What Happened on April 8

Historical Events

1940 – German battle cruisers sink British aircraft carrier Glorious
1968 – 40th Academy Awards postponed to Apr 10th due to death of Martin Luther King
1971 – 1st legal off-track betting system begins (OTB-New York)
1975 – 47th Academy Awards: “The Godfather Part II”, Ellen Burstyn and Art Carney win
1976 – 1976 NFL Draft: Lee Roy Selmon from University of Oklahoma first pick by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1990 – King Birendra of Nepal lifts 30-year ban on political parties

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Famous Birthdays

1942 – Eduard Visser, Dutch writer (Fyffes are now called Chiquita)
1946 – Stuart Pankin, American comedian (Striptease, Congo, Earl-Dinosaurs), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor (Trancers), born in Coronado, California
1947 – Tom DeLay, American politician (Rep-R-Texas, 1985-2006), born in Laredo, Texas
1954 – Gary Carter, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (11 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1986; Gold Glove Award 1980–82; Montreal Expos, NY Mets), born in Culver City, California (d. 2012)
1969 – Steve Jackson, American NFL cornerback (Houston/Tennessee Oilers), born in Houston, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1937 – Arthur Foote, American classical organist, composer, and member of the “Boston Six” (Suite for Strings in E), dies at 84
1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist (1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, discovered chemotherapeutic agents including antihistamines0, dies at 85
1993 – Marian Anderson, American contralto and celebrated singer (My Lord, What a Morning), dies of congestive heart failure at 96
2004 – Bruce Edwards, American golf caddie (mainly for 5 x British Open champion Tom Watson), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 49
2008 – Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley (b. 1928)
2010 – Dorothea “Teddy” Scholten, Dutch pop singer (“Een beetje” – “A Little Bit”), dies at 83

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