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.
May 8: Pesach Sheni (Judaism, 2009); Victory in Europe Day; World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
- 1541 – The expedition led by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto became the first documented Europeans to reach the Mississippi River.
- 1794 – The Reign of Terror: Branded a traitor, French chemist and economist Antoine Lavoisier, a former royal tax collector with the Ferme Générale, was tried, convicted, and guillotined on the same day.
- 1886 – In Atlanta, Georgia, American pharmacist John Pemberton first sold his carbonated beverage Coca-Cola (pictured) 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 at the end of World War II in Europe, in accordance with the German Instrument of Surrender signed by General Alfred Jodl on behalf of Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz the day before.
- 1963 – Soldiers of the Catholic South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists who were defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine.