April 8
Events
Pre-1600
1601–1900
1901–present
- 1904 - The French Third Republic and the United [Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland] sign the Entente cordiale.
- 1940 - The Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party elects Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal as General Secretary, marking the beginning of his 44-year-long tenure as de facto leader of Mongolia.
- 1954 - A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
- 1954 - South African Airways Flight 201: A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
- 1959 - 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.
- 1959 - The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
- 1960 - 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.
- 1968 - 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.
- 1970 - Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.
- 1974 - Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the List of [Major League Baseball career home run leaders|all-time leader in career home runs] by hitting his 715th home run off of Al Downing at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
- 1990 - The conservative New Democracy party of Constantine Mitsotakis is elected in the Greek parliamentary election.
- 1993 - The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on mission STS-56.
- 2002 - The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-110, carrying the S0 truss to the International Space Station. Astronaut Jerry L. Ross also becomes the first person to fly on seven spaceflights.
- 2005 - A solar eclipse occurs, visible over areas of the Pacific Ocean and Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.
- 2010 - U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign the New START Treaty.
- 2014 - Windows XP reaches its standard End Of Life and is no longer supported.
- 2020 - Bernie Sanders ends his Bernie Sanders [2020 presidential campaign|presidential campaign], leaving Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's nominee.
- 2024 - Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024: A total solar eclipse takes place at the Moon's ascending node, visible across North America.
Births
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1605 - Philip IV of Spain
- 1605 - Mary Stuart, English-Scottish princess
- 1641 - Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department
- 1692 - Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer
- 1726 - Lewis Morris, American judge and politician
- 1732 - David Rittenhouse, American astronomer and mathematician
- 1761 - William Joseph Chaminade, French priest, founded the Society of Mary
- 1770 - John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian banker and politician
- 1798 - Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and author
- 1818 - Christian IX of Denmark
- 1818 - August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic
- 1826 - Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier
- 1827 - Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican ophthalmologist, journalist, and politician
- 1842 - Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator
- 1859 - Edmund Husserl, German Jewish-Austrian mathematician and philosopher
- 1864 - Carlos Deltour, French rower and rugby player
- 1867 - Allen Butler Talcott, American painter and educator
- 1869 - Harvey Cushing, American surgeon and academic
- 1871 - Clarence Hudson White, American photographer and educator
- 1874 - Manuel Díaz, Cuban fencer
- 1874 - Stanisław Taczak, Polish general
- 1875 - Albert I of Belgium
- 1882 - Dmytro Doroshenko, Lithuanian-Ukrainian historian and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Prime Minister of Ukraine
- 1883 - R. P. Keigwin, English cricketer and academic
- 1883 - Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
- 1885 - Dimitrios Levidis, Greek-French soldier, composer, and educator
- 1886 - Margaret Ayer Barnes, American author and playwright
- 1888 - Dennis Chávez, American journalist and politician
- 1889 - Adrian Boult, English conductor
- 1892 - Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designer of the Los Angeles County Hall of Records
- 1892 - Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of United Artists
- 1896 - Yip Harburg, American composer
- 1900 - Marie Byles, Australian solicitor
1901–present
- 1902 - Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer
- 1902 - Maria Maksakova Sr., Russian soprano
- 1904 - John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1904 - Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer
- 1905 - Joachim Büchner, German sprinter and graphic designer
- 1905 - Helen Joseph, English-South African activist
- 1905 - Erwin Keller, German field hockey player
- 1906 - Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator
- 1908 - Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter
- 1909 - John Fante, American author and screenwriter
- 1910 - George Musso, American football player and police officer
- 1911 - Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1911 - Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and academic
- 1912 - Alois Brunner, Austrian-German SS officer
- 1912 - Sonja Henie, Norwegian-American figure skater and actress
- 1914 - María Félix, Yaqui/Basque-Mexican actress
- 1915 - Ivan Supek, Croatian physicist, philosopher and writer
- 1917 - Winifred Asprey, American mathematician and computer scientist
- 1917 - Lloyd Bott, Australian public servant
- 1917 - Hubertus Ernst, Dutch bishop
- 1917 - Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer
- 1918 - Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States
- 1918 - Glendon Swarthout, American author and academic
- 1919 - Ian Smith, Zimbabwean lieutenant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia
- 1921 - Franco Corelli, Italian tenor and actor
- 1920 - Carmen McRae, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
- 1921 - Jan Novák, Czech composer
- 1921 - Herman van Raalte, Dutch footballer
- 1923 - George Fisher, American cartoonist
- 1923 - Edward Mulhare, Irish-American actor
- 1924 - Frédéric Back, German-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter
- 1924 - Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English general and historian
- 1924 - Kumar Gandharva, Hindustani classical singer
- 1924 - Sara Northrup Hollister, American occultist
- 1926 - Henry N. Cobb, American architect and academic, co-founded Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
- 1926 - Shecky Greene, American comedian
- 1926 - Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian and academic
- 1927 - Tilly Armstrong, English author
- 1927 - Ollie Mitchell, American trumpet player and bandleader
- 1928 - Fred Ebb, American lyricist
- 1929 - Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor
- 1929 - Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author
- 1930 - Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma
- 1931 - John Gavin, American actor and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Mexico
- 1931 - Jack Le Goff, French equestrian
- 1932 - Iskandar of Johor
- 1933 - James Lockhart, American scholar of colonial Latin America, especially Nahua peoples
- 1934 - Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower and Singapore Flyer
- 1935 - Oscar Zeta Acosta, American lawyer and politician
- 1935 - Albert Bustamante, American soldier, educator, and politician
- 1936 - Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian author and politician
- 1937 - Tony Barton, English footballer and manager
- 1937 - Seymour Hersh, American journalist and author
- 1937 - Momo Kapor, Serbian author and painter
- 1938 - Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations
- 1938 - John Hamm, Canadian physician and politician, 25th Premier of Nova Scotia
- 1938 - Mary W. Gray, American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer
- 1939 - Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer, composer and songwriter
- 1939 - John Arbuthnott, Scottish microbiologist and academic
- 1939 - Trina Schart Hyman, American author and illustrator
- 1939 - Martin J. Schreiber, American politician, 39th Governor of Wisconsin
- 1940 - John Havlicek, American basketball player
- 1941 - Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer
- 1942 - Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
- 1942 - Roger Chapman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1942 - Douglas Trumbull, American director, producer, and special effects artist
- 1943 - Michael Bennett, American dancer, choreographer, and director
- 1943 - Miller Farr, American football player
- 1943 - James Herbert, English author and illustrator
- 1943 - Chris Orr, English painter and illustrator
- 1944 - Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor
- 1944 - Odd Nerdrum, Swedish-Norwegian painter and illustrator
- 1945 - Derrick Walker, Scottish businessman
- 1945 - Jang Yong, South Korean actor
- 1946 - Catfish Hunter, American baseball player
- 1946 - Tim Thomerson, American actor and producer
- 1947 - Tom DeLay, American lawyer and politician
- 1947 - Steve Howe, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1947 - Pascal Lamy, French businessman and politician, European Commissioner for Trade
- 1947 - Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter, and producer
- 1948 - Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, Scottish academic and politician
- 1949 - K. C. Kamalasabayson, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 39th Attorney General of Sri Lanka
- 1949 - John Madden, English director and producer
- 1949 - Brenda Russell, African-American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1949 - John Scott, English sociologist and academic
- 1950 - Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer and coach
- 1951 - Gerd Andres, German politician
- 1951 - Geir Haarde, Icelandic economist, journalist, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Iceland
- 1951 - Mel Schacher, American bass player
- 1951 - Joan Sebastian, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor
- 1951 - Phil Schaap, American jazz disc jockey and historian
- 1952 - Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician
- 1954 - Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach
- 1954 - Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco
- 1954 - G.V. Loganathan, Indian-American engineer and academic
- 1955 - Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
- 1955 - Ron Johnson, American businessman and politician
- 1955 - Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist, essayist and poet
- 1955 - David Wu, Taiwanese-American lawyer and politician
- 1956 - Michael Benton, Scottish-English paleontologist and academic
- 1956 - Christine Boisson, French actress
- 1956 - Roman Dragoun, Czech singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1958 - Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer
- 1958 - Tom Petranoff, American javelin thrower and coach
- 1959 - Alain Bondue, French cyclist
- 1960 - John Schneider, American actor and country singer
- 1961 - Richard Hatch, American reality contestant
- 1961 - Brian McDermott, English footballer and manager
- 1962 - Paddy Lowe, English engineer
- 1962 - Izzy Stradlin, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1963 - Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian bassist
- 1963 - Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter
- 1963 - Dean Norris, American actor
- 1963 - Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
- 1963 - Donita Sparks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1963 - Alec Stewart, English cricketer
- 1964 - Biz Markie, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1964 - John McGinlay, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1965 - Steven Blaney, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Public Safety
- 1965 - Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1966 - Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress
- 1966 - Mark Blundell, English race car driver
- 1966 - Andy Currier, English rugby league player
- 1966 - Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand-Australian television host
- 1966 - Dalton Grant, English high jumper
- 1966 - Mazinho, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1966 - Harri Rovanperä, Finnish race car driver
- 1966 - Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
- 1966 - Robin Wright, American actress, director, producer
- 1967 - Kenny Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer
- 1968 - Patricia Arquette, American actress and director
- 1968 - Patricia Girard, French runner and hurdler
- 1968 - Tracy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1971 - Darren Jessee, American singer-songwriter and drummer
- 1972 - Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter
- 1972 - Sergei Magnitsky, Russian lawyer and accountant
- 1973 - Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
- 1973 - Emma Caulfield, American actress
- 1973 - Christof May, German theologian
- 1974 - Toutai Kefu, Tongan-Australian rugby player
- 1974 - Chris Kyle, American sniper and memoirist
- 1974 - Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American author and educator
- 1974 - Nayden Todorov, Bulgarian conductor and culture minister
- 1975 - Anouk, Dutch singer
- 1975 - Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer
- 1975 - Timo Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1975 - Funda Arar, Turkish singer
- 1977 - Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
- 1977 - Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and author
- 1977 - Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer
- 1978 - Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and voice actor
- 1978 - Bernt Haas, Austrian-Swiss footballer
- 1978 - Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress
- 1978 - Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player and coach
- 1978 - Evans Rutto, Kenyan runner
- 1979 - Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 - Amit Trivedi, Indian singer-songwriter
- 1980 - Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
- 1980 - Katee Sackhoff, American actress
- 1980 - Mariko Seyama, Japanese announcer, photographer, and model
- 1981 - Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
- 1981 - Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model
- 1981 - Ofer Shechter, Israeli model, actor, and screenwriter
- 1982 - Gennady Golovkin, Kazakhstani boxer
- 1982 - Brett White, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 - Allu Arjun, Indian actor
- 1983 - Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russian runner
- 1984 - Michelle Donelan, British politician
- 1984 - Ezra Koenig, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1984 - Pablo Portillo, Mexican singer and actor
- 1984 - Taran Noah Smith, American actor
- 1985 - Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player
- 1985 - Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian runner
- 1986 - Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
- 1986 - Félix Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1986 - Carlos Santana, Dominican baseball player
- 1987 - Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
- 1987 - Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player
- 1987 - Elton John, Trinidadian footballer
- 1987 - Sam Rapira, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1988 - Jenni Asserholt, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1989 - Matty Healy, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1990 - Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer
- 1992 - Jeff McNeil, American baseball player
- 1993 - Viktor Arvidsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1993 - TBJZL, English YouTuber
- 1994 - Josh Chudleigh, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 - Forrest Frank, American singer-songwriter
- 1995 - Cedi Osman, Turkish professional basketball player
- 1996 - Anna Korakaki, Greek Olympic shooter
- 1997 - Kim Woo-jin, South Korean singer
- 1997 - Saygrace, Australian singer and songwriter
- 1997 - Roquan Smith, American football player
- 1997 - Arno Verschueren, Belgian footballer
- 1997 - Keira Walsh, English footballer
- 1998 - Lavinia Valbonesi, Ecuadorian nutritionist, businesswoman and First Lady of Ecuador
- 1999 - CeeDee Lamb, American football player
- 2002 - Jamie Drysdale, Canadian ice hockey player
- 2002 - Viktória Forster, Slovak track and field athlete
- 2002 - Skai Jackson, American actress
- 2005 - Zaccharie Risacher, French basketball player
- 2013 - Big Justice, American social media personality
Deaths
Pre-1600
- 217 - Caracalla, Roman emperor
- 622 - Shōtoku, Japanese prince
- 632 - Charibert II, Frankish king
- 894 - Adalelm, Frankish nobleman
- 944 - Wang Yanxi, Chinese emperor
- 956 - Gilbert, Frankish nobleman
- 967 - Mu'izz al-Dawla, Buyid emir
- 1143 - John II Komnenos, Byzantine emperor
- 1150 - Gertrude of Babenberg, duchess of Bohemia
- 1321 - Thomas of Tolentino, Italian-Franciscan missionary
- 1338 - Stephen Gravesend, bishop of London
- 1364 - John II, French king
- 1450 - Sejong the Great, Korean king
- 1461 - Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer
- 1492 - Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian ruler
- 1551 - Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord
- 1586 - Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran theologian and reformer
1601–1900
- 1608 - Magdalen Dacre, English noble
- 1612 - Anne Catherine of Brandenburg
- 1691 - Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect, designed the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto
- 1697 - Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral
- 1704 - Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist
- 1704 - Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English colonel and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
- 1709 - Wolfgang Dietrich of Castell-Remlingen, German nobleman
- 1725 - John Wise, American minister
- 1735 - Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince
- 1848 - Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer
- 1860 - István Széchenyi, Hungarian statesman and reformer
- 1861 - Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company
- 1870 - Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer
- 1877 - Bernardino António Gomes, Portuguese physician and naturalist
- 1894 - Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet
1901–present
- 1906 - Auguste Deter, German woman, first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
- 1919 - Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist, academic, and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education
- 1920 - Charles Griffes, American pianist and composer
- 1931 - Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet Nobel Prize laureate
- 1936 - Róbert Bárány, Austrian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1936 - Božena Benešová, Czech poet and novelist
- 1941 - Marcel Prévost, French novelist and playwright
- 1942 - Kostas Skarvelis, Greek guitarist and composer
- 1947 - Olaf Frydenlund, Norwegian target shooter
- 1950 - Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish dancer and choreographer
- 1959 - Marios Makrionitis, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens
- 1961 - Joseph Carrodus, Australian public servant
- 1962 - Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter
- 1965 - Lars Hanson, Swedish actor
- 1969 - Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian astronomer
- 1973 - Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor
- 1974 - James Charles McGuigan, Canadian cardinal
- 1979 - Breece D'J Pancake, American short story writer
- 1981 - Omar Bradley, American general
- 1983 - Isamu Kosugi, Japanese actor and director
- 1984 - Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1985 - John Frederick Coots, American pianist and composer
- 1990 - Ryan White, American activist, inspired the Ryan White Care Act
- 1991 - Per Ohlin, Swedish musician
- 1992 - Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1993 - Marian Anderson, American operatic singer
- 1994 - François Rozet, French-Canadian actor
- 1996 - Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman
- 1996 - León Klimovsky, Argentinian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1996 - Mick Young, Australian politician
- 1997 - Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 2000 - František Šťastný, Czech motorcycle racer
- 2000 - Claire Trevor, American actress
- 2002 - María Félix, Mexican actress
- 2002 - Harvey Quaytman, American painter
- 2004 - Werner Schumacher, German actor
- 2005 - Onna White, Canadian choreographer and dancer
- 2006 - Gerard Reve, Dutch author and poet
- 2007 - Sol LeWitt, American painter and sculptor
- 2008 - Kazuo Shiraga, Japanese painter
- 2009 - Richard de Mille, American Scientologist, author, investigative journalist, and psychologist
- 2009 - Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer
- 2010 - Antony Flew, English philosopher and academic
- 2010 - Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter
- 2010 - Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer
- 2011 - Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer
- 2012 - Blair Kiel, American football player and coach
- 2012 - Jack Tramiel, Polish-American businessman, founded Commodore International
- 2012 - Janusz K. Zawodny, Polish-American soldier, historian, and political scientist
- 2013 - Mikhail Beketov, Russian journalist
- 2013 - Annette Funicello, American actress and singer
- 2013 - Sara Montiel, Spanish-Mexican actress and singer
- 2013 - José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author
- 2013 - Margaret Thatcher, English politician, first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 2014 - Emmanuel III Delly, Iraqi patriarch
- 2014 - Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist
- 2014 - Ivan Mercep, New Zealand architect, designed the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum
- 2015 - Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author
- 2015 - Rayson Huang, Hong Kong chemist and academic
- 2015 - Sergei Lashchenko, Ukrainian kick-boxer
- 2015 - David Laventhol, American journalist and publisher
- 2015 - Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal
- 2019 - Josine Ianco-Starrels, Romanian-born American art curator
- 2020 - Rick May, American-Canadian voice actor
- 2020 - Abdul Momin Imambari, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar
- 2022 - Mimi Reinhardt, Jewish Austrian secretary
- 2024 - Keith Barnes, Welsh-Australian rugby league player and coach
- 2024 - Peter Higgs, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 2024 - Ralph Puckett, American Army officer, Medal of Honor recipient
- 2025 – Nelsy Cruz, Dominican politician, governor of Monte Cristi
Holidays and observances