Today in History - History - May 8th

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

1899Ernest Rutherford publishes his discovery of two different kinds of radiation (Alpha and Beta Particles)

1966Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Tall City Golf Open

1521Parliament of Worms installs edict against Martin Luther

1858John Brown holds antislavery convention

1963JFK offers Israel assistance against aggression

1993Lennox Lewis beats Tony Tucker in 12 for heavyweight boxing title

1834Charles Darwin's expedition returns to the Beagle

1948Bradman scores 146 Aust v Surrey, 174 mins, 15 fours

1541Hernando de Soto discovers Mississippi River

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

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

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

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

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

1932Sonny Liston, Sand Slough Arkansas, American heavyweight boxer

1968Omar Camporese, Bologna Italy, tennis star

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

1957Bill Cowher, Crafton Pennsylvania, American football coach

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

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

1981Author John Grisham (26) weds Renee Jones

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

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

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

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