May 8 in history — What Happened Today in History

A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.

Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place naval mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.

The Beatles release their 12th and final studio album Let It Be.

The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.

South Vietnamese soldiers under the Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.

South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem begins a state visit to the United States, his regime's main sponsor.

The Tollund Man is discovered in a peat bog near Silkeborg, Denmark.

Estonian schoolgirls Aili Jõgi and Ageeda Paavel blow up the Soviet memorial which preceded the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.

World War II: The German Instrument of Surrender signed at Berlin-Karlshorst comes into effect. This is commemorated as Victory in Europe Day.

End of the Prague uprising, celebrated now as a national holiday in the Czech Republic.

Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.

The Halifax riot starts when thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia.

World War II: The German 11th Army begins Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three Soviet armies defending the Kerch Peninsula.

World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington.

World War II: Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebel in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. Their mutiny is crushed and three of them are executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.

World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.

Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.

Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappear after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.

The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania. It would come back to Germany in 1939.

The creation of the Communist Party of Romania.

Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended World War I.

In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.

The first games of the Italian football league system are played.

Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.

At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.

Mexican–American War: American forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.

A train derails and catches fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people.

Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.

Felix Jones, American football player

Mark Noble, English footballer

Kurt Tippett, Australian footballer

Galen Rupp, American runner

Tommaso Ciampa, American wrestler

Buakaw Banchamek, Thai kick-boxer

Adrián González, American baseball player

Stephen Amell, Canadian actor

Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer

Evgeny Lebedev, Russian-English publisher and philanthropist

Michelle McManus, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress

Lúcio, Brazilian footballer

Joe Bonamassa, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

William Schallert, American actor; president (1979–81) of the Screen Actors Guild (born 1922)

Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (born 1943)

Mwepu Ilunga, Congolese footballer (born 1949)

Juan Schwanner, Hungarian-Chilean footballer and manager (born 1921)

Atanas Semerdzhiev, Bulgarian soldier and politician, 1st Vice President of Bulgaria (born 1924)

Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (born 1921)

Nancy Malone, American actress, director, and producer (born 1935)

Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer (born 1939)

Joseph P. Teasdale, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Missouri (born 1936)

Jeanne Cooper, American actress (born 1928)

Bryan Forbes, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1926)

Juan José Muñoz, Argentinian businessman (born 1950)

Hugh J. Silverman, American philosopher and theorist (born 1945)