✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 98th day of the year

April 8

A look at April 8 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Kofi Annan and Jacques Brel, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♈ZodiacAries ◈BirthstoneDiamond ❀Birth flowerDaisy
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2014

    Windows XP

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

    2001 Microsoft operating system
  2. 2010

    Barack Obama

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

    President of the United
  3. 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.

    1968 aviation accident in
  4. 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.

    Country in Northwestern Europe
  5. 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.

    U.S. naval officer and
  6. 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.

    American single-engined advanced trainer
  7. 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.

    State of Australia
  8. 1820

    Venus de Milo

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

    Ancient Greek marble statue
  9. 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.

    Emperor of Russia from
  10. 1143

    Manuel I Komnenos

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

    Byzantine emperor from 1143
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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, English politician, first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • 1973Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor
  • 1586Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran theologian and reformer
  • 1450Sejong the Great, Korean king
  • 1143John II Komnenos, Byzantine emperor
  • 217Caracalla, Roman emperor

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

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