Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.
On 8, Monday January 1894, Maximilian Kolbe, Polish friar and martyr (k. 1941 in Auschwitz concentration camp)
On 8, Monday January 1894, Vilmos Tkálecz, Hungarian politician, born (d. 1950)
On 8, Wednesday January 1919, The funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, is held at Christ Church Oyster Bay, Long Island; Roosevelt had died in his sleep at the age of 60, two days earlier.
On 8, Wednesday January 1919, J. Franklin Bell, Major General of the US Army, died (b. 1856)
On 8, Saturday January 1944, WWII: Philippine Commonwealth troops enter the province of Ilocos Sur in northern Luzon and attack Japanese forces.
On 8, Thursday January 1959, Charles de Gaulle is inaugurated as the first president of the French Fifth Republic.
On 8, Thursday January 1959, Zhang Xi, Chinese politician, died (b. 1912)
On 8, Wednesday January 1969, Albert Hill, British athlete, died (b. 1889)
On 8, Monday January 1979, Whiddy Island Disaster: The French tanker Betelgeuse explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at Bantry, Ireland; 50 are killed.
On 8, Monday January 1979, Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian football goalkeeper, born
On 8, Sunday January 1989, Kegworth air disaster: A British Midland Boeing 737 crashes on approach to East Midlands Airport, leaving 47 dead.
On 8, Sunday January 1989, Steven Christopher Parker, American actor, born
On 8, Sunday January 1989, Kenneth McMillan, American actor, died (b. 1932)
On 8, Saturday January 1994, Soyuz TM-18: Valeri Polyakov begins his 437.7 day orbit, eventually setting the world record for days spent in orbit.
On 8, Saturday January 1994, Pat Buttram, American actor, died (b. 1915)
On 8, Saturday January 1994, Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian sage, died (b. 1894)
On 8, Thursday January 2009, Deborah Riedel, 50, operatic soprano, died
Other On This Day days in history
Neville Buch