Editing May 8 (section)

==Events==
===Pre-1600===
*[[453 BC]] &ndash; [[Spring and Autumn period]]: The house of [[Zhao (state)|Zhao]] defeats the house of Zhi, ending the [[Battle of Jinyang]], a military conflict between the elite families of the [[Jin (Chinese state)|State of Jin]].
* [[413]] &ndash; Emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] signs an [[edict]] providing tax relief for the Italian provinces [[Province of Viterbo|Tuscia]], [[Campania]], [[Picenum]], [[Samnium]], [[Apulia]], [[Lucania]] and [[Calabria]], which were plundered by the [[Visigoths]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pharr|first1=Clyde|last2=Davidson|first2=Theresa Sherrer|last3=Pharr|first3=Mary Brown|last4=Williams|first4=Dickerman|title=The Theodosian Code and Novels, and the Sirmondian Constitutions|location=Union, N.J.|publisher=Lawbook Exchange|date=2006|isbn=9781584771463|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ROBb7SIvYgC|page=319}}</ref>
* [[589]] &ndash; [[Reccared I]] opens the [[Third Council of Toledo]], marking the entry of [[Visigoth|Visigothic Spain]] into the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Rosenwein|first=Barbara H.|title=Reading the Middle Ages: Sources From Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World|location=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto Press|date=2018|isbn=9781442636736|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JNbAgAAQBAJ|page=49|postscript=none}}; {{cite book|last=Vogel|first=Albrecht|chapter=Toledo, Councils of|title=A Religious Encyclopædia, or, Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal and Practical Theology. Volume III|editor-last1=Schaff|editor-first1=Philip|editor-last2=Jackson|editor-first2=Samuel Macauley|editor-last3=Schaff|editor-first3=David S.|location=Edinburgh|publisher=T. & T. Clark|date=1882|oclc=28786745|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qPZMAQAAMAAJ|page=2367}}</ref>
*[[1360]] &ndash; [[Treaty of Brétigny]] drafted between King [[Edward III of England]] and King [[John II of France]] (the Good).<ref name=p118>p118 Hersch Lauterpacht, "Volume 20 of International Law Reports, Cambridge University Press, 1957, {{ISBN|0-521-46365-3}}</ref>
*[[1373]] &ndash; [[Julian of Norwich]], a Christian [[Christian mysticism|mystic]] and [[anchoress]], experiences the deathbed visions described in her ''[[Revelations of Divine Love]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-05-05 |title=Revelations of Divine Love review – Julian of Norwich's heavenly visions |language=en |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/05/revelations-of-divine-love-julian-of-norwich-review-religious-visions |access-date=2021-09-06}}</ref>
*[[1429]] &ndash; [[Joan of Arc]] lifts the [[Siege of Orléans]], turning the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
*[[1450]] &ndash; Kentishmen [[Jack Cade's Rebellion|revolt]] against King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]].
*[[1516]] &ndash; A group of imperial guards, led by Trịnh Duy Sản, [[Trần Cảo Rebellion|murdered]] Emperor [[Lê Tương Dực]] and fled, leaving the capital [[Hanoi|Thăng Long]] undefended.
*[[1541]] &ndash; [[Hernando de Soto]] stops near present-day [[Walls, Mississippi]], and sees the Mississippi River<ref>{{cite book|last=Dye|first=David H.|chapter=Reconstruction of the de Soto Route in Arkansas: The Mississippi Alluvial Plain|title=The Expedition of Hernando de Soto West of the Mississippi, 1541-1543: Proceedings of the de Soto Symposia, 1988 and 1990|editor-last1=Young|editor-first1=Gloria A.|editor-last2=Hoffman|editor-first2=Michael P.|location=Fayetteville, Ark.|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|date=1993|isbn=9781557282705|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIt0uRRwPPMC|page=40}}</ref> (then known by the Spanish as ''Río de Espíritu Santo'', the name given to it by [[Alonso Álvarez de Pineda]] in 1519).<ref>{{cite book|last=Weber|first=David John|title=The Spanish Frontier in North America|location=New Haven, Conn.|publisher=Yale University Press|date=2009|isbn=9780300140682|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUCmD15yEAYC|page=29}}</ref>

===1601–1900===
*[[1608]] &ndash; A newly [[Nationalization|nationalized]] silver mine in Scotland at [[Hilderston, West Lothian]] is re-opened by [[Bevis Bulmer]].<ref>Samuel Lythe, ''The Economy of Scotland in Its European Setting, 1550-1625'' (Edinburgh, 1960), pp. 55-6.</ref>
*[[1639]] &ndash; [[William Coddington]] founds [[Newport, Rhode Island]].<ref name=redwood1891>{{Citation |publisher = Redwood Library |location = Newport, R.I |author = George C. Mason |title = Annals of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum |date = 1891 |ol = 13993479M }}</ref>
*[[1721]] &ndash; In the [[Papal States]], Cardinal Michelangelo dei Conti is [[1721 papal conclave|elected]] [[Pope]], and takes the name [[Pope Innocent XIII|Innocent XIII]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1721.html|title=SEDE VACANTE 1721|website=www.csun.edu|access-date=2025-04-21}}</ref>
*[[1788]] &ndash; King Louis XVI of France attempts to impose the reforms of [[Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne]] by abolishing the parlements.
*[[1794]] &ndash; 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.
*[[1821]] &ndash; [[Greek War of Independence]]: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the [[Battle of Gravia Inn]].
*[[1842]] &ndash; A train [[Versailles rail accident|derails and catches fire]] in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people.
*[[1846]] &ndash; [[Mexican–American War]]: American forces led by Zachary Taylor [[Battle of Palo Alto|defeat]] a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
*[[1877]] &ndash; At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first [[Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show]] opens.
*[[1886]] &ndash; Pharmacist [[John Pemberton]] first sells a carbonated beverage named "[[Coca-Cola]]" as a patent medicine.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lussier|first=Robert N.|title=Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development|location=Mason, Ohio|publisher=South-Western/Cengage Learning|date=2008|isbn=9781111577537|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F1c3wHNDF-wC|page=113}}</ref>
*[[1898]] &ndash; The first games of the [[Italian football league system]] are played.
*[[1899]] &ndash; The [[Irish Literary Theatre]] in Dublin produced its first play.

===1901–present===
*[[1902]] &ndash; 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.
*[[1919]] &ndash; [[Edward George Honey]] proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]] which ended World War I.
*[[1921]] &ndash; The creation of the [[Romanian Communist Party|Communist Party of Romania]].
*[[1924]] &ndash; The [[Klaipėda Convention]] is signed formally incorporating [[Klaipėda Region]] (Memel Territory) into Lithuania.
*[[1927]] &ndash; 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.
*[[1933]] &ndash; [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mohandas Gandhi]] begins a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.
*[[1941]] &ndash; [[World War II]]: The German Luftwaffe launches a [[Nottingham Blitz|bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby]].
*[[1942]] &ndash; World War II: The German [[11th Army (Wehrmacht)|11th Army]] begins [[Battle of the Kerch Peninsula|Operation Trappenjagd]] (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three Soviet armies defending the Kerch Peninsula.
*  1942   &ndash; 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|CV-2|6}}.
*  1942   &ndash; 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 [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]] soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
*[[1945]] &ndash; World War II: The [[German Instrument of Surrender]] signed at [[Karlshorst|Berlin-Karlshorst]] comes into effect. 
*  1945   &ndash; End of the [[Prague uprising]], celebrated now as a national holiday in the Czech Republic.
*  1945   &ndash; Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the [[Sétif massacre]].
*  1945   &ndash; The [[Halifax riot]] starts when thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia.
*[[1946]] &ndash; Estonian schoolgirls [[Aili Jõgi]] and [[Ageeda Paavel]] blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the [[Bronze Soldier of Tallinn]].
*[[1950]] &ndash; The [[Tollund Man]] was discovered in a peat bog near Silkeborg, Denmark.<ref name="lib">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tollundman.dk/et-lig-dukker-op.asp|title=A Body Appears|work=The Tollund Man—A Face from Prehistoric Denmark|access-date=22 September 2007|publisher=Silkeborg Public Library|year=2004|author1=Silkeborg Public Library|author2=Silkeborg Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209034959/http://tollundman.dk/et-lig-dukker-op.asp|archive-date=9 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[1957]] &ndash; South Vietnamese President [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] began a [[Ngo Dinh Diem presidential visit to the United States|state visit]] to the United States, his regime's main sponsor.<ref>{{cite book| first=Seth |last=Jacobs| year=2006| title=Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950&ndash;1963| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield| isbn=0-7425-4447-8|location=Lanham, Maryland}}</ref>
*[[1963]] &ndash; South Vietnamese soldiers under the Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem [[Huế Phật Đản shootings|open fire on Buddhists]] defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on [[Vesākha|Vesak]], killing nine and sparking the [[Buddhist crisis]].
*[[1967]] &ndash; The Philippine province of [[Davao (province)|Davao]] is split into three: [[Davao del Norte]], [[Davao del Sur]], and [[Davao Oriental]].
*[[1970]] &ndash; [[The Beatles]] release their 12th and final studio album ''[[Let It Be (album)|Let It Be]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Let It Be {{!}} The Beatles |url=https://www.thebeatles.com/let-it-be-0 |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=www.thebeatles.com}}</ref>
*[[1972]] &ndash; [[Vietnam War]]: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to [[Operation Pocket Money|place naval mines]] in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
*[[1973]] &ndash; A [[Wounded Knee incident|71-day standoff]] between federal authorities and the [[American Indian Movement]] members occupying the [[Pine Ridge Reservation]] at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.
*[[1976]] &ndash; The rollercoaster [[The New Revolution (roller coaster)|The New Revolution]], the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at [[Six Flags Magic Mountain]].
*[[1978]] &ndash; The first ascent of [[Mount Everest]] without supplemental oxygen, by [[Reinhold Messner]] and [[Peter Habeler]].
*[[1980]] &ndash; The [[World Health Organization]] confirms the eradication of [[smallpox]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Strassburg|first=M.A.|title=The Global Eradication of Smallpox|journal=American Journal of Infection Control|date=May 1982|volume=10|issue=2|pages=53–59|doi=10.1016/0196-6553(82)90003-7|pmid=7044193}}</ref>
*[[1984]] &ndash; Corporal [[Denis Lortie]] enters the [[National Assembly of Quebec|Quebec National Assembly]] and opens fire, killing three people and wounding 13. [[René Jalbert]], Sergeant-at-Arms of the Assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the [[Cross of Valour (Canada)|Cross of Valour]].
*  1984   &ndash; The [[Soviet Union]] announces a [[1984 Summer Olympics boycott|boycott upon the]] [[1984 Summer Olympics|Summer Olympics at Los Angeles]], later joined by 14 other countries.<ref name="NYT9May1984">{{cite news |last=Burns |first=John F. |date=May 9, 1984 |title=Moscow Will Keep Its Team From Los Angeles Olympics |volume=133 |work=The New York Times |issue=46039 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/09/world/moscow-will-keep-its-team-los-angeles-olympics-tass-cites-peril-us-denies-it.html}}</ref>
*  1984   &ndash; The [[Thames Barrier]] is officially opened, preventing the [[floodplain]] of most of [[Greater London]] from being flooded except under extreme circumstances.<ref>{{cite news|last=Booth|first=Cathy|title=Queen dedicates Thames Barrier to save London from floods|work=UPI|date=8 May 1984|access-date=8 May 2019|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/05/08/Queen-dedicates-Thames-Barrier-to-save-London-from-floods/7766452836800/}}</ref>
*[[1987]] &ndash; The [[Special Air Service|SAS]] kills eight [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] volunteers and a civilian during an [[Loughgall ambush|ambush]] in [[Loughgall]], Northern Ireland.
*[[1988]] &ndash; A fire at [[Illinois Bell]]'s Hinsdale Central Office triggers an extended [[1AESS]] network outage once considered to be the "worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history".
*[[1997]] &ndash; [[China Southern Airlines Flight 3456]] crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people.
*[[2019]] &ndash; British 17-year-old Isabelle Holdaway is reported to be the first patient ever to receive a genetically modified [[phage therapy]] to treat a [[Antimicrobial resistance|drug-resistant infection]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Teenager recovers from near death in world-first GM virus treatment |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/may/08/teenager-recovers-from-near-death-in-world-first-gm-virus-treatment |date=8 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |access-date=9 May 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Phage therapy: 'Viral cocktail saved my daughter's life' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48199915 |date=8 May 2019 |work=BBC News |access-date=9 May 2019 }}</ref>
*[[2021]] &ndash; A car bomb explodes in front of a school in [[Kabul]], capital city of Afghanistan killing at least 55 people and wounding over 150.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-08|title=Car bombing at Afghan school in Kabul kills 55, injures over 150|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/blast-near-afghan-school-kabul-kills-10-injures-dozens-security-official-2021-05-08/|access-date=2021-05-09|website=Reuters}}</ref>
*[[2025]] &ndash; The [[2025 papal conclave]] elects Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost taking the name [[Pope Leo XIV]] as the [[List of popes|267th Pope]] of the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>{{cite web |title=USA Cardinal Prevost elected Pope Leo XIV |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/usa-cardinal-prevost-elected-pope-leo-xiv-2025-05-08/ |website=Reuters |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref>