History for August 8

History for August 8 - On-This-Day.com
Matthew Henson 1866 - Explorer, along with Robert Peary and their Eskimo guide, were the first people to reach the North Pole, Russel Markert 1899, Esther Williams 1923


Dustin Hoffman 1937, Connie Stevens 1938, Donny Most 1953


1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic. The remainder of his life was spent there in exile.


1844 - After the killing of Joseph Smith on June 27, Bringham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons.


1876 - Thomas Edison received a patent for the mimeograph. The mimeograph was a "method of preparing autographic stencils for printing."


1911 - The number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives was established at 435. There was one member of Congress for every 211,877 residents.


1940 - The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Great Britain.


1966 - Michael DeBakey became the first surgeon to install an artificial heart pump in a patient.


1978 - The U.S. launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.


1992 - The "Dream Team" clinched the gold medal at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. The U.S. basketball team beat Croatia 117-85.