Born on this Day 8th August

1930 Terry Nation
1923 Esther Williams
1934 Keith Barron
1937 Dustin Hoffman
1949 Keith Carradine
1953 Nigell Mansell
1958 Christopher Foreman
1961 The Edge
1988 Princess Beatrice of York

Died On This Day

1996 Sir Frank Whittle
1996 Ossie Clark

Music

1962 The Beatles were excused their regular Wednesday night spot at the Cavern club to travel 86 miles to Doncaster for a larger venue. They were replaced at the Club by Shane Fenton, later known as Alvin Stardust.

1970 Janis Joplin bought a headstone for blues great Bessie Smith’s grave. A few months later she herself died.

Sport

1993 It was announced that only 4 attempts to climb Mount Everest would be allowed during September-November season in an attempt to protect the peak’s ecology.

1997 John Fashanu, the England striker turned television presenter and millionaire businessman, faced a £650,000 legal bill even though he was found innocent of all charges of match-rigging. The judge ruled he had brought suspicion on himself by refusing to utter a word to defend himself thoughout the 2 year trial and investigation.

People & Showbiz

1962 Marilyn Monroe’s funeral took place.

1986 The final episode of ‘Knightrider’ starring David Hasselhoff was screened on US TV.

1991 John MCarthy was freed after 1,943 days captivity in Beirut.

General Events

1945 The Soviet Union declared war on Japan, 2 days after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and just 7 days before Tokyo surrendered.

1963 A government doctor in the UK announced that sex change operations would never be possible.

1963 The Great Train Robbery took place at Cheddington in Buckinghamshire when a gang of 15 men changed the signals to stop the Glasgow to London Royal Mail train and got away with more than £2.6 million.

1983 A Chinese pilot defected to South Korea setting off air raid warnings.

1989 Texas Homecare was fined £32,000 by Coventry Magistrate’s Court over several charges of illegal Sunday trading.

1989 The Dept of Transport gave its approval for learner drivers to practice driving on motorways.

1994 The Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin crossed into Jordan along the first road link, opened after 46 years during which Israel and Jordan had been formally at war.