Today in History – November 8 in History
What happened on this day in history – November 8 in History around the world
392 | Theodosius of Rome passes legislation prohibiting all pagan worship in the empire. | |
1226 | Louis IX succeeds Louis VIII as king of France. | |
1576 | The 17 provinces of the Netherlands form a federation to maintain peace. | |
1620 | The King of Bohemia is defeated at the Battle of Prague. | |
1685 | Fredrick William of Brandenburg issues the Edict of Potsdam, offering Huguenots refuge. | |
1793 | The Louvre opens in Paris. But wasn’t it already a Palace and it merely opens to the people? | |
1861 | Charles Wilkes seizes Confederate commissioners John Slidell and James M. Mason from the British ship Trent. | |
1864 | President Abraham Lincoln is re-elected in the first wartime election in the United States. | |
1887 | Doc Holliday, who fought on the side of the Earp brothers during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 6 years earlier, dies of tuberculosis in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. | |
1889 | Montana becomes the 41st state of the Union. | |
1900 | Theodore Dresier’s first novel Sister Carrie is published by Doubleday, but is recalled from stores shortly due to public sentiment. | |
1904 | President Theodore Roosevelt is elected president of the United States. He had been vice president until the shooting death of President William McKinley. | |
1910 | The Democrats prevail in congressional elections for the first time since 1894. | |
1923 | Adolf Hitler attempts a coup in Munich, the “Beer Hall Putsch,” and proclaims himself chancellor and Ludendorff dictator. . | |
1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected 32nd president of the United States. | |
1938 | Crystla Bird Fauset of Pennsylvania, becomes the first African-American woman to be elected to a state legislature. | |
1942 | The United States and Great Britain invade Axis-occupied North Africa. | |
1960 | John F. Kennedy is elected 35th president, defeating Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the closest election, by popular vote, since 1880. | |
1965 | Vietnam War, Operation Hump: US 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong in Bien Hoa Province. Nearby, in the Gang Toi Hills, a company of the Royal Australian Regiment also engaged Viet Cong forces. | |
1966 | Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts becomes the first African American elected to the Senate in 85 years. | |
1977 | Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos discovers what is believed to be the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina in northern Greece. | |
1983 | Wilson B. Goode is elected as the first black mayor of the city of Philadelphia. | |
1987 | A dozen people are killed and over 60 wounded when the IRA detonates a bomb during a Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, honoring those who had died in wars involving British forces. | |
2000 | Dispute begins over US presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore; Supreme Court ruling on Dec. 12 results in a 271-266 electoral victory for Bush. | |
2004 | More than 10,000 US troops and a few Iraqi army units besiege an insurgent stronghold at Fallujah. | |
2013 | Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, slams into the Philippines, with sustained winds of 195 mpg (315 kph) and gusts up to 235 mph (380 kph); over 5,000 are killed (date is Nov 7 in US). | |
Born on November 8 | ||
1656 | Edmond Halley, mathematician and astronomer who predicted the return of the comet that bears his name. | |
1847 | Bram Stoker, author (Dracula). | |
1878 | Marshall Walter Taylor, “Major Taylor,” the world’s fastest bicycle racer for a 12-year period. | |
1879 | Leon Trosky, Russian Communist leader. | |
1884 | Hermann Rorshach, Swiss psychiatrist, inventor of the inkblot test. | |
1900 | Albert Friedrich Frey-Wyssling, Swiss botanist and molecular biology pioneer. | |
1900 | Margaret Mitchell, American writer who found success in her first and only novel, Gone With the Wind. | |
1909 | Katherine Hepburn, American actress who won four Oscars. Her movies included Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story and The African Queen. | |
1916 | Peter Ulrich Weiss, German novelist and dramatist (Marat/Sade, The Investigation). | |
1922 | Christiaan Barnard, South African surgeon, performed the first human heart transplant operation. | |
1927 | Patti Page, singer (“Tennessee Waltz,” “How Much is That Doggie in the Window?”). | |
1929 | Bobby Bowden, US college football coach; holds NCAA record for most career wins and bowl wins by any Division I FBS coach. | |
1931 | Morley Safer, journalist; 60 Minutes correspondent (1970– ). | |
1932 | Ben Bova, noted author of works of science fact and fiction, a six-time winner of the Hugo Award for science fiction and fantasy writing. | |
1949 | Bonnie Raitt, blues singer, songwriter, musician. Rolling Stone magazine included her on its lists of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. | |
1950 | Mary Hart, actress, journalist; hosted Entertainment Tonight TV program 1982–2011. | |
1954 | Rickie Lee Jones, singer, songwriter, musician; listed on VH1 list of greatest women of rock music. | |
1970 | Tom Anderson, entrepreneur; co-founder of Myspace website. | |
2003 | Lady Louise Windsor, daughter of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. |