November 8

Events
Up to 1900
1278 - Tran Thanh Tang, second Emperor of Vietnam's Tran Dynasty, decides to pass the throne to crown prince Tran Kham.
1519 - Hernan Cortes enters Tenochtitlan and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great pomp as would befit a returning god.
1520 - Stockholm Bloodbath begins: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces results in the execution of around 100 persons.
1576 - Eighty Years' War: The States General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose Spanish occupation.
1602 - The Bodleian Library in the University of Oxford is opened to the public.
1605 - Robert Catesby, ringleader of the Gunpowder Plotters, is killed.
1620 - The Battle of White Mountain, the first battle in the Thirty Years' War, takes place near Prague, ending in a decisive Catholic victory in only two hours.
1644 - Shunzhi Emperor, the first Emperor of China's Qing Dynasty, is enthroned in Beijing.
1745 - Charles Edward Stuart invades England with an army of around 5,000 that would later take part in the Battle of Culloden.
1793 - In Paris, the French Revolutionary government opens the Louvre to the public as a museum.
1798 - British seafarer John Fearn becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Nauru, which he names Pleasant Island.
1861 - American Civil War: The Trent Affair - The USS San Jacinto stops the British mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparkinga diplomatic crisis between the UK and the USA.
1864 - U.S. presidential election: Abraham Lincoln is reelected in an overwhelming victory over George McClellan.
1867 - Two explosions occur at the Ferndale Colliery in Wales, killing 178 people.
1889 - Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.
1892 - U.S. presidential election: Grover Cleveland is elected over Benjamin Harrison and James B. Weaver to win the second of his non-consecutive terms.
1895 - While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Rontgen discovers x-rays.
1901 2000
1923 - Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.
1932 - U.S. presidential election: Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory.
1933 - As part of the New Deal program, Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for over 4 million unemployed.
1935 - Fernand Bouisson becomes Prime Minister of France.
1936 - Spanish Civil War: Start of the Siege of Madrid.
1939 - In Munich, Adolf Hitler escapes an assassination attempt while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.
1940 - Greco-Italian War: Italy's invasion of Greece fails as outnumbered Greek units push back the Italians in the Battle of Elaia-Kalamas.
1942 - World War II: Operation Torch - United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.
1942 - World War II: French resistance coup in Algiers, by which 400 Civil French patriots neutralized Vichyist XIXth Army Corps during 15 hours, arrested Vichyist generals (Juin, Darlan, etc.), and so allowed the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers, then, from there, to the whole French North Africa.
1950 - Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dog fight in history.
1957 - The United Kingdom conducts its first successful hydrogen bomb test over Kiritimati in the South Pacific Ocean.
1959 - Basketball player Elgin Baylor of the Minneapolis Lakers sets a new NBA record, scoring 64 points, against the Boston Celtics.
1960 - U.S. presidential election: John F. Kennedy is elected over Richard M. Nixon in a very close election. He becomes the youngest man elected to that office.
1965 - The British Indian Ocean Territory is created. It includes Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.
1965 - The soap opera Days of Our Lives debuts on NBC in the United States.
1966 - Former Massachusetts attorney general Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate.
1973 - The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper together with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay 2.9 million United States Dollars.
1974 - In Salt Lake City, Utah, Carol DaRonch narrowly escapes abduction by serial killer Ted Bundy.
1976 - A series of earthquakes spreads panic in Thessaloniki, Greece.
1977 - Manolis Andronikos, Greek archaeologist and professor, discovers the tomb of Philip of Macedon at Vergina, Greece.
1982 - Wethersfield, Connecticut, a meteorite crashed through the roof of Wanda and Bob Donahue's house at 461 Church Street.
1983 - Lubango, Angola - A Boeing 727 of Angola Airlines crashes and explodes shortly after take-off, killing all 130 people on board.
1987 - Eleven people are killed in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, when a bomb explodes.
1988 - U.S. presidential election: George H. W. Bush is elected over Michael Dukakis.
1991 - A typhoon causes massive flooding in the Philippines, killing 7,000 people.
1994 - For the first time in 40 years the United States Republican Party takes control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm congressional elections.
2000 - A re-count of electoral votes in Florida takes place, because of a dispute in the 2000 United States Presidential Election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
From 2001
2002 - Iraq Disarmament Crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 - The United Nations Security Council approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm, or face "serious questions".
2004 - War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
2005 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is elected President of Liberia. This leads to her becoming Africa's first elected female President on January 16, 2006.
2006 - After the Republican Party made losses in the mid-term elections, Donald Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense, submits his resignation to George W. Bush. Robert Gates succeeds him.
2011 - Asteroid 2005 YU55 passes within 35,000 kilometers of Earth.
2013 - Typhoon Haiyan strikes the Philippines with some of the strongest typhoon winds recorded. It is estimated to have killed over 6,000 people and caused over 1 billion US Dollars in damage.
2014 - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warns that the world is close to another Cold War, over tensions between the West and Russia and armed conflicts in the Middle East, in a speech marking 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
2016 - United States presidential election, 2016: Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States over Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College, though Clinton had won more votes overall.
2017 - Priti Patel resigns from the British cabinet because of a controversy over undeclared meetings with Israeli government ministers.
2018 - Camp Fire: A massive fire kills 85 people in Butte County, California; it is one of the deadliest-ever forest fires in the United States, and destroys the town of Paradise.
Births
Up to 1900
30 - Marcus Cocceius Nerva, Roman Emperor (d. 98)
1342 - Julian of Norwich, English saint (d. 1416)
1491 - Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (d. 1544)
1563 - Henry II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1624)
1622 - King Charles X of Sweden (d. 1660)
1656 - Edmond Halley, English astronomer (d. 1742)
1706 - Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher (d. 1772)
1710 - Sarah Fielding, English writer (d. 1768)
1715 - Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, wife of Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1797)
1723 - John Byron, British naval officer (d. 1786)
1737 - Antoine Bruni d'Entrecastaeux, French explorer (d. 1793)
1768 - Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
1777 - Desiree Clary, French-born Queen Consort of Sweden (d. 1860)
1802 - Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover, Welsh civil engineer and politician (d. 1867)
1810 - Pierre Bosquet, Marshal of France (d. 1861)
1823 - Joseph Monier, French gardener, inventor and businessman (d. 1906)
1831 - Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, English poet and diplomat, 30th Governor-General (d. 1880)
1836 - Milton Bradley, American game manufacturer (d. 1911)
1837 - Ilia Chavchavadze, national hero of Georgia (d. 1907)
1846 - William Robertson Smith, Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar and Free Church of Scotland minister (d. 1894)
1847 - Bram Stoker, Irish novelist (Dracula) (d. 1912)
1847 - Jean Casimir-Perier, French politician (d. 1907)
1848 - Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1925)
1852 - Lin Shu, Chinese translator (d. 1924)
1854 - Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist (d. 1919)
1864 - Vera Komissarzhevskaya, Russian actress (d. 1910)
1866 - Herbert Austin, English automobile pioneer (d. 1941)
1868 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (d. 1942)
1869 - Zinaida Gippius, Russian poet (d. 1945)
1869 - Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American religious leader (d. 1942)
1873 - Gaetano Salvemini, Italian politician, historian and publicist (d. 1957)
1875 - Qiu Jin, Chinese writer (d. 1907)
1881 - Clarence Gagnon, French-Canadian artist and painter (d. 1942)
1883 - Arnold Bax, English composer (d. 1953)
1884 - Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1922)
1885 - Emil Fahrenkamp, German architect (d. 1966)
1885 - Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese admiral (d. 1946)
1893 - Clarence Williams, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
1893 - Prajadhipok, King of Siam (d. 1941)
1896 - Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (d. 1937)
1897 - Dorothy Day, American social activist and journalist (d. 1980)
1900 - Margaret Mitchell, American writer (d. 1949)
1900 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (d. 1943)
1901 1950
1903 - Luigi Allemandi, Italian footballer (d. 1978)
1910 - Elfriede Bruning, German journalist and novelist (d. 2014)
1912 - Stylianos Pattakos, Greek military officer (d. 2016)
1912 - June Havoc, Canadian-American actress (d. 2010)
1914 - Norman Lloyd, American director, producer and actor (d. 2021)
1914 - George Dantzig, American mathematician (d. 2005)
1916 - Peter Weiss, German-born Swedish writer, painter and experimental movie maker (d. 1982)
1918 - Hermann Zapf, German designer (d. 2015)
1920 - Esther Rolle, American actress (d. 1998)
1922 - Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon (d. 2001)
1922 - Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (d. 1996)
1923 - Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer (d. 2005)
1925 - Asuncion Balaguer, Spanish actress (d. 2019)
1927 - L. K. Advani, Indian politician
1927 - Patti Page, American singer (d. 2013)
1927 - Ken Dodd, English comedian (d. 2018)
1927 - Nguyen Khanh, South Vietnamese Prime Minister (d. 2013)
1929 - Jona Senilagakali, Fijian physician, diplomat and 7th Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2011)
1931 - Morley Safer, Canadian-American journalist (d. 2016)
1931 - Dorla Hood, American actress (d. 1979)
1932 - Simo Salminen, Finnish comic actor (d. 2015)
1933 - Peter Arundell, British racing driver (d. 2009)
1935 - Alain Delon, French movie actor
1936 - Edward Wilson, American astronaut
1936 - Virna Lisi, Italian actress (d. 2014)
1938 - Richard Stoker, English composer and writer
1938 - Murtala Mohammed, President of Nigeria (d. 1976)
1939 - Elizabeth Dawn, English actress (d. 2017)
1940 - Charles T. Kowal, American astronomer (d. 2011)
1941 - Nerys Hughes, Welsh actress
1942 - Sandro Mazzola, Italian footballer
1943 - Martin Peters, English footballer
1945 - Arduino Cantafora, Italian-Swiss architect and writer
1945 - Vincent Nichols, English cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster
1946 - Guus Hiddink, Dutch football manager
1946 - Roy Wood, British musician
1947 - Minnie Riperton, American singer (d. 1979)
1947 - Margaret Rhea Seddon, American physician and astronaut
1948 - Dale Gardner, American astronaut (d. 2014)
1949 - Bonnie Raitt, American rock musician
1949 - Wayne LaPierre, American Executive President of the National Rifle Association of America
1950 - Mary Hart, American television host
1951 1975
1952 - Christie Hefner, former CEO of Playboy Enterprises
1952 - Alfre Woodard, American actress
1953 - John Musker, American animation director
1954 - Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese-British writer
1954 - Bill Joy, American computer scientist
1954 - Jeanette McGruder, American musician (P Funk)
1954 - Rickie Lee Jones, American singer-songwriter
1955 - Patricia Barber, American singer, songwriter, pianist and bandleader
1956 - Mari Boine, Norwegian musician
1956 - Richard Curtis, English screenwriter
1957 - Alan Curbishley, English football manager
1957 - Porl Thompson, British musician (The Cure)
1958 - Don Byron, American jazz musician
1960 - Oleg Menshikov, Russian actor
1960 - Michael Nyqvist, Swedish actor (d. 2017)
1961 - Leif Garrett, American singer-songwriter
1965 - Robert Tappan Morris, American computer scientist
1966 - Gordon Ramsay, Scottish chef and television personality
1967 - Jose Luis Caminero, Spanish footballer
1967 - Courtney Thorne-Smith, American actress
1968 - Sergio Porrini, Italian footballer
1968 - Parker Posey, American actress
1968 - Zara Whites, Dutch-French pornographic actress
1969 - Roxana Zal, American actress
1970 - Tom Anderson, co-founder of Myspace
1970 - Jose Porras, Costa Rican footballer
1972 - Aksel V. Johannesen, former Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1972 - Gretchen Mol, American actress
1974 - Masashi Kishimoto, Japanese manga writer
1974 - Seishi Kishimoto, Japanese manga writer
1974 - Matthew Rhys, Welsh actor
1975 - Tara Reid, American actress and producer
From 1976
1976 - Brett Lee, Australian cricketer
1978 - Ali Karimi, Iranian footballer
1978 - Tim de Cler, Dutch footballer
1979 - Aaron Hughes, Northern Irish footballer
1979 - Paul Sackey, English rugby player
1980 - Luis Fabiano, Brazilian footballer
1981 - Joe Cole, English footballer
1982 - Sam Sparro, Australian singer, performer and producer
1982 - Mika Kallio, Finnish motorcycle racer
1982 - Ted DiBiase, Jr., American professional wrestler
1982 - Lynndie England, former United States Army reservist
1983 - Chris Rankin, New Zealand actor
1983 - Pavel Pogrebnyak, Russian footballer
1983 - Blanka Vlasic, Croatian high jumper
1985 - Magda Apanowicz, Canadian actress
1985 - Jack Osbourne, English television personality
1986 - Aaron Swartz, American activist and computer programmer (Twitter) (d. 2013)
1986 - Jamie Roberts, Welsh rugby player
1987 - Kazuchika Okada, Japanese professional wrestler
1987 - Samantha Droke, American actress
1987 - Eduardo Gurbindo, Spanish handball player
1988 - Jessica Lowndes, Canadian actress
1989 - Morgan Schneiderlin, French footballer
1991 - Riker Lynch, American singer, actor and musician
1994 - Lauren Alaina, American country music singer
2000 - Jasmine Thompson, British pianist, dancer, singer and actress
2001 - Matilda Ramsay, British chef and television personality
2003 - Lady Louise Windsor, British royal
Deaths
Up to 1900
397 - Saint Martin of Tours
618 - Pope Adeodatus I
955 - Pope Agapetus II
1115 - Godfrey of Amiens, French bishop (b. 1066)
1171 - Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut (b. 1108)
1195 - Conrad, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1135)
1226 - King Louis VIII of France (b. 1187)
1246 - Berengaria of Castile (b. 1180)
1308 - Duns Scotus, Scottish philosopher
1517 - Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros, Spanish statesman and cardinal (b. 1436)
1599 - Francisco Guerrero, Spanish composer (b. 1528)
1605 - Robert Catesby, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1573)
1627 - Jahangir, Mughal Emperor (b. 1569)
1658 - Witte Corneliszoon de With, Dutch captain (b. 1599)
1674 - John Milton, English poet (b. 1608)
1719 - Michel Rolle, French mathematician (b. 1652)
1817 - Andrea Appiani, Italian painter (b. 1754)
1830 - King Francis I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1777)
1858 - Benjamin Franklin Butler, United States Attorney General (b. 1795)
1873 - Breton de los Herreros, Spanish playwright (b. 1796)
1887 - Doc Holliday, American Western figure (b. 1851)
1890 - Cesar Franck, Belgian composer and organist (b. 1822)
1901 2000
1905 - Victor Borisov-Musatov, Russian painter (b. 1870)
1917 - Colin Blythe, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1879)
1933 - Mohammed Nadir Shah, King of Afghanistan (b. 1883)
1934 - Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician (b. 1879)
1944 - Walter Nowotny, Austrian-German soldier and pilot (b. 1920)
1949 - Cyriel Verschaeve, Belgian-Austrian priest and activist (b. 1874)
1953 - Ivan Bunin, Russian writer (b. 1870)
1959 - Frank S. Land, American activist (b. 1890)
1965 - Dorothy Kilgallen, American actress and television presenter (b. 1913)
1968 - Peter Mohr Dam, 3rd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1898)
1976 - Giorgio Ferrini, Italian footballer (b. 1939)
1978 - Norman Rockwell, American illustrator (b. 1894)
1979 - Yvonne de Gaulle, First Lady of France (b. 1900)
1983 - James Booker, American jazz singer (b. 1939)
1985 - Nicolas Frantz, Luxembourg cyclist (b. 1899)
1985 - Masten Gregory, American racing driver (b. 1932)
1986 - Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, Soviet politician (b. 1890)
1998 - John Hunt, Baron Hunt, English mountaineer (b. 1910)
1998 - Jean Marais, French actor (b. 1913)
1999 - Leon Stukelj, Slovenian gymnast (b. 1898)
From 2001
2007 - Stephen Fumio Hamao, Japanese cardinal (b. 1930)
2007 - Chad Varah, English humanitarian (b. 1911)
2009 - Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist (b. 1916)
2010 - Emilio Eduardo Massera, Argentine naval officer (b. 1925)
2011 - Hal Bruno, American journalist (b. 1928)
2011 - Valentin Kozmich Ivanov, Russian footballer (b. 1934)
2011 - Heavy D, American rapper (b. 1967)
2012 - Lucille Bliss, American actress (b. 1916)
2014 - Phil Crane, American politician (b. 1930)
2014 - Ernie Vandeweghe, Canadian-American basketball player (b. 1928)
2014 - Otto Ziege, German cyclist (b. 1926)
2015 - Rhea Chiles, American philanthropist (b. 1930)
2017 - Antonio Carluccio, Italian chef (b. 1937)
2017 - Roger Grenier, French writer and journalist (b. 1919)
2017 - Wood Moy, Chinese-American actor (b. 1918)
2018 - Harold Basch, American-born Israeli chemist (b. 1940)
2018 - Bartolome Bennassar, French historian (b. 1929)
2018 - Francois N. Macerola, Canadian lawyer and film executive (b. 1942)
2018 - Wallace Triplett, American football player (b. 1926)
2018 - Marvin Zuckerman, American psychologist and writer (b. 1928)
2019 - Fred Bongusto, Italian singer-songwriter and composer (b. 1935)
2019 - Lucette Destouches, French ballet dancer and instructor (b. 1912)
2019 - Jackie Moore, American singer (b. 1946)
Observances
World Urbanism Day
World Radiography Day
November 08