August 8
1588 - English forces attacked the Spanish Armada, permanently crippling Spain's "invincible" fleet.
1786 - Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat became the first to climb Mount Blanc.
1814 - During the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.
1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, to spend the remainder of his days in exile.
1844 - Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons following the killing of Joseph Smith.
1876 - Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph machine.
1942 - During World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who cooperated with authorities were spared.
1945 - President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter.
1945 - The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.
1963 - In "The Great Train Robbery" some 15 thieves robbed the Glasgow-to-London mail train, making off with more than $6 million in cash.
1968 - Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach and chose Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be his running mate.
1969 - Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others were murdered by members of Charles Manson's "family".
1973 - Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as “damned lies” reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign — which he ended up doing.
1974 - President Richard Nixon announced he would resign from office the following day as a result of the Watergate scandal.
1994 - Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries.
2000 - The wreckage of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank in 1864 after attacking the Union ship Housatonic, was recovered off the South Carolina coast and returned to port.
2003 - The Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits stemming from alleged sex abuse by priests. (The archdiocese later settled for $85 million.)
2005 - Iran resumed work at a uranium conversion facility after suspending activities for nine months to avoid U.N. sanctions.
2006 - Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to political newcomer Ned Lamont. (Lieberman won re-election as an independent).
2008 - Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards admitted having had an extramarital affair.
2011 - Eager to calm a nervous nation, President Barack Obama dismissed an unprecedented downgrade by Standard & Poor’s of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA-plus, declaring: “No matter what some agency may say, we’ve always been and always will be a triple-A country.”
2016 - A fire and power outage at a Delta Air Lines data center in Atlanta resulted in the cancellation of 2,300 flights over a four-day period.
2020 - A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland, Oregon, to declare a riot and force protesters away from the office as violent demonstrations continued in the city.
Birthdays
20 - Bebe Wood (actress)
23 - Shawn Mendes (singer)
25 - Dani Dyer (actress)
28 - Jen Selter (model)
32 - Anthony Rizzo (baseball player)
32 - Ken Baumann (actor)
35 - Peyton List (actress)
37 - Jackie Cruz (actress)
40 - Meagan Good (actress)
40 - Roger Federer (tennis player)
41 - Shayna Baszler (professional wrestler/MMA fighter)
41 - Michael Urie (actor)
43 - Countess Vaughn (actress)
44 - Lindsay Sloane (actress)
45 - Drew Lachey (singer)
45 - Tawny Cypress (actress)
45 - JC Chasez (singer)
48 - Mark Wills (country singer)
53 - Suzy Favor Hamilton (runner)
60 - The Edge (musician)
68 - Donny Most (actor)
69 - Robin Quivers (TV/radio personality)
72 - Keith Carradine (actor)
74 - Larry Wilcox (actor)
83 - Connie Stevens (actress)
84 - Dustin Hoffman (actor)
91 - Nita Talbot (actress)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - August 8
1900 - The first Davis Cup tennis tournament began at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
1903 - Joe McGinnity (New York) pitched two complete games in one day. He won 6-1 and 4-3 over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1970 - The New York Yankees retire Casey Stengel's #37.
1976 - The Chicago White Sox experiment with "shorts" as part of their uniform.
1982 - Doug DeCinces hit three home runs against the California Angels. He had hit three home runs against Minnesota five days earlier.
1992 - The "Dream Team" clinched the gold medal at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. The U.S. men's basketball team beat Croatia in the final 117-85. Members of the team many consider the "greatest ever assembled", included: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton. The team was coached by Chuck Daly, P.J. Carlesimo, Mike Krzyzewski and Lenny Wilkens.
1998 - Paul Molitor (Minnesota Twins) stole his 500th career base.
2002 - Major league baseball players and owners agreed to a $100,000 increase in baseball's minimum salary. The minimum was set at $300,000 starting in 2003.
2004 - John Elway is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2005 - It was announced that Wayne Gretzky would be the next head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
2020 - The Mid-American Conference became the first of the conferences competing at college football’s highest level to cancel its fall schedule because of the coronavirus. (The conference later became the last to reverse course, scheduling a six-game regular football season.)
1588 - English forces attacked the Spanish Armada, permanently crippling Spain's "invincible" fleet.
1786 - Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat became the first to climb Mount Blanc.
1814 - During the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.
1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, to spend the remainder of his days in exile.
1844 - Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons following the killing of Joseph Smith.
1876 - Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph machine.
1942 - During World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who cooperated with authorities were spared.
1945 - President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter.
1945 - The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.
1963 - In "The Great Train Robbery" some 15 thieves robbed the Glasgow-to-London mail train, making off with more than $6 million in cash.
1968 - Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach and chose Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be his running mate.
1969 - Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others were murdered by members of Charles Manson's "family".
1973 - Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as “damned lies” reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign — which he ended up doing.
1974 - President Richard Nixon announced he would resign from office the following day as a result of the Watergate scandal.
1994 - Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries.
2000 - The wreckage of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank in 1864 after attacking the Union ship Housatonic, was recovered off the South Carolina coast and returned to port.
2003 - The Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits stemming from alleged sex abuse by priests. (The archdiocese later settled for $85 million.)
2005 - Iran resumed work at a uranium conversion facility after suspending activities for nine months to avoid U.N. sanctions.
2006 - Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to political newcomer Ned Lamont. (Lieberman won re-election as an independent).
2008 - Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards admitted having had an extramarital affair.
2011 - Eager to calm a nervous nation, President Barack Obama dismissed an unprecedented downgrade by Standard & Poor’s of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA-plus, declaring: “No matter what some agency may say, we’ve always been and always will be a triple-A country.”
2016 - A fire and power outage at a Delta Air Lines data center in Atlanta resulted in the cancellation of 2,300 flights over a four-day period.
2020 - A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland, Oregon, to declare a riot and force protesters away from the office as violent demonstrations continued in the city.
Birthdays
20 - Bebe Wood (actress)
23 - Shawn Mendes (singer)
25 - Dani Dyer (actress)
28 - Jen Selter (model)
32 - Anthony Rizzo (baseball player)
32 - Ken Baumann (actor)
35 - Peyton List (actress)
37 - Jackie Cruz (actress)
40 - Meagan Good (actress)
40 - Roger Federer (tennis player)
41 - Shayna Baszler (professional wrestler/MMA fighter)
41 - Michael Urie (actor)
43 - Countess Vaughn (actress)
44 - Lindsay Sloane (actress)
45 - Drew Lachey (singer)
45 - Tawny Cypress (actress)
45 - JC Chasez (singer)
48 - Mark Wills (country singer)
53 - Suzy Favor Hamilton (runner)
60 - The Edge (musician)
68 - Donny Most (actor)
69 - Robin Quivers (TV/radio personality)
72 - Keith Carradine (actor)
74 - Larry Wilcox (actor)
83 - Connie Stevens (actress)
84 - Dustin Hoffman (actor)
91 - Nita Talbot (actress)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - August 8
1900 - The first Davis Cup tennis tournament began at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
1903 - Joe McGinnity (New York) pitched two complete games in one day. He won 6-1 and 4-3 over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1970 - The New York Yankees retire Casey Stengel's #37.
1976 - The Chicago White Sox experiment with "shorts" as part of their uniform.
1982 - Doug DeCinces hit three home runs against the California Angels. He had hit three home runs against Minnesota five days earlier.
1992 - The "Dream Team" clinched the gold medal at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. The U.S. men's basketball team beat Croatia in the final 117-85. Members of the team many consider the "greatest ever assembled", included: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton. The team was coached by Chuck Daly, P.J. Carlesimo, Mike Krzyzewski and Lenny Wilkens.
1998 - Paul Molitor (Minnesota Twins) stole his 500th career base.
2002 - Major league baseball players and owners agreed to a $100,000 increase in baseball's minimum salary. The minimum was set at $300,000 starting in 2003.
2004 - John Elway is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2005 - It was announced that Wayne Gretzky would be the next head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
2020 - The Mid-American Conference became the first of the conferences competing at college football’s highest level to cancel its fall schedule because of the coronavirus. (The conference later became the last to reverse course, scheduling a six-game regular football season.)
