May 8 in history
Events on May 8
Notable events that happened on May 8 in past years.
- 2025
The 2025 papal conclave elects Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, taking the name Leo XIV as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.
Wikipedia article: 2025 conclave - 1988
A fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office triggers an extended 1AESS network outage once considered to be the "worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history".
Wikipedia article: Illinois Bell - 1984
The Soviet Union announces a boycott upon the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles, later joined by 14 other countries.
Wikipedia article: Soviet Union - 1976
The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Wikipedia article: The Great American Revolution - 1967
The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
Wikipedia article: Davao (province) - 1946
Estonian schoolgirls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.
Wikipedia article: Aili Jõgi - 1945
Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.
Wikipedia article: Sétif and Guelma massacre - 1942
World War II: Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebel in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. Their mutiny is crushed and three of them are executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
Wikipedia article: Cocos (Keeling) Islands - 1924
The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania. It would come back to Germany in 1939.
Wikipedia article: Klaipėda Convention - 1902
In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
Wikipedia article: Mount Pelée - 1846
Mexican–American War: American forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
Wikipedia article: Mexican–American War - 1788
King Louis XVI of France attempts to impose the reforms of Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne by abolishing the parlements.
Wikipedia article: Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne - 1541
Hernando de Soto stops near present-day Walls, Mississippi, and sees the Mississippi River (then known by the Spanish as Río de Espíritu Santo, the name given to it by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519).
Wikipedia article: Hernando de Soto - 1373
Julian of Norwich, a Christian mystic and anchoress, experiences the deathbed visions described in her Revelations of Divine Love.
- 453 BC
Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0