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What happened in history on this day: April 8?
On April 8 in ...
- 1789 - First meeting of the US House of Representives, in New York City, New York, with F Muhlenberg first speaker.
- 1861 - Confederate authorities seize Dahlonega Mint in Georgia, CSA.
- 1864 - Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana; Federals routed by Confederate General Richard Taylor.
- 1869 - American Museum of Natural History opens (New York City, New York).
- 1893 - The Critic reports that the ice cream soda is the US national drink.
- 1904 - Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square (after the New York Times).
- 1913 - The 17th amendment to the US Constitution, requiring direct election of senators, is ratified by the required 3/4 of states.
- 1914 - US and Colombia sign a treaty concerning the Panamá Canal Zone.
- 1935 - Works Progress Administration approved by US Congress.
- 1938 - The House of Representatives kills the Reorganization Bill.
- 1952 - US President Harry Truman seizes the steel mills to prevent a strike.
- 1956 - Six marine recruits drown during exercise at Paradise Island, South Carolina, USA.
- 1964 - Unmanned Gemini 1 launched.
- 1966 - At the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, USA, the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers play baseball's first game on synthetic grass. The Monsanto chemical company provided the experimental playing surface of nylon grass, dubbed Astro Turf.
- 1970 - US Senate rejects President Richard Nixon's nomination of Carswell to Supreme Court.
- 1971 - First legal off-track betting system begins (OTB-New York).
- 1971 - In Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA a house is struck by a falling meteorite.
- 1975 - 47th Academy Awards - Godfather II, Ellen Burstyn and Art Carney win.
- 1984 - 4th Golden Raspberry Awards: Lonely Lady wins.
- 1985 - Amdahl releases UTS/V, first mainframe Unix operating system.
- 1985 - India files suit against Union Carbide over Bhopal disaster.
- 1986 - American actor Clint Eastwood elected mayor of Carmel, California.
- 1993 - STS-56 (Discovery) launches into orbit.
- 1994 - Smoking is banned in Pentagon and all US military bases.
- 1994 - Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, is found dead in Seattle, Washington. His death is believed to have been a suicide.
- 1997 - Microsoft Corp releases Internet Explorer 4.0.
- 1997 - The Stickney-Eliasberg pedigree US 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar sells for US$1.815 million, a record for a single coin at auction. A US 1885 Trade dollar, Proof, finest of 5 known, sells for $907,500 to Jay Parrino.
- 1998 - A Force 5 tornado strikes the western portion of the Birmingham, Alabama area, killing 32.
- 2002 - Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing changes its company name to 3M Company.
- 2009 - Pulte Homes in the USA announces it will buy rival Centex Corp in a US$1.3 billion all-stock deal to create the largest U.S. homebuilder.
- 2010 - US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign a landmark nuclear arms treaty in the Czech capital, Prague. The treaty commits the countries to each reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550, 30 percent lower than the previous ceiling.
- 2022 - SpaceX flight to the International Space Station carries three paying passengers who paid US$55 million each for a stay of more than a week.
Births on April 8
- 1887 - Birth of Walter Connolly in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; actor (Good Earth, 5th Avenue Girl).
- 1893 - Birth of Grace Cunard in Columbus, Ohio, USA; silent screen actress (Resurrection).
- 1895 - Birth of Bert I[ra] Gordon in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA; diector/producer (Empire of the Ants, Magic Sword, Amazing Colossal Man).
- 1903 - Birth of Ilka Chase in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Masquerade Party, Trials of O'Brien).
- 1920 - Birth of Carmen [Mercedes] McRae in New York City, New York, USA; jazz singer/pianist (Downbeat's New Star of 1954).
- 1925 - Birth of Shecky Greene in Chicago, Illinois; comedian/actor (Love Machine, Combat).
- 1928 - Birth of John Gavin in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Back Street, Psycho, Murder for Sale).
- 1930 - Birth of John Bartholomew Tucker in Pennsylvania, USA; TV host (Candid Camera, Treasure Island).
- 1930 - Birth of John Reardon in New York City, New York, USA; baritone (Falke-Die Fledermaus).
- 1932 - Birth of John Gavin in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Felony, Jennifer, House of Shadows).
- 1938 - Birth of Lory Patrick in Beckley, West Virginia, USA; actress (Trina - Tales of Wells Fargo).
- 1940 - Birth of John Havlicek in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, USA; NBA hall-of-famer (Boston Celtics).
- 1941 - Birth of Peggy Lennon in Los Angeles, California, USA; singer (Lennon Sisters).
- 1946 - Birth of Stuart Pankin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; comedian (Striptease, Congo, Earl - Dinosaurs).
- 1947 - Birth of Cindy Pickett in Norman, Oklahoma, USA; actress (Guiding Light, St. Elsewhere).
- 1947 - Birth of Gerald McRaney in Collins, Mississippi, USA; actor (Rick - Simon and Simon, Major Dad).
- 1948 - Birth of Richard Alan in Litchfield, Massachusetts, USA; bank robber (FBI most wanted).
- 1949 - Birth of Jim Lampley in Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA; newscaster (Monday Night Baseball).
- 1954 - Birth of John Schneider in Mount Kisco, New York, USA; actor (Bo - The Dukes of Hazzard).
- 1957 - Birth of Michael Spound in Santa Monica, California, USA; actor (Dave - Hotel).
- 1962 - Birth of Izzy Stradlin [Jeff Isabelle] in Lafayette, Indiana, USA; guitarist (Guns N' Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle").
- 1963 - Birth of Erica Terwillegar in Nelsonville, New Jersey, USA; lugist.
- 1964 - Birth of Valinda Hilleary in Littleton, Colorado, USA; WPVA volleyball player (US Open-9th-1993).
- 1966 - Birth of Robin [Virginia] Wright Penn in Dallas, Texas, USA; actress (Jenny - Forrest Gump, Kelly - Santa Barbara, Princess Bride).
- 1968 - Birth of Patricia Arquette in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Ed Wood, Nightmare on Elm Street 3).
- 1970 - Birth of Derek D Brown in Washington DC; team handball right wing (Olympics-1996).
- 1973 - Birth of Alex Gonzalez in Miami, Florida; infielder (Toronto Blue Jays).
- 1976 - Birth of Jim Farnum in Honolulu, Hawaii; kayak (alternate-Olympics-1996).
- 1984 - Birth of Taran Noah Smith in San Francisco, California; actor (Mark Taylor - Home Improvement).
Deaths on April 8
- 1861 - Elisha G Otis, US elevator builder (Otis), dies at age 50.
- 1943 - Richard Sears, first to win US amateur national tennis match, dies at age 81.
- 1947 - Henry Ford, American industrialist (Ford cars), dies.
- 1981 - Omar Bradley, last American five-star General, dies in New York at age 88.
- 1987 - Francis C Denebrink, US Naval officer (WWI, WWII, Korea) dies at age 90.
- 1993 - Marian Anderson, American contralto (My Lord, What a Morning), dies at age 96 (born 1897).
- 2023 - Death of Elizabeth Hubbard at age 89 of cancer at home in Roxbury, Connecticut, USA; actor (The Doctors TV show, As the World Turns TV show, Emmy award winner).
- 2023 - Death of Michael Lerner at age 81 due to complications from brain seizures, in a hospital in Burbank, California, USA; actor (Barton Fink movie, Elf movie).
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