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 220th day of the year 2023 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 145 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is July 26, 2023 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,190,880 minutes 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 186 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 3,882 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 8 Historical Events
- 1588 –Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada’s attempt to invade England.
- 1647 –The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungans Hill – English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.
- 1786 –Mont Blanc on the French – Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
- 1945 –World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and begins the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.
- 1963 –Great Train Robbery: in England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.
- 1967 –The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- 1990 –Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.
- 2007 –An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York State, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.
- 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?
- 1839 –Nelson Miles, American general (d. 1925)
- 1922 –Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-born fashion designer (d. 1985)
- 1926 –Richard Anderson, American actor
- 1956 –Cecilia Roth, Argentine actress
- 1963 –Jon Turteltaub, American director
- 1972 –Joely Collins, Canadian actress
- 1979 –Richard Harwood, British cellist
- 1980 –Michael Urie, American actor and director
- 1980 –Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player
- 1981 –Bradley McIntosh, British pop singer
Who died on August 8?
- 869 –Lothair II of Lotharingia (b. 825)
- 1445 –Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian composer
- 1902 –James Tissot, French artist (b. 1836)
- 1971 –Freddie Spencer Chapman, British army officer (b. 1907)
- 1984 –Ellen Raskin, American author (b. 1928)
- 1987 –Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician (b. 1903)
- 1992 –Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Iranian religious figure (b. 1899)
- 1995 –John Adams, American football player (b. 1937)
- 1998 –Mahmoud Saremi, Iranian journalist
- 2010 –Patricia Neal, American actress (b. 1926)
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