September 8

117 While sailing back to Rome, the Roman Emperor Trajan fell ill. He died of a stroke in the city of Selinus on September 8, 117. As the emperor lay dying, nursed by his wife, Plotina, he adopted Hadrian as heir. He was deified by the Senate, and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajan's Column. The 18th century historian Edward Gibbon popularized the notion in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire of the Five Good Emperors, of which Trajan was the second.

Trajan Wikipedia

1157 King Richard I of England was born on September 8, 1157 at Beaumont Palace, Oxford. His mother was Eleanor of Aquitaine, his father King Henry II. He was the favorite son of Eleanor of Aquitaine and was bought up at his mother's court at Poitiers, speaking French and Provencal. Richard spoke very little English during his lifetime. Richard spent much of his earlier life with his brothers fighting his father, Henry II. He was dissatisfied with the lands his father had granted him.

1504 In 1501, the city government of Florence commissioned Michelangelo to create a statue of the Old Testament king of Israel, David, as part of a series of statues meant to adorn the roofline of Florence's cathedral dome. Michelangelo unveiled his 13ft high stone carving on September 8, 1504. They were so overwhelmed by David's beauty that they decided to scrap the plan to place it on the cathedral dome and instead place it where it could be appreciated up close, outside Florence's government offices in the Palazzo Della Signoria.

Michelangelo's David

1565 Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine in Spanish Florida on September 8, 1565. He named the settlement "San Agustín", as his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida eleven days earlier, the feast day of St. Augustine. It is the oldest continually occupied European town in the continental United States.

1664 In 1624 the Dutch established a settlement, New Amsterdam, at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. It was designated the capital of the New Netherland province the following year. On September 8, 1664 Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to the British.. It was renamed New York in honor of the Duke of York, future King James II of England, who had organized the mission.

New Amsterdam in 1664 (looking approximately due north)

1727 On the evening of September 8, 1727, a fire broke out in a barn in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, England, where a puppet show was being held. The fire killed 78 people, including 51 children. The victims of the fire were buried in a mass grave in the churchyard of St. Mary the Virgin Church.

1761 When George III of the UK asked John Stuart 3rd Earl of Butee for a review of all eligible German Protestant princesses. He chose the 17-year-old plain, dull but sweet-natured, pious and modest Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz to be his bride. They married on September 8, 1761 in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace. Charlotte was speechless with nerves and was barely able to stand under the weight of her cloth of silver dress. The couple enjoyed a genuinely happy marriage. 

The couple and their six eldest children

1841 The composer Antonín Dvorák was born on September 8, 1841, in Nelahozeves, near Prague, now in the Czech Republic. Antonin's father was a butcher and innkeeper, who also played the zither and composed a few simple dances. Antonín was exposed to music in and around his father's inn and started to have violin lessons from the village schoolmaster. The youngster became an accomplished violinist playing with amateur musicians at local dances.

1888 The first season of the English Football League began on September 8, 1888 with 12 member clubs from the Midlands and North of England: Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Preston North End were the first champions.

Preston North End the first champions

1914 Nineteen-year-old Private Thomas James Highgate was the first British soldier to be convicted of desertion and executed during World War 1. Highgate was informed of his fate at 6.22 am on September 8th and shot by a firing squad less than an hour later at 7.07 am. 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were executed for desertion during World War I.

1921 The Miss America beauty contest was created in Atlantic City with the purpose of extending the tourist season beyond Labor Day. On September 8, 1921, 100,000 people gathered at the Boardwalk to watch the contestants from Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Ocean City, Camden, Newark, New York, and Philadelphia. The winner from Washington D.C., 16-year-old Margaret Gorman was crowned the "Golden Mermaid" and won $100.

1948 The flag of North Korea was adopted on September 8, 1948. The prominent red star is a universal symbol of communism; the red stripe expresses revolutionary traditions. The two blue stripes stand for sovereignty, peace and friendship. The white stripes symbolize purity.

North Korea flag

1949 The German composer Richard Strauss began to suffer from heart failure soon after the Munich celebrations of his 85th birthday. He died at the age of 85 on September 8, 1949. Strauss made significant contributions to classical music during his lifetime, known for his compositions in both the operatic and orchestral realms. His work continues to be celebrated and performed worldwide.

1965 On September 8, 1965 in a game against the California Angels, Kansas City baseball player Bert Campaneris played a different position every inning, becoming the first major-leaguer to play all nine positions in a game. Catching in the 9th, he was injured trying to block the plate from runner Ed Kirkpatrick.

1966 Star Trek was created as a science fiction TV series in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry. He sold it as a western, but in space, and modeled it on Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, with each episode combining an adventure with a morality tale. The first episode broadcast on September 8, 1966  titled "The Man Trap" showed the crew visiting an outpost to conduct medical exams on the residents, only to be attacked by a shapeshifting alien creature seeking to extract salt from their bodies.

1975 On September 8, 1975 US Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appeared in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I Am A Homosexual". He was given a general discharge, which was later upgraded to honorable. Matlovich was the first gay service member to purposely out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays, and perhaps the best-known homosexual in America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk.

1986 The talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, first went on the air on September 8, 1986. The topic for the premiere show was "How to Marry the Man or Woman of Your Choice". Oprah Winfrey used the show as an educational platform, featuring book clubs, interviews, self-improvement segments, and philanthropic forays into world events.. It was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011.

1991 All of the central Balkans including Macedonia were conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century and remained under its domination for five centuries. After the Second World War, it became a state called Socialist Republic of Macedonia in the southern part of Yugoslavia. When that country broke up in 1991, Macedonia became independent. Macedonia officially celebrates September 8, 1991 as Independence Day with regard to the referendum endorsing independence from Yugoslavia.

1998 Pokémon - I Choose You!, the pilot episode of the Pokémon anime series was first broadcast in Japan on April 1, 1997. It premiered in the United States on September 8, 1998, introducing audiences to the adventures of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu as they embark on their quest to become Pokémon Masters.

2012 The record for the fastest swim across the English Channel stands at six hours, 45 minutes, set by German swimmer Andreas Waschburger on September 8, 2023. The English Channel, known for its unpredictable currents, cold waters, and challenging conditions, has long been a coveted goal for many swimmers. 

2012 Jimmy Carter has had the longest retirement of any former US President. He eclipsed Herbert Hoover's record of 31 years 7 months 16 days on September 8, 2012. Carter is also the longest-lived president. He surpassed George H.W. Bush's record of 94 years, 171 days on March 22, 2019.

2022 Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning female head of state in history. Her death was announced to the public at 18:30 BST. Her death was mourned by millions of people around the world.

2022 King Charles III acceded to the throne of the United Kingdom on September 8, 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. He was 73 years old at the time, making him the oldest person ever to ascend to the British throne.