AUGUST 8 | Birthdays and Events
Famous Birthdays
People born on August 8
Godfrey Kneller
German-English painter who was the leading portraitist in England during the late Stuart and early Georgian eras. He was the selected painter of British and French monarchs.
Esther Hobart Morris
Died: April 2, 1902
The first woman justice of the peace in the U.S., beginning her career in South Pass City, Wyoming.
Bob Smith
Physician and surgeon who co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous.
Ernest Lawrence
Died: August 27, 1958
Physicist and academic who invented cyclotron, a particle accelerator. He also made significant contributions to the Manhattan Project for his work with uranium.
Paul Dirac
Died: October 20, 1984
English-American physicist and academic who was a co-founder of quantum mechanics.
Mel Tillis
Died: November 19, 2017
Country music musician who had a successful career from the late 1950s through the 1970s.
Dustin Hoffman
Multi-award winning and critically acclaimed actor in movie hits like Kramer vs. Kramer, The Graduate, Little Big Man, and Meet the Fockers.
Ken Kutaragi
Japanese engineering technologist who created PlayStation.
Don Most
Actor recognized for his role as Ralph Malph in the sitcom Happy Days.
Historical Events on August 8
Events that occurred on August 8 throughout history
King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor.
King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England. Margaret was 13 years old at the time of the wedding, and James IV was 30. They had six children, with only one surviving infancy--the future King James V.
The Shawnee people sign the Treaty of Wapakoneta.
About 400 Shawnee sign the Treaty of Wapakoneta, agreeing to relinquish their lands in Ohio in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River.
General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis
General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Thomas Jefferson Davis after his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg. Jefferson refused the resignation stating Lee would be impossible to replace.
Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee
Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee despite them being exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation. At the time, Tennessee was considered a state exempt from emancipation.
Black Saturday occurs in a stadium collapse in Philadelphia.
Black Saturday occurs after a wooden balcony in the left-field bleachers of Philadelphia's Baker Bowl collapsed during a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Beaneaters. People rushed to the balcony to see a fight on the street, eventually causing ti to fall, killing 12 people.
Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight.
Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight at Le Mans, France. The demonstration lasted around two minutes.
The laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials are established.
The laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials are established when France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States sign the London Charter.
The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
The Soviet Union declares war on Japan, fulfilling a promise made to Allies at the Yalta Conference to enter the war against Japan. Over one million Soviet troops invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria the same day. Japan surrendered a week later.
Photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.
Photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road. The session lasted 10 minutes and only six shots were taken.
President Richard Nixon announces his resignation from the Presidency.
President Richard Nixon announces his resignation from the office of the President on live television. His resignation would be effective at noon the next day.
The FBI executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida. The operation was part of a DOJ investigation into the alleged mishandling and unauthorized retention of highly classified White House records.