Date·Lore

On This Day · The 98th day of the year

April 8

April 8 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1143 and 2014. Manuel I Komnenos succeeds his father John II Komnenos as Byzantine Emperor.

♈ZodiacAries ◈BirthstoneDiamond ❀Birth flowerDaisy

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on April 8?

April 8 is the 98th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1143 and 2014. Famous people born on April 8 include Kofi Annan, Jacques Brel and Winifred Asprey.

The shape of the day

April 8's record stretches 871 years, from 1143 to 2014. Its center of gravity is the 20th century.

Aries is the sign for April 8 — read more on the Aries page, or see April's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on April 8

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game ChainStaff
  • Game Morbid Metal
  • Game The Occultist
  • Game Pokémon Champions
  • TV The Testaments

2025

  • Game South of Midnight

2024

  • Game Spirit City: Lofi Sessions

2023

  • TV MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1143

    Manuel I Komnenos

    Manuel I Komnenos succeeds his father John II Komnenos as Byzantine Emperor.

  2. 1812

    Alexander I of Russia

    Czar Alexander I, the Russian Emperor and the Grand Duke of Finland, officially announces the transfer of the status of the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki.

  3. 1820

    Venus de Milo

    The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.

  4. 1933

    Western Australia

    The Australian state of Western Australia votes to secede from the federation in a non-binding referendum, although efforts to implement the result prove unsuccessful.

  5. 1954

    North American T-6 Texan

    A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.

  6. 1959

    Grace Hopper

    A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.

  7. 1960

    Netherlands

    The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.

  8. 1968

    BOAC Flight 712

    BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after takeoff. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.

  9. 2010

    Barack Obama

    U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign the New START Treaty.

  10. 2014

    Windows XP

    Windows XP reaches its standard End Of Life and is no longer supported.

Famous birthday twins

Born on April 8

Kofi Annan

b. 1938

Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations

Jacques Brel

b. 1929

Belgian singer-songwriter and actor

Winifred Asprey

b. 1917

American mathematician and computer scientist

Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova

b. 1983

Russian runner

Anouk (singer)

b. 1975

Dutch singer

Melvin Calvin

b. 1911

American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

John Madden (director)

b. 1949

English director and producer

Edmund Husserl

b. 1859

German Jewish-Austrian mathematician and philosopher

Deaths

  • 2013Margaret Thatcher
  • 1973Pablo Picasso
  • 1586Martin Chemnitz
  • 1450Sejong the Great
  • 1143John II Komnenos
  • 217Caracalla

Holidays & observances

  • —Buddha's Birthday, also known as Hana Matsuri, "Flower Festival" (Japan)
  • —Christian feast day: Anne Ayres (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed August Czartoryski
  • —Christian feast day: Constantina
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Dionysius of Alexandria
  • —Christian feast day: Julie Billiart of Namur
  • —Christian feast day: Perpetuus
  • —Christian feast day: Walter of Pontoise

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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