Today in History: Amnesty International Founded

May 8 is the 128st day of the year (129nd in leap years) according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 237.

Railways

• 8 May 1944 Amasya Celtek Mine is connected to State Railways for increased coal demand. Kurtalan Station is opened.

Events

• 1861 – American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia, is declared the capital of the Confederate States of America (Southerns).
• 1867 – Dilâver Pasha Regulation was proclaimed in the Ottoman Empire.
• 1884 – Midhat Pasha, the architect of the 1876 Constitution, was tried for the alleged murder of Sultan Abdulaziz and exiled to Taif. Mithat Pasha, who was strangled to death, was buried in Taif.
• 1886 - Atlanta chemist and pharmacist John S. Pemberton invented what would become the world's most famous beverage, Coca-Cola, in Georgia.
• 1902 - The Pelée Volcano erupts in Martinique: 30 people die.
• 1914 – Paramount Pictures film production and distribution company is founded in the USA.
• 1945 - German General Wilhelm Keitel surrenders to Soviet General Zhukov. Germany lost the war. The day when the war ended in Europe was called "Victory Day".
• 1947 – Ulvi Cemal Erkin conducted the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague.
• 1949 – The Soviet War Memorial is inaugurated in East Berlin's Treptower Park.
• 1952 – The Public Administration Institute of Turkey and the Middle East was established.
• 1954 – The Asian Football Confederation is formed.
• 1961 – Amnesty International is founded.
• 1970 - The Beatles released their last studio album "Let it Be" after their disbandment.
• 1972 – Upon the winning of Bülent Ecevit and his list in the extraordinary congress; İsmet İnönü resigned from the CHP General Presidency after 33 years, 4 months and 11 days.
• 1978 - Two climbers, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, climbed Mount Everest for the first time without oxygen cylinders.
• 1980 - The World Health Organization declared that smallpox was now eradicated from the face of the earth.
• 1982 - Gilles Villeneuve died in an accident at the Zolder circuit in Belgium.
• 1984 - The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
• 1984 – The authorization documents of the Turkish parliamentarians were approved at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The relations between Turkey and the Council of Europe, which have not been represented in the Council Assembly since September 12, 1980, started to soften.
• 1993 – Approximately 3000 people protested against Gökova Thermal Power Plant.
• 1997 – A Boeing 737 aircraft belonging to China Southern Airlines crashed due to a storm while landing at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. 35 people died in the accident.
• 2009 – TRT Türk channel reopened.
• 2010 – Bucaspor was promoted to the Super League for the first time in its history.

Births

• 1492 – Andrea Alciato, Italian writer and lawyer (d. 1550)
• 1521 – Peter Canisius, Jesuit Professor, preacher, and author (d. 1597)
• 1622 – Claes Rålamb, Swedish statesman (d. 1698)
• 1639 – Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Italian painter (d. 1709)
• 1641 – Nicolaes Witsen, Dutch statesman (d. 1717)
• 1653 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French field marshal (d. 1734)
• 1698 – Henry Baker, English naturalist (d. 1774)
• 1753 – Miguel Hidalgo, Mexican nationalist (d. 1811)
• 1828 – Jean Henry Dunant, Swiss author and businessman (d. 1910)
• 1829 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist (d. 1869)
• 1884 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
• 1895 – Edmund Wilson, American critic and essayist (d. 1972)
• 1899 – Friedrich August von Hayek, Austrian economist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
• 1903 – Fernandel, French actor (d. 1971)
• 1906 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian director (d. 1977)
• 1910 – Mary Lou Williams, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 1981)
• 1911 – Sabri Ülgener, Turkish economics professor and social scientist (d. 1983)
• 1914 – Romain Gary, French writer, film director, fighter pilot, and ambassador (d. 1980)
• 1919 – Leon Festinger, American social psychologist (d. 1989)
• 1920 – Sloan Wilson, American author (d. 2003)
• 1926 – David Attenborough, English director
• 1937 – Ahmet Özacar, Turkish football player (d. 2005)
• 1937 – Thomas Pynchon, American novelist
• 1940 – Peter Benchley, English writer (d. 2006)
• 1941 – Ayşegül Yüksel, Turkish theater critic, writer, academic and translator
• 1946 – Hans Sahlin, Swedish toboggan
• 1950 – Pierre de Meuron, Swiss architect
• 1955 Ásgeir Sigurvinsson, Icelandic football player and manager
• 1957 – Marie Myriam, French singer
• 1958 – Marita Marschall, German actress
• 1960 – Recep Akdag, Turkish physician and politician
• 1963 – Michel Gondry, French director
• 1964 – Metin Tekin, Turkish football player
• 1964 – Päivi Alafrantti, Finnish athlete
• 1966 – Cláudio Taffarel, Brazilian football player and coach
• 1968 – Yaşar Gürsoy, Turkish journalist and writer
• 1970 – Luis Enrique, Spanish football player and manager
• 1972 – Darren Hayes, Australian singer, songwriter and composer
• 1973 – Jesús Arellano, Mexican football player
• 1975 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer and actor
• 1976 – Martha Wainwright, Canadian pop-folk singer
• 1977 – Theo Papaloukas, Greek national basketball player
• 1978 – Lucio, Brazilian football player
• 1981 – Stephen Amell, Canadian actor
• 1981 – Andrea Barzagli, He is a former Italian football player.
• 1981 – Björn Dixgård, guitarist and vocalist of the Swedish rock band Mando Diao
• 1981 – Erdem Yener, Turkish rock artist
• 1981 – Kaan Urgancıoğlu, Turkish TV series and film actor
• 1982 - Adrian Gonzalez, American baseball player
• 1986 – Pemra Özgen, Turkish national tennis player
• 1989 – C418, German musician
• 1989 – Benoît Paire, French professional tennis player
• 1990 – Io Shirai, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1990 – Anastasia Zueva, Russian swimmer
• 1990 – Kemba Walker, American professional basketball player
• 1991 – Aníbal Capela, Portuguese football player
• 1991 – Deyverson, Brazilian football player
• 1991 – Nicklas Helenius, Danish national football player
• 1991 – Luigi Sepe, Italian football player
• 1992 – Olivia Culpo, American model
• 1992 - Ana Mulvoy-Ten, English actress
• 1993 – Guillermo Celis, Colombian football player
• 1993 – Olarenwaju Kayode, Nigerian football player
• 1996 – 6ix9ine, American rapper
• 1997 – Mizuki Ichimaru, Japanese football player
• 1997 – Yuya Nakasaka, Japanese football player
• 2000 – Sandro Tonali, Italian national football player
• 2003 - Hassan, heir to the Moroccan throne

Deaths

• 535 – II. John was Pope from 2 January 533 until his death in 535 (d.470)
• 685 – II. Benedict, Pope from June 26, 684 to May 8, 685 (b. 635)
• 997 – Taizong, second emperor of China's Song Dynasty (b. 939)
• 1157 – Ahmed Sencer, Great Seljuk Sultan (b. 1086)
• 1794 – Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (executed by guillotine) (b. 1743)
• 1873 – John Stuart Mill, English thinker, philosopher, and political economist (b. 1806)
• 1880 – Gustave Flaubert, French writer (b.1821)
• 1884 – Midhat Pasha, Ottoman statesman (strangled in Taif.) (b.1822)
• 1903 – Paul Gaugin, French painter (b. 1848)
• 1904 – Eadweard Muybridge, English-American photographer (b. 1830)
• 1932 – Ellen Churchill Semple, American geographer (b. 1863)
• 1945 – Matthias Kleinheisterkamp, ​​German Schutzstaffel officer (b. 1893)
• 1952 – William Fox, Hungarian-American filmmaker (b. 1879)
• 1975 – Avery Brundage, American athlete (b. 1887)
• 1979 – Talcott Parsons, American sociologist (b. 1902)
• 1982 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian F1 driver (b. 1950)
• 1983 – John Fante, American author (b. 1909)
• 1987 – Elif Naci, Turkish painter and museologist (b. 1898)
• 1994 – George Peppard, American actor (b. 1928)
• 1999 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor (b. 1921)
• 2008 – François Sterchele, Belgian football player (b. 1982)
• 2012 – Maurice Sendak, American children's writer and illustrator (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Wilma Jeanne Cooper, American actress (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Zeki Alasya, Turkish theater, cinema artist and director (b. 1943)
• 2015 – Ilunga Mwepu, former Zaire national football player (b. 1949)
• 2016 – Tonita Castro, Mexican-born American actress (b. 1953)
• 2016 – Nick Lashaway, American actor (b. 1988)
• 2017 – Curt Lowens, Polish-American actor (b. 1925)
• 2017 – Baron Lawson Soulsby, British microbiologist and politician (b. 1926)
• 2017 – Juan Carlos Tedesco, Argentine politician (b. 1972)
• 2017 – Mary Tsoni, Greek female singer and actress (b. 1987)
• 2018 – Anne V. Coates, British female film editor (b. 1925)
• 2018 – Marta DuBois, Panamanian-American actress (b. 1952)
• 2019 – Jens Beutel, German politician and chess player (b. 1946)
• 2019 – Sprent Jared Dabwido, Nauruan politician and former President of Nauru (b. 1972)
• 2019 – Yevgeny Krylatov, Russian soundtrack composer (b. 1934)
• 2020 – Mark Barkan, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1934)
• 2020 – Lúcia Braga, Brazilian female politician, bureaucrat and lawyer (b. 1934)
• 2020 – Jesus Chediak, Brazilian actor, film director, film producer, journalist and theater director (b. 1941)
• 2020 – Vicente André Gomes, Brazilian politician and doctor (b. 1952)
• 2020 – Dimitris Cremastinos, Greek politician and physician (b. 1942)
• 2020 – Cécile Rol-Tanguy, French female resistance fighter and soldier (b. 1919)
• 2020 – Carl Tighe, English author, academic, essayist, novelist and poet (b. 1950)
• 2020 – Ritva Valkama (real name: Valkama-Palo), Finnish actress (b. 1932)
• 2021 – Theodoros Kaçanevas, Greek politician, academic and economist (b. 1947)

Holidays and special occasions

• 1993 – World Thalassemia Day
• 2010 – International Men's Day