DAY IN HISTORY

Friday, May 8, 2020

Today is the 129th day of 2020 and the 51st day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1877, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held in New York City.

In 1902, Mount Pelee erupted on the island of Martinique, destroying the city of Saint-pierre and killing an estimated 30,000 people.

In 1945, Victory in Europe Day (or V-E Day) was celebrated as the Allies accepted Nazi

Germany’s unconditional surrender, ending World War II in Europe.

In 1973, a 10-week standoff in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, between federal authorities and American Indian Movement activists ended.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), 33rd U.S. president; David Attenborough (1926- ), TV personality/environmentalist; Don Rickles (19262017), comedian/actor; Thomas Pynchon (1937), author; Ricky Nelson (1940-1985), singer-songwriter; Toni Tennille (1940- ), singer-songwriter; Mike D’antoni (1951), basketball coach; Bill Cowher (1957- ), football coach/analyst; Lovie Smith (1958- ), football coach; Enrique Iglesias (1975- ), singer-songwriter; Adrian Gonzalez (1982- ), baseball player.

TODAY’S FACT: Pharmacist John Pemberton sold the first Coca-cola soft drink on this day in 1886.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler became the first climbers to ascend Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “No nation on this globe should be more internationally minded than America because it was built by all nations.” — Harry Truman

TODAY’S NUMBER: 418,500 — total U.S. military and civilian deaths in World War II, according to the National WWII Museum.

TODAY’S MOON:

Between full moon (May 7) and last quarter moon