History of the Day for:
May 8
- 1541: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River.
- 1794: Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, the French chemist who identified oxygen, was guillotined in Paris by the Revolutionary Convention.
- 1846: The Battle of Palo Alto, the first major battle of the Mexican War, was won by Gen. Zachary Taylor and his American troops.
- 1884: Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States (1945-53), was born.
- 1886: Dr. John Styth Pemberton unveiled the flavor syrup for Coca Cola.
- 1903: French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin died in Tahiti.
- 1921: Sweden abolished capital punishment.
- 1942: The Battle of the Coral Sea ended when a U.S. fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force heading for Port Moresby in New Guinea.
- 1945: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Britain as part of VE (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations that World War II had ended; President Truman broadcast the same to the American people.
- 1973: The siege of Wounded Knee in South Dakota ended peacefully as militant Indians who had occupied the tiny prairie settlement for almost 10 weeks began to file out and surrender to the authorities.
- 1978: "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz pleaded guilty in New York to murdering six people.
- 1985: The first cans of New Coke rolled out of bottling and canning plants.
- 1987: Gary Hart, dogged by questions about his personal life, including his relationship with Miami model Donna Rice, withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
- 1988: Sci-fi writer Robert Heinlein ("Stranger in a Strange Land") died in Carmel, Calif., at age 80.
- 1990: Re-independence Day of Estonia.
- 1994: Erling Kagge becomes the first person to complete the Three Poles Challenge.
- 1995: in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the 50th anniversary of VE Day is celebrated by a bank holiday. John Major declares it the last major national celebration of victory in the Second World War, and British remembrance of her war dead.
- 1997: A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Shenzhen's Huangtian Airport, killing 35 people.
- 1999: Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college.
- 2005: The new Canadian War Museum opens, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of V-E Day.