History of 8 August
1900 – In Boston, the first Davis Cup series began. The U.S. team defeated Great Britain three matches to zero.
1911 – The number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives was established at 435. There was one member of Congress for every 211,877 residents.
1940 – The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Great Britain.
1945 – The United Nations Charter was signed by U.S. President Truman.
1945 – During World War II, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.
1950 – Whataburger opened its restaurant in Corpus Christi, TX.
1953 – The U.S. and South Korea initiated a mutual security pact.
1956 – Japan launched an oil tanker that was 780 feet long and weighed 84,730 tons. It was the largest oil tanker in the world.
1966 – Michael DeBakey became the first surgeon to install an artificial heart pump in a patient.
1974 – U.S. President Nixon announced that he would resign the following day.
1978 – The U.S. launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.
1988 – It was announced that a cease-fire between Iraq and Iran had begun.
1989 – The space shuttle Columbia took off from Cape Canaveral, FL. The trip was said to be a secret five-day military mission.
1990 – American forces began positioning in Saudia Arabia.
1991 – John McCarthy, a British TV producer, was released by his Lebanese kidnappers. He had been held captive for more than five years. A rival group abducted Jerome Leyraud in retaliation and threatened to kill him if any more hostages were released.
1991 – The U.N. Security Council approved North and South Korea for membership.
1992 – The “Dream Team” clinched the gold medal at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. The U.S. basketball team beat Croatia 117-85.
1994 – The first road link between Israel and Jordan opened.
1994 – Representatives from China and Taiwan signed a cooperation agreement.
1995 – Saddam Hussein’s two eldest daughters, their husbands, and several senior army officers defected.
1999 – Wade Boggs (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) got the 3,000th hit of his major league baseball career.
2000 – The submarine H.L. Hunley was raised from ocean bottom after 136 years. The sub had been lost during an attack on the U.S.S. Housatonic in 1864. The Hunley was the first submarine in history to sink a warship.
2007 – An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.
2008 – A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others.
2008 – The 29th Olympic Games opened in Beijing, China.
2010 – China Floods: A mudslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu, China, kills more than 1,400 people.
2013 – A suicide bombing at a funeral in the Pakistani city of Quetta kills at least 31 people.
2014 – The World Health Organization declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in regards to the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.
2015 – Eight people are killed in a shooting in Harris County, Texas.
2016 – Terrorists attack a government hospital in Quetta, Pakistan with a suicide blast and shooting, killing between 70 and 94 people, and injuring around 130 others.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Roger Federer, a Swiss tennis player
- 1981 – Meagan Good, American actress and producer
- 1981 – Harel Skaat, Israeli singer-songwriter
- 1982 – David Florence, English canoe racer
- 1982 – Ross Ohlendorf, American baseball player
- 1983 – Guy Burnet, English actor, and producer
- 1983 – Willie Tonga, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Kirk Broadfoot, Scottish footballer
- 1984 – Norbert Michelisz, Hungarian race car driver
- 1984 – Martrez Milner, American football player
- 1985 – Toby Flood, English rugby player
- 1985 – Ryan Koolwijk, Dutch footballer
- 1985 – James Morgan, Welsh actor, and producer
- 1985 – Brett Ratliff, American football player
- 1985 – Anita Włodarczyk, Polish track, and field athlete
- 1986 – Kateryna Bondarenko, a Ukrainian tennis player
- 1986 – Pierre Garçon, American football player
- 1986 – Chris Pressley, American football player
- 1987 – Pierre Boulanger, French actor
- 1987 – Tatjana Malek, a German tennis player
- 1988 – Princess Beatrice of York
- 1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player
- 1988 – Rinku Singh, Indian baseball player
- 1988 – Laura Slade Wiggins, American actress and singer
- 1989 – Ken Baumann, American actor, and author
- 1989 – Anthony Rizzo, American baseball player
- 1989 – Hannah Miley, English-Scottish swimmer
- 1990 – Vladimír Darida, Czech footballer
- 1990 – Parker Kligerman, American race car driver
- 1990 – Aleksandra Szwed, Polish actress, and singer
- 1990 – Kane Williamson, New Zealand cricket captain
- 1991 – Nélson Oliveira, Portuguese footballer
- 1991 – Tyrone Peachey, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Josip Drmić, Swiss footballer
- 1998 – Shawn Mendes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1998 – Ronan Parke, English singer-songwriter
- 2000 – Félix Auger-Aliassime, a Canadian tennis player