Today in History - August 8
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70CE Aug 8, Tower
of Antonia was destroyed by the Romans.
(MC, 8/8/02)
117 Aug 8, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus
(Trajan), emperor of Rome (98-117), died.
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)
869 Aug 8, Lotharius II, King of
Middle-France (Lotharingen) (855-869), died.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1306 Aug 8, King Wenceslas of
Poland was murdered.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1567 Aug 8, Duke of Alba's army
entered Brussels, Belgium.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1570 Aug 8, Charles IX of France
signed the Treaty of St. Germain (Peace of St. Germain-en-Laye), ending
the third war of religion and giving religious freedom to the Huguenots.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(HN, 8/8/98)
1571 Aug 8, John Ward, English
composer, was born in Canterbury.
(MC, 8/8/02)(Internet)
1588 Aug 8, The English Navy
destroyed the Spanish Armada. 600 Spaniards were killed in the day’s
fighting and 800 badly injured. The Duke of Medina Sidonia led the
"invincible" Spanish Armada from Lisbon against England. It was
shattered around the coasts of the English Isles by an English fleet
under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham with the help of Sir
Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, and a violent storm (see Aug 18). The
victory opened the world for English trade and colonization. In 1959
Garrett Mattingly authored “The Armada.” In 1998 Geoffrey Parker
published "The Grand Strategy of Phillip II." In 2005 Neil Janson
authored “The Confident Hope of a Miracle: The True Story of the
Spanish Armada,” and James McDermott authored “England & the
Spanish Armada: The necessary Quarrel.”
(ON, 3/02, p.5)(SSFC, 2/20/05, p.B2)(Econ, 5/28/05,
p.85)
1636 Aug 8, The invading armies of
Spain, Austria and Bavaria were stopped at the village of
St.-Jean-de-Losne, only 50 miles from France.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1648 Aug 8, Ibrahim, the sultan of
Istanbul, was thrown into prison, then assassinated.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1736 Aug 8, Mahomet Weyonomon, a
Mohegan sachem or leader, died of smallpox while waiting to see King
George II to complain directly about British settlers encroaching on
tribal lands in the Connecticut colony. The tribal chief was buried in
an unmarked grave in a south London churchyard.
(AP, 11/22/06)(http://tinyurl.com/ymbn3c)
1763 Aug 8, Charles Bulfinch, 1st
US professional architect (Mass State House), was born in Boston, Mass.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1776 Aug 8, John Paul Jones was
commissioned as a captain and appointed to command the Alfred. His
orders were to harass enemy merchant ships and defend the American
coast.
(ON, 2/04, p.6)(Internet)
1786 Aug 8, The US Congress
adopted the silver dollar and decimal system of money.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1786 Aug 8, Jacques Balmat and Dr.
Michel-Gabriel Paccard became the first men to climb Mont Blanc in
France.
(HN, 8/8/98)(ON, 4/04, p.1)
1788 Aug 8, King Louis XVI called
the French States and Generals together.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1788 Aug 8, Louis FAD Duke de
Richelieu (92), French marshal, died.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1815 Aug 8, Napoleon Bonaparte set
sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, to spend the remainder of
his days in exile.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1844 Aug 8, Brigham Young was
chosen to head the Mormon church following the killing of Joseph Smith
in Illinois.
(AP, 8/8/97)(HN, 8/8/98)
1854 Aug 8, Smith and Wesson
patented metal bullet cartridges.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1860 Aug 8, Queen of Sandwich
Islands (Hawaii) arrived in NYC.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1862 Aug 8, Minnesota’s 5th
Infantry fought the Sioux Indians in Redwood, Minn., and 24 soldiers
were killed.
(SFC, 2/7/03, p.A23)
1863 Aug 8, Confederate President
Jefferson Davis refused General Robert E. Lee's resignation.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1864 Aug 8, Union troops and fleet
occupied Fort Gaines, Alabama.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1864 Aug 8, The 1st Geneva
Convention was issued on protecting the war wounded.
(www.redcross.org)
1866 Aug 8, African-American
Matthew Alexander Henson was born in Maryland. He and four Inuits
accompanied U.S. Naval Commander Robert E. Peary when he planted the
U.S. flag at the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Henson became an Arctic
expert during Peary's first two failed expeditions. By the third
attempt, which began in July 1908, Henson's strength, knowledge of the
Eskimo language and dog driving skills made him an essential member of
the team. Whether Peary's party actually reached the North Pole or
missed it by as much as 60 miles due to a navigational miscalculation
remains controversial to this day.
(HNPD, 8//99)(Internet)
1876 Aug 8, Thomas A. Edison
received a patent for his mimeograph.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1879 Aug 8, Emiliano Zapata,
Mexican revolutionary who occupied Mexico City three times, was born in
Anenecuilco, Morelos state, Mexico.
(HN, 8/8/98)(WUD, 1994 p.1659)(Internet)
1881 Aug 8, Paul L.E. von Kleist,
German general-fieldmarshal (Eastern Front), was born.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1890 Aug 8, Daughters of American
Revolution (DAR) organized. [see Oct 11]
(MC, 8/8/02)
1896 Aug 8, Marjorie Kinnan
Rawlings (d.1953), author of "The Yearling," was born.
(HN, 8/8/00)
1897 Aug 8, Anarchist Miguel
Angiolillo assassinated Spanish PM Antonio Canovas del Castillo at
Santa Agueda, Spain. Práxides Mateo Sagasta became prime
minister of Spain.
(NG, 11/04,
p.76)(www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronpr.html)
1899 Aug 8, The first household
refrigerating machine was patented.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, Z1 p.8)(HN, 8/8/00)
1901 Aug 8, Ernest Orlando
Lawrence (d.1958), winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize for physics, was born.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1901 Aug 8, Santos-Dumont flew his
powered dirigible around the Eiffel Tower a 2nd time but sprang a leak
and caught suspension wires in his propeller blades.
(ON, 3/03, p.11)
1902 Aug 8, Jean Y.Y. Tissot,
French painter, illustrator, died.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1907 Aug 8, Benny Carter, jazz
musician, composer and bandleader, was born in New York.
(AP, 8/8/07)
1908 Aug 8, Arthur J. Goldberg
(d.1990), labor lawyer, UN ambassador, Supreme Court justice (1962-65),
was born in, Chicago, Illinois. He was instrumental in the merger of
the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations.
(HN, 8/8/98)(AP, 8/8/08)
1919 Aug 8, Dino De Laurentiis,
producer (King Kong), was born in Torre Annunziata, Italy.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1922 Aug 8, Rudi Gernreich,
designer (1st women's topless swimsuit, miniskirt), was born in Vienna,
Austria.
(MC, 8/8/02)(Internet)
1922 Aug 8, An Italian general
strike was broken by fascist terror.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1925 Aug 8, The first national
congress of the Ku Klux Klan opened. 200,000 members marched in
Washington, DC.
(HN, 8/8/98)(MC, 8/8/02)
1925 Aug 8, Alija Izetbegovic
(d.2003) was born in Bosanski Samac. He later led Bosnia's Muslims
during the 1992-95 war for independence and became one of the
republic's first postwar presidents.
(AP, 10/19/03)(SFC, 10/20/03, p.A18)
1929 Aug 8, Josef Suk, violinist
(Artist of Merit-1977), was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1929 Aug 8, The Graf Zeppelin
embarked from Lakehurst, New Jersey, on the first round-the-world
passenger voyage.
(Hem., 2/96, p.43)(MC, 8/8/02)
1937 Aug 8, Dustin Hoffman,
American actor, was born.
(HN, 8//00)
1937 Aug 8, The Japanese Army
occupied Beijing, China.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1940 Aug 8, The German Luftwaffe
attacked Great Britain for the first time, beginning the Battle of
Britain.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1942 Aug 8, U.S. Marines captured
the Japanese airstrip on Guadalcanal.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1942 Aug 8, Six convicted Nazi
saboteurs who had landed in the United States were executed in
Washington, D.C. Two others received life imprisonment.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1944 Aug 8, U.S. forces completed
the capture of the Marianas Islands.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1944 Aug 8, Erwin von Witzleben
(62), German fieldmarshal, was hanged.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1945 Aug 8, President Truman
signed the United Nations Charter.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1945 Aug 8, The Soviet Union
declared war against Japan. 1.5 million Soviet troops launched a
massive surprise attack (August Storm) against Japanese occupation
forces in northern China and Korea. Within days, Tokyo's million-man
army in the region had collapsed in one of the greatest military
defeats in history.
(SFC, 9/9/96, p.A19)(AP, 8/8/97)(AP, 8/6/05)
1950 Aug 8, U.S. troops repelled
the first North Korean attempt to overrun them at the battle of Naktong
Bulge, which continued for 10 days.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1950 Aug 8, Florence Chadwick
(1918-1995) swam the English Channel from France to Dover in 13 hours
and 23 minutes. A year later she swam the reverse in 16:22.
(http://www.ishof.org/70fchadwick.html)
1950 Aug 8, Nicolai Yakovlevich
Miaskovsky (b.1891), Russian composer, died.
(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0583975/)
1953 Aug 8, The song “Vaya con
Dios” recorded by Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford reached number one on
the Billboard magazine Best Seller Chart and stayed there for 9 weeks.
(SFC, 8/14/09, p.D6)
1953 Aug 8, The United States and
South Korea initialed a mutual security pact.
(AP, 8/8/99)
1953 Aug 8, In Russia Georgi
Malenkov reported the possession of hydrogen bomb.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1955 Aug 8, Fidel Castro formed
his "July 26th Movement."
(MC, 8/8/02)
1960 Aug 8, The pop song "Itsy
Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", sung by Brian Hyland (16),
hit #1. The song was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss.
(www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Pop-Modern/1960.html)(SFC, 9/28/06,
p.A2)
1962 Aug 8, The Chilean TV variety
show "Sabados Gigantes" (Gigantic Saturdays) debuted with Mario Luis
Kreutzberger Blumenfeld (b.1940) as Don Francisco. In April, 1986, the
show got shortened to the singular version (Sabado Gigante) went it
went on air in Miami, Fla. Kreutzberger was the son of German Jews who
fled Nazi persecution.
(SSFC, 11/9/03, Par p.16)(SFC, 4/14/04,
p.E1)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0250920/)
1963 Aug 8, Britain's "Great Train
Robbery" took place as thieves made off with 120 mailbags with 2.62
million pounds in banknotes. 15 men under Bruce Reynolds held up the
Glasgow to London Royal Mail (Glasgow-Euston train) and took off with
$7.2 mil in sterling. They badly beat up train driver Jack Mills. He
never returned to work and died seven years later without making a full
recovery. Ronald Biggs claimed to be one of the 15 men and later lived
freely in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His share of the robbery was $2.8 mil
but he was arrested just four weeks after the robbery. He escaped from
Wandsworth Prison in 1965 and was still wanted in Britain. Only 1/8 of
the money stolen was ever recovered. Dinner at home with Mr. Biggs
could be purchased for $50. In 1994 Biggs published an autobiography.
In 1999 a video game was developed based on the event. Biggs (71)
returned to Britain in 2001 and in 2009 he was up for parole.
(SFE, 10/1/95, p.T-8)(AP, 8/8/97)(WSJ, 11/4/99,
p.A28)(WSJ, 5/7/01, p.A1)(AFP, 7/1/09)
1966 Aug 8, South African
Broadcasting banned the Beatles for Lennon's anti-Jesus remark.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1967 Aug 8, The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established in Bangkok by the five
original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January
1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and
Cambodia on 30 April 1999.
(www.aseansec.org/64.htm)
1968 Aug 8, Richard M. Nixon was
nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami
Beach. Later that day, Nixon chose Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be
his running mate.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1968 Aug 8, In Florida a riot
broke out last night in several neighborhoods of Miami, including one
community just 10 miles from the Republican Convention. 3 negroes were
killed by gunfire.
(www.project1968.com/august-4-10-1968.html)
1969 Aug 8, Actress Sharon Tate
(26) and four other people were brutally murdered in her Beverly Hills
home; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his disciples were
later convicted of the crime. The best writing on the Manson murders
was by Joan Didion in "The White Album."
(SFEC, 3/16/97, z1 p.4)(AP, 8/9/97)(HN,
8/9/98)(SFEC, 9/19/99, BR p.6)
1972 Aug 8, A special meeting of
the Democratic National Committee chose R. Sargent Shriver, the former
director of the Peace Corps, as McGovern‘s running mate. The Democrat
ticket was swamped in the general election by incumbent President
Richard Nixon in the November 7 election.
(HNQ, 4/25/00)
1973 Aug 8, Vice President Spiro
T. Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he had taken kickbacks from
government contracts in Maryland and vowed not to resign. He eventually
did resign.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1973 Aug 8, In Texas Elmer Wayne
Henley (17) called police in the Houston suburb of Pasadena to report a
shooting. The high school dropout said he had killed Dean Corll after
the 33-year-old electric company employee threatened to rape and kill
Henley and two other teenagers who had gone to party at Corll's modest
bungalow. By night's end 8 corpses were recovered from makeshift graves
inside the corrugated metal shed in southwest Houston. The next day 9
more were discovered. Another 10 bodies were found on remote High
Island beach, 80 miles east of Houston, and in a wooded area near Lake
Sam Rayburn in East Texas. 27 dead Some as young as 13, none older than
21, were all victims of one killer, Dean Corll, and his two teenage
accomplices, Elmer Wayne Henley and David Owen Brooks. The boys had
seemed to vanish over the previous three years. In July, 1974, Henley
was convicted in six of the murders and sentenced to six life terms in
prison.
(AP, 6/8/08)
1973 Aug 8, Secret agents of the
Korean Central Intelligence Agency kidnapped Kim Dae-jung from a Tokyo
hotel, just days before he was to launch a coalition of Japan-based
South Korean organizations to work for their country's democratization.
Conservative politician Kim Jong Pil (b.1926), the father of the secret
police agency, led the kidnapping and near assassination of politician
Kim Dae Jung (b.1925). In 2007 a fact-finding panel of the National
Intelligence Service said it cannot rule out the possibility that
former President Park Chung-hee may have directly ordered the
kidnapping of Kim, then his main political rival.
(AP, 10/24/07)(SFC,12/15/97,
p.B1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-pil)
1974 Aug 8, President Nixon
announced he would resign his office 12PM Aug 9, following damaging
revelations in the Watergate scandal.
(AP,
8/8/97)(www.watergate.info/nixon/resignation-speech.shtml)
1974 Aug 8, Baldur von Schirach
(b.1907), Nazi youth leader, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldur_von_Schirach)
1975 Aug 8, Julian "Cannonball"
Adderley (b.1928), sax player, died of a stroke.
(SFC, 1/5/00,
p.C3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_Adderley)
1978 Aug 8, The United States
launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the
atmosphere of Venus.
(HFA, '96, p.36)(AP, 8/8/99)
1978 Aug 8, James Ramp (52),
Philadelphia police officer, was killed during a standoff with MOVE. 9
members of MOVE, a Black group that espoused equality with animals and
preached against technology, were convicted. Members of the group
adopted the surname Africa.
(SFC, 3/16/98,
p.A20)(www.odmp.org/officer/10987-police-officer-james-j.-ramp)
1979 Aug 8, In Iran the
revolutionary prosecutor banned the leading left-wing newspaper,
Ayandegan. 5 days later hezbollahis broke up a Tehran rally called by
the National Democratic Front, a newly organized left-of-center
political movement, to protest the Ayandegan closing.
(http://tinyurl.com/3cssq4)
1979 Aug 8, Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein executed 21 political opponents.
(www.foreignaffairs.org/1979/2.html)
1983 Aug 8, In Guatemala Gen’l.
Efrain Rios Montt (b.1926) was overthrown and the military government
of Gen. Humberto Mejia Victores took power.
(SFC, 7/5/96,
p.A13)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efra%C3%ADn_R%C3%ADos_Montt)
1985 Aug 8, Mary Louise Brooks
(b.1906), American silent film star, died. In 1982 she authored her
memoir “Lulu in Hollywood.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Brooks)
1987 Aug 8, In the Persian Gulf, a
Navy F-14 "Tomcat" fighter fired two missiles at an Iranian jet
approaching an unarmed U.S. scout plane. Both missiles missed their
target and the Iranian plane flew off.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1988 Aug 8, A renovated NYC
Central Park Zoo reopened after 4 years.
(http://nyzoosandaquarium.com/czabout)
1988 Aug 8, Sec. of State Shultz
narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Bolivia.
(www.tkb.org/MorePatterns.jsp?countryCd=BL&year=1988)
1988 Aug 8, U.N. Secretary-General
Javier Perez de Cuellar announced a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq.
This became a Iraqi national holiday until it was abolished in 2003.
(SFC, 2/24/9, p.A9)(AP, 8/8/98)(AP, 7/13/03)
1988 Aug 8-1988 Aug 13, Police in
Burma (Myanmar) killed nearly 3,000 protesters in the streets of
Rangoon.
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Par. p.5)(SFEC, 10/22/00, p.T8)
1989 Aug 8, The space shuttle
Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a secret, five-day
military mission to deploy a new Pentagon spy satellite.
(AP, 8/8/99)(SSFC, 2/2/03, p.A6)
1990 Aug 8, Pete Rose began a
5-month prison term at Marion (IL) Federal prison camp.
(www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/R/Rose_Pete.stm)
1990 Aug 8, As the Persian Gulf
crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi
Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province;
President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that "a line has
been drawn in the sand."
(AP, 8/8/00)
1991 Aug 8, James B. Irwin
(b.1930), Col USAF, astronaut (Apollo 15), died. He was the 8th person
to walk on the moon.
(www.astronautix.com/astros/irwin.htm)
1991 Aug 8, Lebanese kidnappers
freed British TV producer John McCarthy, held hostage for more than
five years; however, a rival group abducted Frenchman Jerome Leyraud,
threatening to kill him if any more hostages were released Leyraud was
freed three days later.
(AP, 8/8/01)
1991 Aug 8, The slain bodies of
former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar and his chief of staff
were found in Bakhtiar’s residence outside Paris.
(AP, 8/8/01)
1991 Aug 8, The 2,120-foot 8-inch
Radio One tower in Poland fell down.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_radio_mast)
1992 Aug 8, The U.S. basketball
"Dream Team" clinched the gold at the Barcelona Summer Olympics,
defeating Croatia 117-85.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1992 Aug 8, The space shuttle
Atlantis returned from a problem-plagued mission.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1992 Aug 8, AIDS activist Alison
Gertz died in New York at age 26.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1993 Aug 8, Freddie Woodruff
(b.1947), CIA agent chief in Tbilisi, Georgia, was shot and killed
during an outing with friends. Georgian authorities charged Anzor
Sharmaidze (20), a volunteer soldier, with the murder. Sharmaidze
confessed under torture and later said he was framed for the murder. In
2008 Sharmaidze was granted parole from prison.
(WSJ, 10/18/08,
p.A1)(http://public.cq.com/docs/hs/hsnews110-000002604568.html)(WSJ,
10/27/08, p.a12)
1993 Aug 8, In Somalia, four U.S.
soldiers were killed when a land mine was detonated underneath their
vehicle. This prompted President Clinton to order Army Rangers to try
to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
(AP, 8/8/98)
1994 Aug 8, Israel and Jordan
opened the first road link between the two once warring countries.
(AP, 8/8/99)
1995 Aug 8, President Clinton,
during a visit to Baltimore, ordered all companies doing business with
the federal government to report the pollution they cause.
(AP, 8/8/00)
1995 Aug 8, Hussein Kamel
al-Majid, formerly Iraq's industry minister, defected to Jordan with
his brother and their wives, both of whom were daughters of Saddam
Hussein. He vowed to topple Saddam and said that Sadam Hussein had
planned to invade Kuwait and Saudi Arabia this month and that Iraq had
been three months away from testing an atomic bomb before the Gulf War
began.
(WSJ, 8/21/95, p.A-1)(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)
1996 Aug 8, President Clinton
belittled Bob Dole's tax plan, vowing to oppose tax cuts that he said
the country couldn't afford. Republican sources, meanwhile, said Dole
was seriously considering Jack Kemp to be his running mate.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1996 Aug 8, Sir Neville Mott
(1906-1996), who shared the 1977 Nobel Prize in physics with Philip
Anderson and John van Vleck for research on the behavior of electricity
in non-crystalline or so-called "disordered" materials, died in London.
(SFC, 8/11/96, p.D5)
1996 Aug 8, Medical researchers
successfully cured patients with sickle-cell anemia by using a risky
bone-marrow transplant technique.
(WSJ, 7/8/96,p.A1)
1996 Aug 8, In Cambodia the
government announced an internal power struggle and split in the Khmer
Rouge. Leng Sary, a Pol Pot chum and the Khmer Rouge foreign minister,
opposed Son Sen, the minister of defense and led defections that grew
to 10,000.
(SFC, 8/12/96, p.A13)(SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(WSJ,
4/17/98, p.A13)
1996 Aug 8, Food poisoning due to
E. coli bacteria in the city of Sakai, Japan, was attributed to radish
sprouts.
(WSJ, 7/8/96,p.A1)
1997 Aug 8, US Sec. of State
Madeleine Albright announced that the bulk of US aid to Cambodia would
be suspended.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A9)
1997 Aug 8, The Teamsters and
United Parcel Service completed a second day of federally mediated
talks, with neither side reporting progress toward ending a strike.
(AP, 8/8/98)
1997 Aug 8, It was reported that
researchers have discovered how the defective gene in Huntington’s
disease causes the disorder. A genetic "stutter" inserts from 30 to 150
copies of the amino acid glutamine into key proteins and alters their
properties.
(SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)
1997 Aug 8, In Ddjelfa, Algeria, a
bomb in a baby bassinet killed 9 people. In the village of Zeboudja
insurgents slit the throats of 21 people and 20 others were shot and
wounded.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A8)
1997 Aug 8, Gen’l. Eric Shinseki,
the American in charge of NATO forces in Bosnia, announced a plan to
force all paramilitary troops to disband or face arrest.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A9)
1997 Aug 8, In Columbia Senator
Jorge Cristo and a bodyguard were killed in Cucuta. Police said leftist
guerrillas were responsible.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997 Aug 8, The resumption of
limited oil sales by Iraq was cleared by the UN Security Council. The
UN plan allows the sale of $2 billion in crude oil every 6 months.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997 Aug 8, Fighting broke out on
the Israel-Lebanon border when guerrillas fired rockets into northern
Israel and Israeli warplanes struck back. 13 people have died since Aug
4 when Israeli commandos set off bombs behind the front line killing 3
guerrilla field commanders and 2 fighters.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A8)
1997 Aug 8, In Kenya a nationwide
strike was called and declared illegal by the government. In Nairobi a
crowd of some 2,000 gathered and killed Gilbert Simiyu, a plainclothes
police officer. The strike turned into a riot with looting.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997 Aug 8, The largest int’l.
military exercise in Latvia’s history took place over 5 days at the
Adazi training center organized by the Northwest Europe Command. Troops
from 15 countries were to participate.
(BN, 6/97)
1997 Aug 8, In Peru at least 20
bus passengers were killed in a crash in the province of Cuzco. Some 80
people have died in 4 bus crashes in the last week.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997 Aug 8, On St. Vincent James
and Penny Fletcher were acquitted of the murder of Jerome Joseph after
9 months of incarceration.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A8)
1998 Aug 8, Pres. Clinton in
weekly radio address vowed the bombers of 2 US embassies in Africa
would be brought to justice, "no matter how long it takes or where it
takes us.''
(AP, 8/8/99)
1998 Aug 8, A riot broke out in
Reno, Nv., during the annual "Hot Autumn Nights" festival. There was
some property damage and a few minor injuries. 130 people were arrested.
(SFC, 8/10/98, p.A2)
1998 Aug 8, In Afghanistan the
Taliban overran Mazar-i-Sharif and killed 9 of 11 diplomats from Iran.
8 of the dead were diplomats, the 9th was a journalist. Later reports
indicated that the Taliban killed as many as 4,000 civilians, mostly
Hazaras, in a campaign partly designed to wipe out the Shiite Muslim
minority. Hazara residents were given 3 choices: convert to Sunni
Islam, leave for Shiite Iran, or die.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D4)(SFC, 9/18/98, p.D8)(SFC,
2/19/01, p.A9)(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A16)
1998 Aug 8, A group called the
Liberation Arm of the Islamic Sanctuaries claimed responsibility for
the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and threatened
more attacks. Israeli troops began to arrive to assist in rescue
efforts.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A1)(SFC,
8/10/98, p.A13)
1998 Aug 8, In Iran the first
daily newspaper dedicated to women’s issues, the daily Zan, was
launched by Faezeh Hashemi. She was the daughter of former Pres. Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani.
(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 8, In Northern Ireland
some 15,000 Apprentice Boys marched through Londonderry with a few
minor scuffles.
(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A17)
1998 Aug 8, In Serbia Slobodan
Milijkovic, a Serb wanted by the Int’l. War Crimes Tribunal, was shot
and killed by a policeman along with 2 others following insults at an
outdoor cafe in Belgrade. Milijkovic, a suspected member of the
Chetnicks ultra-nationalist paramilitary unit, had rejected
responsibility and said politicians were to blame for the war.
(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A17)
1998 Aug 8, From Sri Lanka it was
reported that recent fighting has left some 1,800 guerrillas and 1,600
government troops dead.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1999 Aug 8, Opening a new attack
on the Republican tax-cut measure, President Clinton warned the
nation’s governors at their meeting in St. Louis that the $792 billion
package would trigger "huge cuts" in Medicare, farm programs and other
spending critical to their voters.
(AP, 8/8/00)
1999 Aug 8, In Guyana Pres. Janet
Jagan (78) announced that she was resigning due to ill health and that
Bharat Jagdeo (35), her finance minister, would succeed her.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A9)
1999 Aug 8, In Honduras the
government began investigating the El Aguacate air base where human
remains had been discovered 4 days earlier. The site was a former
training base for Nicaraguan Contras.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A8)
1999 Aug 8, In Jerusalem Yasser
Arafat accepted Ehud Barak's proposal to delay land transfers and troop
withdrawals until October.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A8)
1999 Aug 8, In southern Lebanon
Israeli warplanes bombed suspected rebel positions after
Hezbollah guerrillas struck an Israeli outpost at Blatt.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A10)
1999 Aug 8, In southern Russia
federal forces opened fire from the ground and air on Islamic militants
in Dagestan. Prime minister Stepashin was in the capital Makhachkala.
The state is home to some 33 ethnic groups including Wahhabi militants
backed by Chechen commanders. Shamil Basayev, a Chechen militant,
declared Dagestan an independent Islamic state within days of seizing
several villages.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A11)(SFC, 8/14/99, p.A10)
1999 Aug 8, In Sierra Leone rebels
freed at least 19 of 35 captives taken on Aug 5.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A10)
1999 Aug 8, In Sweden AB Volvo
reached a deal to acquire Scania AB for $7.3 billion.
(WSJ, 8/9/99, p.A13)
2000 Aug 8, Vice President Al Gore
formally introduced and celebrated his Jewish running mate, Senator
Joseph Lieberman, during an appearance in Gore’s home state of
Tennessee.
(AP, 8/8/01)
2000 Aug 8, Audiotapes recorded
Enron traders deliberately congesting Western power lines: “If you can
congest it, that’s a moneymaker no matter what.”
(SFC, 6/15/04, p.A1)
2000 Aug 8, Some 109 nuclear waste
sites in 27 states, Puerto Rico and territorial islands of the Pacific
would remain dangerous for centuries according to a new report by the
US National Research Council.
(WSJ, 8/8/00, p.A24)
2000 Aug 8, The Civil War
submarine Hunley was raised and returned to Charleston, SC. State Sen.
Glenn McConnell raised funds for the Hunley project, which by 2006
reached $13.8 million, with another $15.5 million committed.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A3)(Econ, 4/10/04, p.25)
2000 Aug 8, In Bhutan flash floods
and mudslides left at least 50 people dead.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A14)
2000 Aug 8, Chile’s Supreme Court
stripped General Augusto Pinochet’s immunity, clearing the way for the
former dictator to be tried on human rights charges. However, an
appeals court later ruled Pinochet unfit to stand trial because of his
deteriorating health and mental condition.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A10)(AP, 8/8/01)
2000 Aug 8, In northeast India
flash floods and mudslides left at least 80 people dead and 2 million
homeless.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A14)
2000 Aug 8, In Iran the daily
Bahar newspaper was closed by the hard-line judiciary for "disturbing
public opinion."
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A14)
2000 Aug 8, In Kashmir the
militant Hizbul Mujahedeen called off its cease-fire.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A11)
2000 Aug 8, In Russia a bomb
exploded through an underground walkway in Moscow’s Pushkin
Square and at least 13 people were killed. Another bomb was found and
defused.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A1)(AP, 8/8/01)
2000 Aug 8, In Spain a car bomb
exploded in Madrid, where 11 people were injured and in Zumaia where 1
man was killed. The ETA was blamed.
(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A14)
2001 Aug 8, Four American Senators
met with Pres. Jiang Zemin in China and warned him that the continued
sales of sensitive missile technology would trigger an arms race and
boost internal US support for a missile defense system.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A10)
2001 Aug 8, US Federal authorities
announced the arrests of 100 people nationwide in an Internet child
pornography operation, Landslide Productions Inc., based in Fort Worth,
Tx.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A3)
2001 Aug 8, Maureen Reagan
(b.1941), daughter of former Pres. Ronald Reagan, died of malignant
melanoma. She authored the 1989 autobiography "First Father, First
Daughter."
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A20)(NW, 12/31/01, p.106)
2001 Aug 8, In Argentina thousands
of state workers, students and jobless marched on Buenos Aires for a
2nd day to protest government plans to cut wages and pensions.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A9)
2001 Aug 8, In Bangladesh a
stampede of textile workers was caused by a false fire alarm and 23
people were crushed to death.
(WSJ, 8/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 8, In Iran Mohammad
Khatami was sworn in as president for a second term. Political
in-fighting with conservatives delayed the ceremony by 3 days.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A9)(AP, 8/8/02)
2001 Aug 8, In Italy police chief
Gianni de Gennaro acknowledged that excessive force had been used
against protesters of the Group 8 summit.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 8, In Lebanon up to 250
people were arrested in protests that demanded Syrian withdrawal from
Lebanon.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A9)
2001 Aug 8, In Macedonia political
leaders initialed a peace agreement as rebels ambushed an army convoy
and killed 10 soldiers.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A8)
2002 Aug 8, The FCC ordered TV
manufacturers to install tuners for digital signals in new TV sets by
2007.
(SFC, 8/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Aug 8, Bankrupt
telecommunications firm WorldCom said it had uncovered another $3.3
billion in bogus accounting, adding to the $3.85 billion fraud it
revealed in June.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2002 Aug 8, In Oregon the Florence
and Sour Biscuit fires merged and formed the largest active fire in the
nation. The fire soon covered 308,000 acres.
(SFC, 8/9/02, p.A9)(SFC, 8/10/02, p.A5)
2002 Aug 8, Australia's highest
court ruled that Aborigines do not have rights to oil or minerals found
under tribal land now being used by mining companies.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 8, The Chinese government
awarded an Australian consortium a 25-year natural gas supply contract
in Australia's biggest-ever foreign trade deal.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 8, In Colombia President
Alvaro Uribe pressed ahead with Plan Meteor to equip 1 million citizens
with radios to report on rebel activity.
(AP, 8/9/02)(SFC, 8/9/02, p.A20)
2002 Aug 8, In Indonesia Lorenzo
Taddei (34), an Italian tourist, was shot dead in Central Sulawesi when
gunmen fired on the bus he was traveling in.
(Reuters, 8/9/02)
2002 Aug 8, In Northern
Ireland gunmen shot the son of Protestant extremist Johnny "Mad
Dog" Adair in both legs, an act known as kneecapping.
(WSJ, 8/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Aug 8, Saddam Hussein
organized a big military parade and then warned "the forces of evil"
not to attack Iraq as he sought once more to shift the debate away from
world demands that he live up to agreements that ended the Gulf War.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2002 Aug 8, Israeli troops and
tanks briefly swept into a town in the northern Gaza Strip for the
second time in two days, killing a youth and wounding three others in a
clash with Palestinian stone throwers. Negotiators failed to reach
agreement, but scheduled more talks on a gradual Israeli troop pullback
from some Palestinian areas.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 8, In Nigeria police
freed 46 captives many of them chained and badly beaten in raids on
five "torture centers" run by a feared vigilante group.
(AP, 8/9/02)
2002 Aug 8, South Korea said 10
people were dead after four days of torrential rains that North Korea
reported had also caused scores of casualties and destroyed crops in
the hungry communist state.
(Reuters, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 8, Taiwan said it may
forge ahead with legislation for a referendum on formal independence
from China, but sought to soften the blow with an assurance it would
not hold a vote unless forced into a corner.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 8, The bodies of two
Uzbek prisoners, Muzafar Avazov and Khusnuddin Olimov, who died in
custody while jailed for alleged religious extremism were returned to
their families for burial. Both men were jailed for membership in the
banned Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2003 Aug 8, George Soros pledged
$10 million to a political action committee called America Coming
Together to defeat George Bush in 2004.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2003 Aug 8, A US federal judge
ruled that some 264,000 square miles of submerged lands in the Northern
Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth, belong to the United States.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2003 Aug 8, The Boston Roman
Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle lawsuits stemming
from sex abuse by priests. The archdiocese later settled for $85
million.
(AP, 8/8/04)
2003 Aug 8, In eastern Colombia
suspected rebels set off a car bomb near the Saravena airport, killing
five civilians, including two children.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2003 Aug 8, In India workers
camped out at a mountain tunnel were hit by a fierce overnight
thunderstorm near a Himalayan resort in Himachal Pradesh state, leaving
at least 26 dead.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2003 Aug 8, Mahmud Dhiyab
Al-Ahmad, Saddam Hussein's former interior minister, (No. 29 on the
list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis) surrendered to coalition forces.
(AP, 8/10/03)
2003 Aug 8, A West Bank raid on a
bomb lab by Israeli troops killed 2 members of the Islamic militant
group Hamas. An Israeli soldier also was killed.
(AP, 8/9/03)
2003 Aug 8, Hezbollah guerrillas
shelled Israeli positions in a disputed Lebanese border region for the
first time in eight months, drawing Israeli airstrikes and artillery
fire.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2004 Aug 8, The US military said 2
American soldiers and their Afghan interpreter died when a bomb hit
their Humvee.
(AP, 8/8/04)
2004 Aug 8, Alan Keyes, the
Republican two-time presidential hopeful, threw his hat into Illinois'
Senate race (he ended up losing to Democrat Barack Obama).
(AP, 8/8/05)
2004 Aug 8, Fay Wray (b.1907),
film actress, died. She was best known for her 1933 performance in
“King Kong.”
(SFC, 8/10/04, p.B7)
2004 Aug 8, Traces of the
anti-depressant Prozac have been found in Britain's drinking water
supply, setting off alarm bells with environmentalists concerned about
potentially toxic effects. In the decade up to 2001, overall
prescriptions of antidepressants in Britain rose from 9 million to 24
million a year.
(AP, 8/8/04)
2004 Aug 8, Iraq reinstated
capital punishment for people guilty of murder, endangering national
security and distributing drugs.
(AP, 8/8/04)
2004 Aug 8, Iraq's chief
investigating judge said Ahmad Chalabi, a former Governing Council
member with strong U.S. ties, was wanted in Iraq on counterfeiting
charges, while Salem Chalabi, head of the special tribunal in charge of
trying Saddam, faced an arrest warrant for murder.
(AP, 8/9/04)
2004 Aug 8, Militants in Iraq said
they had taken a top Iranian diplomat hostage. Faridoun Jihani was
identified as the "consul for the Islamic Republic of Iran in Karbala."
(AP, 8/8/04)
2004 Aug 8, In San Juan Chamula,
Mexico, hundreds of enraged residents of this impoverished Indian
community locked the mayor and three other municipal officials in jail,
claiming they embezzled funds from public works projects.
(AP, 8/8/04)
2004 Aug 8, In Pakistan 2 bombs
ripped through an Islamic school, killing 8 and injuring 42.
(AP, 8/9/04)
2004 Aug 8, Pakistan confirmed
that Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a senior bin Laden operative, had been
captured in the UAR and transferred to Lahore.
(SFC, 8/9/04, p.A1)
2004 Aug 8, The death toll from
monsoons in South Asia reached 1,972. At least 1,152 have died in
India, 691 in Bangladesh, 124 in Nepal and 5 in Pakistan.
(AP, 8/8/04)(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.A3)
2004 Aug 8, President Leonid
Kuchma, joined by other top officials, attended the startup of nuclear
reactor No. 2 at the Khmelnitskyi plant in western Ukraine.
(AP, 8/8/04)
2005 Aug 8, Pres. Bush signed the
Energy Policy Act. The bill gave billions in tax breaks to encourage
homegrown energy production. Under the new law, effective March 2007,
Daylight Saving Time would begin three weeks earlier than previously,
on the second Sunday in March. DST would be extended by one week to the
first Sunday in November.
(www.energy.ca.gov/daylightsaving.html)(AP, 8/8/06)
2005 Aug 8, After orbiting the
Earth for nearly two weeks, astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery
were told to circle the planet for another day as bad weather in
Florida forced NASA to delay Monday's scheduled landing.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, In California 42
inmates were injured when a simmering dispute between two ethnic groups
erupted into the largest riot at San Quentin State Prison in 23 years.
(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 8, Crude-oil prices
rallied to a new high above $63 a barrel.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, Barbara Bel Geddes
(82), stage and screen actress, died in Maine. She was best known for
her role as the matriarch on the TV series “Dallas.”
(SFC, 8/10/05, p.B7)
2005 Aug 8, John H. Johnson
(b.1919) founding publisher of Ebony (1945), Jet (1951), and Ebony Man
(1985), died in Chicago.
(HN, 11/1/98)(SFC, 8/8/05, p.B4)(AP, 8/8/06)
2005 Aug 8, In southern
Afghanistan one US service member and at least 16 suspected Taliban
rebels were killed in fighting.
(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 8-2005 Aug 9, In
Afghanistan US airstrikes during operations against militants killed
civilians and wounded others, including an infant according to local
villagers.
(AP, 8/11/05)
2005 Aug 8, Milan Lukic, a former
Bosnia Serb paramilitary leader, was captured in Argentina. He was
wanted by a U.N. tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, The EU head office
gave its clearance for the import of a genetically modified corn
product made by American biotechnology company Monsanto Co. for use in
animal feed.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, India and Pakistan
agreed to extend a two-year-old cease-fire in disputed Kashmir, but did
not discuss the question of reducing their military presence there.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, In eastern India
suspected rebels launched renewed attacks overnight on pipelines,
leaving oil operations in the remote region in critical shape.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, Health officials in
Indonesia reported 205 children with polio.
(WSJ, 8/9/05, p.A1)
2005 Aug 8, Iran resumed uranium
conversion activities at its Isfahan nuclear facility, a step that
Europeans and the US warned would prompt them to seek UN sanctions
against Tehran.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, In Iraq armed men
deposed Baghdad’s Mayor Alaa al-Tamini. They installed Hussein
al-Tahaan, a member of the Badr organization, and governor of Baghdad
province.
(SFC, 8/10/05, p.A3)
2005 Aug 8, Japanese lawmakers
rejected legislation to split up and sell the nation's postal service,
leading PM Junichiro Koizumi to call snap elections next month. He
promised to make the vote a referendum on his reform plan and pledged
to resign if it fails.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 8, In Saudi Arabia King
Abdullah pardoned 4 prominent activists who were jailed after
criticizing the strict religious environment and the slow pace of
democratic reform.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2006 Aug 8, The US Federal Reserve
halted interest rate hikes at 5.25%. the DJIA fell 45.79 to 11,173.
Nasdaq fell 11.65 to 2,060. Jeffrey Lacker, head of the Richmond Fed,
voted against the decision halt rate hikes.
(SFC, 8/9/06, p.C1)(Econ, 8/12/06, p.59)
2006 Aug 8, Medicare said it plans
to cut doctor payment rates by 5.1% and force hospitals to disclose
financial data.
(WSJ, 8/9/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 8, Voters in Connecticut
rejected three-term Sen. Joe Lieberman for Ned Lamont, a political
newcomer, in the nation's first major test of the depth of anger over
the Iraq war. Lieberman ended up winning re-election to the Senate by
running as an independent
(AP, 8/9/06)(AP, 8/8/07)
2006 Aug 8, Roger Goodell was
chosen as the NFL's next commissioner.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2006 Aug 8, In Indianapolis,
Indiana, a fatal stabbing boosted the homicides to 13 in just one week
in the midst of an upsurge of violence that has police working longer
shifts and saturating high-crime areas.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, In eastern Afghanistan
US military killed 15 insurgents who attacked a US base in Nuristan
province. 12 militants and 8 policemen were killed in fighting in
Kandahar.
(AP, 8/9/06)(AP, 8/10/06)
2006 Aug 8, Chad and Sudan agreed
to reopen their borders and resume diplomatic relations that they
severed in a dispute four months ago.
(AP, 8/9/06)
2006 Aug 8, In Chile police used
tear gas and water cannons to disperse about 2,000 rock-throwing
students seeking better equipment for 21 schools in the Santiago area.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, Gustavo Arcos Bergnes
(79), who fought alongside Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution but was
later imprisoned as a dissident, died in Havana.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, A car bomb killed a
prosecutor in Dagestan, Russia, and two police were shot dead as they
arrived on the scene.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, Eritrea announced that
Brigadier General Kemal Gelchu, a dissident Ethiopian general, had
defected to Eritrea, said that he would be joining the OLF to fight for
his Oromo people's rights.
(Econ, 8/19/06, p.44)
2006 Aug 8, Gunmen with automatic
weapons stormed Kaieteur News, Guyana's largest newspaper, killing at
least six people and wounding three in an attack that may have been
connected to a simultaneous protest at the nation's main prison.
(AP, 8/9/06)
2006 Aug 8, Indian officials said
flooding caused by monsoon rains have killed 69 people in western India
in the past three days, and caused tens of thousands to flee their
homes.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, Indonesian health
officials said 2 teenagers have died of bird flu. This would bring
Indonesia's death toll to 44 and make it the world's hardest-hit
country.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, A series of bombings
and shootings killed at least 31 people in Baghdad and other parts of
Iraq as more US troops were seen in the capital as part of Operation
Together Forward, a campaign to reduce Sunni-Shiite violence that
threatened civil war. A US Army helicopter crashed in Iraq's western
Anbar province, leaving two crew members missing and four injured. A
policeman was killed and another wounded when they were trying to
defuse a roadside bomb in Samarra. An explosion at a mosque in Baqouba
left four people dead.
(AP, 8/8/06)(AP, 8/9/06)(Econ, 9/2/06, p.44)
2006 Aug 8, Israeli forces battled
Hezbollah guerrillas across southern Lebanon as diplomats at the United
Nations struggled to keep a peace plan from collapsing over Arab
demands for an immediate Israeli withdrawal. At least 19 Lebanese
civilians were killed in Israeli airstrikes. Israel reported five
soldiers killed.
(AP, 8/8/06)(AP, 8/9/06)
2006 Aug 8, The Philippine
Congress began hearing new impeachment complaints against President
Gloria Arroyo, linking her to corruption and human rights abuses and
alleging she cheated in the 2004 election.
(AFP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, Russian officials said
drawings by the late architect Yakov Chernikhov (d.1951), worth
millions of dollars, had disappeared from the Russian State Archive of
Literature and Art. Chernikhov was widely admired for his avant-garde
and constructivist designs. Rosokhrankultura said it became aware of
the Chernikhov thefts after nine missing drawings were sold at auction
by auction house Christie's on June 22.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, In Sri Lanka Tamil
rebels released water from a disputed reservoir, ending a 19-day
blockade that sparked some of the worst fighting between government
troops and guerrillas in four years. In Colombo a car bomb killed two
people, including a 3-year-old girl.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, Turkey battled the
largest recorded outbreak of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, which has
killed at least 20 people this year, and experts said more cases of the
Ebola-like disease are inevitable in coming months.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 8, Five Yemeni army
officers were killed when their military helicopter crashed during a
heavy rainstorm.
(AP, 8/9/06)
2007 Aug 8, The US space shuttle
Endeavour and a crew of 7 took off from Cape Canaveral, Fl., on a
special mission. Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan was part of the crew.
(SFC, 8/9/07, p.A7)
2007 Aug 8, Researchers from the
University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill reported that coral
coverage in the Indo-Pacific, an area stretching from Indonesia's
Sumatra island to French Polynesia, had dropped 20 percent in the past
two decades. They said the decline was driven by climate change,
disease and coastal development.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, In SF Donald Fisher
(78) and his wife Doris, founders of Gap (a chain of clothing stores),
announced plans to build the Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio.
(SFC, 8/8/07, p.A3)
2007 Aug 8, A tornado struck
Brooklyn, NY. This was the first ever tornado in recorded history to
touch down in Brooklyn. It was the first tornado to hit New York City
since 2003, when a weak tornado touched down in Staten Island, and only
the sixth tornado recorded in the city since 1950.
(http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/37273/)(http://tinyurl.com/3a2npv)
2007 Aug 8, Melville Shavelson
(90), comedy writer, producer and director, died in Studio City, Ca.
His films included “Cast a Giant Shadow” (1966). His books included
“How to Make a Jewish Movie.”
(SFC, 8/10/07, p.B9)
2007 Aug 8, Argentine authorities
said they were investigating why Venezuelan businessman Antonini Wilson
was carrying $800,000 in undeclared cash aboard an executive jet
charted by Argentina's state energy company. In December US prosecutors
said that the suitcase full of Venezuelan cash was intended to finance
the presidential campaign of Cristina Kirchner.
(AP, 8/8/07)(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Aug 8, Australia's central
bank hiked interest rates 0.25 points to a decade-high 6.5 percent in
an unprecedented pre-election move that the government admitted creates
a political headache.
(AFP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, An Austrian federal
court rejected Kazakhstan's request to have its ex-ambassador to
Austria, a former son-in-law of the Central Asian nation's autocratic
president, extradited to face kidnapping charges in his homeland.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Researchers from
Belgium and China said a simple blood test can detect early stage liver
cancer and more accurately diagnose the disease that is a major killer
in Asia and Africa.
(Reuters, 8/9/07)
2007 Aug 8, A British air force
helicopter crashed near an army base in northern England, killing two
military personnel and injuring 10.
(AP, 8/9/07)
2007 Aug 8, Beijing began the
one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympics. Jacques Rogge, president of
the International Olympic Committee, acknowledged that Beijing's air
pollution could force the postponement of outdoor events during next
year's Olympics.
(AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, An international team
of researchers said the long-threatened Yangtze River dolphin in China
is probably extinct. They also said this would mark the first whale or
dolphin to be wiped out due to human activity.
(Reuters, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, In southwest Colombia
families confirmed that two military officers kidnapped four months ago
by leftist rebels have died in captivity. Army Sgts. Alexander Cardona
and Jesus Sol were taken hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC), while on patrol near their homes.
(AP, 8/9/07)
2007 Aug 8, A report by the
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights detailed 567 cases of police
torture in the last 14 years, of which 167 led to the victim’s death.
(Econ, 9/1/07, p.38)(www.eohr.org/)
2007 Aug 8, Ethiopia said it had
killed more than 500 rebels and captured 170 in the past two months
during an offensive in the volatile but energy-rich Ogaden region
bordering Somalia.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Ma Lik (55), the
leader of Hong Kong's leading pro-Beijing political party, DAB, died of
complications from colon cancer.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, In northeastern
India's Assam state suspected separatist rebels fatally shot 12 people
in two separate attacks. Police suspect the attack was carried out
jointly by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and another local
insurgent group, the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front, which is
fighting for autonomy for people of the Karbi tribe.
(AP, 8/9/07)
2007 Aug 8, Millions of people in
Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, voted for governor for the first time,
the latest in a wave of local elections hailed as key to strengthening
democracy in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Iraqi PM Nouri
al-Maliki arrived in Iran for talks expected to focus on bilateral
relations and overcoming "terrorism challenges." Iraqis told they will
not get automatic asylum in Britain despite braving death threats to
work alongside British troops will now have their cases reviewed.
US-led forces swooped into the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City,
killing 32 suspected militants and detaining 12 others in fighting and
an airstrike targeting alleged smuggling networks from Iran. Police and
witnesses said 9 civilians were killed in the attack.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Israeli soldiers shot
and killed three Palestinian militants near Israel's border with the
Gaza Strip in two separate incidents.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Mauritania passed a
law promising prison time for people who keep slaves, a monumental step
in the northwest African nation's push to eliminate the long-standing
practice. The government officially abolished slavery in 1981, but no
one has ever been prosecuted for it and no law created a punishment.
(AP, 8/9/07)
2007 Aug 8, In Nigeria kidnappers
released a British and a Bulgarian hostage in the southern oil region,
while the young son of a local legislator was seized in a separate
incident and gunbattles raged for a third day.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Pakistani security
forces killed three separatist militants after they were fired on while
surveying a flood-hit area in southwestern Baluchistan province.
(Reuters, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, In South Africa Pres.
Mbeki dismissed deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge
following reports that she had gone to Spain to attend an AIDS
conference without his permission. AIDS activists have been highly
critical of her boss, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who
promoted garlic and lemons as a remedy for AIDS and mistrusted
antiretroviral medicines.
(AP, 8/10/07)
2007 Aug 8, Venezuela's socialist
President Hugo Chavez took a campaign of petrodollar diplomacy to
Uruguay, seeking stronger political ties while offering energy aid from
one of the world's largest oil producers.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, In Vietnam officials
said at least 34 people have died and 17 more were missing and feared
dead after Tropical Storm Pabuk lashed the country.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2008 Aug 8, John Edwards, former
North Carolina senator and Democratic presidential candidate, admitted
that he had an extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter, a film producer,
in 2006 but denied fathering a daughter with her.
(AP, 8/9/08)(Econ, 8/16/08,
p.34)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rielle_Hunter)
2008 Aug 8, Struggling home
finance giant Fannie Mae reported a massive second quarter loss of 2.3
billion dollars, more than three times analysts' estimates.
(AFP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, UBS AG agreed to buy
back $19 billion in auction rate securities improperly sold as
higher-rate equivalents for super-safe money market funds.
(WSJ, 8/9/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 8, Joseph Bennett (43) of
Canada tried to drive an 58 bags contained 275,000 Ecstasy pills,
estimated at $6.5 million in street value, into Port Huron, Michigan.
In 2009 a federal judge in Detroit sentenced him to 7½ years in
prison.
(SFC, 6/25/09, p.A5)(http://tinyurl.com/koa934)
2008 Aug 8, Nebraska Beef, an
Omaha meat packer, recalled 1.2 million pounds of beef after products
were linked to illnesses in 12 states. In July the company had recalled
over 5 million pounds of beef due to an outbreak of E. coli in 7 states.
(SSFC, 8/10/08, p.A4)
2008 Aug 8, In Texas a charter bus
carrying Vietnamese worshippers on a pilgrimage ran off a highway
overpass north of Dallas and plunged onto a roadway below. 15 people
were killed and 40 injured.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, In western Afghanistan
a coalition service member died in a roadside blast. About 20 Taliban
fighters were killed in a battle with Afghan and US-led forces near a
key military supply route in the western Bala Buluk district. An Afghan
child was killed and two injured by militants who attacked alliance
troops in northeastern Kunar province.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 8/9/08)
2008 Aug 8, In Algeria 12 armed
Islamists, including a number of individuals considered among the
leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, were killed overnight by the army
in an ambush near Beni Douala, near Tizi Ouzou.
(AFP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 8, Australian Customs and
police said they had seized 4.4 tons of ecstasy tablets worth nearly
400 million dollars, describing it as the biggest haul of the illicit
drug anywhere in the world. Police said the seizure of the drugs, which
were concealed in tins of tomato shipped to Australia from Italy, had
resulted in the arrests of 21 people across the country beginning in
pre-dawn raids.
(AFP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, Bolivia said it has
reached an agreement in principle to purchase the local operations of
energy company Royal Dutch Shell PLC as part of President Evo Morales'
nationalization push.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, President Bush blended
carefully calibrated political messages for China and Russia with
enthusiasm for his nation's athletes as he became the first US
president to attend an Olympics abroad.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, In Beijing, China, the
29th Olympic Games, costing an estimated 40 billion dollars and
shrouded by political controversies, burst into life with a spectacular
opening ceremony at the “bird’s nest” stadium designed by Ai Weiwei.
The official slogan for the games this year was “One world, one dream.”
Actress activist Mia Farrow began Web-casting her own "Darfur Olympics"
from a refugee camp on the barren Sudan-Chad border, aiming to shame
China into using its influence with Khartoum to end the Darfur conflict.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 8/7/08)(Econ, 8/2/08, p.28)(Econ,
8/2/08, p.85)
2008 Aug 8, In the Czech Republic
an international express train crashed into a collapsed bridge, killing
at least six people and injuring dozens.
(Reuters, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, The EU tightened trade
sanctions against Iran to punish Tehran for not committing to a
long-standing demand of the international community that it freeze its
nuclear enrichment program.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, Georgian troops
launched a major military offensive to regain control of South Ossetia,
prompting a furious response from Russia, which sent tanks into the
region. The convoy was expected to reach the provincial capital by
evening. Georgia said it shot down two Russian combat planes.
Separatist officials in South Ossetia said 15 civilians had been killed
in fighting overnight. Georgia later acknowledged that it used M85
cluster munition near the Roki tunnel that connects South Ossetia with
Russia, while Russia denied use of cluster bombs.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Aug 8, Guinea Bissau's army
announced it had arrested rear admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, the
head of the navy, over an attempted coup.
(AFP, 8/9/08)
2008 Aug 8, Anti-US cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr ordered most of his followers to disarm but said he will
maintain an elite fighting unit to resist the Americans in Iraq. Ashraf
al-Yas (19) talked his way through a police checkpoint, drove his
vehicle into a crowded farmers market and detonated his explosives. He
killed 28 people and injured 72 in Tal Afar. A roadside bombing in
Baghdad killed an American soldier and wounded 2 others.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 8/9/08)(SSFC, 8/10/08, p.A19)(AP,
8/30/08)
2008 Aug 8, In Nigeria police
arrested the head of a federal agency charged with developing Nigeria's
impoverished southern oil region after allegations the man spent
millions of dollars on a witch doctor in hopes vanquishing a rival.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, In Pakistan at least
seven Pakistani troops and 30 militants were reported killed in two
days of clashes at Loisam and its surrounding areas in the Bajaur
tribal district. Insurgents stormed a police post in Buner and killed 8
police officers.
(AFP, 8/8/08)(SSFC, 8/10/08, p.A11)
2008 Aug 8, In Sri Lanka artillery
shells fired by the army hit a hospital overnight killing an
18-month-old baby and wounding 16 people. Infantry clashes in the north
killed 31 rebels and four soldiers.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 8/9/08)
2008 Aug 8, The Large Hadron
Collider (LHC) near Geneva, began initial tests.
(Econ, 8/2/08,
p.78)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider)
2008 Aug 8, In Turkey Mehmet
Dursun Uygurturkoglu (35) doused himself with gasoline and set himself
alight during a protest by ethnic Uighurs outside the Chinese Embassy.
Other demonstrators jumped on the man and quickly extinguished the
flames with a blanket.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, Researchers said at
least 38 Warao Indians have died in remote villages in Venezuela since
June 2007. Medical experts suspected an outbreak of rabies spread by
bites from vampire bats.
(AP, 8/8/08)
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