What Happened On This Day – 8 May
· 1984 Moscow announces that the USSR will not take part in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles
Several other countries, such as Cuba, Afghanistan,
Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland,
and Vietnam
joined the boycott. 4 years earlier, the United
States had not sent any athletes to the Summer Olympics
in Moscow.
· 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climb Mount Everest without oxygen supply
Prior to the Italian and Austrian mountaineers'
ascent, it was thought to be impossible to conquer the world's highest mountain
without supplemental oxygen.
· 1970 The Beatles release the album Let It Be
The recording was the last studio album ever
released by the legendary English rock band.
· 1927 The White Bird and its crew mysteriously disappear
French aviators, Charles Nungesser and François
Coli, had taken off from Paris
in their Levasseur PL.8 biplane in an attempt to make the first non-stop
transatlantic flight. Their disappearance remains a mystery. Charles Lindbergh
succeeded two weeks later.
· 1886 Coca-Cola is invented
According to legend, Dr. John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist,
produced the syrup in a brass pot in his backyard. It was first intended as a
patent medicine. Today, Coca-Cola is one of the world's most popular soft
drinks and one of the most recognized trademarks.
Births On This Day – 8 May
· 1970 Naomi Klein
Canadian author, activist
· 1945 Keith Jarrett
American pianist, composer
· 1926 David Attenborough
English television host
· 1911 Robert Johnson
American singer-songwriter, guitarist
· 1884 Harry S. Truman
American colonel, politician, 33rd President of the
United States
Deaths On This Day – 8 May
· 1990 Luigi Nono
Italian composer
· 1988 Robert A. Heinlein
American writer
· 1903 Paul Gauguin
French painter
· 1891 Helena Blavatsky
Russian scholar, theosophist
· 1873 John Stuart Mill
English economist, civil servant, philosopher
