A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on April 8th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On April 8, 1935, the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 went into effect, and as a byproduct created the Works Progress Administration (later renamed the Work Projects Administration).
On April 8, 1945, in the waning weeks of World War II, a German train transporting about 4,000 concentration camp inmates, including Ukrainians, Poles, Russians, Dutch, and French nationals, was accidentally bombed by an Allied air raid targeting German military rail traffic.
On April 8, 1952, President Truman ordered the Federal government to take control of the nation’s largest steel mills to prevent a strike that would interrupt steel production.
On April 8, 1974, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron slugged his 715th career home run at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta to surpass Babe Ruth as the all-time major league home run hitter.
On April 8, 1975, slugger Frank Robinson became the first African-American major league baseball manager when he managed the Cleveland Indians opening day game.
On April 8, 2006, the bodies of 8 people murdered by gunshot wounds were found in a field a couple of miles (5 kilometers for the metric oriented) North of Shedden, Ontario, Canada, an event labeled as the “Shedden Massacre.”
On April 8, 2013, the Dawlat al-ʻIraq al-Islāmīyah, “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI) claimed territory in the Levant and thereby became “The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”.
On April 8, 2016, it seemed that somewhere along the way, some Americans had lost their love of liberty, free speech, and democracy, as many attempted to replace these cherished values with mob rule and bullying tactics.
On April 8, 2019, we took a look at the history of hacking.
On April 8, 2024, Dr. Zar, along with his miniature dachshund, watched the solar eclipse from within the zone of totality that included his home in Ashland, Ohio.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.