# What happened on April 8 in history?

**Date:** April 8  
**Events recorded:** 36  
**Years spanned:** 217 – 2026  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/april/8/

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## Featured Event

**2024** — Solar eclipse: A total solar eclipse takes place at the Moon's ascending node, visible across North America.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_April_8%2C_2024)

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## Events on this date

- **217** — Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_emperor))
- **876** — The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dayr_al-Aqul))
- **1139** — Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Innocent II for supporting Anacletus II as pope for seven years, even though Roger had already publicly recognized Innocent's claim to the papacy. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_II_of_Sicily))
- **1143** — Manuel I Komnenos succeeds his father John II Komnenos as Byzantine Emperor. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_Komnenos))
- **1232** — Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_conquest_of_the_Jin_dynasty))
- **1250** — Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Crusade))
- **1271** — Fall of Krak des Chevaliers: In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Krak_des_Chevaliers))
- **1605** — The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulu))
- **1730** — Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in continental North America, is dedicated. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_Shearith_Israel))
- **1812** — Czar Alexander I, the Russian Emperor and the Grand Duke of Finland, officially announces the transfer of the status of the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_I_of_Russia))
- **1820** — The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_de_Milo))
- **1832** — Black Hawk War: Around 300 United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_War))
- **1866** — Austro-Prussian War: Italy and Prussia sign a secret alliance against the Austrian Empire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austro-Prussian_War))
- **1886** — William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ewart_Gladstone))
- **1895** — In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollock_v._Farmers'_Loan_%26_Trust_Co.))
- **1904** — The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Third_Republic))
- **1933** — The Australian state of Western Australia votes to secede from the federation in a non-binding referendum, although efforts to implement the result prove unsuccessful. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Australia))
- **1940** — The Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party elects Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal as General Secretary, marking the beginning of his 44-year-long tenure as de facto leader of Mongolia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_People's_Party))
- **1954** — A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_T-6_Texan))
- **1954** — South African Airways Flight 201: A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways_Flight_201))
- **1959** — A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper))
- **1959** — The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States))
- **1960** — The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands))
- **1968** — BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after takeoff. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_712))
- **1970** — Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahr_El-Baqar_primary_school_bombing))
- **1974** — Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the all-time leader in career home runs by hitting his 715th home run off of Al Downing at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron))
- **1975** — Voyageurs National Park is established by the U.S. Congress. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs_National_Park))
- **1990** — The conservative New Democracy party of Constantine Mitsotakis is elected in the Greek parliamentary election. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democracy_(Greece)))
- **1993** — The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on mission STS-56. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Discovery))
- **2002** — The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-110, carrying the S0 truss to the International Space Station. Astronaut Jerry L. Ross also becomes the first person to fly on seven spaceflights. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis))
- **2005** — A solar eclipse occurs, visible over areas of the Pacific Ocean and Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_April_8%2C_2005))
- **2010** — U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign the New START Treaty. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama))
- **2014** — Windows XP reaches its standard End Of Life and is no longer supported. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP))
- **2020** — Bernie Sanders ends his presidential campaign, leaving Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's nominee. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders))
- **2024** — Solar eclipse: A total solar eclipse takes place at the Moon's ascending node, visible across North America. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_April_8%2C_2024))
- **2026** — Operation Eternal Darkness: Hours after a ceasefire to the Iran war, Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill at least 357 and injures more than 1200 people in the largest airstrikes of the Lebanon war. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_April_2026_Israeli_attacks_on_Lebanon))

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## Notable births on April 8

- **2013** — **Big Justice** — American social media personality ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.J._%26_Big_Justice))
- **2005** — **Zaccharie Risacher** — French basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaccharie_Risacher))
- **2002** — **Jamie Drysdale** — Canadian ice hockey player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Drysdale))
- **2002** — **Viktória Forster** — Slovak track and field athlete ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikt%C3%B3ria_Forster))
- **2002** — **Skai Jackson** — American actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skai_Jackson))
- **1999** — **CeeDee Lamb** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CeeDee_Lamb))
- **1998** — **Lavinia Valbonesi** — Ecuadorian nutritionist, businesswoman and First Lady of Ecuador ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavinia_Valbonesi))
- **1997** — **Kim Woo-jin** — South Korean singer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Woojin))
- **1997** — **Saygrace** — Australian singer and songwriter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saygrace))
- **1997** — **Roquan Smith** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roquan_Smith))

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## Notable deaths on April 8

- **2025** — **Nelsy Cruz** — Dominican politician, governor of Monte Cristi (born 1982) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelsy_Cruz))
- **2024** — **Keith Barnes** — Welsh-Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1934) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Barnes))
- **2024** — **Peter Higgs** — British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1929) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Higgs))
- **2024** — **Ralph Puckett** — American Army officer, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1926) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Puckett))
- **2022** — **Mimi Reinhardt** — Jewish Austrian secretary (born 1915) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimi_Reinhardt))
- **2020** — **Rick May** — American-Canadian voice actor  (born 1940) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_May))
- **2020** — **Abdul Momin Imambari** — Bangladeshi Islamic scholar (born 1930) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Momin_Imambari))
- **2019** — **Josine Ianco-Starrels** — Romanian-born American art curator (born 1926) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josine_Ianco-Starrels))
- **2015** — **Jayakanthan** — Indian journalist and author (born 1934) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayakanthan))
- **2015** — **Rayson Huang** — Hong Kong chemist and academic (born 1920) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayson_Huang))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/april/8/](https://thisday.info/events/april/8/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.