November 8 facts for kids

This page is all about November 8th! Every day, cool things happen around the world. Let's explore some important events, famous people born on this day, and special holidays.

Exciting Events Through History

Before the 1600s

• 960 – The Byzantine army, led by Leo Phokas the Younger, won a huge battle called the Battle of Andrassos. They defeated the Hamdanid ruler, Sayf al-Dawla.
• 1278 – Trần Thánh Tông, the second emperor of the Trần dynasty in Vietnam, decided to give his throne to his son, Trần Khâm. He then became a "Retired Emperor."
• 1291 – The city of Venice passed a law that said most of their famous glassmaking had to happen on the island of Murano. This helped keep their special glassmaking secrets safe!
• 1519 – The Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlán, the capital city of the Aztecs. The Aztec ruler, Moctezuma, welcomed him with a big celebration.
• 1520 – The terrible Stockholm Bloodbath began. After Denmark successfully invaded Sweden, about 100 people, mostly important noblemen, were executed.
• 1576 – During the Eighty Years' War, the different parts of the Netherlands came together in the Pacification of Ghent. They united to fight against the Spanish army that was occupying their land.

From 1601 to 1900

• 1602 – The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford in England opened its doors to the public. It's one of the oldest and most famous libraries in the world!
• 1614 – A Japanese daimyō (a powerful lord) named Dom Justo Takayama was sent away to the Philippines by the ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu because he was Christian.
• 1620 – The Battle of White Mountain happened near Prague. It was a very quick battle, lasting only two hours, and ended with a big victory for the Catholic side.
• 1644 – The Shunzhi Emperor became the first emperor of the Qing dynasty to rule over all of China, after the previous Ming dynasty fell apart.
• 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart (also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie) invaded England with an army of about 5,000 soldiers. They would later fight in the Battle of Culloden.
• 1837 – Mary Lyon started the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. This school later became Mount Holyoke College, an important college for women.
• 1861 – During the American Civil War, a US Navy ship stopped a British mail ship and arrested two people from the Confederate side. This event, called the "Trent Affair," caused a big problem between the UK and the US.
• 1889 – Montana officially became the 41st state in the United States.
• 1892 – The New Orleans general strike began. For the first time, Black and White American trade union members worked together in a successful strike that lasted four days.
• 1895 – While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen made an amazing discovery: the X-ray! This invention changed medicine forever.

From 1901 to Today

• 1901 – The Gospel riots happened in Athens, Greece. These were bloody clashes that broke out after the Gospels (parts of the Bible) were translated into a more common form of Greek.
• 1917 – The first Council of People's Commissars was formed in Russia, including important leaders like Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin.
• 1920 – Rupert Bear, a famous cartoon character illustrated by Mary Tourtel, appeared in print for the very first time.
• 1923 – The Beer Hall Putsch took place in Munich. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis tried to overthrow the German government, but they failed.
• 1932 – Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected as the 32nd President of the United States, defeating the current president, Herbert Hoover.
• 1933 – During the Great Depression, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the Civil Works Administration. This program was designed to create jobs for more than four million people who were unemployed.
• 1936 – In the Spanish Civil War, Francoist troops tried to capture Madrid but couldn't. However, they began a three-year Siege of Madrid afterwards.
• 1939 – In Munich, Adolf Hitler barely escaped an assassination attempt by Georg Elser during a celebration.
• 1940 – In the Greco-Italian War, the Italian invasion of Greece failed. Greek soldiers, even though they were outnumbered, pushed back the Italians in the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas.
• 1942 – During World War II, French patriots in Algiers fought against the Vichy French army for 15 hours. They arrested several generals, helping the Operation Torch invasion succeed.
• 1950 – In the Korean War, a US Air Force pilot, Lt. Russell J. Brown, shot down two North Korean planes. This was the first time in history that one jet aircraft shot down another jet aircraft in a dogfight.
• 1957 – Pan Am Flight 7 disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. Wreckage and bodies were found a week later.
• 1957 – The United Kingdom successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb over Kiritimati in the Pacific Ocean.
• 1960 – John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th President of the United States. He defeated Richard Nixon, who later became president in 1968.
• 1965 – The British Indian Ocean Territory was created. It includes several island groups like Chagos Archipelago.
• 1965 – The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 became law in the United Kingdom, officially ending the death penalty for almost all crimes.
• 1965 – During the Vietnam War, the 173rd Airborne was attacked by over 1,200 Viet Cong soldiers.
• 1965 – American Airlines Flight 383 crashed in Kentucky, killing 58 people.
• 1966 – Edward Brooke became the first African American to be elected to the United States Senate since the Reconstruction era.
• 1966 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a law that allowed the National Football League to merge with the American Football League.
• 1968 – The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic was signed. This agreement helps make international road travel easier and safer by setting common traffic rules.
• 1972 – The American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) officially launched.
• 1973 – The right ear of John Paul Getty III was sent to a newspaper with a ransom note. This convinced his father to pay US$2.9 million for his release.
• 1977 – Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist, discovered the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina. Philip II was the father of Alexander the Great!
• 1983 – TAAG Angola Airlines Flight 462 crashed after taking off, killing all 130 people on board.
• 1988 – George H. W. Bush was elected as the 41st President of the United States.
• 1994 – In the 1994 United States midterm elections, Republicans won many seats in both houses of Congress. This ended four decades of Democratic control.
• 1997 – Eritrea adopted the nakfa as its official currency.
• 2002 – The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on a resolution about Iraq. This forced Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences."
• 2004 – During the Iraq War, more than 10,000 US troops and Iraqi army units attacked the city of Fallujah.
• 2006 – In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Israeli Defense Force killed 19 Palestinian civilians in their homes during the shelling of Beit Hanoun.
• 2011 – A large asteroid named 2005 YU55 passed very close to Earth, about 324,600 kilometers away. It was the closest a bright asteroid had come since 1976.
• 2013 – Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, hit the Visayas region of the Philippines. The storm killed at least 6,340 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
• 2016 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that certain banknotes (₹500 and ₹1000) would no longer be legal money.
• 2016 – Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton was the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party.
• 2020 – Myanmar held its general election, re-electing the government led by the National League for Democracy. However, the Burmese military took over the government the following February.

Famous People Born on November 8th

• 1456 – Queen Gonghye, a Korean royal consort.
• 1543 – Lettice Knollys, an important English noblewoman.
• 1656 – Edmond Halley, an English astronomer and mathematician. He's famous for Halley's Comet!
• 1768 – Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom.
• 1836 – Milton Bradley, an American businessman who founded the Milton Bradley Company, known for games.
• 1847 – Bram Stoker, an Irish novelist who created the famous character Count Dracula.
• 1848 – Gottlob Frege, a German mathematician and philosopher.
• 1895 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, a Japanese general.
• 1900 – Margaret Mitchell, an American journalist and author, famous for Gone with the Wind.
• 1908 – Martha Gellhorn, an American journalist and author.
• 1912 – June Havoc, an American actress, singer, and dancer.
• 1914 – Norman Lloyd, an American actor, director, and producer who lived to be over 100!
• 1922 – Christiaan Barnard, a South African surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant.
• 1923 – Jack Kilby, an American physicist and engineer who won the Nobel Prize for inventing the integrated circuit (microchip).
• 1927 – Patti Page, a popular American singer.
• 1931 – Morley Safer, a Canadian-American journalist.
• 1932 – Alain Delon, a famous French-Swiss actor.
• 1946 – Gordon Ramsay, a British chef and TV host.
• 1949 – Bonnie Raitt, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1950 – Mary Hart, an American journalist and actress.
• 1952 – Alfre Woodard, an American actress.
• 1954 – Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-British novelist and screenwriter who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1954 – Rickie Lee Jones, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1966 – Gordon Ramsay, a famous British chef and TV personality.
• 1967 – Courtney Thorne-Smith, an American actress.
• 1968 – Parker Posey, an American actress.
• 1970 – Tom Anderson, an American businessman who co-founded Myspace.
• 1971 – Tech N9ne, an American musician and rapper.
• 1974 – Masashi Kishimoto, a Japanese author and illustrator who created Naruto.
• 1975 – Tara Reid, an American actress.
• 1976 – Brett Lee, a famous Australian cricketer.
• 1979 – Dania Ramirez, a Dominican actress.
• 1981 – Joe Cole, an English footballer.
• 1985 – Jack Osbourne, an English-American television personality.
• 1986 – Aaron Swartz, an American computer programmer and activist.
• 1989 – SZA, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1991 – Dan Middleton, a popular English YouTube personality and gamer.
• 2000 – Jade Pettyjohn, an American actress.

Notable People Who Passed Away on November 8th

• 397 – Martin of Tours, a French bishop and saint.
• 1226 – Louis VIII, the King of France.
• 1308 – Duns Scotus, a Scottish priest and philosopher.
• 1605 – Robert Catesby, an English conspirator who led the Gunpowder Plot.
• 1674 – John Milton, a famous English poet, known for Paradise Lost.
• 1887 – Doc Holliday, an American dentist and poker player from the Wild West.
• 1890 – César Franck, a Belgian organist and composer.
• 1953 – Ivan Bunin, a Russian author and poet who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1978 – Norman Rockwell, a famous American painter and illustrator.
• 1986 – Vyacheslav Molotov, a Russian politician and diplomat.
• 1998 – Jean Marais, a French actor and director.
• 2009 – Vitaly Ginzburg, a Russian physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
• 2011 – Heavy D, a Jamaican-American rapper and actor.
• 2011 – Bil Keane, an American cartoonist who created The Family Circus.
• 2020 – Alex Trebek, a Canadian-American television personality and the longtime host of Jeopardy!.

Holidays and Observances

• International Day of Radiology
• National Aboriginal Veterans Day (Canada)
• World Urbanism Day
• Victory Day (Azerbaijan)

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot, ready to learn!