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

August 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

August 8 is the 220^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 145 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is July 26, 2025 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 487,392 hours 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 ‘dihectaicosagon’ day.

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

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 193 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 4,613 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

August 8 Historical Events

• 1503 –
  King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland.
• 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 Dungans Hill – English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.
• 1908 –
  Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers’ first public 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 Mahatma Gandhi’s call for swaraj or complete independence.
• 1990 –
  Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.
• 2008 –
  2008 Summer Olympics took place from the 8th August 2008-24th August 2008. The official opening ceremony started at 8:00pm on 8th August 2008. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese Culture and here it was a triple eight for the date and one extra for time (close to 08:08:08 pm). There were 28 sports and 302 events at the games. There were 43 new world records and 132 new Olympic records set at the 2008 Summer Olympics. An unprecedented 86 countries won at least one medal during the Games.
• 2011 –
  London Riot 2011. This took place between 6th August 2011 and 10th August 2011. between the 6th and 7th a peaceful march in Tottenham, London was followed by rioting and looting, first in Tottenham.

Who were born on August 8?

• 1079 –
  Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107)
• 1947 –
  Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player and parliamentarian
• 1956 –
  David Grant, English singer and vocal coach
• 1966 –
  Chris Eubank, English boxer
• 1972 –
  Andrea de Rossi, Italian rugby player and coach
• 1972 –
  Joely Collins, Canadian actress
• 1974 –
  Andy Priaulx, British racing driver
• 1979 –
  Paris Latsis, Greek shipping heir
• 1984 –
  Norbert Michelisz, Hungarian car racer
• 1987 –
  Katie Leung, Scottish actress

Who died on August 8?

• 1445 –
  Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian composer
• 1934 –
  Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player (b. 1863)
• 1940 –
  Johnny Dodds, American musician (b. 1892)
• 1944 –
  Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (b. 1881)
• 1973 –
  Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish author and historian (b. 1898)
• 1988 –
  Alan Napier, English actor (b. 1903)
• 2005 –
  Ilse Werner, German actress (b. 1921)
• 2007 –
  Joybubbles, A notable phone phreak. (b. 1949)
• 2007 –
  Ma Lik, Chinese politician (b. 1952)
• 2009 –
  Daniel Jarque, Spanish footballer (b. 1983)