On This Day: 8 January

8 January in world history

• 2021Twenty-three people are killed in what is described as a police ″massacre″ in La Vega, Caracas, Venezuela.
• 2011Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a public meeting held by U.S. representative Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people and injuring twelve others.
• 2010Gunmen from an offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus transporting the Togo national football team to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, killing three people.
• 2003Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.
• 1996An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 people on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.
• 1994Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
• 1977Three bombs attributed to Armenian nationalists exploded across Moscow, killing seven people and injuring 37 people.
• 1973Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
• 1972Following Pakistan's defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto released Bangladeshi politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison in response to international pressure.
• 1961In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
• 1959Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic.
• 1956Five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States were killed by the Huaorani in the rainforest of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
• 1946Andrei Zhdanov, Chairman of the Finnish Allied Commission, submits to the Finnish War Criminal Court an interrogation report by General Erich Buschenhagen, a German prisoner of war, on the contacts between Finnish and German military personnel before the Conti
• 1928The Committee for Union Action is established in Guatemala.
• 1918U.S. president Woodrow Wilson announced his Fourteen Points for a moral cause and for post–World War I peace in Europe.
• 1912The city of San Diego passes an ordinance restricting free speech, provoking months of civil unrest between socialist Wobblies and business leaders that become the bloodiest free speech fight in history.
• 1904Blackstone Library, the first branch of the Chicago Public Library system, was dedicated.
• 1877Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.

Born on 8 January

• 1968Bull Nakano, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1931Clarence Benjamin Jones, American lawyer and scholar
• 1929Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (died 2015)India
• 1925Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (died 1972)India
• 1909Ashapoorna Devi, Indian author and poet (died 1995)India
• 1871James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish captain and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (died 1940)

Died on 8 January

• 2017Peter Sarstedt, Indian-British singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)India
• 2015Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor (born 1942)
• 2013Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer (born 1930)India
• 1337Giotto, Italian painter and architect, designed Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto's Campanile (born 1266)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 8 January in history?

2021: Twenty-three people are killed in what is described as a police ″massacre″ in La Vega, Caracas, Venezuela. 2011: Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a public meeting held by U.S. representative Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people and injuring twelve others. 2010: Gunmen from an offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus transporting the Togo national football team to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, killing three people. 2003: Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.

Which famous people were born on 8 January?

Bull Nakano, Japanese professional wrestler (1968); Clarence Benjamin Jones, American lawyer and scholar (1931); Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (died 2015) (1929); Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (died 1972) (1925).

Which day is observed on 8 January?

Babinden (Belarus, Russia); Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands); Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand); Typing Day (International observance).