What happened on May 8 ?

535 - Pope John II

1278 - Emperor Duanzong of China (b. 1268)

1319 - King Haakon V of Norway (b. 1270)

1473 - John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English politician (b. 1420)

1538 - Edward Fox, English bishop

1766 - Samuel Chandler, English non-conformist minister (b. 1693)

1773 - Ali Bey Al-Kabir, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (b. 1728)

1781 - Richard Jago, English poet (b. 1715)

1785 - ÿtienne François, duc de Choiseul, French statesman (b. 1719)

1785 - Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (b. 1701)

1788 - Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-born physician and naturalist (b. 1723)

1794 - Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (executed) (b. 1743)

1819 - Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii

1828 - Mauro Giuliani, Italian composer (b. 1781)

1837 - Alexander Balashov, Russian general and statesman (b. 1770)

1842 - Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (b. 1790)

1873 - John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (b. 1806)

1880 - Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (b. 1821)

1891 - Helena Blavatsky, Russian-born author (b. 1831)

1936 - Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (b. 1880)

1943 - Mordechaj Anielewicz, Polish Resistance Fighter (b. 1919)

1947 - Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-born department store founder (b. 1858)

1950 - Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician (b. 1865)

1952 - William Fox, Austrian-born film producer (b. 1879)

1960 - J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)

1975 - Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1887)

1982 - Neil Bogart, American record executive (b. 1943)

1982 - Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (b. 1950)

1984 - Lila Bell Wallace, American magazine publisher (Reader's Digest) (b. 1890)

1985 - Theodore Sturgeon, American science fiction writer (b. 1918)

1985 - Dolph Sweet, American actor (b. 1920)

1988 - Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (b. 1907)

1990 - Luigi Nono, Italian composer (b. 1924)

1990 - Tomás Cardinal ÿ Fiaich, Northern Irish clergyman (b. 1923)

1991 - Jean Langlais, French composer and pianist (b. 1907)

1991 - Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (b. 1903)

1993 - Avram Davidson, writer (b. 1923)

1994 - George Peppard, American actor (b. 1928)

1995 - Teresa Teng, Asian superstar (b. 1953)

1996 - Beryl Burton, English cyclist (b. 1937)

1996 - Dominguín, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1926)

1996 - Garth Williams, American illustrator (b. 1912)

1998 - Bebe Rebozo, American banker and Watergate figure (b. 1912)

1999 - Dirk Bogarde, British actor (b. 1921)

1999 - Dana Plato, American actress (b. 1964)

2000 - Guadalupe "Pita" Amor, Mexican poet (b. 1918)

2006 - Iain MacMillan, Abbey Road Photographer (b. 1938)