AUG 8

• 1585 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in quest for the North West Passage.
• 1588 - Battle of Gravelines ends - Defeated by the English during an invasion attempt, the surviving parts of the Spanish Armada begin to sail home. Only 67 of the original 130 ships will later reach Spain and most of these will be in poor condition.
• 1647 - Battle of Dangan Hill - Irish forces are defeated by British Parliamentary forces.
• 1786 - Mont Blanc was climbed for the first time by Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat.
• 1844 - During a meeting held in Nauvoo, the Quorum of Twelve, headed by Brigham Young, is created as the leading body of the 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 (Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
• 1876 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
• 1911 - Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law will take effect in 1913.
• 1918 - World War I: Battle of Amiens - Canadian troops, backed by Australians, begin a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines. German General Erich Ludendorff will later call this the "black day of the German army."
• 1929 - The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight (will end on August 29).
• 1938 - The Mauthausen concentration camp is opened.
• 1942 - World War II: In Washington, DC, six German would-be saboteurs are executed (two others were cooperative and received life imprisonment instead).
• 1945 - World War II - The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria with more than 1 million troops. This action prompts Emperor Hirohito to plead with the war council to reconsider surrender.
• 1945 - The United Nations Charter is ratified by the United States, and that nation becomes the first to join the new international organization.
• 1949 - Bhutan becomes independent
• 1963 - Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steel 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.
• 1967 - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded.
• 1974 - Watergate scandal: US President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (effective August 9).
• 1989 - STS-28: The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
• 2000 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.

Births

• 1839 - General Nelson Miles, Indian fighter (+ 1925)
• 1866 - Matthew Henson, explorer (North Pole)
• 1879 - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (+ 1919)
• 1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author (+ 1953)
• 1902 - Paul Dirac, physicist (+ 1984)
• 1907 - Benny Carter, musician, arranger
• 1919 - Dino De Laurentiis, producer
• 1921 - Webb Pierce, country and western singer (+ 1991)
• 1921 - Esther Williams, actress, swimmer
• 1921 - William Asher, film producer
• 1922 - Rudi Gernreich, fashion designer (+ 1985)
• 1922 - Rory Calhoun, actor (+ 1999)
• 1931 - Sir Roger Penrose, mathematical physicist
• 1932 - Mel Tillis, country and western singer
• 1934 - Roberto Clemente, Baseball Hall of Famer (+ 1972)
• 1936 - Donald P. Bellisario, television producer
• 1937 - Dustin Hoffman, actor
• 1938 - Connie Stevens, singer, actress
• 1944 - Peter Weir, film director
• 1949 - Keith Carradine, actor
• 1954 - Nigel Mansell, Formula One racer
• 1961 - The Edge (David Evans), guitarist of U2
• 1958 - Deborah Norville, reporter, television host
• 1973 - Scott Stapp, Creed frontman
• 1976 - J.C. Chasez, singer (N Sync)
• 1976 - Drew Lachey, singer

Deaths

• 1944 - Chaim Soutine, painter
• 1965 - Shirley Jackson, author
• 1975 - Cannonball Adderley
• 1985 - Milton Greene, Celebrity photographer; close friend of Marilyn Monroe
• 1985 - Louise Brooks, Silent film actress
• 1991 - James Irwin, astronaut

Holidays and observances

• Taiwan: Father's Day. (In Mandarin, Ba Ba means father and 8-8, or August 8).

August 7 - August 9 - July 8 - September 8 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December