Portal:United States/On this day/May 8

On this day for the United States

May 8:

Events

• 1846 - Mexican-American War: The Battle of Palo Alto – Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia, is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.
• 1877 - At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens (ends May 11).
• 1886 - Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage that would later be named "Coca-Cola".
• 1914 - Paramount Pictures is formed.
• 1965 - Theta Chi Fraternity was established at California State University, Long Beach, Zeta Epsilon Chapter.
• 1970 - The Hard Hat riot occurs in the Wall Street area of New York City as blue-collar construction workers clash with anti-war demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War.
• 1972 - Vietnam War – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
• 1973 - A 71-day standoff, between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, ends with the surrender of the militants.
• 1984 - The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
• 1988 - A fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office triggered an extended 1AESS outage once considered the 'worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history' is still the worst to occur on Mother's Day.
• 1999 - Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college.