On  August  8th these people were born ...
                                                                                
 1646  Godfrey Kneller, German born painter.
 1763  Charles Bullfinch, first US professional architect
 1879  Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary, peasant leader
 1901  Ernest O Lawrence, US physicist.
 1902  Paul Dirac, British theoretical physicist
 1919  Dino de Laurentis, Italian film director.
 1922  Rudi Gernreich, designed the topless swimsuit & the miniskirt
 1923  Esther Williams, actress, swimmer in Inglewood Cal
 1929  Ronald Biggs, train robber.
 1930  Andy Warhol, artist, movie producer
 1937  Dustin Hoffman, US film actor.
 1948  Svetlana Y. Savitskaya, 2nd woman in space (Soyuz T-7, T-12)
 1953  Nigel Mansell, British racing driver.
 1961  David Evans (The Edge), guitarist with U2.
 1981  Roger Federer, Swiss professional tennis player.
 1981  Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist.
 1983  Kim Clijsters, tennis player.
 1988  Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary of York.
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
  ... and these people died ...       
                                                                                
 1553  Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician and writer.
 1902  James Tissot, French painter.
 1919  Frank Winfield Woolworth, US chain store founder.
 1978  James Gould Cozzens, US novelist.
 1985  Louise Brooks, US actress.
 2000  Sir Robin Day, television interviewer, broadcaster.
 2011  Michael Barry, Food and Drink TV chef. (69)
                                                                                
                                                                                
   ... and these things happened  -  On  August  8th
                                                                                
 0117  Hadrian became Roman Emperor after death of his father Trajan.
 1786  Mont Blanc, Europe's tallest mountain, climbed for first time
 1900  The Davis Cup for tennis was first contested at Brookline, Mass.
 1925  Over 40,000 Ku Klux Klan members paraded in Washington on
       the day of the Klan's first National Congress.
 1945  Soviet Union Declared war on Japan.
 1963  The Great Mail Train Robbery took place, an armed gang of 15
       escape with nearly £3 million in Buckinghamshire hijack.
 1966  Mao Zedong announces 'great proletarian Cultural Revolution'
 1974  Richard Nixon resigns the US presidency over Watergate scandal.
 1988  Iran and Iraq cease fire.
 1990  Bhutto sacked as Pakistan PM by president Gulam Ishaq Khan.
 1991  Isalamic Jihad release Journalist John McCarthy(held since 1986)
 2000  Anwar Ibrahim, ex Malysian deputy PM, 9 yrs jail on sex offences.
 2000  Joseph Lieberman chosen as Democratic VP candidate.(first Jew)
 2000  Kendall Francois convicted of murdering 8 prostitutes in NY, US.
 2001  B&Q opened store the size of 2 football pitches in YangPu, China.
 2001  First US-style yellow school buses started in Pennine villages.
 2001  UK is in 33rd place on number of female politicians with 18%.
 2002  Inauguration of Pres Uribe in Colombia was rocked by mortar fire.
 2002  International Monetary Fund gave $30 billion loan to Brasil.
 2003  Muslim sentenced to firing squad for the Bali nightclub bombings.
 2003  The Edinburgh International Book Festival of the written word.
 2004  Iraq govt closed al-Jazeera TV station for 1 month.
 2004  World's biggest arts festival, the 58th Edinburgh, opened.
 2005  Dixons stopped selling film cameras and in future will sell only digital.
 2005  Latest craze of gangs in Rome was setting fire to vehicles - 180 in the last month
 2006  Britain's 10 million broadband users spend an average of 23.5 hours online each week.
 2006  Gangsters in Sao Paulo used bombs and set light to buses and banks in a fight with police.
 2007  Camelot won the contract to run the UK lottery for another 10 years from 2009-19.
 2007  Jennifer Aniston was the most profitable actress with a gross  income return of £8.50 for every £1 she was paid.
 2008  A jury of six military officers sentenced Osama bin Laden's former driver to five-and-a-half years in prison 
 2008  At 8:08pm the opening ceremony of the XXIX Olympiad commenced in Beijing, watched by about 4 billion on TV.
 2008  Most reliable car in the world was the Lexus LS 430.
 2009  A record number of prisoners were in jail in England and Wales after the prison population topped 84,000 for the first time.
 2009  Amid a surge in rapes and killings, the UN was helping government troops eradicate Rwandan Interahamwe Hutu militia.
 2009  Pick-up truck retailers in the US were rushing to offer the ultimate in discount vouchers — a free AK47 assault rifle with every purchase.
 2010  Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean submitted paperwork to run for president of Haiti, a country he left as a child and returned to after the recent earthquake.
 2010  Pakistan had its' worst floods for 80 years, affecting 40 million people, 2000 killed and 500,000 evacuated.
 2011  At the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles Taylor Swift won awards for favorite female artist, country artist, country song, break-up song and red carpet icon.
 2011  More than 100 people were arrested in connection with looting across east and south London after a major riot in Tottenham at the weekend.
 2012  Egyptian Military helicopters fired missiles on suspected Islamist militants in Touma village in the Sinai peninsula.
                                                                                
                                                                                
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          It is possible that blondes also prefer gentlemen.          
                                        Mamie Van Doren               
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