April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (99th in Leap Year s). There are 267 days remaining.
- 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard Prefect , Marcus Opellius Macrinus .
- 1492 - Death of Lorenzo De' Medici , dubbed "The Magnificent", ruler of Florence and patron of arts.
- 1730 - Shearith Israel , the first Synagogue in New York City , is dedicated.
- 1767 - Ayutthaya Kingdom falls to Burmese invaders.
- 1820 - The Venus De Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos .
- 6th Infantry troops leave Jefferson Barracks , St. Louis to fight the Sauk Native Americans .
- - Union General Nathaniel Banks ' Red River Campaign is thwarted by Confederate General Richard Taylor 's forces at Mansfield, Louisiana .
- 1886 - William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Home Rule bill into the House Of Commons .
- 1893 - First recorded College Basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania when the Geneva College Covenanters defeat the New Brighton YMCA .
- 1895 - The United States Supreme Court declares Income Tax to be Unconstitutional in Pollock V. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
- 1899 - Martha Place becomes the first woman to be executed in an Electric Chair .
- 1904 - The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland sign the '' Entente Cordiale .''
- 1904 - Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after '' The New York Times ''.
- 1913 - The 17th Amendment To The United States Constitution is ratified requiring direct Election of Senators .
- 1916 - In Corona, California , car racer Bob Burman crashes through a crowd barrier at the last Boulevard Race , killing himself, his mechanic and a track policeman, and badly injuring five spectators.
- s Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell War Bond s on the streets of New York, New York 's financial district.
- , Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts, and bombs in a corridor not to cause injury and courted arrest.
- 1935 - The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act Of 1935 becomes law.
- - Soviet Union forces open a much-needed Railway link to Leningrad .
- 1945 - At the POW camp at Flossenbürg , Pastor and Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is hanged.
- 1952 - In a Radio address to the nation from the White House , President Harry S. Truman calls for the seizure of all Steel Mill s in the United States in order to prevent a nationwide Strike .
- 1953 - Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by Kenya 's British rulers.
- 1967 - In Vienna , Austria , Sandie Shaw wins the twelfth Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom singing " Puppet On A String ".
- 1971 - a 6 pound Meteorite strikes the home of Robert and Wanda Donahue in Wethersfield, Connecticut .
- 1974 - At the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium , Hank Aaron breaks Baseball great's Babe Ruth 's record by hitting his 715th Home Run .
- 1975 - Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians manages his first game as major league Baseball 's first African American manager.
- files suit against Union Carbide for the disaster which killed an estimated 2,000 and injured another 200,000.
- 1987 - Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid great controversy over Racially -charged remarks he had made while on '' Nightline .''
- , the Progressive Federal Party , Independent Party , National Democratic Movement and the force of " Ontevrede Afrikaners " or dissatisfied Afrikaners merge to form the Democratic Party .
- 1992 - Retired Tennis great Arthur Ashe announces to the world that he has AIDS , acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
- 1999 - Haryana Gana Parishad , a Political Party in the India n state of Haryana , merges with the Indian National Congress .
- is signed by the Sudan ese Government and two rebel groups.
- 2005 - Funeral Of Pope John Paul II .
- 2006 - Bristol , United Kingdom celebrates the 200th Birthday of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (actually April 9 ) by relighting the Clifton Suspension Bridge .
- 563 BC - Gautama Buddha , Indian religious leader (d. 483 BC )
- 1320 - King Peter I Of Portugal (d. 1367 )
- 1533 - Claudio Merulo , Italian composer (d. 1604 )
- 1541 - Michele Mercati , Italian physician and gardener (d. 1593 )
- 1605 - King Philip IV Of Spain , (d. 1665 )
- 1641 - Henry Sydney, 1st Earl Of Romney , English statesman (d. 1704 )
- 1692 - Giuseppe Tartini , Italian composer (d. 1770 )
- 1859 - Edmund Husserl , Austrian philosopher (d. 1938 )
- 1865 - Charles W. Woodworth , American entomologist (d. 1940 )
- 1868 - King Christian IX Of Denmark (d. 1906 )
- 1869 - Harvey Cushing , American Neuorosurgeon , pioneer of Brain surgery (d. 1939 )
- 1874 - Stanisław Taczak , Polish general, commander-in-chief of the Greater Poland Uprising (d. 1960 )
- 1875 - King Albert I Of Belgium (d. 1934 )
- 1889 - Sir Adrian Boult , British conductor (d. 1983 )
- 1892 - Mary Pickford , Canadian actress and studio founder (d. 1979 )
- 1904 - John Hicks , British economist, Bank Of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1989 )
- 1905 - Helen Joseph , South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1992 )
- 1905 - Erwin Keller , German field hockey player (d. 1971 )
- 1908 - Hugo Fregonese , Argentine Film Director (d. 1987 )
- 1911 - Melvin Calvin , American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997 )
- 1911 - Emil Cioran , Romanian philosopher and essayist (d. 1995 )
- 1912 - Alois Brunner , Austrian Nazi
- 1912 - Sonja Henie , Norwegian figure skater (d. 1969 )
- 1914 - María Félix , Mexican actress (d. 2002 )
- 1918 - Betty Ford , First Lady Of The United States
- 1918 - Glendon Swarthout , Award-winning American author (d. 1992 )
- 1919 - Ian Smith , Prime Minister Of Rhodesia
- 1921 - Franco Corelli , Italian tenor (d. 2003 )
- 1923 - George Fisher , American cartoonist (d. 2003 )
- 1923 - Edward Mulhare , Irish actor (d. 1997 )
- 1926 - Jürgen Moltmann , German theologian
- 1928 - John Gavin , American actor and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
- 1929 - Walter Berry , Austrian bass-baritone (d. 2000 )
- 1929 - Jacques Brel , Belgian singer and composer (d. 1978 )
- 1930 - Carlos Hugo Of Bourbon-Parma, Duke Of Parma , French-born fascist
- 1933 - Fred Ebb , American composer (d. 2004 )
- 1934 - Kurokawa Kisho , Japanese architect
- 1937 - Seymour Hersh , American journalist
- 1938 - Kofi Annan , Ghanian United Nations Secretary General , recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1940 - John Havlicek , American basketball player
- 1941 - Vivienne Westwood , British fashion designer
- 1942 - Roger Chapman , British rock singer ( Family , Streetwalkers )
- 1943 - Michael Bennett , American dancer, choreographer, and theater director (d. 1987 )
- 1943 - Miller Farr , American football player
- 1946 - Catfish Hunter , baseball player
- 1946 - Tim Thomerson , American actor
- 1947 - Tom DeLay , American politician
- 1947 - Steve Howe , British rock guitarist ( Yes , Asia , GTR )
- 1947 - Robert Kiyosaki , American investor, businessman, and writer
- 1947 - Larry Norman , American singer and songwriter
- 1949 - John Madden , British director
- 1949 - Brenda Russell , American singer and songwriter
- 1954 - Gary Carter , baseball player
- 1955 - Joolz Denby , English poet and novelist
- 1955 - Barbara Kingsolver , American novelist
- 1960 - John Schneider , American actor
- 1962 - Izzy Stradlin , American musician ( Guns N' Roses )
- 1963 - Julian Lennon , British musician and singer
- 1963 - Alec Stewart , British cricketer
- 1964 - Biz Markie , American rapper and disc jockey
- 1966 - Robin Wright Penn , American actress
- 1966 - Mazinho , Brazilian football player
- 1966 - Bobby Ologun , Nigerian television personality and martial artist
- 1968 - Patricia Arquette , American actress
- 1971 - Chino XL , American rapper
- 1972 - Paul Gray , American bassist ( Slipknot )
- 1975 - Timo Pérez , Dominican Major League Baseball player
- 1977 - Mark Spencer , computer programmer
- 1979 - Alexi Laiho , Finnish guitarist and singer ( Children Of Bodom )
- 1980 - Manuel Ortega , Austrian singer
- 1980 - Grace Park , American actress
- 1980 - Katee Sackhoff , American actress
- 1982 - Judy Star , Canadian ex porn star
- 1984 - Júlia Liptáková , Slovakian model
- 1986 - Erika Sawajiri , Japanese actress and model
- 1986 - Igor Akinfeev , Russian football player
- 217 - Caracalla , Roman Emperor (b. 186 )
- 956 - Gilbert Of Chalon , Duke Of Burgundy
- 1143 - John II Comnenus , Byzantine Emperor (b. 1087 )
- 1364 - King John II Of France (b. 1319 )
- 1461 - Georg Purbach , German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423 )
- 1492 - Lorenzo De Medici , ruler of Florence (b. 1449 )
- 1586 - Martin Chemnitz , Lutheran reformer and theologian (b. 1522 )
- 1587 - John Foxe , English writer (b. 1516 )
- 1691 - Carlo Rainaldi , Italian architect (b. 1611 )
- 1697 - Niels Juel , Danish admiral (b. 1629 )
- 1704 - Hiob Ludolf , German orientalist (b. 1624 )
- 1704 - Henry Sydney, 1st Earl Of Romney , English statesman (b. 1641 )
- 1725 - John Wise , English clergyman (b. 1652 )
- 1848 - Gaetano Donizetti , Italian composer (b. 1797 )
- 1857 - Mangal Pandey , Indian soldier
- 1861 - Elisha Otis , US elevator builder (b. 1811 )
- 1919 - Loránd Eötvös , Hungarian physicist (b. 1848 )
- 1920 - Charles Tomlinson Griffes , American composer (b. 1884 )
- 1931 - Erik Axel Karlfeldt , Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864 )
- 1936 - Robert Bárány , Austrian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (b. 1876 )
- 1938 - Joe "King" Oliver , American musician (b. 1885 )
- 1950 - Vaslav Nijinsky , Polish-born ballet dancer (b. 1890 )
- 1965 - Lars Hanson , Swedish actor (b. 1886 )
- 1973 - Pablo Picasso , Spanish artist (b. 1881 )
- 1978 - Ford Frick , baseball commissioner (b. 1894 )
- 1981 - Omar Bradley , U.S. general (b. 1893 )
- 1984 - Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa , Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1894 )
- 1985 - J. Fred Coots , American songwriter (b. 1897 )
- 1990 - Ryan White , American activist (AIDS) (b. 1971 )
- 1991 - Per Yngve "Dead" Ohlin , Norwegian musician ( Black Metal )
- 1992 - Daniel Bovet , Swiss-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (b. 1907 )
- 1993 - Marian Anderson , American contralto (b. 1897 )
- 1994 - Kurt Cobain , American musician (b. 1967 ) (Date is for discovery of body - death probably occurred several days earlier)
- 1996 - Ben Johnson , American actor (b. 1918 )
- 1997 - Laura Nyro , American singer and composer (b. 1947 )
- 2000 - Claire Trevor , American actress (b. 1910 )
- 2002 - Maria Felix , Mexican actress (b. 1914 )
- 2003 - Anita Borg , American computer scientist (b. 1949 )
- 2004 - Bruce Edwards , golf caddy (b. 1954 )
- 2006 - Gerard Reve , Dutch writer (b. 1923 )
April 7 - April 9 - March 8 - May 8 -- Listing Of All Days
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