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

May 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 8 is the 128^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 237 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 25, 2025 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,746,662,400 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 ‘hectaicosaoctagon’ day.

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

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 285 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 4,521 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 8 Historical Events

• 413 –
  Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, who are plundered by the Visigoths.
• 1541 –
  Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo.
• 1877 –
  At Gilmore’s Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
• 1912 –
  Paramount Pictures is founded.
• 1919 –
  Edward George Honey first proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I, which later results in the creation of Remembrance Day. In the United States it was called Armistice Day and is now Veterans Day.
• 1924 –
  the Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania.
• 1933 –
  Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.
• 1942 –
  World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
• 1945 –
  World War II: V-E Day, combat ends in Europe. German forces agree in Rheims, France, to an unconditional surrender.
• 1976 –
  The rollercoaster Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Who were born on May 8?

• 1670 –
  Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (d. 1726)
• 1858 –
  Heinrich Berté, Austrian operetta composer (d. 1924)
• 1910 –
  Andrew E. Svenson, American children’s book author and publisher (d. 1975)
• 1915 –
  Milton Meltzer, American writer (d. 2009)
• 1937 –
  Thomas Pynchon, American novelist
• 1941 –
  Mahmoud Ahmed, Ethiopian singer
• 1945 –
  Keith Jarrett, American musician
• 1968 –
  Nathalie Normandeau, Quebec politician
• 1982 –
  Buakaw Por. Pramuk, Thai Muaythai kickboxer
• 1984 –
  Nadine Chandrawinata, Indonesian beauty pageant contestant

Who died on May 8?

• 1192 –
  Duke Ottokar IV of Styria (b. 1163)
• 1785 –
  Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (b. 1701)
• 1880 –
  Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (b. 1821)
• 1907 –
  Edmund G. Ross, American Senator (b. 1826)
• 1945 –
  Wilhelm Rediess, SS and Police leader of Nazi-occupied Norway (b. 1900)
• 1948 –
  U Saw, Burmese politician (b. 1900)
• 1988 –
  Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (b. 1907)
• 1991 –
  Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (b. 1903)
• 2005 –
  Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentine racing driver (b. 1981)
• 2008 –
  Eddy Arnold, country music star (b. 1918)