August 8 in History

The Treaty of Mersen or Meerssen, concluded on 8 August 870, was a treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as Lotharingia, by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of Emperor Louis I the Pious. The treaty followed an earlier Treaty of Prüm which had split Middle Francia between Lothair I's sons after his death in 855. The treaty is referred to in some Western European historiographies as the third major partition of Francia, all of which took place from August 843 to August 870, through the treaties of Verdun, Prüm and Meerssen. It was followed by the Treaty of Ribemont.

Ḥasan ʿAlā Zikrihi's-Salām or Hassan II was the hereditary Imam of the Nizari Isma'ilis of the Alamut Period from 1162 until 1166. From his capital of Alamut he ruled parts of Persia and Syria. His chief subordinate in Syria was Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Old Man of the Mountain.

Estonians or Estonian people are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily Estonia.

The Mudéjar revolt of 1264–1266 was a rebellion by the Muslim populations (Mudéjares) in the Lower Andalusia and Murcia regions of the Crown of Castile. The rebellion was in response to Castile's policy of relocating Muslim populations from these regions and was partially instigated by Muhammad I of Granada. The rebels were aided by the independent Emirate of Granada, while the Castilians were allied with Aragon. Early in the uprising, the rebels managed to capture Murcia and Jerez, as well as several smaller towns, but were eventually defeated by the royal forces. Subsequently, Castile expelled the Muslim populations of the reconquered territories and encouraged Christians from elsewhere to settle their lands. Granada became a vassal of Castile and paid an annual tribute.

James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchieburn, following a rebellion in which the younger James was the figurehead of the rebels. James IV is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland. He was responsible for a major expansion of the Scottish royal navy, which included the founding of two royal dockyards and the acquisition or construction of 38 ships, including Great Michael, the largest warship of her time. James was a patron of the arts and took an active interest in the law, literature and science. With his patronage, the printing press came to Scotland, the University of Aberdeen and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh were founded, and he commissioned the building of the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Falkland Palace. The Education Act 1496 passed by the Parliament of Scotland introduced compulsory schooling. During James's twenty-five-year reign, royal income doubled, the Crown exercised firm control over the Scottish church, and by 1493 had overcome the last independent Lord of the Isles. Relations with England improved with the Treaty of Perpetual Peace in 1502 and James's marriage to Margaret Tudor in 1503, which led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603. The long period of domestic peace after 1497 allowed James to focus more on foreign policy, which included the sending of several of his warships to aid his uncle, Hans of Denmark, in his conflict with Sweden; amicable relations with the Pope, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Louis XII of France; and James's aspiration to lead a European naval crusade against the Ottoman Empire. James was granted the title of Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith in 1507 by Pope Julius II. When Henry VIII of England invaded France in 1513 as part of the Holy League, James chose the Auld Alliance with the French over the "Perpetual Peace" with the English and led a large army across the border into England. James and many of his nobles were killed at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513, fighting against the English forces of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's wife and regent. James was the last monarch in Great Britain to be killed in battle and was succeeded by his son James V.

Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529 and the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Indian history, he presided over the empire at its political and cultural zenith and is remembered as an iconic figure by many Indians. Following the decline of the Delhi Sultanate, he ruled the largest and most powerful empire in India during his time. Krishnadevaraya's reign was marked by military expansion and political consolidation. He became the dominant ruler of the Indian peninsula by defeating the sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate, and the Gajapatis of Odisha, making him one of the most powerful Hindu monarchs in Indian history. Major campaigns during his reign included the conquest of the Raichur Doab in 1512, the subjugation of Odisha in 1514, and a decisive victory against the Sultan of Bijapur in 1520. On many occasions, the king changed battle plans abruptly, turning a losing battle into victory. When the Mughal emperor Babur surveyed the rulers of India, he considered Krishnadevaraya the most powerful, ruling over the most extensive empire in the subcontinent. Portuguese travellers Domingo Paes and Duarte Barbosa, who visited his court, described him as an able administrator and an exceptional military commander who personally led campaigns and tended to wounded soldiers. The poet Mukku Timmana praised him as the "Destroyer of the Turks". Krishnadevaraya was guided by his trusted prime minister Timmarusu, whom he credited as the architect of his rise to the throne, and was also advised by the witty poet Tenali Ramakrishna. His reign is also regarded as a golden age of Telugu literature, and he was a distinguished patron of arts and scholarship. Krishnadevaraya himself composed the Telugu poetic work Amuktamalyada, celebrated for its literary and devotional value. His court was home to the Ashtadiggajas—eight legendary Telugu poets—including Allasani Peddana and Mukku Timmana. Literary activity flourished not only in Telugu but also in Sanskrit, Kannada, and Tamil under his patronage, making his court a major cultural hub of the era. Krishnadevaraya was conferred with several honorific titles such as Andhra Bhoja ("Bhoja of Andhra"), Karnatakaratna Simhasanadeeshwara ("Lord of the Jewelled Throne of Karnataka"), Mooru Rayara Ganda ("Lord of Three Kings"), Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana ("Lord of the Kannada Empire"), and Gaubrahmana Pratipalaka ("Protector of Cows and Brahmins").

Tycho Brahe, generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations which helped to turn astronomy into the first modern science and launch the Scientific Revolution. He was known during his lifetime as an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist. He was the last major astronomer before the invention of the telescope and has been described as the greatest pre-telescopic astronomer.

John Davis (c. 1550 – 29 December 1605) was an explorer, navigator and privateer. He led several voyages in search of the Northwest Passage and served as pilot and captain on both Dutch and English voyages to the East Indies. He discovered the Falkland Islands in August 1592.

The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between Habsburg Spain and the Kingdom of England that was never formally declared. It began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in support of the Dutch rebellion against Spanish Habsburg rule. In large-scale campaigns, the English repelled the Spanish Armada in 1588, while Spain repelled the English Armada in 1589. The war included much English privateering against Spanish ships, and several widely separated battles. The war dragged on towards the end of the sixteenth century; England and Spain intervened in France in the 1590s and in Ireland from 1601. The campaign in the Netherlands saw a Spanish veteran force defeated by the Anglo-Dutch at the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600. This was followed a year later by the costly three-year Siege of Ostend, which Spain eventually seized. The war was brought to an end in August 1604 with the Treaty of London between the new kings: Philip III of Spain and James I of England. In the treaty, England and Spain restored the status quo ante bellum, agreed to cease their military interventions in the Netherlands and Ireland respectively, and resumed trade; the English ended their high seas privateering and the Spanish recognized James as king.

The Irish Confederate Wars took place from 1641 to 1653. The conflict began with the Irish rising of 1641 and evolved into a prolonged struggle over Ireland's future, as Irish forces sought to defend their land, political rights and autonomy against foreign control, plantation policies and continued encroachment on Irish self-government. Although linked to the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the war in Ireland had its own distinct causes and objectives rooted in resistance to English rule, the recovery of confiscated lands and the defence of Irish interests. The conflict caused an estimated 200,000 deaths from fighting, as well as war-related famine and disease.

Mehmed IV (Ottoman Turkish: محمد رابع, romanized: Meḥmed-i rābi; Turkish: IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693), nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter (Turkish: Avcı Mehmed), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to become the second-longest-reigning sultan in Ottoman history after Suleiman the Magnificent. While the initial and final years of his reign were characterized by military defeat and political instability, during his middle years he oversaw the revival of the empire's fortunes associated with the Köprülü era. Mehmed IV was known by contemporaries as a particularly pious ruler, and was referred to as gazi, or "holy warrior" for his role in the many conquests carried out during his long reign. Under Mehmed IV's reign, the empire reached the height of its territorial expansion in Europe. From a young age he developed a keen interest in hunting, for which he is known as avcı (translated as "the Hunter"). In 1687, Mehmed was overthrown by soldiers disenchanted by the course of the ongoing War of the Holy League. He subsequently retired to Edirne, where he resided and died of natural causes in 1693.

Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão was a Portuguese Catholic priest and naturalist born in colonial Brazil, who was a pioneer of lighter-than-air aerostat design, being among the first scholars at that time to understand the operational principles of the hot air balloon and to build a functional prototype of such a device. He is also one of the main characters in Nobel Prize-winning José Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda.

Mont Blanc (UK: ; US: ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising 4,807.3 m (15,771.9 ft) above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount Elbrus in Russia), and the 11th most prominent mountain in the world. The mountain gives its name to its range, the Mont Blanc massif, which straddles parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland. Mont Blanc's summit lies on the watershed line between the valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy, and the valleys of Montjoie, and Arve in France. Ownership of the summit area has long been disputed between France and Italy. The Mont Blanc massif is popular for outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, and trail running and winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding. The most popular climbing route to the summit of Mont Blanc is the Goûter Route, which typically takes two days. The three towns and their communes which surround Mont Blanc are Courmayeur in Aosta Valley, Italy; and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, France. The latter town was the site of the first Winter Olympics. A cable car ascends and crosses the mountain range from Courmayeur to Chamonix through the Col du Géant. The 11.6 km (7+1⁄4 mi) Mont Blanc Tunnel, constructed between 1957 and 1965, runs beneath the mountain and is a major transalpine transport route.

Joseph Whidbey FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first European to discover and chart Admiralty Island in the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska in 1794. Little is recorded of Whidbey's life before his warranting as a sailing master in 1779. After years of service during the War of American Independence, he received a peacetime appointment to HMS Europa, where with then-Lieutenant George Vancouver, he conducted a detailed survey of Port Royal in Jamaica. Europa paid off, but Whidbey soon gained a berth, along with Vancouver, in the newly built HMS Discovery. During the Nootka Crisis, both men were transferred to HMS Courageux, but returned to Discovery and departed for the northwest coast of America. In 1792, Whidbey accompanied Lieutenant Peter Puget in small boats to explore what was later named Puget Sound in Washington state. On 2 June, the team discovered Deception Pass, establishing the insularity of the Sound's largest island, which Vancouver named Whidbey Island. Upon Discovery's return to England, Whidbey served briefly in HMS Sans Pareil, but eventually turned to a shoreside career. In 1799, the then Earl St Vincent commissioned him to make a feasibility study of making Tor Bay a fleet anchorage; Whidbey recommended this be done by building a great breakwater. Surviving correspondence suggests that around this time he apparently struck up a lifelong friendly and professional relationship with the engineer John Rennie. Whidbey was appointed Master Attendant at Sheerness in 1799. His innovative salvage of the Dutch frigate ‘Ambuscade’ was the subject of a paper read to the Royal Society in 1803. In 1804 he received the prestigious appointment as Master Attendant at Woolwich, one of the Royal Navy's greatest dockyards. In 1805, Whidbey became a Fellow of the Royal Society, sponsored by a long list of distinguished men of science: Alexander Dalrymple, James Rennell, William Marsden, James Stanier Clarke, Sir Gilbert Blane, Mark Beaufoy, Joseph Huddart, and John Rennie. In 1806, as the Napoleonic Wars impended, Whidbey joined Rennie in planning the Plymouth Breakwater, at St Vincent's request; in 1811 came the order to begin construction and Whidbey was appointed Acting Superintending Engineer. This task required great engineering, organizational and political skills, as the many strictly technical challenges were complicated by the significant resources devoted to the project, from which various parties evidenced a desire for advantage. Nearly 4,000,000 (four million) tons of stone were quarried and transported, using about a dozen ships innovatively designed by the two men. Construction started on 8 August 1812; it was sufficiently completed by 1814 to shelter ships of the line, although work continued for over 50 years. Napoleon was reported as commenting that it was a grand thing, as he passed by it on the way to exile on St. Helena in 1815. Whidbey continued to work on the breakwater and other engineering projects, including the breakwater's lighthouse (designed by Trinity House), until retirement around 1830. His contribution to the Royal Society includes an 1817 paper on fossils found in the Plymouth quarries.

The Shawnee ( shaw-NEE) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. The Shawnee precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed throughout Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. In the early 18th century, they were primarily concentrated in eastern Pennsylvania but later that century dispersed again across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, with a small group joining the Muscogee people in Alabama. The Shawnee fought many wars to attempt to stay in their ancestral homelands, first against the British in the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Pontiac's War (1763), and Lord Dunmore's War (1774), then against the Americans in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), and Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812 (1810–1815). After the death of Tecumseh and the end of the War of 1812, the Shawnee signed several treaties ceding land to the U.S. federal government. The U.S. finally removed them under the 1830 Indian Removal Act to areas west of the Mississippi River; these lands would later become the states of Missouri, Kansas, and Texas. They were subsequently removed again to Indian Territory, which became the state of Oklahoma in the early 20th century. Today, Shawnee people are enrolled in three federally recognized tribes: the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and Shawnee Tribe, all headquartered in Oklahoma.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States. The South saw slavery as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

Tennessee, officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. According to the United States Census Bureau, the state's estimated population as of 2024 is 7.22 million.

The Republic of Ploiești (Romanian: Republica de la Ploiești) was a revolt against the princely Romanian monarchy in the city of Ploiești, Romania, on 8 August, 1870.

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman known for his work on the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, electric power distribution and early motion pictures. The merger of the Edison General Electric Company and the competitor Thomson-Houston Electric Company resulted in the formation of General Electric. Edison registered 1,093 patents in the United States. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, but grew up in Michigan with little formal schooling. He became deaf as a child and learned through books and tinkering. Edison began working at a young age; as a railroad telegrapher, he spent much of his time inventing improvements to telegraph systems. By the age of 22, he had sold a few of his early inventions and moved to New York City to focus on engineering. He had three children with his first wife, Mary, but Edison was neglectful. She died at 29 years old. Edison had troubled relationships with his children for the rest of his life. With the help of friends, the inventor attracted investment and grew his company. By the age of 29, he owned a telegraph recorder factory in Newark with over one hundred employees. Edison expanded, developing Menlo Park, now considered the first industrial research laboratory. Edison, known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park", drove his staff extremely hard and constantly worked himself and his associates to exhaustion. The inventor also drove up investment and publicity. He rose to international fame with the invention of the phonograph which took many years to turn into a commercial success. He later built a larger research lab in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1878, Edison began working on an electrical lighting system which he hoped would replace the common gas lamp. Going from electrical light bulb to the modern electric grid took decades of invention, investment, and influence. Edison and his colleagues had the opportunity to get enormously wealthy as they designed and built a nation of light bulbs, generators, and electric distribution systems. Competition with Westinghouse's AC system forced Edison to yield and resulted in the creation of General Electric. Edison simultaneously created a mining company, which was never profitable, and he nearly went bankrupt. As his role in the illumination business declined, he established a cement company and began work on a motion picture camera. The motion picture camera went from an invention to the first movie production studio. He traveled around the United States and Europe promoting his many innovations, during which he met Mina, his second wife. They had three children together, and Edison was again neglectful. During their adulthood, he began to take more interest in his sons and they eventually worked for him. Charles Edison took over his father's business when he died. In addition to acute health issues from handling toxic and radioactive chemicals during his various experiments, Thomas faced a lifelong battle against diabetes. He worked vigorously until his death. Following the success of the illumination business, he ran several companies which produced batteries, movies, musical records, and phenol. His last obsession was the search for domestic rubber production.

Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinated Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo on 8 August 1897, in Gipuzkoa. The head of government had been vacationing in the Santa Águeda spa. The assassin was immediately arrested, tried, and executed. He justified the murder as revenge for torture during the Montjuïc trial.

The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now known as Kill Devil Hills. In 1904 the Wright brothers developed the Wright Flyer II, which made longer-duration flights including the first circle, followed in 1905 by the first truly practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III. The brothers' breakthrough invention was their creation of a three-axis control system, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. Their system of aircraft controls made fixed-wing powered flight possible and remains standard on airplanes of all kinds. Their first U.S. patent, written in March 1903, before their first flight at Kitty Hawk, did not claim invention of a flying machine, but rather a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces. From the beginning of their aeronautical work, Wilbur and Orville focused on developing a reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving "the flying problem". This approach differed significantly from other experimenters of the time who put more emphasis on developing powerful engines. Using a small home-built wind tunnel, the Wrights also collected more accurate data than any before, enabling them to design more efficient wings and propellers. The brothers gained the mechanical skills essential to their success by working for years in their Dayton, Ohio-based shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles, in particular, influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle such as a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice. This was a trend, as many other aviation pioneers were also dedicated cyclists and involved in the bicycle business in various ways. From 1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, the brothers conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots. Their shop mechanic Charles Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first airplane engine in close collaboration with the brothers. The Wright brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been subject to numerous counter-claims. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims of early aviators. Edward Roach, historian for the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, argues that the Wrights were excellent self-taught engineers who could run a small company well, but did not have the business skills or temperament necessary to dominate the rapidly growing aviation industry at the time.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, World War I resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million deaths, including those in war crimes and genocides. The war also helped spread the Spanish flu pandemic. The conflict saw important developments in weaponry, including the first large-scale use of machine guns, artillery, aircraft, chemical weapons, and tanks.

The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, also known as the Treaty of Rawalpindi, was a bilateral treaty which brought the Third Anglo-Afghan War to an end.This is regarded as the largest peace treaty since the Treaty of Versailles, which was enacted in the same year.

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. It offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service. The ship was named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a count in the German nobility. It was conceived and operated by Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.

The Quit India Movement was a political campaign launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in India. After Britain failed to secure Indian support for the British war effort with the Cripps Mission, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. Viceroy Linlithgow described the movement as "by far the most serious rebellion since 1857". The All India Congress Committee launched a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called "An Orderly British Withdrawal" from India. Even though it was at war, Britain was prepared to act. Almost the entire leadership of the Indian National Congress was imprisoned without trial within hours of Gandhi's speech. Most spent the rest of the war in prison and out of contact with the masses. The British had the support of the Viceroy's Council, of the All India Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, the princely states, the Indian Imperial Police, the British Indian Army, and the Indian Civil Service. Many Indian businessmen profiting from heavy wartime spending did not support the Quit India Movement. The major outside support came from the Americans, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressured Prime Minister Winston Churchill to give in to some of the Indian demands. The movement included anti-British boycotts and rejection of transactions involving the colonial government. Various violent incidents took place around the country against British rule, and the colonial government arrested tens of thousands of leaders, keeping them imprisoned until 1945. Ultimately, the British realised that India was ungovernable in the long run, and the issue for the postwar era became how to exit gracefully and peacefully. The movement ended in 1945 with the release of all jailed nationalists. Prominent independence activists who died during the movement include Mukunda Kakati, Matangini Hazra, Kanaklata Barua, Kushal Konwar, Bhogeswari Phukanani and others. In 1992, the Reserve Bank of India issued a 1 rupee commemorative coin to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Quit India Movement.

The Nuremberg trials were international criminal trials held by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States against leaders of defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of several countries across Europe and committing atrocities against their citizens in the Second World War. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a show trial (the Soviet Union) to summary executions (the United Kingdom). In mid-1945, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed to convene a joint tribunal in Nuremberg, occupied Germany, with the Nuremberg Charter as its legal instrument. Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 22 of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic spheres, as well as six German organizations. The purpose of the trial was not only to try the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi war crimes, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, and delegitimize the traditional German elite. The IMT verdict followed the prosecution in declaring the crime of plotting and waging aggressive war "the supreme international crime" because "it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole". Most defendants were also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Holocaust being a major focus in the trials. Twelve further trials were conducted by the United States against lower-level perpetrators and focused more on the Holocaust. Controversial at the time for their retroactive criminalization of aggression, the trials' innovation of holding individuals responsible for violations of international law is considered "the true beginning of international criminal law".

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a piston-engined, strategic bomber built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command from 1948 to 1959. With 384 units built, the B-36 remains the largest mass-produced, piston-engined aircraft and has the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft. The B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refueling.

The Marcinelle mining disaster occurred at the Bois du Cazier coal mine at Marcinelle, Hainaut Province, in Belgium on 8 August 1956. One of the largest and most notorious mining disasters in the country's history, it led to the deaths of 262 miners, many of whom were guest workers from Italy.

The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million from a Royal Mail train travelling from Glasgow to London, on the West Coast Main Line, in the early hours of 8 August 1963. It took place at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore, in Buckinghamshire, England.

The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant socialist organisation that fought against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963. ZANU split in 1975 into wings loyal to Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole, later respectively called ZANU–PF and ZANU–Ndonga. These two sub-divisions ran separately at the 1980 general election, where ZANU–PF has been in power ever since, and ZANU–Ndonga a minor opposition party.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is an intergovernmental forum of all 11 states in Southeast Asia. ASEAN primarily focuses on Southeast Asian economic development, peaceful coexistence and adherence to international norms. ASEAN operates on the principle of consensus and respecting national sovereignty, meaning that ASEAN as a whole cannot force another member state to change its domestic laws.

A zebra crossing or a marked crosswalk is a pedestrian crossing marked with white stripes. Normally, pedestrians are afforded precedence over vehicular traffic, although the significance of the markings may vary by jurisdiction.

Kim Dae-jung was a South Korean politician, activist, and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.

The 8888 Uprising, also known as the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma that peaked in August 1988. Key events occurred on 8 August 1988 and therefore it is commonly known as the "8888 Uprising". The protests began as a student movement and were organised largely by university students at the Rangoon Arts and Sciences University and the Rangoon Institute of Technology.

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was carried over from the 1969 plan for the Space Transportation System (STS) of reusable spacecraft. Only the shuttle and supporting rockets were funded for development; a proposed nuclear lunar shuttle in the plan was canceled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. Located within the Middle East, it is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. The country covers an area of 438,317 square kilometres (169,235 sq mi) and has a population of over 46 million, making it the 58th largest country by area and the 31st most populous in the world. Baghdad, home to over 8 million people, is the capital city and the largest in the country.

The Warsaw radio mast was a radio mast located near Gąbin, Poland, and was the world's tallest structure at 646.30 m from 1974 until its collapse on 8 August 1991. The mast was designed with extreme height to broadcast Polish state media around the world, including to parts of Canada and the United States, and even reaching Antarctica. The official name of the facility was Radiofoniczny Ośrodek Nadawczy w Konstantynowie, Radiowe Centrum Nadawcze w Konstantynowie or Warszawska Radiostacja Centralna (WRC) w Gąbinie. It broadcast Polskie Radio's Program I.

The 1993 Guam earthquake occurred on August 8 at 6:34:26 pm local time with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The thrust earthquake generated a non-destructive tsunami.

Mazar-i-Sharif or Mazar-e-Sharif is a city in northern Afghanistan, serving as the capital and largest city of Balkh Province. It has 12 city districts (nahias) and an estimated population of 568,013 people. Hafiz Abdul Rahman Himat is the current mayor of the city. His predecessor was Mohammad Kazim Tariq.

H. L. Hunley, also known as the Hunley, CSS H. L. Hunley, or CSS Hunley, was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that fought in the American Civil War. Hunley demonstrated the advantages and dangers of undersea warfare. She was the first combat submarine to sink a warship (USS Housatonic), although Hunley was not completely submerged, and following her attack was lost along with her crew before she could return to base. She was named for her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, shortly after she was taken into government service under the control of the Confederate States Army at Charleston, South Carolina.

Dave Matthews Band is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members are singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and backing vocalist Carter Beauford, violinist and backing vocalist Boyd Tinsley, and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. As of 2026, Matthews, Lessard, and Beauford are the only remaining founding members.

The 2007 Brooklyn tornado, an EF2 tornado, was the strongest tornado on record to strike New York City since documentation began in 1950. It formed in the early morning hours of August 8, 2007, skipping along an approximately 9 miles (14 km)-long path, from Staten Island across The Narrows to Brooklyn. The worst damage was in and around Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, in Brooklyn. The U.S. National Weather Service estimated its strength there as an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

STS-118 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by the orbiter Endeavour. STS-118 lifted off on August 8, 2007, from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida and landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC on August 21, 2007.

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and officially branded as Beijing 2008, were an international multi-sport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events, one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics. This was the first time China had hosted the Olympic Games, and the third time the Summer Olympic Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were also the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in a communist state, the first being the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union. The games were the first and only Olympics held in Beijing with spectators, as the 2022 Winter Games were held without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing became the first ever city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

The Airbus Helicopters H125 Écureuil, or Squirrel, is a single-engine light utility helicopter designed and originally manufactured by the French corporation Aérospatiale, later by Eurocopter, which became Airbus Helicopters. In North America, the H125 is marketed as the AStar. The AS355 Ecureuil 2 is a twin-engine variant, marketed in North America as the TwinStar.

Floods in China in 2010 resulted in over 3,000 deaths. Three hundred and ninety-two people died, and a further 232 people were reported missing as of June 30, 2010, including 57 people in a landslide in Guizhou. Fifty-three of the deaths occurred from the flooding and landslides between May 31 and June 3, and 266 deaths occurred between June 13 and June 29. Four hundred and twenty four people were killed by the end of June, including 42 from the Guizhou landslide; 277 more were killed and 147 were missing in the first two weeks of July, bringing the death toll as of August 5 to 1,072. A landslide in early August in Gansu killed at least 1,471 people and left 294 missing. In total, the flooding and landslides killed at least 3,185 people in China by August 31. More than 230 million people in 28 provinces, municipalities, and regions, especially the southern and central provinces and regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing Municipality, Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou, and the northeastern province of Jilin were affected, while at least 4.66 million people were evacuated because of the risk of flooding and landslides in the latter half of June. By early August, over 12 million people were evacuated, and that number rose to 15.2 million by August 31.

On 8 August 2016, terrorists attacked the Government Hospital of Quetta in Pakistan with a suicide bombing and shooting. They killed more than 70 people, mainly lawyers, and injured more than 130 others. The fatalities were mainly advocates (lawyers) who had assembled at the hospital where the body of Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi, the president of the Balochistan Bar Association, was brought after he was shot dead by an unknown gunman. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by various Islamist groups like Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and the Islamic State – Khorasan Province. Between 70 and 94 people were killed and over 120 injured. 54 of those killed were lawyers.

The Nyonoksa radiation accident, Arkhangelsk explosion or Nyonoksa explosion occurred on 8 August 2019 near Nyonoksa, a village under the administrative jurisdiction of Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Five military and civilian specialists were killed and three were injured.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the attorney general and the director of national intelligence. A leading American counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes. The FBI maintains a list of its top 10 most wanted fugitives.

The 2023 Hawaii wildfires were a series of wildfires that broke out in early August 2023 in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations and caused widespread damage, killing at least 102 people and leaving two people missing in the town of Lahaina on Maui's northwest coast. The proliferation of the wildfires was attributed to dry, gusty conditions created by a strong high-pressure area north of Hawaii and Hurricane Dora to the south.

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and statesman. Yunus pioneered the modern concept of microcredit and microfinance, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He is the founder of Grameen Bank and the first Bangladeshi to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Following the July Uprising, he was appointed as the 5th chief adviser of Bangladesh, the head of the interim government, serving from 2024 to 2026.