● August 8 in History
1655 — Russian and Cossack forces attack and occupy Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at the Battle of Vilnius. After three days of pillaging, the city is burnt in a fire the lasts 17 days. 1786 — Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard of Savoy complete the first ascent of Mont Blanc in France, a major feat in early mountaineering. Balmat, a farmer and crystal prospector, and physician Paccard (both born in Chamonix, Savoy, Kingdom of Sardinia), reach the 4,806.7m “roof of Europe” at 6.23pm and remain there for 30 minutes. 1908 — Wilbur Wright makes the Wright brothers’ first public flight with their motor-operated airplane (in the making since 1903) at the Hunaudieres racecourse near Le Mans, France.
1918 — The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines in the Hundred Days Offensive. It ends World War 1 (since July 28 1914) with a ceasefire and Allied victory on November 11. 1919 — The Rawalpindi Treaty brings an end to the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Britain recognises Afghanistan’s independence and agrees that British India would not extend past the Khyber Pass.
1937 — Dustin Hoffman, American actor (“The Graduate”, “Midnight Cowboy”, “All the President’s Men”, “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “Rain Man”), is born in LA. 1969 — Photographer Iain Macmillan takes the photo of George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon striding along a zebra crossing on Abbey Road, outside EMI’s studios in London, that becomes the cover of the Beatles’ last album “Abbey Road”. 1970 — Chester Williams, Springbok wing (1995 World Cup winner; 27 Tests from 1993 to 2000, 14 tries) and coach, is born in Paarl.
1981 — Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player, is born in Basel to a Swiss father, Robert, and an Afrikaans mother, Lynette (Durand) from Kempton Park. He holds several ATP records and has won 20 Grand Slam (Wimbledon 8, Australian Open 6, US Open 5, French Open 1) and 103 ATP titles. His Roger Federer Foundation, founded in 2003 and dedicated to providing education programmes for children living in poverty in Africa and Switzerland, has benefitted 1.75-million children by the end of 2020.
1990 — Kane Williamson, New Zealand cricket captain (85 Tests, 7,230 runs, 53.96 average; 151 ODIs, 6,173 runs, 47.48 average; 67 T20Is, 1,805 runs, 31.66 average), is born in Tauranga.
2000 — HL Hunley, the Confederate submarine from the America Civil War that sank on February 17 1864, is raised to the surface 30 years after it was discovered by underwater archaeologist E Lee Spence.