Important Events From This day in History May 8th

 

1945 VE Day / Victory In Europe Declared

1945 : President Truman and Prime minister Churchill declared victory in Europe today, celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany. Following the announcement huge crowds, many dressed in red, white and blue, gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London and were cheered as the King, Queen and two Princesses came out onto the balcony.

1970 UK The Beatles "Let It Be" Released

1970 : Just shortly after the Break Up of the Beatles is announced The Beatles Final original album "Let It Be" is released by Apple Records.

1978 U.S.A. David Berkowitz ( Son of Sam )

1978 : David Berkowitz ( Son of Sam ) admitted guilty to 6 son of Sam killings in court, he has also claimed responsibility for 2000 fires in a 4 year period under the alias of "The Phantom of the Bronx," it was revealed a diary found detailed 1,411 of the fires during this time period.

1942 World War II The Battle of Coral Sea

1942 : The Battle of Coral Sea, between the Japanese Navy and the United States and Australian Navies ends with the loss of the carrier USS Lexington and the Japanese carrier Shōhō.

1927 U.S.A. Mississippi Floods

1927 : The Mississippi floods are continuing the path of destruction. The Mississippi has seen many floods in previous years and thankfully most residents heeded the flood warnings saving many lives but this flood will be the most costly in many years.

1929 U.S.A. Gangsters Murdered

1929 : Three gangsters from Chicago were found murdered today and riddled with bullets in retaliation for the "St Valentines Day Massacre" earlier in the year, so far 2 have been identified as 2 of Scarface Al Capone's henchmen.

1939 Europe On the Brink Of War

1939 : Calls for peace continue with Europe on the brink of war including Pope Pius XII who asks the nations involved to try to come to a peaceful settlement , Currently Britain is worried as if the Soviets and Nazis do make a pact to join forces, war could be that much closer and will involve all the countries in Europe.

1941 U.S.A. "Let Me Off Uptown"

1941 : Anita O’Day recorded "Let Me Off Uptown" with Gene Krupa and his band. O'Day was one of the more prominent jazz singers of her day and has often been compared to greats like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald.

1927 France Transatlantic White Bird

1927 : The Bi-Plane the "Transatlantic White Bird" Piloted by the french Aviator Captain Nungesser attempting to be the first to cross the Atlantic non stop from Paris to New York is spotted in the early morning off Nova Scotia fighting strong head winds and heading for the Maine Seaboard and had been in the Air for approximately 33 hours. Shortly after the sighting they mysteriously disappeared while trying to be the first to complete the non-stop transatlantic flight, flying from Paris to New York City . The plane, pilot and navigator have never been seen since and two weeks later American aviator Charles Lindbergh, flying solo, successfully crossed from New York to Paris.

1948 Germany Berlin Issue

1948 : Following the end of the World War more problems are appearing in how Germany will be split with the Russians stating the plan put forward by Britain, France and the United States will cause Germany and the rest Europe to be divided and is not in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. So far no word has been given by Russia on what they will do. What did happen is that Berlin was split and the Berlin Wall was built as part of the cold war over the next 40 years.

1959 Egypt Pleasure Boat Sinks On The Nile

1959 : A 200 ton pleasure boat carrying some of Egypt's top agriculture engineers and their families on a picnic sank with loss of 200 lives on the Nile.

1967 U.S.A. Ralph Nader

1967 : Following the publication of his book "unsafe at any speed" published in 1965 which highlights the Chevrolet Corvair as an unsafe and unreliable example of automobiles offered to American Consumers. Ralph Nader is part of a symposium on "Automobile Crash Injuries" at the Upstate Medical Center as part of the pressure on the government and the automobile industry to improve safety in cars.

1986 Russia Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

1986 : Following the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plants meltdown on April 26th the Atomic Energy Agency has announced the fire is now out in number 4 reactor and the job of encasing the reactor in concrete will start.

1968 UK The Kray twins

1968 : The Kray twins, Reginald and Ronnie and their 41-year-old brother Charlie are arrested following a series of dawn raids in London. The next day they are charged and March 1969 they were jailed for life for the murders of George Cornell and Jack 'The Hat' McVitie, members of the London underworld.

1973 U.S.A. Battle Of Wounded Knee Ends

1973 : After more than two months when 120 armed members of the American Indian Movement and their supporters who had seized the old town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota lay down their arms and surrendered the town to wary Federal officials.

1984 USSR Olympic Games Boycott

1984 : The USSR has announces it is boycotting the Olympic Games blaming the commercialization of the games and lack of security. Most of the Eastern Bloc countries follow suit with the exception of Romania and 14 countries joined the boycott.

1988 Murder Via Cyanide in Excedrin Capsules

1988 : Stella Nickell who put cyanide in Excedrin capsules including her husbands and five additional bottles of Excedrin she placed on store shelves in the Seattle area is convicted of the murder of her husband and Susan Snow who had taken one of these capsules and died instantly by a Seattle, Washington, jury.

2000 UK The Tate Modern

2000 : The Tate Modern art gallery in a conversion of the former power station on Bankside in London opens its doors to the world's media ahead of the official opening by the Queen on May 11th. The Tate Modern is the worlds largest modern art gallery with 84 galleries on three levels.

2005 Europe Celebrates V-E Day

2005 : Celebrations take place in Europe and across the globe as nations honored the 60th anniversary of V-E day, the day that World War II ended.

2006 Iranian President Sends Letter to US President

2006 : The Iranian President Ahmadinejad sent a lengthy letter to United States President Bush, the first time such a move had been made in twenty-seven years. According to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, the letter covered such topics as history and philosophy, but did not make any comment or diplomatic address to the nuclear concerns and conflicts the two nations had been facing.

2008 Nepal Olympic Torch Reaches Mount Everest

2008 : The Olympic torch reached the summit of Mount Everest after being carried up the mountain by the team Chinese climbers. The team of climbers consisted of both men and women, and Tibetans and Han-Chinese. The feat of carrying the torch up the tallest peak was hoped to draw attention away from protests against the Beijing Olympics.

2010 Eurozone Approves Greece Loan

2010 : The Eurozone leaders approved a 145 billion dollar loan to aid Greece to prevent worsening of its financial situation. The aid was given on the condition that Greece cut its public spending to receive the three year loan. The move was made as a preventive measure, with the leaders hoping the loan would prevent Greece from becoming bankrupt. The move was also made amid fears that the collapse of Greece could result in a similar fate for other European Union countries.

2011 Australia Boxer Lionel Rose Dies

2011 : The first Australian Aboriginal boxer to win a world title died at the age of sixty-two Lionel Rose beat a Japanese boxer in 1968 to win the bantamweight title was the first Aboriginal Australian to be named Australian of the Year. Rose had ended his boxing career by winning forty-two out of fifty-three fights. In 2007, Rose had suffered a stroke that left him with multiple health problems and he had been ill for a few months prior to his death.

2012 United States Author Maurice Sendak Dies

2012 : American author of famed children's book "Where the While Things Are" Maurice Sendak died at the age of eighty-three after having complications due to a stroke. The author and illustrator had written numerous books and won many awards including the Caldecott Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen medal for illustration.

2013 US Soap Opera Actress Dies

2013 : Jeanne Cooper, who played the character of Katherine Chancellor on the US soap opera "The Young and the Restless" died in her sleep at the age of eighty-four.

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