Calendar date · May

What happened on May 8

On May 8, -453: Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.

Events

53

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Taurus

Featured moment · -453

Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.

The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou, characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy. The period's name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 481 BCE, which tradition associates with Confucius.

People

Born on May 8

Oliver Bearman 2005– British racing driver (born 2005)
Moulay Hassan 2003– Crown Prince of Morocco (born 2003)
Jordyn Huitema 2001– Canadian soccer player (born 2001)
6ix9ine 1996– American rapper (born 1996)
Pat Cummins 1993– Australian cricketer (born 1993)
Olivia Culpo 1992– American model (born 1992)
Kevin Hayes 1992– American ice hockey player (born 1992)
Lane Johnson 1990– American football player (born 1990)
Iyo Sky 1990– Japanese professional wrestler (born 1990)
Show 9 more — notable births on May 8
Kemba Walker 1990– American basketball player (born 1990)
Lars Eller 1989– Danish ice hockey player (born 1989)
Trisha Paytas 1988– American media personality (born 1988)
Felix Jones 1987– American football player (born 1987)
Mark Noble 1987– English footballer (born 1987)
Kurt Tippett 1987– Australian rules footballer (born 1987)
Galen Rupp 1986– American long-distance runner (born 1986)
Tommaso Ciampa 1985– American professional wrestler
Buakaw Banchamek 1982– Thai kickboxer (born 1982)

People

Died on May 8

Simon Mann British Army officer and mercenary (1952–2025)
Chris Cannon American politician (1950–2024)
Jimmy Johnson American football player (1938–2024)
Pete McCloskey American politician (1927–2024)
Ramón Fonseca Mora Panamanian novelist and lawyer (1952–2024)
Robert Gillmor English painter (1936–2022)
Dennis Waterman English actor and singer (1948–2022)
Helmut Jahn German and American architect (1940–2021)
Sprent Dabwido President of Nauru from 2011 to 2013
Show 9 more — notable deaths on May 8
Big Bully Busick American professional wrestler, powerlifter
Anne V. Coates British film editor (1925–2018)
William Schallert American actor (1922-2016)
Zeki Alasya Turkish actor and film director
Mwepu Ilunga DR Congolese footballer (1949–2015)
Juan Schwanner Hungarian-Chilean footballer and manager
Atanas Semerdzhiev Bulgarian soldier and politician, 1st Vice President of Bulgaria (born 1924)
Roger L. Easton American physicist and GPS inventor (1921–2014)
Nancy Malone American actress and director (1935–2014)

Timeline

Every May 8 on record

  1. -453 Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.

    Period in Chinese history (c. 770 – c. 481 BCE)

    The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou, characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy. The period's name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 481 BCE, which tradition associates with Confucius.

  2. 413 Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.

    Western Roman emperor from 393 to 423

    Honorius was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho, ruled the western half of the empire while his brother Arcadius ruled the eastern half.

  3. 589 Reccared I opens the Third Council of Toledo, marking the entry of Visigothic Spain into the Catholic Church.

    Visigothic King

    Reccared I was the king of the Visigoths, ruling in Hispania, Gallaecia and Septimania. His reign marked a climactic shift in history, with the king's renunciation of Arianism in favour of Nicene Christianity in 587.

  4. 1360 The Hundred Years War: the Treaty of Brétigny is drafted between King Edward III of England and King John II of France (the Good).

    Medieval Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453

    The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a claim to the French throne made by Edward III of England. The war grew into a broader military, economic, and political struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides.

  5. 1373 Julian of Norwich, a Christian mystic and anchoress, experiences the deathbed visions described in her Revelations of Divine Love.

    English anchoress and mystic (1343 – after 1416)

    Julian of Norwich, also known as Juliana of Norwich, the Lady Julian, Dame Julian or Mother Julian, was a medieval English Catholic anchoress. Her writings, now known as Revelations of Divine Love, are the earliest surviving English-language works attributed to a woman. They are also the only surviving English-language works by an anchoress.

  6. 1429 The Hundred Years War: Joan of Arc lifts the Siege of Orléans, turning the tide of the war
  7. 1516 A group of imperial guards, led by Trịnh Duy Sản, murder Emperor Lê Tương Dực and flee, leaving the capital Thăng Long undefended.
  8. 1541 Hernando de Soto stops near present-day Walls, Mississippi, and sees the Mississippi River (then known by the Spanish as Río de Espíritu Santo, the name given to it by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519).
  9. 1608 A newly nationalized silver mine in Scotland at Hilderston, West Lothian is re-opened by Bevis Bulmer.
  10. 1639 William Coddington founds Newport, Rhode Island.
  11. 1721 In the Papal States, Cardinal Michelangelo dei Conti is elected Pope, and takes the name Innocent XIII.
  12. 1788 King Louis XVI of France attempts to impose the reforms of Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne by abolishing the parlements.
  13. 1794 Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme générale, is tried, convicted and guillotined in one day in Paris.
  14. 1821 Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.
  15. 1842 A train derails and catches fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people.
Show 15 earlier entries from May 8
  1. 1846 Mexican–American War: American forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
  2. 1877 At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
  3. 1886 Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.
  4. 1898 The first games of the Italian football league system are played.
  5. 1902 In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
  6. 1919 Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended World War I.
  7. 1921 The creation of the Communist Party of Romania.
  8. 1924 The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania. It would come back to Germany in 1939.
  9. 1927 Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappear after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.
  10. 1933 Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.
  11. 1941 World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.
  12. 1942 World War II: The German 11th Army begins Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three Soviet armies defending the Kerch Peninsula.
  13. 1942 World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
  14. 1942 World War II: Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebel in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. Their mutiny is crushed and three of them are executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
  15. 1945 World War II: The German Instrument of Surrender signed at Berlin-Karlshorst comes into effect. This is commemorated as Victory in Europe Day.

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