On This Day in History for August 8
Events in History
- 70 Tower of Antonia destroyed by Romans
- 1220 Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula
- 1303 Crete earthquake strikes with estimated magnitude of 8, triggering a major tsunami that damaged the Lighthouse of Alexandria and swept ships 2 miles inland in Egypt
- 1322 Emperor Godaigo makes Sojiji the chief monastery of Soto Sect
- 1508 Spaniard Juan Ponce de León founds Caparra the first European settlement in Puerto Rico
- 1509 Emperor Krishnadeva Raya is crowned, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire in Southern India
- 1549 Henry II of France declares war on England and orders the siege of Boulogne
- 1567 Duke of Alva's army enters Brussels, Belgium
- More Events in History
Weddings in History
- 1502 Jacobus IV of Scotland marries Margaretha Tudor
- 1778 Naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (34) weds Marie Anne Rosalie Delaporte
- 1810 Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib marries Maaroof, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Baksh, and moves to Delhi.
Divorces in History
- 1946 Esta Krakower divorces mobster Bugsy Siegel (40) after 17 years of marriage
More Weddings & Divorces in History
August in History
Why Mata Hari Was Not the Spy You Thought She Was
The controversial life and death of Mata Hari, the glamorous WWI double agent, executed in 1917, has recently been reassessed in the light of new evidence.
August 7, 1876Nuclear Bombing of Nagasaki
Mushroom cloud over Nagasaki
August 9, 1945Singapore Leaves Malaysia
Front page of The Straits Times announcing Singapore Independence
August 9, 1965Inflatable Trump-like Chicken
A giant inflatable chicken resembling President Trump constructed as a political protest
August 9, 2017