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On this day in history - May 8

What Happened On This Day – May 8

  • 1984 Moscow announces that the USSR will not take part in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles

    Several other countries, such as Cuba, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Vietnam joined the boycott. 4 years earlier, the United States had not sent any athletes to the Summer Olympics in Moscow.

  • 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climb Mount Everest without oxygen supply

    Prior to the Italian and Austrian mountaineers' ascent, it was thought to be impossible to conquer the world's highest mountain without supplemental oxygen.

  • 1970 The Beatles release the album Let It Be

    The recording was the last studio album ever released by the legendary English rock band.

  • 1927 The White Bird and its crew mysteriously disappear

    French aviators, Charles Nungesser and François Coli, had taken off from Paris in their Levasseur PL.8 biplane in an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight. Their disappearance remains a mystery. Charles Lindbergh succeeded two weeks later.

  • 1886 Coca-Cola is invented

    According to legend, Dr. John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, produced the syrup in a brass pot in his backyard. It was first intended as a patent medicine. Today, Coca-Cola is one of the world's most popular soft drinks and one of the most recognized trademarks.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
May 8

  • 1970 Naomi Klein

    Canadian author, activist

  • 1945 Keith Jarrett

    American pianist, composer

  • 1926 David Attenborough

    English television host

  • 1911 Robert Johnson

    American singer-songwriter, guitarist

  • 1884 Harry S. Truman

    American colonel, politician, 33rd President of the United States

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
May 8

  • 1990 Luigi Nono

    Italian composer

  • 1988 Robert A. Heinlein

    American writer

  • 1903 Paul Gauguin

    French painter

  • 1891 Helena Blavatsky

    Russian scholar, theosophist

  • 1873 John Stuart Mill

    English economist, civil servant, philosopher