History for January 8

History for January 8 - On-This-Day.com
James Longstreet 1821 - U.S. Civil War general, Soupy Sales (Milton Hines) 1926 - Comedian (Host: The Soupy Sales Show), Elvis Presley 1935 - Musician, known as "the King of rock 'n' roll"
   

Bob Eubanks 1938 - Game show host ("The Newlywed Game"), Stephen Hawking 1942 - Theoretical physicist, writer ("A Brief History of Time"), David Bowie (David Robert Jones) 1947 Singer, movies ("The Man Who Fell to Earth", "Labyrinth", "Basquiat"), Broadway ("The Elephant Man")


1815 - The Battle of New Orleans began. The War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814, with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The news of the signing had not reached British troops in time to prevent their attack on New Orleans.


1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty."