Vietnam War

June 8, 1972

Nick Ut takes his Pulitzer-winning photo of a napalm attack on a South Vietnamese village. It showed nine-year-old Kim Phúc running naked after being badly burned and tearing her clothes off during a South Vietnamese Air Force napalm attack near Trang Bang. Trang Bang had been occupied by North Vietnamese forces. After taking the photograph, Ut took Kim Phúc and other injured children to a hospital in Saigon, where she stayed 14-months and had 17 surgical procedures including skin transplantations. This photo helped turn public opinion against the war.

Israel Attacks U.S. Navy Ship

June 8, 1967

The U.S. Navy research ship, USS Liberty, is attacked without warning by Israeli jets while sailing in international waters. Thirty-four were killed and 171 were injured. Israel apologized for the attack, claiming that they mistook it for an Egyptian ship. This incident occurred during Israel's Six-Day War between Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

War on Drugs

June 8, 1998

An ad is taken out in the New York Times titled "We believe the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself." Its signers included Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State, George Shultz; Lyndon B. Johnson's attorney general, Nicholas Katzenbach; former New York police commissioner, Patrick Murphy; San Francisco D.A., Terrence Hallinan; and TV anchor Walter Cronkite.

Rap Music Killer

June 8, 1993

19-year-old Ronald Ray Howard is convicted of the 1992 murder of a state trooper. He claimed the anti-police rap music he was listening to made him do it. The trooper had pulled him over for a broken headlight. The car he was driving was stolen and drug tests showed he had cocaine and cannabis in his system. He was later executed for the crime.

Civil War

June 8, 1861

Tennessee becomes the 11th state to secede from the Union. It was the last of the Southern states to secede from the Union as most of the population were against secession. However, when it became evident that war was inevitable they choose to stand with the South.

Bill of Rights

June 8, 1789

The Bill of Rights is proposed to the U.S. Congress by James Madison.
The Bill of Rights comprises the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It provides guarantees of personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the states or the people.

First Commercially Produced Ice Cream

June 8, 1786

An ad appears in the New York Post Boy newspaper for the first commercially produced ice cream. The ad read, "Ladies and gentlemen may be supplied with ice cream every day at the City tavern by their humble servant, Joseph Cowe."

Laki Volcano Eruption

June 8, 1783

The Laki volcano in southern Iceland erupts, spewing 3.4 cu mi (14 km3) of lava over the following months, ultimately causing a famine that resulted in the death of about 20-25% of Iceland's population. Lava fountains were estimated to have reached heights of 2,600 to 4,600 ft (800 to 1,400 m). The effects of the eruption caused a low flow in the River Nile resulting in a famine that killed one-sixth of Egypt's population.
In July, a parish priest gained fame by holding a "fire sermon" as the lava was heading toward the village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. The lava stopped short of the village while the townsfolk were in the church.

Barbara Bush (Barbara Pierce)

Born June 8, 1925 d. 2018

American First Lady (1989-93), American Second Lady (1981-89). Wife of George H. W. Bush 41st U.S. President and mother of George W. Bush 43rd U.S. President. She was a descendant of Franklin Pierce 14th U.S. president (1853-57). Family literacy was Barbara Bush's cause as First Lady and she helped develop the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Rob Pilatus

Born June 8, 1965 d. 1998

German-American model, dancer, singer, half of Milli Vanilli. Their album Girl You Know It's True won the Grammy for Best New Artist, which was taken back after it was revealed they didn't sing on it. Milli Vanilli consisted of Pilatus and Fabrice "Fab" Morvan and they had been one of the most popular pop acts in the late 1980s and early 1990s with millions of records sold.
Pilatus died of a drug overdose; he was in Germany undergoing a drug withdrawal program at the time.

Nick Rhodes (Nicholas Bates)

Born June 8, 1962

English singer, with Duran Duran. Music: Hungry Like the Wolf (1982), Rio (1982), Union of the Snake (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985).

Bonnie Tyler (Gaynor Hopkins)

Born June 8, 1951

Welsh singer. In 1976, she underwent surgery to remove nodules on her vocal cords, resulting in her trademark husky voice. Music: It's a Heartache (1977) and Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983, #1).

Kathy Baker

Born June 8, 1950

American Emmy-winning actress. Film: Edward Scissorhands (1990). TV: Picket Fences (Jill Brock).

Boz Scaggs (William Scaggs)

Born June 8, 1944

American rock singer. Music: Lido Shuffle (1976).

James Darren (James Ercolani)

Born June 8, 1936

American singer, actor. TV: T.J. Hooker (Officer Corrigan).

Jerry Stiller (Gerald Isaac Stiller)

Born June 8, 1927 d. 2020

American comedian, actor. Half of the comedy team Stiller & Meara with his wife Anne Meara. TV: Seinfeld (1993-98, Frank Castanza) and The King of Queens (1998-2007, Arthur).

Alexis Smith

Born June 8, 1921 d. 1993

Canadian-born Tony-winning actress. Stage: Follies (1971, Tony). TV: Dallas (Jessica Montford).

Frank Lloyd Wright

Born June 8, 1867 d. 1959

American architect, emphasized design that harmonized with the construction materials and landscape. He also coined the word "carport."

First Camels Imported to the U.S. for Commercial Purposes - And the Legend of the Red Ghost

David Dixon Porter

Born June 8, 1813 d. 1891

American admiral. In 1856 he became the first person to import camels in the U.S. for commercial purposes.
Porter brought over a shipload of 33 camels from Turkey in February. They were unloaded in Texas the following May, but by then there were 34 camels as one had died and two were born and survived the trip.
Congress had appropriated $30,000 for the camel acquisition to be used in experiments to determine their suitability for use in the military.
In 1883, one of the camels from the military that ended up in the wild is believed to have inspired the Arizonan stories of the Red Ghost, a large, red camel, with a bleached human skeleton riding on its back. Tales of the Red Ghost spread throughout Arizona and grew taller each time the stories were told, with the Red Ghost being 30-feet (9 m) tall and killing and eating a grizzly bear. The sightings continued for 10 years until 1893 when a farmer saw the Red Ghost with its skeleton rider on his land and shot and killed it. The identity of the skeleton has never been determined.

Satchel Paige (Leroy Robert Paige)

Died June 8, 1982 b. 1906

American baseball player, the greatest baseball pitcher of the Negro Leagues. He became the oldest rookie ever in the major-leagues when he joined the Cleveland Indians in 1948. They went on to win both the pennant and the World Series.

George Leigh-Mallory

Died June 8, 1924 b. 1886

British mountain climber. When asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, he replied, "Because it is there." He and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine disappeared while climbing the North-East ridge of Everest during their attempt to make the first ascent of Everest. They were last seen at about 800 vertical feet (245 m) from the summit. If claims that they had reached the top are true, then they beat Sir Edmund Hillary by 29 years. Mallory's body wasn't found until 1999.

Inventor of the Safety Pin

Walter Hunt

Died June 8, 1859 b. 1796

American mechanical engineer. Walter Hunt invented the modern safety pin (1849). Various versions of safety pins date back to the ancient Romans, however, Hunt's version included a spring to hold the pin in place. Hunt sold the rights to his safety pin for $400 (equivalent to $12,440), which went on to earn millions for others.
Hunt's other inventions include a sewing machine, repeating rifle, and fountain pen.

General Andrew Jackson

Died June 8, 1845 b. 1767

American politician. 7th U.S. President (1829-37), the only U.S. President to fight in a duel (1806). He shot and killed Charles Dickinson.
Note: Vice-President Aaron Burr killed former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel during his vice-presidency (1804) and Abraham Lincoln was challenged to a duel, but wittingly convinced his adversary it was ill advised.

Thomas Paine

Died June 8, 1809 b. 1737

American patriot. He wrote Common Sense (1776) which advocated American independence and The Age of Reason (1795) which argued for deism and the existence of a creator God, but criticized institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the Bible.
After the American Revolution, Paine participated in the French Revolution, writing the Rights of Man (1791) in support of the French Revolution and in defense of the rights of the people to overthrow their government. In 1793, he was arrested and placed in a Paris prison, where he worked on The Age of Reason. Paine was released from prison after almost a year, largely due to the efforts of future U.S. President James Monroe, then American Minister to France.
Quote: "To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture."

Muhammad (Muhammad ibn Abdullah)

Died June 8, 632 b. circa 570

Arabian prophet, founder of Islam. According to the Muslim belief, he was given the verses of the Qur'an by the Angel Gabriel and was God's Messenger (rasūl Allāh) sent to confirm the essential teachings of monotheism preached previously by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets.

Pat Robertson (Marion Gordon Robertson)

Died June 8, 2023 b. 1930

American televangelist, founder of CBN, and presidential candidate. He attributed Katrina (2005) to God's punishment for abortion policies and the Haiti Earthquake (2010) to God's vengeance for a Haitian pact with the devil. Also known for his prophetic visions, he predicted that the end of the world would occur in late 1982, large storms would hit the U.S. coast in 2006, and there would be mass terrorists attack in the U.S. in 2007. Books: The New World Order (1991) and Bring it On (2003).

First Underground Comix Artist

Jack "Jaxon" Jackson

Died June 8, 2006 b. 1941

American underground cartoonist. Considered the "first underground comix artist" for his comic God Nose (1964). Co-founder of Rip Off Press. Writings: The graphic novel Comanche Moon (1979).

Jeff MacNelly

Died June 8, 2000 b. 1947

American Pulitzer-winning cartoonist. Creator of Shoe (1977). He has three Pulitzer wins (1972, 78, 85).

Pauline Tabor Webster

Died June 8, 1992 b. 1905

Kentucky's most famous brothel owner. She ran the Clay Street Brothel in Bowling Green, Kentucky for 38 years. Autobiography: Pauline's - Memoirs of the Madame on Clay Street.

George Wythe

Died June 8, 1806 b. 1726

American statesman, signer of the Declaration of Independence.