On this day: August 8

Events on August 8

• 1503 King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England, at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland. Wikipedia
• 1588 Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England. Wikipedia
• 1709 Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the king of Portugal in Lisbon, Portugal. Wikipedia
• 1831 Four hundred Shawnee people agree to relinquish their lands in Ohio in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River in the Treaty of Wapakoneta. Wikipedia
• 1863 Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee, despite them being exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, now commemorated as Emancipation Day in the state. Wikipedia
• 1870 The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania. Wikipedia
• 1876 Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph. Wikipedia
• 1903 Black Saturday occurs, killing 12 in a stadium collapse in Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 1918 The Battle of Amiens began in northern France, marking the start of the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive through the German front lines that ultimately led to the end of World War I. Wikipedia
• 1918 World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive). Wikipedia
• 1942 Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for swaraj or complete independence. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan. Wikipedia
• 1967 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Wikipedia
• 1969 At a zebra crossing on Abbey Road in London, Iain Macmillan took the photograph that was used for the cover of the Beatles' album Abbey Road. Wikipedia
• 1969 At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan took the photo that was used for the cover of the Beatles' album Abbey Road. Wikipedia
• 1969 At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road. Wikipedia
• 1974 President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day. Wikipedia
• 1988 The 8888 Uprising begins in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Led by students, hundreds of thousands join in nationwide protests against the one-party regime. On September 18, the demonstrations end in a military crackdown, killing thousands. Wikipedia
• 1988 Tropical Storm Beryl formed over southeastern Louisiana, making it one of the few tropical cyclones to form over land. Wikipedia
• 1990 Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward. Wikipedia
• 1991 Hudson Volcano in Chile began to erupt, depositing volcanic ash over 150,000 square kilometres (58,000 sq mi). Wikipedia
• 2008 A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others. Wikipedia
• 2013 A suicide bombing at a funeral in the Pakistani city of Quetta kills at least 31 people. Wikipedia
• 2014 The World Health Organization declared the Western African Ebola epidemic, which began in December 2013, to be a public health emergency of international concern. Wikipedia
• 2022 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida. Wikipedia
• 2023 Hawaii wildfires: Seventeen thousand acres of land are burned and at least 101 people are killed, with two others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Wikipedia

Born on August 8

• 422 Casper, ruler of the Maya city of Palenque Wikipedia
• 1170 Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominicans (died 1221) Wikipedia
• 1875 Artur Bernardes, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 12th President of Brazil (died 1955) Wikipedia
• 1879 Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general and politician (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1879 Bob Smith, American physician and surgeon, co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous (died 1950) Wikipedia
• 1880 Earle Page, Australian lawyer, academic, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1961) Wikipedia
• 1901 Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958) Wikipedia
• 1902 Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1925 Alija Izetbegović, Bosnian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (died 2003) Wikipedia
• 1931 Roger Penrose, English physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1937 Dustin Hoffman, American actor and director Wikipedia
• 1948 Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian engineer and astronaut Wikipedia
• 1950 Ken Kutaragi, Japanese businessman, created PlayStation Wikipedia
• 1951 Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian engineer, academic, and politician, 5th President of Egypt (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1951 Louis van Gaal, Dutch footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1952 Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author Wikipedia
• 1953 Lloyd Austin, American general, 1st black Secretary of Defense Wikipedia
• 1953 Nigel Mansell, English racing driver Wikipedia
• 1964 Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy Wikipedia
• 1966 Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia Wikipedia
• 1981 Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player Wikipedia
• 1998 Shawn Mendes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Wikipedia

Died on August 8

• 117 Trajan, Roman emperor (born 53) Wikipedia
• 1827 George Canning, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1770) Wikipedia
• 1897 Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (born 1818) Wikipedia
• 1898 Eugène Boudin, French painter (born 1824) Wikipedia
• 1950 Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman, founded Qantas (born 1879) Wikipedia
• 1985 Louise Brooks, American actress (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1991 James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut, eighth man to walk on the moon (born 1930) Wikipedia
• 1996 Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 2003 Dirk Hoogendam, Dutch-German SS officer and war criminal (born 1922) Wikipedia
• 2004 Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 2005 Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (born 1922) Wikipedia
• 2010 Patricia Neal, American actress (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2013 Karen Black, American actress (born 1939) Wikipedia
• 2022 Olivia Newton-John, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress (born 1948) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Ceasefire Day (end of Iran–Iraq War) (Iraqi Kurdistan) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Altmann of Passau Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Cyriacus and companions Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order. Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Four Crowned Martyrs Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Blessed Maria Anna Rosa Caiani Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Mary MacKillop Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Severus of Vienne Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: August 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Father's Day or Bā bā Day (爸爸節), Bā Bā is Mandarin for "father" and "8-8", or August 8. (Mongolia, Taiwan) Wikipedia
• Happiness Happens Day Wikipedia
• International Cat Day Wikipedia
• Namesday of the Queen (Sweden) Wikipedia
• Nane Nane Day (Tanzania) Wikipedia
• Signal Troops Day (Ukraine) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “August 8” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.