June 8
Events
Pre-1600
- 218 - Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus.
- 452 - Attila leads a Hun army in the invasion of Italy, devastating the northern provinces as he heads for Rome.
- 793 - Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of Norse activity in the British Isles.
- 1042 - Edward the Confessor becomes King of England - the country's penultimate Anglo-Saxon king.
- 1191 - King Richard I of England arrives in Acre, beginning the Third Crusade.
1601–1900
- 1663 - Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese victory at the Battle of Ameixial ensures Portugal's independence from Spain.
- 1772 - Alexander Fordyce flees to France to avoid debt repayment, triggering the credit crisis of 1772 in the British Empire and the Dutch Republic.
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: Continental Army attackers are driven back at the Battle of Trois-Rivières.
- 1783 - Laki, a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine.
- 1789 - James Madison introduces twelve proposed amendments to the United States Constitution in Congress.
- 1794 - Maximilien Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution's new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across France.
- 1856 - A group of 194 Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the mutineers of, arrives at Norfolk Island, commencing the Third Settlement of the Island.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.
- 1862 - American Civil War: A Confederate victory by forces under General Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Cross Keys, along with the Battle of Port Republic the next day, prevents Union forces from reinforcing General George B. McClellan in his Peninsula campaign.
- 1867 - Coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Hungary following the Austro-Hungarian compromise.
- 1887 - Herman Hollerith applies for US patent #395,781 for the 'Art of Compiling Statistics', which was his punched card calculator.
1901–present
- 1906 - Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.
- 1924 - British Mount Everest expedition: British mountaineers Andrew Irvine and George Mallory go missing.
- 1928 - Second Northern Expedition: The National Revolutionary Army captures Beijing, whose name is changed to Beiping.
- 1929 - Margaret Bondfield is appointed Minister of Labour. She is the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
- 1940 - World War II: The completion of Operation Alphabet, the evacuation of Allied forces from Narvik at the end of the Norwegian campaign.
- 1941 - World War II: The Allies commence the Syria-Lebanon Campaign against the possessions of Vichy France in the Levant.
- 1942 - World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy submarines I-21 and I-24 shell the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle.
- 1943 - World War II: The two-day Battle of Porta between the Royal Italian Army and the Greek People's Liberation Army begins.
- 1949 - George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is published in the United States
- 1953 - An F5 tornado hits Beecher, Michigan, United States, killing 116, injuring 844, and destroying 340 homes.
- 1953 - The United States Supreme Court rules in District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. that restaurants in Washington, D.C., cannot refuse to serve black patrons.
- 1959 - and the United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
- 1961 - Marriage of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent to Katharine Worsley at York Minster.
- 1966 - An F-104 Starfighter collides with XB-70 Valkyrie prototype no. 2, destroying both aircraft during a photo shoot near Edwards Air Force Base. Joseph A. Walker, a NASA test pilot, and Carl Cross, a United States Air Force test pilot, are both killed.
- 1966 - Topeka, Kansas, United States is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita scale, exceeding US$200 million in damages. Seventeen people are killed, over five hundred more injured, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.
- 1967 - Six-Day War: The USS Liberty incident: A United States Navy spy ship is attacked by the Israeli Air Force and Navy, resulting in 34 deaths and 171 wounded.
- 1968 - James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested at London Heathrow Airport.
- 1972 - 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.
- 1982 - Bluff Cove Air Attacks during the Falklands War: Fifty-six British servicemen are killed by an Argentine air attack on two landing ships, and.
- 1982 - VASP Flight 168 crashes in Pacatuba, Ceará, Brazil, killing 128 people.
- 1983 - Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 loses one of its propellers in flight resulting in damage to the flight controls. The Lockheed L-188 Electra makes an emergency landing at Anchorage International Airport and there are no injuries.
- 1984 - Homosexuality is decriminalized in the Australian state of New South Wales.
- 1987 - New Zealand's Labour government establishes a national nuclear-free zone under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.
- 1992 - The first World Oceans Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- 1992 - GP Express Airlines Flight 861 crashes on approach to Anniston Regional Airport in Anniston, Alabama, killing three.
- 1995 - Downed U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O'Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines in Bosnia.
- 2001 - Mamoru Takuma kills eight and injures 15 in a mass stabbing at an elementary school in the Osaka Prefecture of Japan.
- 2004 - The first Venus Transit in well over a century takes place, the previous one being in 1882.
- 2007 - Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, is hit by the State's worst storms and flooding in 30 years resulting in the death of nine people and the grounding of a trade ship, the.
- 2007 - Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-117 carrying two truss segments and solar arrays to the International Space Station.
- 2023 - Former US President Donald Trump is indicted on federal charges of misusing classified information.
Births
Pre-1600
- 862 - Emperor Xizong of Tang
- 1508 - Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer
- 1593 - George I Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania
1601–1900
- 1625 - Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Italian-French mathematician and astronomer
- 1671 - Tomaso Albinoni, Italian violinist and composer
- 1717 - John Collins, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island
- 1724 - John Smeaton, English engineer, designed the Coldstream Bridge and Perth Bridge
- 1745 - Caspar Wessel, Norwegian-Danish mathematician and cartographer
- 1757 - Ercole Consalvi, Italian cardinal
- 1776 - Thomas Rickman, English architect and architectural antiquary
- 1788 - Charles A. Wickliffe, American politician, 14th Governor of Kentucky
- 1810 - Robert Schumann, German composer and critic
- 1829 - John Everett Millais, English painter and illustrator
- 1831 - Thomas J. Higgins, Canadian-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient
- 1842 - John Q. A. Brackett, American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Massachusetts
- 1851 - Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval, French physician and physicist
- 1852 - Guido Banti, Italian physician and pathologist
- 1854 - Douglas Cameron, Canadian politician, 8th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
- 1855 - George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator
- 1858 - Charlotte Scott, English mathematician
- 1860 - Alicia Boole Stott, Irish-English mathematician and theorist
- 1867 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater
- 1868 - Robert Robinson Taylor, American architect
- 1872 - Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator
- 1876 - Alexandre Tuffère, Greek-French triple jumper
- 1878 - Evan Roberts, Welsh Revivalist minister
- 1885 - Karl Genzken, German physician
- 1891 - William Funnell, Australian public servant
- 1893 - Ernst Marcus, German zoologist
- 1893 - Gaby Morlay, French actress
- 1894 - Erwin Schulhoff, Czech composer and pianist
- 1895 - Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1897 - John G. Bennett, English mathematician and technologist
- 1899 - Eugène Lapierre, Canadian organist, composer and arts administrator
- 1899 - Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician
- 1900 - Lena Baker, African-American maid executed for capital murder, later pardoned posthumously
1901–present
- 1903 - Ralph Yarborough, American lawyer and politician
- 1903 - Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian-French author and poet
- 1910 - John W. Campbell, American journalist and author
- 1910 - Fernand Fonssagrives, French-American photographer, sculptor, and painter
- 1911 - Edmundo Rivero, Argentinian singer-songwriter
- 1912 - Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, British abstract painter
- 1912 - Maurice Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1912 - Harry Holtzman, American painter
- 1915 - Seán McCaughey, Irish Republican Army leader, died on hunger strike
- 1915 - Kayyar Kinhanna Rai, Indian journalist, author, and poet
- 1916 - Francis Crick, English biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1916 - Luigi Comencini, Italian director and screenwriter
- 1916 - Richard Pousette-Dart, American painter and educator
- 1917 - Byron White, American football player, lawyer and judge
- 1918 - George Edward Hughes, Irish-New Zealand philosopher and logician
- 1918 - Robert Preston, American actor and singer
- 1918 - John D. Roberts, American chemist and academic
- 1919 - John R. Deane, Jr., American general
- 1920 - Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright
- 1921 - Gordon McLendon, American broadcaster and businessman
- 1921 - Olga Nardone, American actress
- 1921 - LeRoy Neiman, American painter
- 1921 - Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress and singer
- 1921 - Suharto, Indonesian soldier and politician, 2nd President of Indonesia
- 1924 - Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1924 - Kenneth Waltz, American political scientist and academic
- 1925 - Barbara Bush, American wife of George H. W. Bush, 41st First Lady of the United States
- 1927 - Jerry Stiller, American actor, comedian and producer
- 1928 - Gustavo Gutiérrez, Peruvian philosopher, theologian and priest
- 1928 - Mimi Mariani, Indonesian actress, model, and singer
- 1928 - J. R. P. Suriyapperuma, Sri Lankan politician
- 1929 - Nada Inada, Japanese psychiatrist and author
- 1930 - Robert Aumann, German-American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1930 - Marcel Léger, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1931 - Dana Wynter, British actress
- 1932 - Ray Illingworth, English cricketer and sportscaster
- 1932 - Ian Kirkwood, Lord Kirkwood, Scottish lawyer and judge
- 1933 - Joan Rivers, American comedian, actress, and television host
- 1934 - Millicent Martin, English actress and singer
- 1935 - Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist
- 1936 - James Darren, American actor
- 1936 - Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 - Gillian Clarke, Welsh poet and playwright
- 1938 - Angelo Amato, Italian cardinal
- 1939 - Herb Adderley, American football player
- 1940 - Nancy Sinatra, American singer and actress
- 1941 - Robert Bradford, Northern Irish politician and activist
- 1941 - George Pell, Australian cardinal
- 1942 - Doug Mountjoy, Welsh snooker player
- 1943 - Colin Baker, English actor
- 1943 - William Calley, American military officer
- 1943 - Willie Davenport, American hurdler
- 1944 - Marc Ouellet, Canadian archbishop and cardinal
- 1944 - Boz Scaggs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 - Steven Fromholz, American singer-songwriter, producer, and poet
- 1945 - Derek Underwood, English cricketer
- 1946 - Graham Henry, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1947 - Annie Haslam, English singer-songwriter and painter
- 1947 - Sara Paretsky, American author
- 1947 - Eric F. Wieschaus, American biologist, geneticist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
- 1949 - Emanuel Ax, Polish-American pianist and educator
- 1949 - Hildegard Falck, German runner
- 1950 - Kathy Baker, American actress
- 1950 - Sônia Braga, Brazilian actress and producer
- 1951 - Bonnie Tyler, Welsh singer-songwriter
- 1953 - Ivo Sanader, Croatian historian and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Croatia
- 1954 - Kiril of Varna, Bulgarian metropolitan
- 1954 - Sergei Storchak, Ukrainian-Russian politician
- 1955 - Tim Berners-Lee, English computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web
- 1955 - José Antonio Camacho, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1957 - Scott Adams, American author and illustrator
- 1958 - Louise Richardson, Irish political scientist and academic
- 1959 - Mohsen Kadivar, Iranian philosopher
- 1960 - Neil Baker, Australian rugby league player
- 1960 - Mick Hucknall, English singer-songwriter
- 1960 - Thomas Steen, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
- 1961 - Mary Bonauto, American lawyer and gay rights activist
- 1964 - Butch Reynolds, American runner and coach
- 1965 - Kevin Farley, American screenwriter
- 1966 - Julianna Margulies, American actress
- 1967 - Russell E. Morris, Welsh chemist and academic
- 1971 - Bernard Grech, Maltese lawyer and politician
- 1970 - Kelli Williams, American actress and director
- 1974 - Lauren Burns, Australian taekwondo practitioner
- 1975 - Mark Ricciuto, Australian footballer and sportcaster
- 1976 - Lindsay Davenport, American tennis player
- 1977 - Kanye West, American rapper, producer, director, and fashion designer
- 1978 - Maria Menounos, American television personality, professional wrestler, author, and actress
- 1981 - Rachel Held Evans, American Christian author
- 1982 - Nadia Petrova, Russian tennis player
- 1983 - Kim Clijsters, Belgian tennis player; winner of six Grand Slam tournament titles.
- 1984 - Javier Mascherano, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1986 - Keith Gill, American financial analyst and investor
- 1989 - Timea Bacsinszky, Swiss tennis player
- 1994 - Liv Morgan, American professional wrestler
- 1995 - Ferland Mendy, French footballer
- 1997 - Jeļena Ostapenko, Latvian tennis player
- 2004 - Francesca Capaldi, American actress