What are the important events that happened on January 8? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

January 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

January 8 is the 8^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 357 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 26, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,736,294,400 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘octagon’ day.

Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 21 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,401 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

January 8 Historical Events

• 1499 –
  Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.
• 1780 –
  An earthquake of estimated magnitude 7.7 hits the city of Tabriz, Iran, killing about 80,000 people and causing major damage.
• 1806 –
  Cape Colony becomes a British colony.
• 1920 –
  The steel strike of 1919 ends in a complete failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.
• 1956 –
  Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
• 1981 –
  A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be “perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time”.
• 1989 –
  The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 on board.
• 2002 –
  President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
• 2005 –
  The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
• 2011 –
  An attempted assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona at a Safeway grocery store kills 6 people and wounds 13, including Giffords.

Who were born on January 8?

• 1873 –
  Elena of Montenegro, queen of Italy (d. 1956)
• 1902 –
  Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician (d. 1988)
• 1912 –
  José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1992)
• 1924 –
  Benjamin Lees, American composer (d. 2010)
• 1939 –
  Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan fashion designer
• 1945 –
  Kojo Nnamdi, Guyanese-born American radio host
• 1957 –
  Nacho Duato, Spanish classical dancer and choreographer
• 1967 –
  Willie Anderson, American basketball player
• 1978 –
  Marco Fu, Hong Kong snooker player
• 1979 –
  Mirella van Melis, Dutch track and road cyclist

Who died on January 8?

• 1107 –
  Edgar of Scotland (b. 1074)
• 1789 –
  Jack Broughton, English boxer (b. c. 1703)
• 1825 –
  Eli Whitney, American inventor (b. 1765)
• 1958 –
  Mary Jane Colter, American architect (b. 1869)
• 1991 –
  Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (b. 1960)
• 1996 –
  Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (b. 1907)
• 1998 –
  Michael Tippett, English composer (b. 1905)
• 2003 –
  Ron Goodwin, British composer and conductor (b. 1925)
• 2005 –
  Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (b. 1952)
• 2009 –
  Richard John Neuhaus, Canadian-American Christian writer and editor (b. 1936)