Today in History - History - May 8th

1521Parliament of Worms installs edict against Martin Luther

1834Charles Darwin's expedition returns to the Beagle

1933Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.

1989Paul McCartney releases remake of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 95 Liverpool football fans

1963JFK offers Israel assistance against aggression

1973Ernie Banks fills in for Cubs mgr Whitey Lockman who is ejected during the game, technically becoming baseball's 1st African American manager

1967Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in US Army

1660English parliament declares Charles Stuart to be King Charles II of England

1907Tommy Burns beats Jack O'Brien in 20 for heavyweight boxing title

1994President Clinton announces US will no longer repatriate boat people

1884Harry Truman, Lamar Missouri, 33rd US President (D) (1945-1953), (d. 1972)

1957Bill Cowher, Crafton Pennsylvania, American football coach

1926David Attenborough, London UK, Naturalist, TV producer and host (BBC "Life" Series)

1968Omar Camporese, Bologna Italy, tennis star

1911Robert Johnson, blues singer (King of Delta Blues Singer)

1932Sonny Liston, Sand Slough Arkansas, American heavyweight boxer

1737Edward Gibbon, Putney, English historian (The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)

1975Enrique Iglesias, Madrid, Spanish singer-songwriter and King of Latin Pop (Bailamos, Hero)

1753Phillis Wheatley, American poet who was both the second published African-American poet and first published African-American woman.

1940Peter Benchley, NYC, novelist (Jaws, The Deep), (d. 2006)

1959Actress Raquel Welch (18) weds high school sweetheart James Welch

1981Author John Grisham (26) weds Renee Jones

1910Film producer Samuel Goldwyn (27) weds first wife Blanche Lasky

1783First American flag seamstress Betsy Ross (31) weds John Claypoole at Christ Church

1873John Stuart Mill, great Empiricist philosopher, dies at 66

1819Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (1782-1819)