# On this day: April 8

April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years), with 267 days left until the end of the year.

## April 8 in one line

Headline entries for April 8, from Wikipedia: in 1904, France and the United Kingdom signed the Entente Cordiale, agreeing to a peaceful coexistence after centuries of intermittent conflict; born 1938: Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 2018); died 1973: Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1881). In 2026 it is a Wednesday, in 2027 a Thursday.

## Events on April 8

- 217 Roman emperor Caracalla was assassinated near Harran and succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect Macrinus. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracalla)
- 876 Abbasid forces decisively defeated the Saffarid emir Ya'qub ibn Laith, forcing the latter to halt his advance into Iraq. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dayr_al-Aqul)
- 1143 Manuel I Komnenos succeeds his father John II Komnenos as Byzantine Emperor. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_Komnenos)
- 1250 Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fariskur_(1250))
- 1271 Crusades: The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Krak des Chevaliers, a castle in present-day Syria, to the army of the Mamluk sultan Baybars. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak_des_Chevaliers)
- 1605 The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IX_of_Sweden)
- 1630 Kiliaen van Rensselaer purchased land near present-day Albany, New York, to establish Rensselaerswyck, which became the most successful patroonship under the Dutch West India Company. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rensselaerswyck)
- 1820 The Venus de Milo, an ancient Greek statue of a woman with its arms missing, was discovered on the island of Milos. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_de_Milo)
- 1864 American Civil War: Late-arriving reinforcements helped Confederate forces rout the Union Army at the Battle of Mansfield. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mansfield)
- 1866 Austro-Prussian War: Italy and Prussia sign a secret alliance against the Austrian Empire. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_Empire)
- 1904 Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan was renamed Times Square after the New York Times building. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square)
- 1904 France and the United Kingdom signed the Entente Cordiale, agreeing to a peaceful coexistence after centuries of intermittent conflict. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entente_Cordiale)
- 1911 American cartoonist Winsor McCay released the silent short film Little Nemo, one of the earliest animated films. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay)
- 1917 World War I: German naval officer Wilhelm Werner murdered 19 captured crew members of the British cargo ship Torrington by submerging U-55 when they were on deck. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Werner)
- 1933 The Australian state of Western Australia voted to secede from the federation, but efforts to implement the result proved to be unsuccessful. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Western_Australian_secession_referendum)
- 1942 World War II: The United States Army Air Forces flew its first mission from India over the Hump (the eastern end of the Himalayas) to deliver materiel to China. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hump)
- 1943 Otto and Elise Hampel were executed in Berlin for performing acts of resistance against Nazism. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_and_Elise_Hampel)
- 1959 A team of computer scientists and others met to discuss the creation of a common business-oriented programming language, which became COBOL. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL)
- 1961 A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf killed 238 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Dara)
- 1968 BOAC Flight 712 experienced an engine fire shortly after take-off from London Heathrow, leading to the deaths of five people on board, including flight attendant Jane Harrison, who was posthumously awarded a George Cross for heroism. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_712)
- 1973 The Progress Party was founded in a movie theater in Oslo, Norway. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_Party_(Norway))
- 1993 The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on mission STS-56. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-56)
- 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. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-110)
- 2008 On board Soyuz TMA-12, Yi So-yeon became the first Korean astronaut. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_So-yeon)
- 2024 Solar eclipse: A total solar eclipse takes place at the Moon's ascending node, visible across North America. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse)
- 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. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_April_2026_Israeli_attacks_on_Lebanon)

## Born on April 8

- 1605 Philip IV of Spain (died 1665) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_IV_of_Spain)
- 1692 Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (died 1770) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Tartini)
- 1818 Christian IX, King of Denmark (died 1906) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_IX)
- 1859 Edmund Husserl, German Jewish-Austrian mathematician and philosopher (died 1938) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Husserl)
- 1875 Albert I of Belgium (died 1934) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I_of_Belgium)
- 1892 Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of United Artists (died 1979) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Pickford)
- 1904 John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hicks)
- 1911 Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and academic (died 1995) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Cioran)
- 1911 Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Calvin)
- 1912 Sonja Henie, Norwegian-American figure skater and actress (died 1969) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonja_Henie)
- 1918 Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (died 2011) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Ford)
- 1919 Ian Smith, Zimbabwean lieutenant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (died 2007) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Smith)
- 1929 Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor (died 1978) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel)
- 1936 Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian author and politician (died 1972) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassan_Kanafani)
- 1938 Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 2018) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan)
- 1941 Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer (died 2022) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Westwood)
- 1950 Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer and coach [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grzegorz_Lato)
- 1966 Robin Wright, American actress, director, producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Wright)
- 1968 Patricia Arquette, American actress and director [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Arquette)
- 1974 Chris Kyle, American sniper and memoirist (died 2013) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Kyle)
- 1986 Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Akinfeev)
- 1990 Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer (died 2017) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonghyun)

## Died on April 8

- 217 Caracalla, Roman emperor (born 188) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracalla)
- 1364 John II, French king (born 1319) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_II_of_France)
- 1450 Sejong the Great, Korean king (born 1397) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejong_the_Great)
- 1492 Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian ruler (born 1449) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_de'_Medici)
- 1848 Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (born 1797) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Donizetti)
- 1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet Nobel Prize laureate (born 1864) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Axel_Karlfeldt)
- 1936 Róbert Bárány, Austrian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1876) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_B%C3%A1r%C3%A1ny)
- 1950 Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish dancer and choreographer (born 1890) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaslav_Nijinsky)
- 1973 Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1881) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso)
- 1981 Omar Bradley, American general (born 1893) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Bradley)
- 1984 Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1894) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Kapitsa)
- 1992 Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Bovet)
- 2013 Margaret Thatcher, English politician, first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1925) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher)
- 2024 Peter Higgs, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1929) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Higgs)

## Holidays and observances

- Buddha's Birthday, also known as Hana Matsuri, "Flower Festival" (Japan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha's_Birthday)
- Christian feast day: Anne Ayres (Episcopal Church (USA)) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Ayres)
- Christian feast day: Blessed August Czartoryski [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Czartoryski)
- Christian feast day: Constantina [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantina)
- Christian feast day: Pope Dionysius of Alexandria [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_of_Alexandria)
- Christian feast day: Julie Billiart of Namur [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Billiart)
- Christian feast day: Perpetuus [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Perpetuus)
- Christian feast day: Walter of Pontoise [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_of_Pontoise)
- Christian feast day: William Augustus Muhlenberg (Episcopal Church (USA)) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Augustus_Muhlenberg)
- Christian feast day: April 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_8_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Earliest day on which Fast and Prayer Day can fall, while April 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Friday in April (Liberia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Liberia)
- International Romani Day [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Romani_Day)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “April 8”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_8) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/April 8”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/April_8) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“April 8”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_8) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_8?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for April 8 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## April 8 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Wednesday | 2026-W15 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2027 | Thursday | 2027-W14 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2028 | Saturday | 2028-W14 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2029 | Sunday | 2029-W14 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2030 | Monday | 2030-W15 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on April 8

None of the 28 countries we track has a public holiday on April 8 in 2026 or 2027.

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← April 7](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/april-7/) · [April 9 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/april-9/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/april-8/