General events on May 8th

In 1794, the U.S. Post Office was established.
In 1877, 125 years ago, the Westminister Dog Show was first held.
In 1886, Coca Cola was introduced by pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton who had been working on a new patent medicine, a headache and hangover remedy. At first, he used straight water, but the drugstore clerk used carbonated water, and that was the beginning of Coke as we know it today.
In 1973, militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.
In 1978, COVER OF "NEWSWEEK" Designer CALVIN KLEIN ("Fashion '78, soft and sexy")
In 1979, Radio Shack releases TRSDOS 2.3.
In 1984, The Prime Interest Rate went to 12.5 percent
In 1984, Thames Barrier to stop flooding in London officially completed.
In 1986, the Coca-Cola Company, celebrating the centennial of its flagship beverage in Atlanta, announced it was revising the soft drink's labels.
In 1998, Big Tobacco settled with the state of Minnesota for $6.6 billion as the state's lawsuit was about to go to a jury; Minnesota became the fourth state to settle with the tobacco industry over the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses.
In 1998, the tobacco industry reached a settlement with Minnesota and with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The deal came as the first trial of a state lawsuit against cigarette makers was about to go to the jury.

Government and Politics on May 8th

In 1642, Paul de Chomedy de Maisonneuve founds and becomes the first governor of Ville-Marie, the first permanent European settlement in Canada and the future city of Montreal.
In 1794, Antoine Lavoisier (lah-vwahz-YAY'), the father of modern chemistry, was executed on the guillotine during France's Reign of Terror.
In 1861, Richmond, Virginia is made the capital of the Confederacy.
In 1895, China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki.
In 1921, Sweden abolished capital punishment.
In 1950, Chiang Kai-shek asks US for weapons.
In 1958, Never get no respect aboard, no respect. Vice President Richard M. Nixon was shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by anti-American protestors in Lima, Peru.
In 1960, USSR & Cuba resume diplomatic relations.
In 1964, President Harry Truman, 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953) became the first former president to address the Senate on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
In 1970, COVER OF LIFE Vice President SPIRO AGNEW
In 1972, 30 years ago, COVER OF NEWSWEEK Sen. GEORGE McGOVERN
In 1974, 50 MPH speed limit in Britain lifted.
In 1987, 15 years ago, an angry and defiant Gary Hart, dogged by questions about his personal life, including his relationship with Miami model Donna Rice, withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In 1988, French President Francois Mitterrand was elected to a second seven-year term, defeating conservative challenger Jacques Chirac.
In 1989, former President Jimmy Carter, a leader of an international team observing Panama's elections, declared that the armed forces were defrauding the opposition of victory.
In 1990, The Estonian parliament voted to change the country's name to Republic of Estonia from the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1991, CIA Director William H. Webster announced his retirement; he was eventually succeeded by Robert Gates.
In 1992, 10 years ago, President Bush wound up two emotional days in riot-ravaged Los Angeles, promising to work harder in Washington to enact a "common-sense agenda" of conservative proposals to help urban America.
In 1994, President Clinton announced a shift in U.S. policy toward Haitian refugees, saying there would be offshore screening of boat people seeking political asylum.
In 1994, Ernesto Perez Balladares elected president of Panama.
In 1994, Jose Maria Figueres becomes president of Costa Rica.
In 1996, South Africa took another step from apartheid to democracy by adopting a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for blacks and whites.
In 1997, 5 years ago, President Clinton assured Central American leaders during a summit in Costa Rica that they need not fear mass deportations of immigrants who'd sought refuge in the United States during US-backed conflicts.
In 2000, 2 years ago, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to ban discrimination based on weight or height.

War, Crime and Disaster events on May 8th

In 1360, The peace of Brittany was concluded by France and England. Brittany is the peninsula on the northwest corner of France. Those people have ethnic ties with England as close as with the rest of France. To this day there are inhabited islands off the coast of Brittany which belong to England...sort of like if Martha's Vineyard belonged to Canada.
In 1429, The siege of Orleans ended when French troops stormed the English forts in the Hundred Years War.
In 1792, Congress ratifies the Militia Act, which empowers states to draft men for anti-Indian battles.
In 1842, the first train wreck occured as 53 people were killed in the wreck near Bellevue, France.
In 1846, the first major battle of the Mexican War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas, resulting in victory for General Zachary Taylor's forces.
In 1852, 150 years ago, The Treaty of London was signed by Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden, guaranteeing the integrity of Denmark.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln ordered that there be a draft to built the Union Army. There were draft riots in the Northeast and some men paid other men to go in their place.
In 1902, 100 years ago, Martinique, West Indies: Mt. Pelee erupted and wiped out city of St. Pierre; 40,000 dead.
In 1919, first transatlantic flight take-off by a navy seaplane.
In 1942, 60 years ago, The Battle of the Coral Sea ended when a U.S. fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force heading for Port Moresby in New Guinea.
In 1945, President Truman announced in a radio address that World War II had ended in Europe. V-E Day: Germany signed an unconditional surrender.
In 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast to the nation as part of VE (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations; President Truman broadcast to the American people.
In 1959, 3-deck Nile excursion steamer springs a leak panicking passengers who capsized ship. 200 drown just yards from shore.
In 1970, construction workers broke up an anti-war protest on New York City's Wall Street.
In 1972, 30 years ago, President Nixon orders the mining of Haiphong harbor and massive bombing raids over North Vietnam in an effort to force the communists to end the Vietnam War.
In 1978, David R. Berkowitz pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn courtroom to the six murder charges against him in the "Son of Sam" .44-caliber shootings that had terrified New Yorkers.
In 1990, One crewman was killed, 18 others injured in a pre-dawn fire that broke out aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Conyngham during routine operations in the Atlantic, about 100 miles southeast of Norfolk, Virginia.
In 1991, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of American forces in the Persian Gulf War, received a hero's welcome as he addressed Congress.
In 1991, to pressure the government of El Salvador into agreeing to a cease-fire, Salvadoran leftist guerillas sabotaged a power system, leaving the country with half its normal electrical supply.
In 1993, the Muslim-led government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and rebel Bosnian Serbs signed an agreement for a nationwide cease-fire.
In 1995, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was present at the death of a 78-year-old Michigan man who suffered from lung disease.
In 1995, On the 50th anniversary of Nazi Germany's capitulation in World War II, leaders representing the victorious powers gathered in Berlin to remember the dead and pledge peace for the future.
In 1995, a monster storm began dumping 18 inches of rain on southeast Louisiana, flooding homes and killing five people.
In 1996, Postal inspectors wrapped up a two-year sting operation in 36 states against the nation's biggest child pornography ring, announcing arrests of 45 people, with as many as 70 more arrests expected.
In 1998, Burst pipe leaves million residents without water in Malaysia's capital area, adding four days to shortages that 2 million already face.
In 1999, NATO expressed regret for a mistaken attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, but pledged to pursue the bombing campaign. Demonstrators in Beijing retaliated by throwing rocks and smashing cars at the US Embassy.

Royalty and Religious events on May 8th

In 685, A.D., St Benedict II ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1222, Coronation of Henry VII, King of Germany
In 1373, Dame Julian of Norwich experiences visions of the Passion of Christ
In 1535, King Henry the Eighth of England enforced a rule that required that all priests have their head shaven. Of course, MANY people who dealt with Henry the Eighth had close shaves....
In 1559, In England, the Act of Supremacy was passed by which the new Queen Elizabeth I became "Supreme Governor" of the Church of England; the Act of Uniformity was passed and a Common Prayer book was introduced.
In 1945, King Leopold of Belgium was freed by the U.S. 7th Army.

Human Achievement and Science events on May 8th

In 1444, Island of St. Michael, Azores, discovered
In 1541, the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River at a point near the present city of Memphis, TN.
In 1618, Johannes Kepler announced his rules governing the motion of the planets.
In 1639, William Coddington founds Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1792, British Capt George Vancouver sights, names Mt Rainier, Wash.
In 1840, the Photographic Process was patented by Alexander S. Wolcott.
In 1847, Robert W. Thompson of England patented the rubber tire (first called "air wheels").
In 1879, George B. Selden, inventor and patent attorney of Rochester, N.Y., files for the first patent application for a gasoline-driven automobile. It was granted in 1895.
In 1900, Robert Peary explored the north coast of Greenland
In 1900, Robert Peary explored the north coast of Greenland
In 1926, first flight over North Pole (Bennett & Byrd).
In 1944, the first eye bank was established at a New York City Hospital for storing corneal transplants.
In 1961, Alan Shepard receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Washington.
In 1961, the first practical sea water conversion plant opens in Freeport, Texas.
In 1967, Lunar Orbiter 4 enters a lunar polar orbit to take pictures of possible sites for manned Apollo landings.
In 1980, the World Health Organization announces the worldwide eradication of smallpox.
In 1992, 10 years ago, the shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first-ever flight.

Arts and Prose events on May 8th

In 1952, 50 years ago, according to estimates, Mad Magazine debuts in newsstands. Alfred came later.
In 1956, Oh, hello, Newman! Alfred E. Neuman ("What, me worry?") first appeared on the cover of Mad magazine. He even got some votes in the presidential election, which was won by Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Mad Magazine was founded by William Gaines.
In 1968, Pulitzer prize awarded to William Styron (Confessions of Nat Turner)