Thursday 8th of May 1794

Nobleman and chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier aka The Father of Modern Chemistry is executed by the Guillotine at the age of 51 in Place de la Révolution, Paris, VIIIe, Île-de-France, France.

Lavoisier was charged with tax fraud and selling adulterated tobacco and tried, convicted and executed on the same day.

Wednesday 8th of May 1811

Plantation farmer and slave owner Arthur William Hodge is executed by hanging at the age of 48 in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, United Kingdom.

Hodge was the first West Indian slave owner to be executed for the murder of a slave considered his property.

Thursday 8th of May 1828

Founder of the Red Cross Henri Jean Dunant is born in Genève, Romandie, Switzerland.

Thursday 8th of May 1856

Murderer Francis Kol is executed by the Guillotine at the age of 30 in Kasteelplein, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

It was the last execution by the Guillotine in Antwerpen.

Tuesday 8th of May 1866

35-year-old Pharmacist John Stith Pemberton known for inventing Coca Cola sells his first bottles of Coca-Cola as a 'delicious, refreshing, exhilarating, invigorating' medicine beverage and touted it as a 'valuable brain tonic' that would cure headaches, relieve exhaustion and calm nerves, for 5¢ a glass at soda fountains in Columbus, Georgia, United States.

Coca Cola was first formulated by Pemberton at the Eagle Drug and Chemical Company as Pemberton's French Wine Coca.

Saturday 8th of May 1880

Writer Gustave Flaubert known for his novel ‘Madame Bovary’ dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 59 in Croisset, Haute-Normendie, France.

Thursday 8th of May 1884

33rd President of the United States Harry S. Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri, United States.

Friday 8th of May 1891

Theosophist, occultist and spirit medium Helena Petrovna Blavatsky aka Madame Blavatsky dies of complications from influenza at the age of 60 in 19 Avenue Road, London, St. John's Wood, Greater London, United Kingdom.

The date would come to be commemorated by Theosophists ever since as 'White Lotus Day'.

Monday 8th of May 1893

Medical student and murderer Carlyle Harris is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 25 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

Friday 8th of May 1903

Painter Paul Eugène Henri Gauguin dies of an overdose of laudanum at the age of 55 in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.

Gauguin had been suffering from syphilis for several years involving pain in the legs, heart palpitations, and general debility.

Friday 8th of May 1903

Actor and singer Fernandel is born as Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin in 72 Boulevard Chave, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Sunday 8th of May 1904

Photographer Eadweard James Muybridge dies of prostate cancer at the age of 74 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom.

Monday 8th of May 1905

Bank robber William Franklin Rudolph aka The Missouri Kid is executed by hanging at the age of 22 in Union, Missouri, United States.

A crowd of more than 200 people including many female admirers gathered to witness the spectacle.

Tuesday 8th of May 1906

Film director Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rosselini is born in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Friday 8th of May 1908

10-year-old Marcel Poirot is strangled by serial killer Jeanne Weber aka l’Ogresse de la Goutte d’Or in Commercy, Meuse, France.

Saturday 8th of May 1920

Black train porter Henry Scott is riddled with forty or fifty bullets for insulting a young white woman in Tampa, Florida, United States.

Saturday 8th of May 1920

Creator of gay pornographic images Touko Valio Laaksonen aka Tom of Finland is born in Kaarina, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland.

Sunday 8th of May 1932

Boxer Sonny Charles Liston is born in Sand Slough, Arkansas, United States.

There is no official record of Liston's birth. He finally settled on this day for official purposes but by the time he won the world title an aged appearance added credence to rumors that he was actually several years older.

Monday 8th of May 1933

64-year-old Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka The Apostle of Non-violence starts his Third Anti-Untouchability Fast, for the improvement of Harijans' condition in Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Gandhi's fast lasted for 21 days.

Friday 8th of May 1936

Historian and philosopher Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler dies of a heart attack at the age of 56 in München, Bayern, Germany.

Wednesday 8th of May 1940

Writer Peter Bradford Benchley known for his best-selling novel ‘Jaws’ is born in New York City, New York, United States.

Wednesday 8th of May 1940

Teen idol Ricky Eric Hilliard Nelson is born in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States.

Saturday 8th of May 1943

Art gallery owner and art vandal Tony Shafrazi is born in Abadan, Ostān-e Khūzestān, Iran.

Monday 8th of May 1944

Singer-songwriter Gary Glitter aka Paul Raven, Rubber Bucket, Paul Monday or Paul Russell is born as Paul Francis Gadd in Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 8th of May 1946

Black Zebra killer J.C.X. Simon is born in San Francisco, California, United States.

Thursday 8th of May 1958

128 die in two electric trains collision in Mangueira, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Friday 8th of May 1959

Cop killer Ronald Henry Marwood is executed by hanging by Harry Allen at the age of 25 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, London, Islington, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Saturday 8th of May 1965

40-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Materialaktion nr. 18 / Rumpsti Pumpsti (Schießscheibe oder Portrait in Farbringen)' in Perinetkeller, Perinetgasse 1, Wien, Wien, Austria.

Sunday 8th of May 1966

11-year-old Manfred Graßmann is abducted, sexually assaulted, beaten to death and mutilated by serial killer Jürgen Bartsch aka Der Kirmesmörder in Luftschutzbunker, Heegerstraße 34, Langenberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Graßmann was abducted from a fair in Essen-Schonnebeck and promised to go find a treasure.

Sunday 8th of May 1966

Victim of Larry Eyler aka The Leather Boy Killer Ervin Gibson is born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Wednesday 8th of May 1968

35-year-old Gangster Reginald Kray aka Reggie Kray and his twin brother Ronald are arrested with 15 other members of their 'firm' in Braithwaite House 43, Bunhill Row, London, Shoreditch, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 8th of May 1973

After an occupation of 71 days by 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement, Wounded Knee is taken over by United States Government Forces in Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, United States.

Saturday 8th of May 1976

14-year-old Karin Toepfer is abducted and strangled by serial killer Joachim Kroll aka Jockel aka Der Ruhrkannibale in Voerde, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Monday 8th of May 1978

42-year-old Gangster Jacques René Mesrine aka Public Enemy No. 1 escapes from prison with François Besse and Carman Rives in Prison de la Santé, 42 Rue de la Santé, Paris, XIVe, Montparnasse, Île-de-France, France.

Mesrine and Besse were the first men to escape from La Santé. Rives was shot dead on the prison wall by police.

Thursday 8th of May 1980

30-year-old Serial killer and cannibal Richard Trenton Chase aka The Vampire of Sacramento is found guilty of six counts of first degree murder and sentenced to die in the gas chamber in San Jose, California, United States.

Chase's fellow inmates, aware of the extremely violent nature of his crimes, feared him and according to prison officials often tried to persuade Chase to commit suicide.

Sunday 8th of May 1988

Writer Robert Anton Heinlein aka The Dean of Science Fiction Writers dies of emphysema and heart failure at the age of 81 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States.

Tuesday 8th of May 1990

Composer Luigi Nono dies of unknown causes at the age of 66 in Venezia, Veneto, Italy.

Wednesday 8th of May 1991

46-year-old Serial killer Arthur John Shawcross aka The Genesee River Killer is sentenced to 250 years in prison in .

Saturday 8th of May 1993

Murderer Larry Joe Johnson is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 49 in Florida State Prison, 23916 NW 83rd Ave., Raiford, Florida, United States.

Sunday 8th of May 1994

Actor George Peppard known for his role as Col. John ‘Hannibal’ Smith in ‘The A-Team’ dies of lung cancer and pneumonia at the age of 66 in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Thursday 8th of May 1997

Murderer Scott Dawn Carpenter is executed by lethal injection at the age of 22 in Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester, Oklahoma, United States.

Carpenter's last meal request was for barbecued beef ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, hot rolls, sweetened lemonade and pecan pie with whipped topping.

Saturday 8th of May 1999

Actor Dirk Bogarde dies of a heart attack at the age of 79 in Flat 11, 2-4 Cadogan Gardens, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Sunday 8th of May 2011

Noise music band Club Moral play their 138th concert in an installation by Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven aka AMVK in Station Nekkerspoel, Ontvoeringsplein 12, Mechelen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Sunday 8th of May 2011

The setting for a Club Moral audio and video recording and subsequent installation by Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven aka AMVK in Station Nekkerspoel, Ontvoeringsplein 12, Mechelen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Wednesday 8th of May 2013

Three airconditioning unites across the street in Galerie Barbara Thumm, Markgrafenstrasse 68, Berlin, Berlin, Germany.