Today in History - History - May 8th

1960Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Betsy Rawls Peach Blossom Golf Open

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

1967Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in US Army

1963JFK offers Israel assistance against aggression

1834Charles Darwin's expedition returns to the Beagle

1994Laura Davies wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic

1988Mike Tyson crashes his $183,000 Bently on Varick St in NYC

1541Hernando de Soto discovers Mississippi River

1966Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Tall City Golf Open

1958"Dracula", starring Christopher Lee as the titular vampire, debuts

1932Sonny Liston, Sand Slough Arkansas, American heavyweight boxer

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

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

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

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

1968Omar Camporese, Bologna Italy, tennis star

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

1957Bill Cowher, Crafton Pennsylvania, American football coach

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

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

1981Author John Grisham (26) weds Renee Jones

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

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

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)