August 8 Historical Events

The following events took place on August 8. The list is arranged in chronological order.

Found 43 events. Showing 1 - 30.

• 1220
  Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
• 1503
  King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• 1576
  The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe’s Uraniborg observatory is laid on the island of Hven.
• 1585
  John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage.
• 1588
  Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada’s attempt to invade England.
• 1605
  The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.
• 1647
  The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungan’s Hill: English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.
• 1709
  Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the King of Portugal in Lisbon, Portugal
• 1786
  Mont Blanc on the French – Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
• 1793
  The insurrection of Lyon occurs during the French Revolution.
• 1794
  Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
• 1844
  The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS 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 (which is refused upon receipt).
• 1870
  The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.
• 1876
  Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.

• 1885
  More than 1.5 million people attend the funeral of Ulysses S. Grant in New York City.
• 1908
  Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers’ first public flight.
• 1918
  World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).
• 1927
  The predecessor to the Philippine Stock Exchange opens.
• 1929
  The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.
• 1940
  The “Aufbau Ost” directive is signed by Wilhelm Keitel.
• 1942
  Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mohandas Gandhi’s call for swaraj or complete independence.
• 1945
  The London Charter is signed by France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, establishing the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials.
• 1946
  First flight of the Convair B-36, the world’s first mass-produced nuclear weapon delivery vehicle, the heaviest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft, with the longest wingspan of any military aircraft, and the first bomber with intercontinental range.
• 1960
  South Kasai secedes from the Congo.
• 1963
  Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes.
• 1963
  The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the current ruling party of Zimbabwe, is formed by a split from the Zimbabwe African People’s Union.
• 1967
  The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• 1969
  At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the photo that becomes the cover of the Beatles album Abbey Road.
• 1973
  Kim Dae-jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.