Born on May 8
May 8 birthdays & history
If you were born on May 8, you share a birthday with Harry S. Truman, Friedrich Hayek and Henry Dunant. May 8 babies are Taurus, with emerald as their birthstone and the lily of the valley as their birth flower. May 8 is the 129th day of the year in leap years (128th in other years).
Famous people born on May 8
- 1884Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States
- 1899Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1828Henry Dunant, Swiss businessman and activist, co-founded the Red Cross, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1975Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1926David Attenborough, English environmentalist and television host
- 1937Thomas Pynchon, American novelist
- 1903Fernandel, French actor and singer
- 1926Don Rickles, American comedian and actor
- 1906Roberto Rossellini, Italian director and screenwriter
- 1970Naomi Klein, Canadian author and activist
What happened on May 8
- 1373Julian of Norwich experienced religious visions, later recorded in Revelations of Divine Love, the earliest surviving English-language work attributed to a woman.
- 1877At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
- 1886Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.
- 1898The first games of the Italian football league system are played.
- 1921The creation of the Communist Party of Romania.
- 1924The Klaipėda Convention is signed formally incorporating Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) into Lithuania. It would come back to Germany in 1939.
- 1933Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.
- 1967The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.
- 1970The Beatles release their 12th and final studio album Let It Be.
- 1976Great American Revolution opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain, California.
- 1984The Soviet Union announced the boycott of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, citing security concerns.
- 2025Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Pope Leo XIV, making him the first pope born in the United States, the first to hold either U.S. or Peruvian citizenship, the first from the Order of Saint Augustine, and the second from the Americas after his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis.
Also observed on May 8
- Emancipation Day (Columbus, Mississippi)
- Furry Dance (Helston, UK)
- Liberation Day (Czech Republic)
- Miguel Hidalgo's birthday (Mexico)
- Parents' Day (South Korea)
- Truman Day (Missouri)
Questions, answered
What star sign is May 8?
People born on May 8 are Taurus. Their birthstone is emerald and their birth flower is the lily of the valley.
Which famous people were born on May 8?
Harry S. Truman (1884), Friedrich Hayek (1899), Henry Dunant (1828), Enrique Iglesias (1975), David Attenborough (1926), Thomas Pynchon (1937) were all born on May 8.
What happened on May 8 in history?
Among other things: in 1976, Great American Revolution opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain, California; in 1984, The Soviet Union announced the boycott of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, citing security concerns; in 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Pope Leo XIV, making him the first pope born in the United States, the first to hold either U.S. or Peruvian citizenship, the first from the Order of Saint Augustine, and the second from the Americas after his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis.
Can I get a newspaper front page from May 8?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any May 8 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.
Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “May 8”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.