Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/January 8
- 1198 - Lotario de Conti became Pope Innocent III. His first act was the restoration of the papal power in Rome.
- 1815 - Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans (pictured) two weeks after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.
- 1889 - Herman Hollerith received a patent for his electric tabulating machine.
- 1989 - British Midland Flight 92 crashed onto the embankment of the M1 motorway in the Kegworth air disaster.
- 2004 - RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, was christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.