This is a list of selected May 8 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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State of Zhao -
Hernando de Soto -
Joan of Arc -
Antoine Lavoisier -
Zachary Taylor
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Alfred Jodl signing the WWII capitulation papers
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1429 – Siege of Orléans: French troops led by Joan of Arc lifted the English siege and turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War. | unreferenced section, needs more footnotes |
| 1541 – Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando de Soto became the first documented Europeans to cross the Mississippi River. | multiple issues |
| 1902 – The volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, killing over 30,000 people. | unreferenced section, refimprove section |
Eligible
- 1794 – The Reign of Terror: Branded a traitor, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, a former royal tax collector with the Ferme Générale, was tried, convicted, and guillotined on the same day.
- 1842 – A train derailed and caught fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people.
- 1846 – The first major battle in the Mexican–American War was fought at the Battle of Palo Alto near present-day Brownsville, Texas.
- 1927 – French aviators Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli aboard L'Oiseau Blanc biplane, attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, disappeared after takeoff.
- 1945 – Most armed forces under German control ceased active operations by 23:01 CET after the German Instrument of Surrender was formally ratified, marking the end of World War II in Europe.
- 1945 – A parade to celebrate the end of World War II turned into a riot, followed by widespread disturbances and killings in and around Sétif, French Algeria.
- 1963 – In Huế, South Vietnam, soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam opened fire into a crowd of Buddhist protestors against a government ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesākha, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.
- 1970 – Construction workers in New York City attacked students and others protesting the Kent State shootings.
- 1987 – A British Army Special Air Service unit ambushed a Provisional Irish Republican Army unit in Loughgall, Northern Ireland, killing eight IRA members and a civilian.
Notes
- Ngô Đình Cẩn, who ordered the Huế Phật Đản shootings (1963) appears on May 9, so both should not be used in the same year.
- New Coke appears on April 23, so Coca-Cola should not appear in the same year.
May 8: Victory in Europe Day; World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day; Miguel Hidalgo's Birthday in Mexico
- 453 BC – The house of Zhao defeated the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period of China.
- 1886 – In Atlanta, American pharmacist John Pemberton first sold his carbonated beverage Coca-Cola (pictured) as a patent medicine, claiming that it cured a number of diseases.
- 1924 – Lithuania signed the Klaipėda Convention with the nations of the Conference of Ambassadors, taking the Klaipėda Region (German: Memelland) from East Prussia and making it into an autonomous region under unconditional sovereignty of Lithuania.
- 1972 – Four members of Black September hijacked Sabena Flight 571 to demand the release of 315 convicted Palestinian terrorists.
- 1984 – The Soviet Union announced the boycott of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, citing security concerns and stated that "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria [were] being whipped up in the United States".