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, 485,184 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 ‘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

• 1794 –
  Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror by revolutionists, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme Générale, is tried, convicted, and guillotined all on the same day in Paris.
• 1877 –
  At Gilmore’s Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
• 1899 –
  The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opens.
• 1927 –
  Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli disappeared after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.
• 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 –
  Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.
• 1970 –
  The Hard Hat riot occurs in the Wall Street area of New York City as blue-collar construction workers clash with demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War.
• 1984 –
  The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
• 1997 –
  A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people.

Who were born on May 8?

• 1326 –
  Joanna I of Auvergne, queen of France (d. 1360)
• 1828 –
  Sharbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk (d. 1898)
• 1858 –
  Heinrich Berté, Austrian operetta composer (d. 1924)
• 1913 –
  Bob Clampett, American animator (d. 1984)
• 1942 –
  Norman Lamont, British politician
• 1951 –
  Philip Bailey, American singer (Earth, Wind & Fire)
• 1963 –
  Anthony Field, Australian musician and actor
• 1974 –
  Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
• 1987 –
  Mark Noble, English footballer
• 1989 –
  Lars Eller, Danish ice hockey player

Who died on May 8?

• 1538 –
  Edward Fox, English bishop
• 1907 –
  Edmund G. Ross, American Senator (b. 1826)
• 1945 –
  Bernhard Rust, Nazi education minister (b. 1883)
• 1945 –
  Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of Nazi-occupied Norway (b. 1898)
• 1960 –
  J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
• 1985 –
  Theodore Sturgeon, American science fiction writer (b. 1918)
• 1996 –
  Dominguín, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1926)
• 1999 –
  Sir Dirk Bogarde, British actor (b. 1921)
• 2001 –
  Koby Mandell, Israeli-American terror victim (b. 1987)
• 2008 –
  François Sterchele, Belgian football player (b. 1982)