August 8 in history — What Happened Today in History

Space Shuttle program: STS-118 Mission: Endeavour takes off on a mission to the International Space Station.

A tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumps approximately 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat full of passengers.

Albanian rebels ambush a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia near Tetovo, killing 10 soldiers.

Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence.

The Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, is raided by Taliban, leading to the deaths of ten Iranian diplomats and a journalist.

The 7.8 Mw Guam earthquake shakes the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing around $250 million in damage and injuring up to 71 people.

The Warsaw radio mast, then the tallest construction ever built, collapses.

Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.

Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission: Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.

The 8888 Uprising begins in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Led by students, hundreds of thousands join in nationwide protests against the one-party regime. On September 18, the demonstrations end in a military crackdown, killing thousands.

The first night baseball game in the history of Chicago's Wrigley Field (game was rained out in the fourth inning).

President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.

Kim Dae-jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.

At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes.

The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the current ruling party of Zimbabwe, is formed by a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union.

Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium. 262 coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, are killed in one of the largest mining accidents in Belgian history.

First flight of the nuclear capable Convair B-36, heaviest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft at the time.

The London Charter is signed by France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, establishing the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials.

World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.

Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for swaraj or complete independence.

The "Aufbau Ost" directive for the mobilization of German forces for the invasion of the Soviet Union is signed by Wilhelm Keitel.

The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.

The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 is signed. It establishes peaceful relations between Afghanistan and the UK, and confirms the Durand line as the mutual border. In return, the UK is no longer obligated to subsidize the Afghan government.

World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).

Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight, at a racecourse at Le Mans, France.

Black Saturday occurs, killing 12 in a stadium collapse in Philadelphia.

Casey Cott, American actor

Yandy Díaz, Cuban baseball player

Nélson Oliveira, Portuguese footballer

Tyrone Peachey, Australian rugby league player

Joël Matip, Cameroonian footballer

Vladimír Darida, Czech footballer

Parker Kligerman, American race car driver

Aleksandra Szwed, Polish actress and singer

Kane Williamson, New Zealand cricket captain

Ken Baumann, American actor and author

Anthony Rizzo, American baseball player

Hannah Miley, English-Scottish swimmer

Prajakta Mali, Indian actress

Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1925)

Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (born 1929)

Charles Keating, English-American actor (born 1941)

Leonardo Legaspi, Filipino archbishop (born 1935)

Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer and conductor (born 1929)

Red Wilson, American football and baseball player (born 1929)

Karen Black, American actress (born 1939)

Johannes Bluyssen, Dutch bishop (born 1926)

Fernando Castro Pacheco, Mexican painter, engraver, and illustrator (born 1918)

Igor Kurnosov, Russian chess player (born 1985)

Regina Resnik, American soprano and actress (born 1922)

Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, German-American physicist and academic (born 1926)

Ruth Etchells, English poet and academic (born 1931)