What Happened on August 8

Historical Events

1576 – Cornerstone laid for Tycho Brahe’s observatory in Uraniborg, Denmark, will become the world’s then most advanced research institution
1700 – Denmark and Sweden sign peace treaty
1864 – Comet C/1864 N1 (Tempel) approaches within 0.0964 AUs of Earth
1882 – Snow falls on Lake Michigan
1925 – 1st national march of Ku Klux Klan (between 25,000 and 40,000 marchers) in Washington, D.C.
1988 – Renovated Central Park Zoo reopens after 4 years (New York City)

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Famous Birthdays

1571 – John Ward, English composer, born in Canterbury, England (d. 1638)
1922 – Gertrude Himmelfarb, American conservative historian, born in New York City (d. 2019)
1950 – Liberatori “Liberty” DeVitto, American rock drummer (Billy Joel, 1976-2006), born in New York City
1958 – Harry Crosby, American actor (Friday the 13th), born in Los Angeles, California
1965 – Angus Fraser, English cricketer (England right-arm pace bowler)
1977 – Kurt Bernard, Costa Rican footballer

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Famous Deaths

1694 – Antoine Arnauld [le grand Arnauld], French lawyer/theology, dies at 82
1705 – Willem Roukens, Dutch mayor of Nimegen (old Plooi faction), beheaded for trying to overthrow the new ruler of the city
1747 – Madeleine de Verchères, French Canadian heroine (repelling a raid on Fort Verchères when she was 14 years old), dies at 69
1918 – Gertrude E. Durden Rush, American composer and playwright, dies at 38
1994 – Henriette Santer, Dutch-English clinical psychologist, dies at 62
2008 – Frank Cornish, American NFL center/guard, 1990-95 (San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and 3 other teams), dies of heart disease at 40

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