✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 159th day of the year

June 8

A look at June 8 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Tim Berners-Lee and Frank Lloyd Wright, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1987

    New Zealand

    New Zealand's Labour government establishes a national nuclear-free zone under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.

    Island country in the
  2. 1984

    Homosexuality

    Homosexuality is decriminalized in the Australian state of New South Wales.

    Attraction between people of
  3. 1972

    Vietnam War

    Vietnam War: Nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc is burned by napalm, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut moments later while the young girl is seen running naked down a road, in what would become an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.

    1955–1975 war in Southeast
  4. 1953

    1953 Flint–Beecher tornado

    An F5 tornado hits Beecher, Michigan, United States, killing 116, injuring 844, and destroying 340 homes.

    U.S. natural disaster
  5. 1949

    George Orwell

    George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is published in the United States

    English author and journalist
  6. 1940

    World War II

    World War II: The completion of Operation Alphabet, the evacuation of Allied forces from Narvik at the end of the Norwegian campaign.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  7. 1929

    Margaret Bondfield

    Margaret Bondfield is appointed Minister of Labour. She is the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

    British feminist and trade
  8. 1861

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  9. 1783

    Laki

    Laki, a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine.

    Volcanic fissure in Iceland
  10. 1776

    American Revolutionary War

    American Revolutionary War: Continental Army attackers are driven back at the Battle of Trois-Rivières.

    1775–1783 conflict in North
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Famous birthday twins

Born on June 8

Tim Berners-Lee

b. 1955

English computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web

Frank Lloyd Wright

b. 1867

American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater

Robert Schumann

b. 1810

German composer and critic

Emperor Xizong of Tang

b. 862

Emperor of China from 873 to 888

Nadia Petrova

b. 1982

Russian tennis player

Lindsay Davenport

b. 1976

American tennis player

Kim Clijsters

b. 1983

Belgian tennis player; winner of six Grand Slam tournament titles.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini

b. 1625

Italian-French mathematician and astronomer

Deaths

  • 1997Karen Wetterhahn, American chemist and academic
  • 1876George Sand, French author and playwright
  • 1846Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist
  • 1845Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States
  • 1505Hongzhi Emperor, of China
  • 632Muhammad, the central figure of Islam. (born 570/571)

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Chlodulf of Metz
  • —Christian feast day: Jacques Berthieu, S.J.
  • —Christian feast day: Jadwiga (Hedwig) of Poland
  • —Christian feast day: Mariam Thresia Chiramel
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (Droste zu Vischering)
  • —Christian feast day: Medard
  • —Christian feast day: Melania the Elder
  • —Christian feast day: Roland Allen (Episcopal Church (USA))

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