On this day: November 8

Events on November 8

• 960 Arab–Byzantine wars: Having been the target of many raids by the Emirate of Aleppo, Byzantine forces led by Leo Phokas the Younger ambushed the Hamdanids and annihilated their army. Wikipedia
• 1278 Trần Thánh Tông, the second emperor of Vietnam's Trần dynasty, took up the title of retired emperor, but continued to co-rule with his son Nhân Tông for eleven more years. Wikipedia
• 1291 A law was passed that confined most of Venice's glassmaking industry to nearby Murano. Wikipedia
• 1519 Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with a great celebration. Wikipedia
• 1520 After his coronation as king of Sweden, Christian II gave the order to execute nearly 100 people, mostly noblemen, despite promises of general amnesty. Wikipedia
• 1605 Robert Catesby, ringleader of the Gunpowder Plotters, is killed. Wikipedia
• 1620 The Battle of White Mountain takes place near Prague, ending in a decisive Catholic victory in only two hours. Wikipedia
• 1644 The Shunzhi Emperor, the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, was enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China. Wikipedia
• 1889 Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state. Wikipedia
• 1895 While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray. Wikipedia
• 1923 Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government. Wikipedia
• 1932 The Australian military withdrew from their "war against emus" in Western Australia, due to negative press coverage of the operation. Wikipedia
• 1940 The Italian invasion of Greece failed as outnumbered Greek units repulsed the Italians at the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: French Resistance coup in Algiers, in which 400 civilian French patriots neutralize Vichyist XIXth Army Corps after 15 hours of fighting, and arrest several Vichyist generals, allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers. Wikipedia
• 1957 En route from San Francisco to Honolulu, Pan Am Flight 7 crashed into the Pacific Ocean due to unknown causes, killing all 44 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1965 Vietnam War: In the Battle of Gang Toi, one of the earliest battles between the two sides, Viet Cong forces repelled an Australian attack. Wikipedia
• 1966 Former Massachusetts attorney general Edward Brooke became the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction. Wikipedia
• 1971 English rock group Led Zeppelin released their fourth album, which became one of the best-selling albums worldwide. Wikipedia
• 1972 American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) launches. Wikipedia
• 1974 British peer Lord Lucan disappeared without a trace, a day after allegedly murdering Sandra Rivett, his children's nanny. Wikipedia
• 1987 A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing 12 people and injuring 63 others. Wikipedia
• 1999 German newspaper Der Spiegel publishes a report by the Federal Intelligence Service accusing figures in Liechtenstein of cooperating with organized crime. Wikipedia
• 2013 Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Visayas region of the Philippines, killing at least 6,300 people, making it the deadliest Philippine typhoon recorded in modern history. Wikipedia
• 2016 Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton, the first woman ever to receive a major party's nomination. Wikipedia
• 2017 The Louvre Abu Dhabi was inaugurated by the French president Emmanuel Macron and then-crown prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Wikipedia
• 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: Azerbaijani forces defeated the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh in the Battle of Shusha, reclaiming the town after 28 years. Wikipedia

Born on November 8

• 30 Nerva, Roman emperor (died 98) Wikipedia
• 1622 Charles X Gustav, King of Sweden (died 1660) Wikipedia
• 1656 Edmond Halley, English astronomer and mathematician (died 1742) Wikipedia
• 1837 Ilia Chavchavadze, Georgian journalist, lawyer, and politician (died 1907) Wikipedia
• 1847 Bram Stoker, Irish novelist and critic, created Count Dracula (died 1912) Wikipedia
• 1847 Jean Casimir-Perier, French politician, 6th President of France (died 1907) Wikipedia
• 1848 Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and philosopher (died 1925) Wikipedia
• 1884 Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (died 1922) Wikipedia
• 1893 Prajadhipok, Thai king (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1897 Dorothy Day, American journalist and activist (died 1980) Wikipedia
• 1900 Margaret Mitchell, American journalist and author (died 1949) Wikipedia
• 1922 Christiaan Barnard, South African surgeon and academic (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1923 Jack Kilby, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1935 Alain Delon, French-Swiss actor, producer, screenwriter (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1936 Virna Lisi, Italian actress (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1946 Guus Hiddink, Dutch footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1954 Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese-British novelist, screenwriter, and short story writer Wikipedia
• 1966 Gordon Ramsay, British chef, restaurateur, and television host/personality Wikipedia
• 1974 Masashi Kishimoto, Japanese author and illustrator, created Naruto Wikipedia
• 1975 Tara Reid, American actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Joe Cole, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Aaron Swartz, American computer programmer and activist (died 2013) Wikipedia

Died on November 8

• 397 Martin of Tours, Frankish bishop and saint Wikipedia
• 618 Adeodatus I, pope of the Catholic Church Wikipedia
• 955 Agapetus II, pope of the Catholic Church Wikipedia
• 1226 Louis VIII, king of France (born 1187) Wikipedia
• 1308 Duns Scotus, Scottish priest, philosopher, and academic (born 1266) Wikipedia
• 1674 John Milton, English poet and philosopher (born 1608) Wikipedia
• 1830 Francis I of the Two Sicilies (born 1777) Wikipedia
• 1890 César Franck, Belgian organist and composer (born 1822) Wikipedia
• 1945 August von Mackensen, German field marshal (born 1849) Wikipedia
• 1953 Ivan Bunin, Russian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1870) Wikipedia
• 1978 Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 1986 Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician and diplomat, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1998 Jean Marais, French actor and director (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2009 Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist and astrophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Four Crowned Martyrs Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Godfrey of Amiens Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Johann von Staupitz (Lutheran) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed John Duns Scotus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Saints and Martyrs of England (Church of England) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Tysilio Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Willehad of Bremen Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: November 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Intersex Day of Remembrance (New South Wales, Australia) Wikipedia
• International Day of Radiology (European Society of Radiology) Wikipedia
• National Aboriginal Veterans Day (Canada) Wikipedia
• Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers of Heaven (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• World Urbanism Day Wikipedia
• Victory Day (Azerbaijan) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “November 8” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/November 8” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — 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) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “November 8” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for November 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.