June 8

Events

• 452 - Attila the Hun invades Italy
• 536 - St. Silverius becomes Pope
• 570 - Islam is founded in Makkah
• 1776 - American invaders driven back at Trois Rivières
• 1783 - The volcano Laki, in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine
• 1790 - King's College founded by United Empire Loyalist scholars from what is now Columbia University at Windsor, Nova Scotia
• 1824 - First patent issued in Canada
• 1843 - First students enrolled in King's College, later the University of Toronto
• 1861 - American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union
• 1887 - Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his punch card calculator
• 1941 - World War II: Allies invade Syria and Lebanon
• 1942 - World War II: Tobruk falls to the Germans
• 1949 - Such celebrities as Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members
• 1950 - Sir Thomas Blamey becomes the only Field Marshal in Australian history
• 1959 - the first (and only) delivery of Missile Mail
• 1967 - Israeli attack on USS Liberty
• 1968 - James Earl Ray is arrested for the murder of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
• 1969 - After the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) cancels the program, the last Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour airs.
• 1998 - Charlton Heston assumes the presidency of the National Rifle Association.
• 2004 - First solar transit of the planet Venus since 1882; the next one will occur on June 6, 2012.

Births

• 1724 - John Smeaton, civil engineer (+ 1794)
• 1743 - Alessandro Cagliostro, adventurer (+ 1795)
• 1810 - Robert Schumann, composer (+ 1856)
• 1847 - Ida McKinley, former First Lady of the United States
• 1867 - Frank Lloyd Wright, architect (+ 1959)
• 1903 - Marguerite Yourcenar, author (+ 1987)
• 1903 - Ralph Yarborough, U.S. Senator and Texas politician (+ 1996)
• 1910 - John W. Campbell Jr., science fiction writer, publisher, editor (+ 1971)
• 1916 - Francis Crick, scientist, Nobel laureate
• 1917 - Byron White, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (+ 2002)
• 1918 - Robert Preston, actor (+ 1987)
• 1921 - Suharto, former President of Indonesia
• 1921 - Alexis Smith, actress (+ 1993)
• 1924 - Lyn Nofziger, political operative
• 1925 - Barbara Bush, former First Lady of the United States (to 41st President, George Bush, mother to 43rd President George W. Bush)
• 1927 - LeRoy Neiman, painter
• 1929 - Jerry Stiller, comedian, actor
• 1933 - Joan Rivers, comedienne, author
• 1934 - Millicent Martin, singer, actress
• 1940 - Nancy Sinatra, singer
• 1941 - Fuzzy Haskins, musician ("P Funk")
• 1944 - Boz Scaggs, singer, songwriter
• 1947 - Kathy Baker, actress
• 1948 - Jürgen von der Lippe, show master
• 1950 - Sonia Braga, actress
• 1951 - Bonnie Tyler, singer, guitarist
• 1955 - Griffin Dunne, actor
• 1957 - Scott Adams, cartoonist ("Dilbert")
• 1958 - Keenen Ivory Wayans, comedian, actor, director
• 1966 - Julianna Margulies, actress

Deaths

• 218 - Macrinus, Roman Emperor
• 632 - Muhammad, founder of Islam
• 1042 - Harthacanute , King of England
• 1795 - King Louis XVII of France
• 1809 - Thomas Paine, American revolutionary and writer: Common Sense
• 1845 - Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States
• 1857 - Douglas Jerrold, British dramatic playwright and political satirist
• 1874 - Cochise, Apache leader
• 1876 - George Sand, author
• 1929 - Bliss Carman, poet
• 1966 - Anton Melik, Slovene geographer
• 1970 - Abraham Maslow, psychologist
• 1982 - Satchel Paige, baseball player
• 2000 - Jeff MacNelly, political cartoonist

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - second day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta

See Also:

June 7 - June 9 - May 8 - July 8 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By