April 8th News and Events

1977 England The Clash 8th April 1977 : The Clash an English punk rock band,and part of the original wave of British punk rock release their first album "The Clash " . The Clash had their first gig supporting the Sex Pistols in 1976 Find More What happened in 1977

1990 U.S.A. Twin Peaks 8th April 1990 : Twin Peaks American Emmy Award winning television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost premieres on ABC . The series was set in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington. and, in its short first season, was one of the network's highest rating television programs receiving immen'se critical acclaim.

1904 U.S.A. Times Square 8th April 1904 : Long Acre Square in Manhattan, New York, was renamed Times Square

1935 U.S.A. The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act 8th April 1935 : As part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act creates The WPA or Works Progress Administration for creating government jobs for some of the nation's many unemployed. The WPA employed more than 8.5 million persons on 1.4 million public projects before it was disbanded in 1943

1952 U.S.A. Steel Plants Under federal Control 8th April 1952 : With a threatened steel workers strike President Truman used his Presidential Power to place the steel plants under his control which led to a battle before the Supreme Court In June of that year when The Supreme Court ruled that the president had overstepped his authority.

1953 Kenya Jomo Kenyatta 8th April 1953 : Jomo Kenyatta the leader of the Kenya African Union Movement is sentenced to seven years hard labour for his part in the organization of the rebel Mau Mau movement. In 1963 Mr Kenyatta took control as the first prime minister of a self governing Kenya and denied he was ever a member of the Mau Mau, his trial is generally regarded to have been rigged by the British because he was an advocate of self rule for Kenya and other African Nations.

1966 U.S.A. Viking Princess 8th April 1966 : A raging fire on the cruise ship the Viking Princess caused passengers and crew to abandon ship with 3 reported deaths and many injuries, 3 merchant vessels went to their aid midway between Cuba and Haiti.

1974 France Pablo Picasso 8th April 1974 : Pablo Picasso died in France

1974 U.S.A. Hank Aaron 8th April 1974 : Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's legendary record of 714 homers

1986 Germany Terrorist Bomb Attack 8th April 1986 : A Terrorist Bomb Attack on American Servicemen in a Berlin Disco has left 2 dead and 100 injured. The attacks are believed to be from a Libyan Terrorist group and the army and Berlin Police are following up every lead

1986 U.S.A. Mayor Clint Eastwood 8th April 1986 : Residents of the Californian town of Carmel have overwhelmingly voted for actor Clint Eastwood as their mayor.

1992 England Punch Magazine Closes 8th April 1992 : The satirical British magazine Punch publishes it's final issue on 8 April after 150 years due to falling sales and subscriptions

1992 U.S.A. Arthur Ashe 8th April 1992 : Tennis player Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS

1994 U.S.A. Kurt Cobain 8th April 1994 : Rock musician Kurt Cobain commits suicide he was found with a single gunshot wound to the head. A gun and suicide note were found nearby.

1997 UK Martin Bell 8th April 1997 : A BBC veteran war reporter Martin Bell is campaigning as an independent candidate on a platform of "an anti-corruption candidate" ( Because of the allegations surrounding the sitting MP Neil Hamilton ) in the general election for the constituency of Tatton. Mr Hamilton has been accused of taking cash in return for asking parliamentary questions and denied taking bribes from Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods in the cash-for-questions scandal and failing to declare a luxury stay at the Paris Ritz, Mr Hamilton claimed innocence of all charges and filed a libel suit which failed and in 2001 he was declared bankrupt. Mr Bell went on to win the seat with a majority of over 11,000, overturning what had once been the third biggest Tory majority in the country

2005 Vatican Pope John Paul II Funeral 8th April 2005 : World leaders joined pilgrims and prelates during the Rite of Visitation which took place from 4 April to 7 April at St. Peter's Basilica. for the Funeral of Pope John Paul II.
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2006 United States Immigration bill blocked in the Senate 8th April 2006 : The Senate has not approved the compromise bill that was designed for millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens. The bill's supporters were only able to muster 38 of the 60 votes that were needed to protect it from amendments that its opponants had introduced. Both parties have blamed each other for the deal's collapse.

2008 United States The Homeland Security chief warns of cyber-attacks 8th April 2008 : Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security chief, has asked Silicon Valley workers to help in the fight to secure the cyber- highway. He told San Francisco's R.S.A. Conference that threats to cyberspace are on "a par this country tragically experienced on 9/11". He elaborated by saying that such attacks could hit financial bodies and a government's powers. "We take threats to the cyber-world as seriously as we take threats to the material world." The government is shutting down thousands of points from which outsiders can access federal computer networks to about fifty. He compared this to a digital "Manhattan Project" in terms of impact and importance.

2010 The Czech Republic The signing of a nuclear arms treaty 8th April 2010 : Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, have signed a nuclear arms treaty in Prague. The treaty will commit the former Cold War enemies to reduce their number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550. A reduction of 30%. The signing will be taking place in Prague Castle, and will have to be ratified by lawmakers of both countries. The treaty will replace the now expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) of 1991.

2010 Brazil Death Toll Continues To Rise Following Mudslides In Rio de Janeiro 8th April 2010 : The death toll and flooding increase with more than 200 dead and tens of thousands of shanty homes in the favelas / slum Areas in the State of Rio de Janeiro, the worst effected in Morro do Bumba, The shanty towns are built on the hillsides above downtowns and as the rains have increased they have been worst effected because many are temporary structures which can not withstand the mud slides caused by excessive rain.

China 2011 China Construction Begins on Shanghai Disneyland 8th April, 2011 : Ground was broken by government officials and Walt Disney executives on the future site of the first Disneyland park to be built in China. The deal to build a Disneyland park in Shanghai had taken ten years of talks and was expected to cost nearly four billions dollars to build.