925 – Alija Izetbegovic, Bosniak politician (d. 2003)
1926 – Richard Anderson, American actor
1927 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player (d. 1994)
1928 – Don Burrows, Australian musician
1929 – Ronald Biggs, British criminal
1929 – Larisa Bogoraz, Soviet dissident (d. 2004)
1931 – Sir Roger Penrose, British physicist
1932 – Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian dictator
1932 – Mel Tillis, American singer
1933 – Joe Tex, American singer (d. 1982)
1933 – Serena Wilson, American belly dancer (d. 2007)
1935 – Donald P. Bellisario, American television producer
1935 – John Laws, Australia radio personality
1936 – Keith Barron, English actor
1936 – Frank Howard, American baseball player
1937 – Dustin Hoffman, American actor
1938 – Jacques Hétu, French Canadian composer
1938 – Connie Stevens, American singer and actress
1939 – Alexander Watson, American ambassador and diplomat
1940 – Dennis Tito, American businessman and space tourist
1940 – Dilip Sardesai, Indian cricketer (d. 2007)
1944 – Brooke Bundy, American actress
1944 – John Renbourn, English musician
1946 – James W. Lewis, American convicted extortionist
1947 – José Cruz, Puerto Rican baseball player
1947 – Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player and parliamentarian
1947 – Larry Wilcox, American actor
1947 – Terangi Adam, Nauruan politician
1948 – Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian cosmonaut
1949 – Keith Carradine, American actor
1949 – Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver
1950 – Ken Kutaragi, Founder of PlayStation
1951 – Mamoru Oshii, Japanese film director
1951 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
1951 – Phil Carlson, Australian cricketer
1952 – Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
1952 – Robin Quivers, American radio personality
1952 – Sudhakar Rao, Indian cricketer
1953 – Nigel Mansell, English race car driver
1953 – Don Most, American actor
1953 – Mark Lazarowicz British Politician
1955 – Diddú, Icelandic soprano and songwriter
1955 – Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer
1956 – David Grant, English singer and vocal coach
1956 – Branscombe Richmond, American actor
1956 – Chris Foreman, English guitarist (Madness)
1958 – Deborah Norville, American television host
1958 – Cecilia Roth, Argentine actress
1960 – Ulrich Maly, German politician
1961 – The Edge, Irish guitarist (U2)
1961 – Daniel House, American music executive
1961 – Bruce Matthews, American football player
1961 – Rikki Rockett, American drummer (Poison)
1962 – Mike Zanier, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 – Jon Turteltaub, American director
1963 – Stephen Walkom, Canadian ice hockey official and executive
1964 – Anastasia Ashman, American writer
1964 – Paul Taylor, England cricketer
1965 – Kate Langbroek, Australian media personality
1965 – Aaron Abeyta, American musician
1965 – Angus Fraser, England cricketer
1966 – Chris Eubank, English boxer
1966 – John Hudek, American baseball player
1967 – Eric Angle, American wrestler
1967 – Marcelo Balboa, American soccer player
1967 – Rena Mero, American wrestler
1967 – Jessica Moore, Italian actress
1967 – Lee Unkrich, American director and film editor
1968 – Abey Kuruvilla, Indian cricketer
1969 – Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer and actress
1969 – Dick Togo, Japanese professional wrestler
1969 – Yvie Burnett, British television vocal coach
1970 – Trev Alberts, American football player
1970 – Pascal Duquenne, Belgian actor
1972 – Axel Merckx, Belgian bicycle racer
1972 – Lüpüs Thünder, American musician (The Bloodhound Gang)
1973 – Toby Allen, Australian singer (Human Nature)
1973 – Shane Lee, Australian cricketer
1973 – Senta Moses, American actress
1973 – Scott Stapp, American singer (Creed)
1974 – Scott D Amore, Canadian professional wrestler and manager
1974 – Brian Harvey, English singer
1974 – Andy Priaulx, British race car driver
1976 – JC Chasez, American singer (*NSYNC)
1976 – Tawny Cypress, American actress
1976 – Drew Lachey, American singer
1976 – Seung-Yeop Lee, Korean baseball player
1976 – Jeff Simmons, American race car driver
1977 – Kurt Bernard, Costa Rican footballer
1977 – Szilard Nemeth, Slovak footballer
1977 – Lindsay Sloane, American actress
1977 – Rocky Thompson, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Mohammad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer
1978 – Alan Maybury, Irish footballer
1978 – Louis Saha, French footballer
1978 – Miho Shiraishi, Japanese actress
1978 – Countess Vaughn, American actress and singer
1979 – Richard Harwood, British cellist
1979 – Paris Latsis, Greek shipping heir
1979 – Rashard Lewis, American basketball player
1979 – Sam Totman, English musician (Dragonforce)
1980 – Mike Hindert, American musician
1980 – Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player
1980 – Pat Noonan, American footballer
1980 – Michael Urie, American actor and director
1981 – Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter
1981 – Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
1981 – Meagan Good, American actress
1981 – Kaori Iida, Japanese singer and actress
1981 – Bradley McIntosh, British pop singer
1982 – David Florence, British canoeist
1983 – Guy Burnet, British actor
1984 – Martrez Milner, American football player
1984 – Devon McTavish, American footballer
1985 – Brayan Ruiz, Costa Rican football player
1986 – Peyton List, American actress
1987 – Katie Leung, Scottish actress
1988 – Princess Beatrice of York
1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player
1989 – Sesil Karatantcheva, Bulgarian tennis player
1995 – Malin Reitan, Norwegian singer
Deaths
869 – Lothair II of Lotharingia (b. 825)
1445 – Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian composer
1553 – Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician (b. 1478)
1555 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician (b. 1494)
1588 – Alonso Sánchez Coello, Spanish painter
1604 – Horio Tadauji, Japanese warlord (b. 1578)
1631 – Konstantinas Sirvydas, Lithuanian lexicographer (b. 1579)
1684 – George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (b. 1622)
1747 – Madeleine de Verchères, New France heroine (b. 1678)
1759 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German composer (b. 1704)
1827 – George Canning, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770)
1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist (b. 1743)
1863 – Angus MacAskill known as Giant MacAskill , circus performer (b. 1825)
1879 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1797)
1887 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (b. 1808)
1897 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss art historian (b. 1818)
1898 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (b. 1824)
1902 – James Tissot, French artist (b. 1836)
1911 – William P. Frye, American politician (b. 1830)
1928 – Stjepan Radic, Croatian politician (b. 1871)
1933 – Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (b. 1870)
1934 – Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player and hall-of-famer (b. 1863)
1940 – Johnny Dodds, American musician (b. 1892)
1944 – Chaim Soutine, Russian painter (b. 1894)
1944 – Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (b. 1881)
1944 – Michael Wittmann, German Tank ace and Knight s Cross holder, killed in action, Normandy. (b. 1914)
1947 – Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (b. 1872)
1950 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman (b. 1879)
1961 – Mei Lanfang, Chinese opera performer (b. 1894)
1965 – Shirley Jackson, American author (b. 1916)
1969 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German eugenicist and Nazi physician (b. 1896)
1972 – Andrea Feldman, American actor (b. 1948)
1973 – Dean Corll, American serial killer (b. 1939)
1973 – Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish author and historian (b. 1898)
1974 – Baldur von Schirach, Nazi youth leader (b. 1907)
1975 – Julian Cannonball Adderley, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1928)
1977 – Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1889)
1979 – Nicholas Monsarrat, British novelist (b. 1910)
1980 – Paul Triquet, French Canadian army officer (b. 1910)
1982 – Eric Brandon, British racing driver (b. 1920)
1984 – Ellen Raskin, American author(b. 1928)
1985 – Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906)
1987 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician (b. 1903)
1988 – Félix Leclerc, Quebec singer and songwriter (b. 1914)
1988 – Alan Napier, English actor (b. 1903)
1988 – Ramón Valdés, Mexican actor (b. 1923)
1991 – Julissa Gomez, American gymnast (b. 1972)
1991 – James Irwin, astronaut (b. 1930)
1992 – Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qasim Khoei, considered to be the Supreme Shi ite authority at the time of his death
1992 – John Kordic, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1965)
1996 – Nevill Mott, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1905)
1998 – Mahmoud Saremi, Iranian journalist
2004 – Fay Wray, American actress (b. 1907)
2004 – Dimitris Papamichael, Greek actor (b. 1934)
2005 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (b. 1922)
2005 – Ahmed Deedat, Islamic scholar (b. 1918)
2005 – John H. Johnson, African-American publisher (b. 1918)
2005 – Gene Mauch, American baseball player (b. 1925)
2005 – Monica Sjöö, Swedish artist (b. 1938)
2005 – Ilse Werner, German actress (b. 1921)
2007 – Joybubbles, A notable phone phreak. (b. 1949)
2007 – Ma Lik, Chinese politician (b. 1952)
2007 – Melville Shavelson, American film director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1917)
2008 – Orville Moody, American golfer (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances
Sweden – Namesday of Queen Silvia, an Official Flag Day.
Taiwan: Father s Day. (In Mandarin, Ba Ba means father and 8-8, or August 8).
Roman Catholicism – the feasts of at least 5 saints:
St. Dominic de Guzman, priest, Confessor Fidei, founder of the Dominican Order (1170-1221).
St. Cyriacus
St. Largus
St. Smaragdus (and companions)
St. Hormisdas
