Major Events
- 1656 Oldest surviving commercial newspaper, "Weeckelycke Courante van Europa", now known as "Haarlems Dagblad", still in printed circulation begins publication in Haarlem, Netherlands
- 1790 First US President George Washington delivers the first state of the union address
- 1835 US national debt is $0 for the first and only time in history
- 1912 Chiefs, representatives of people's and church organizations, and other prominent individuals form the African National Congress and declare its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms
- 1926 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud becomes King of Nejd and Hejaz; forerunner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- 2016 Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announces the recapture of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, six months after he escaped prison
- More January 8 Events
Jan 8 in Film & TV
- 1978 TV series "All Creatures Great and Small" debuts on BBC TV, based on the books by James Herriot, starring Robert hardy and Christopher Timothy
Jan 8 in Sport
- 1993 Michael Jordan's game-high 35 points leads Chicago to 120-95 win over Milwaukee; gives him exactly 20,000 points in 620th game of his NBA career; 2nd-fastest to reach milestone after Wilt Chamberlain (499)
Did You Know?
German astronomer Simon Marius independently discovers the first three moons of Jupiter one day after Galileo
George Childress
James Longstreet
Miguel Primo de Rivera
Georgy Malenkov
Stephen Hawking
Kim Jong-un
José Ferrer
Roberto Suárez Gómez
Elvis Presley
Cynthia Erivo
David Bowie
Shirley Bassey
R. Kelly
Jacques Anquetil
Fun Fact About January 8
Spanish armada headed by the San Jose and loaded with gold sunk after British squadron attacks off coast of Colombia (rediscovered 2015)
Famous Weddings
- 1811 US Vice President John C. Calhoun (28) weds Floride Bonneau (19)
- 1930 Belgium Princess Marie-Jose marries Italian's crown prince Umberto
- 1951 American actor Burgess Meredith (43) weds (his 4th and final time) Swedish-American ballerina Kaja Sundsten (21), until his death in 1997
Famous Divorces
- 1499 Louis XII of France after papal divorce marries Anne, Duchess of Brittany to keep duchy for the crown
- 1958 Actress Jayne Mansfield and public relations manager Paul Mansfield's divorce is finalized, after 7-1/2 years of marriage
- 1998 Roseanne Barr files for divorce from 3rd husband Ben Thomas
More January 8 Weddings
Marco Polo
Galileo Galilei
Eli Whitney
Robert Baden-Powell
Zhou Enlai
François MitterrandArticles, Photos and Quiz
A Crackdown on Lovers in New York
New York wasn't always a free and easy city. Time was when not only adultery was a crime, but even looking at a lady in the wrong way could land a guy in trouble.
January 8, 1902
El Chapo Finally Recaptured
Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in American custody after being extradited to the United States
January 8, 2016
