September 8

Events
Up to 1900
70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem.
1380 - Battle of Kulikovo: Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance.
1504 - Michelangelo's David statue is unveiled in Florence.
1514 - Battle of Orsha: In one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army.
1565 - The Knights of Malta end the Turkish Siege of Malta that began on May 18.
1665 - Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under Charles X Gustav of Sweden.
1727 - A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England, kills 78 people, most of them children.
1761 - King George III of the United Kingdom marries Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
1796 - French Revolutionary Wars: The French defeat Austrian forces in Bassano, Venetia, present-day Italy.
1831 - William IV of the United Kingdom is crowned king.
1860 - The steamship Lady Elgin sinks on Lake Michigan, killing around 300 people.
1863 - American Civil War: At the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, the Confederates prevent an attempt from the Union army to enter Texas.
1883 - The Northern Pacific Railway is completed in a ceremony at Gold Creek, Montana, United States.
1888 - Jack the Ripper killings: The body of Annie Chapman is found.
1888 - in England, the first six Football League matches are played.
1892 - The American Pledge of Allegiance is recited for the first time.
1900 - In Galveston, Texas, a hurricane kills around 8,000 people.
1901 2000
1914 - World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war.
1923 - Honda Point disaster: Nine United States Navy destroyers run aground on the California coast. Seven are lost and 23 sailors are killed.
1926 - Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
1928 - Uruguay is given the right to host the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
1934 - Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 135 people.
1935 - United States Senator Huey Long from Louisiana is fatally shot the state's capitol building.
1941 - World War II: The Siege of Leningrad begins.
1943 - World War II: US General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces the allied armistice with Italy.
1944 - London is hot by a V-2 rocket for the first time.
1945 - United States troops arrive to partition South Korea after the Soviet occupation of the northern part.
1962 - Algeria adopts its constitution.
1966 - The First episode of Star Trek airs.
1966 - The Severn Bridge in southwestern England is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
1974 - Gerald Ford pardons former US President Richard Nixon.
1986 - The Oprah Winfrey Show is broadcast for the first time on US television.
1988 - Yellowstone National Park is closed for the first time in its history due to ongoing fires.
1989 - Partnair Flight 394 crashes in the North Sea, killing 55 people.
1991 - The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
1994 - USAir Flight 427, on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, suddenly crashes, killing all 132 on board.
From 2001
2004 - NASA's unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands in Utah when its parachute fails to open.
2005 - Two EMERCOM II-76 aircraft land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas - the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.
2013 - Eleven people die in a train crash in Iasi County, Romania.
2018 - US Open: Naomi Osaka becomes the first Japanese tennis player to win a Grand Slam title, in a match dominated by her opponent Serena Williams' disputes with the umpire.
2019 - US Open: Rafael Nadal defeats Daniil Medvedev in five sets to win his 19th Grand Slam singles title, putting him just one behind Roger Federer's total of 20.
2022 - Queen Elizabeth II dies at the age of 96 and her son, Charles III becomes the King of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth.
Births
Up to 1900
801 Ansgar, German Christian archbishop (d. 865)
1157 King Richard I of England (d. 1199)
1207 King Sancho II of Portugal (d. 1248)
1380 Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (d. 1444)
1413 Catherine of Bologna, Italian nun, writer, mystic, teacher, artist and saint (d. 1463)
1474 Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet (d. 1533)
1588 Marin Mersenne, French mathematician (d. 1648)
1611 Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German philologist (d. 1671)
1621 Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, French general (d. 1686)
1624 Murad Baksh, son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (d. 1661)
1633 Ferdinand IV of Germany (d. 1654)
1749 Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac, French aristocrat (d. 1793)
1749 Marie-Louise, princesse de Lamballe, French aristocrat (d. 1792)
1750 Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1795)
1752 Carl Stenborg, Swedish opera singer (d. 1813)
1767 August von Schlegel, German poet (d. 1845)
1778 Clemens Brentano, German poet (d. 1842)
1779 Mustafa IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1808)
1783 Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig, Danish writer and philosopher (d. 1872)
1814 Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French archaeologist, ethnographer and historian (d. 1874)
1815 Giuseppina Strepponi, Italian operatic soprano (d. 1897)
1819 Fontes Pereira de Melo, Portuguese statesman (d. 1887)
1822 Karl von Ditmar, German geologist and explorer (d. 1892)
1828 Joshua Chamberlain, American general, politician and 32nd Governor of Maine (d. 1914)
1830 Frederic Mistral, French poet (d. 1914)
1831 Wilhelm Raabe, German writer (d. 1910)
1841 Antonin Dvorak, Czech composer (d. 1904)
1841 Charles J. Guiteau, assassin of US President James A. Garfield (d. 1882)
1851 John Jenkins, American-born Premier of South Australia (d. 1923)
1852 Emperor Gwangmu of Korea (d. 1919)
1857 Georg Michaelis, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1936)
1872 George Dern, Governor of Utah (d. 1936)
1873 David O. McKay, American Mormon leader (d. 1970)
1881 Harry Hillman, American athlete (d. 1945)
1881 Refik Saydam, 5th Prime Minister and Turkey (d. 1942)
1886 Siegfried Sassoon, British poet (d. 1967)
1886 Ninon Vallin, French soprano (d. 1961)
1887 Jacob L. Devers, American general (d. 1979)
1887 George, Crown Prince of Serbia (d. 1972)
1889 Robert Alphonso Taft, American politician (d. 1953)
1897 Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1933)
1900 Claude Pepper, American politician (d. 1989)
1901 1950
1901 Hendrik Verwoerd, South African politician (d. 1966)
1906 Andrei Kirilenko, Soviet politician (d. 1990)
1910 Jean-Louis Barrault, French actor and director (d. 1994)
1914 Patriarch Demetrios I of Constantinople (d. 1991)
1918 Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist (d. 1998)
1919 Gianni Brera, Italian journalist and author (d. 1992)
1919 Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter (d. 2014)
1921 Harry Secombe, Welsh tenor and actor (d. 2001)
1922 Sid Caesar, American comedian and actor (d. 2014)
1922 Lyndon LaRouche, American politician (d. 2019)
1923 Joy Laville, British-Mexican artist (d. 2018)
1924 Fred Jarvis, British trade unionist
1924 Wendell H. Ford, American politician, 53rd Governor of Kentucky (d. 2015)
1925 Peter Sellers, British actor (d. 1980)
1929 Christoph von Dohnanyi, German conductor
1930 Mario Adorf, Swiss-German actor
1930 Nguyen Cao Ky, South Vietnamese air force chief and Prime Minister (d. 2011)
1930 Robert W. Firestone, American psychologist and author
1932 Patsy Cline, American singer (d. 1963)
1933 Paul M. Fleiss, American pediatrician (d. 2014)
1934 Alan Dundes, American folklorist (d. 2005)
1937 Joe Carolan, Irish footballer (d. 2018)
1938 Wibke Bruhns, German journalist and writer (d. 2019)
1939 Carsten Keller, German field hockey player
1941 Ito Giani, Italian sprinter (d. 2018)
1941 Bernie Sanders, American politician
1944 Margaret Hodge, English politician
1944 Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer and coach
1945 Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American musician (Grateful Dead) (d. 1973)
1945 Rogie Vachon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1946 Aziz Sancar, Turkish-American biochemist and molecular biologist, Nobel laureate
1947 Halldor Asgrimsson, Icelandic politician, former Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 2015)
1947 Valery Afanassiev, Russian politician
1948 Great Kabuki, Japanese wrestler
1950 Ian Davidson, Scottish politician
1951 1975
1951 John McDonnell, English politician
1952 David R. Ellis, American director, actor and stuntman (d. 2013)
1954 Anne Diamond, English journalist
1955 Julian Richings, English-Canadian actor
1956 David Carr, American journalist and writer (d. 2015)
1957 Walt Easley, American football player (d. 2013)
1957 Ricardo Montaner, Argentine-Venezuelan singer
1958 Mitsuru Miyamoto, Japanese voice actor
1959 Judy Murray, Scottish tennis coach
1960 Aimee Mann, American musician
1960 Stefano Casiraghi, Italian businessman, married into Monegasque royalty (d. 1990)
1963 Danny Frawley, Australian footballer (d. 2019)
1963 Brad Silberling, American television and movie director
1966 Carola, Swedish singer
1967 Eerik-Niiles Kross, Estonian politician and diplomat
1968 Louise Minchin, English journalist
1969 Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and coach (d. 2011)
1970 Latren Sprewell, American basketball player
1970 Nidal Malik Hassan, American soldier and murderer
1971 David Arquette, American actor
1971 Martin Freeman, English actor
1972 Markus Babbel, German footballer
1973 Khamis Al-Owairan, Saudi footballer
1975 Richard Hughes, English musician (Keane)
1975 Chris Latham, Australian rugby player
1975 Lee Eul-Yong, South Korean footballer and manager
1975 Elena Likhovtseva, Russian tennis player
From 1976
1976 Sjeng Schalken, Dutch tennis player
1976 Gerald Drummond, Costa Rican footballer
1976 Jervis Drummond, Costa Rican footballer
1979 Pink, American singer
1980 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, South African runner (d. 2014)
1980 Kristian Kjelling, Norwegian handball player
1981 Morten Gamst Pedersen, Norwegian footballer
1983 Diego Benaglio, Swiss footballer
1984 Peter Whittingham, English footballer
1984 Vitaly Petrov, Russian racing driver
1986 Joao Moutinho, Portuguese footballer
1987 Wiz Khalifa, American rapper
1987 Alexandre Bilodeau, Canadian freestyle skier
1987 Marcel Nguyen, German gymnast
1987 Dom Parsons, English skeleton racer
1988 Chantal Jones, American model and actress
1989 Avicii, Swedish DJ and producer (d. 2018)
1989 Gylfi Sigurdsson, Icelandic footballer
1990 Matt Barkley, American football player
1991 Ignacio Gonzalez Espinoza, Mexican footballer
1991 Joe Sugg, English YouTuber, author and vlogger
1994 Bruno Fernandes, Portuguese footballer
Deaths
Up to 1900
394 Arbogast, Frankish general
701 Pope Sergius I
780 Leo IV the Khazar, Byzantine Emperor (b. 750)
1100 Antipope Clement III (b. 1029)
1134 Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre (b. 1073)
1397 Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, English politician (b. 1355)
1425 King Charles III of Navarre (b. 1361)
1613 Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (b. 1566)
1637 Robert Fludd, English physician, mathematician and cosmologist (b. 1574)
1644 John Coke, English politician (b. 1563)
1645 Francisco de Quevedo, Spanish poet and politician (b. 1580)
1682 Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish writer (b. 1606)
1780 Enoch Poor, American general (b. 1736)
1784 Ann Lee, American religious leader (b. 1736)
1811 Peter Simon Pallas, German zoologist and botanist (b. 1741)
1882 Joseph Liouville, French mathematician (b. 1809)
1888 Annie Chapman, victim of Jack the Ripper (b. 1841)
1894 Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician and physicist (b. 1821)
1901 2000
1916 Friedrich Baumfelder, German pianist, composer and conductor (b. 1836)
1933 King Faisal I of Iraq (b. 1883)
1944 Richard Strauss, German composer (b. 1864)
1963 Maurice Wilks, English automotive engineer (b. 1904)
1965 Dorothy Dandridge, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
1965 Hermann Staudinger, German chemist (b. 1881)
1969 Bud Collyer, American actor and game show host (b. 1908)
1970 Percy Spencer, inventor (b. 1894)
1978 Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (b. 1901)
1979 Jean Seberg, American actress (b. 1938)
1980 Willard Libby, American chemist (b. 1908)
1981 Roy Wilkins, American civil rights activist (b. 1901)
1981 Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist (b. 1907)
1981 Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian guru, philosopher and educator (b. 1897)
1983 Antoine Magne, French cyclist (b. 1904)
1985 John Franklin Enders, American scientist
1989 Sgt. Barry Sadler, American soldier, writer and songwriter (b. 1940)
1999 Moondog, American composer, musician and poet (b. 1916)
From 2001
2003 Leni Riefenstahl, German movie maker (b. 1902)
2003 Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian voice actress (b. 1986)
2004 Delfin Benitez Caceres, Paraguayan footballer (b. 1910)
2006 Thomas Lee Judge, 18th Governor of Montana (b. 1934)
2009 Aage Niels Bohr, Danish physicist (b. 1922)
2010 Israel Tal, Israeli military (b. 1924)
2011 Vo Chi Cong, former President of Vietnam (b. 1912)
2012 Bill Moggridge, English-American designer, author and educator (b. 1943)
2012 Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1920)
2013 Louise Currie, American actress (b. 1913)
2014 George Zuverink, American baseball player (b. 1924)
2014 Gerald Wilson, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1918)
2014 Magda Olivero, Italian operatic soprano (b. 1910)
2014 Bobby Fong, American academic (b. 1950)
2014 Sean O'Haire, American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer (b. 1971)
2015 Andrew Kohut, American political scientist (b. 1942)
2015 Joost Zwagerman, Dutch author (b. 1963)
2015 Ebby Halliday, American businesswoman (b. 1911)
2016 Prince Buster, Jamaican musician (b. 1938)
2017 Pierre Berge, French businessman and activist (b. 1930)
2017 Isabelle Daniels, American sprinter (b. 1937)
2017 Catherine Hardy Lavender, American sprinter (b. 1930)
2017 Blake Heron, American actor (b. 1982)
2017 Jerry Pournelle, American science fiction author (b. 1933)
2017 Karl Ravens, German politician (b. 1927)
2017 Don Williams, American country music singer-songwriter (b. 1939)
2018 Jonas Algirdas Antanaitis, Lithuanian politician (b. 1921)
2018 Gennadi Gagulia, Abkhazian politician, Prime Minister of Abkhazia (b. 1948)
2018 Chelsi Smith, American singer and beauty pageant winner (b. 1973)
2019 Chris Dobson, British chemist (b. 1949)
2019 Ram Jethmalani, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
2019 Yisrael Kessar, Yemeni-born Israeli politician (b. 1931)
2019 Lito Legaspi, Filipino actor (b. 1941)
2019 Christopher James, 5th Baron Northbourne, British aristocrat (b. 1926)
2019 Joseph P. Kolter, American politician (b. 1926)
2019 Camilo Sesto, Spanish singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
2019 Olav Skjevesland, Norwegian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1942)
2019 Carlos Squeo, Argentine footballer (b. 1948)
2022 Queen Elizabeth II, British monarch and head of the Commonwealth (b. 1926)
Observances
National Holiday (Andorra and Republic of Macedonia)
International Literacy Day (UNESCO)
Victory Day (Pakistan)
Nativity of the Virgin (Christianity)