Date·Lore

On This Day · The 220th day of the year

August 8

August 8 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1786 and 2008. Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.

♌ZodiacLeo ◈BirthstonePeridot ❀Birth flowerGladiolus

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on August 8?

August 8 is the 220th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1786 and 2008. Famous people born on August 8 include Roger Federer, Mohamed Morsi and Anita Włodarczyk.

The shape of the day

As calendar dates go, August 8 keeps a short memory — its record stays close to the present. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

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

Released on August 8

Movies, games, albums & shows

2024

  • Game Cat Quest III
  • Game SteamWorld Heist II
  • Game Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers
  • Game Deathbound

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1786

    Mont Blanc

    Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.

  2. 1918

    World War I

    World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).

  3. 1929

    LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin

    The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.

  4. 1945

    World War II

    World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.

  5. 1956

    Marcinelle mining disaster

    Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium. 262 coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, were killed in one of the largest mining accidents in Belgian history.

  6. 1969

    Zebra crossing

    At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.

  7. 1988

    8888 Uprising

    The 8888 Uprising begins in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Led by students, hundreds of thousands join in nationwide protests against the one-party regime. On September 18, the demonstrations end in a military crackdown, killing thousands.

  8. 1991

    Warsaw radio mast

    The Warsaw radio mast, then the tallest construction ever built, collapses.

  9. 1998

    Mazar-i-Sharif

    Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan is raided by Taliban leading to the deaths of ten Iranian diplomats and a journalist.

  10. 2008

    EuroCity

    A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others.

Famous birthday twins

Born on August 8

Roger Federer

b. 1981

Swiss tennis player

Mohamed Morsi

b. 1951

Egyptian engineer, academic, and politician, 5th President of Egypt

Anita Włodarczyk

b. 1985

Polish track and field athlete

Nigel Mansell

b. 1953

English racing driver

Bruce Matthews

b. 1961

American football player and coach

Emiliano Zapata

b. 1879

Mexican general and politician

Dustin Hoffman

b. 1937

American actor and director

Dominic de Guzmán

b. 1170

founder of the Dominicans

Deaths

  • 2012Kurt Maetzig
  • 1944Erwin von Witzleben
  • 1944Michael Wittmann
  • 1897Jacob Burckhardt
  • 1828Carl Peter Thunberg

Holidays & observances

  • —Ceasefire Day (end of Iran–Iraq War) (Iraqi Kurdistan)
  • —Christian Feast Day: Altmann of Passau
  • —Christian Feast Day: Cyriacus
  • —Christian Feast Day: Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order.
  • —Christian Feast Day: Four Crowned Martyrs
  • —Christian Feast Day: Largus
  • —Christian Feast Day: Mary MacKillop
  • —Christian Feast Day: Saint Smaragdus (and companions)

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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