Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 8
This is a list of selected May 8 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Antoine Lavoisier -
![Joan of Arc]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Joan_of_Arc_miniature_graded.jpg/80px-Joan_of_Arc_miniature_graded.jpg)
Joan of Arc] -
A glass of Coca-Cola -
Zachary Taylor
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Alfred Jodl signing the WWII capitulation papers
![Joan of Arc]](/wiki/File:Joan_of_Arc_miniature_graded.jpg)
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1429 – Siege of Orléans: French troops led by Joan of Arc lifted the English siege and turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War. | unreferenced section, needs more footnotes |
| 1846 – The first major battle in the Mexican-American War was fought at the Battle of Palo Alto near present-day Brownsville, Texas. | needs more footnotes |
| 1902 – The volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée destroyed the town of St. Pierre, Martinique, killing over 30,000 people. | unreferenced section, refimprove section |
Eligible
- 1794 – The Reign of Terror: Branded a traitor, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, a former royal tax collector with the Ferme Générale, was tried, convicted, and guillotined on the same day.
- 1886 – In Atlanta, American pharmacist John Pemberton first sold his carbonated beverage Coca-Cola as a patent medicine, claiming that it cured a number of diseases.
- 1945 – Most armed forces under German control ceased active operations by 23:01 CET after the German Instrument of Surrender was formally ratified, marking the end of World War II in Europe.
- 1984 – The Soviet Union announced the boycott of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, citing security concerns and stated that "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria [were] being whipped up in the United States".
Notes
- Ngô Đình Cẩn, who ordered the Huế Phật Đản shootings (1963) appears on May 9, so both should not be used in the same year.
- 1541 – Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando de Soto (pictured) became the first documented Europeans to reach the Mississippi River.
- 1882 – U.S. President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law, implementing a ban on Chinese immigration to the United States that eventually lasted for over 60 years until the 1943 Magnuson Act.
- 1927 – French aviators Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli aboard The White Bird biplane, attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, disappeared after takeoff.
- 1945 – A parade to celebrate the end of World War II turned into a riot, followed by widespread disturbances and killings in and around Sétif, French Algeria.
- 1963 – In Huế, South Vietnam, soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam opened fire into a crowd of Buddhist protestors against a government ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesākha, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.