TODAY in HISTORY: August 08

Following are some of the major events to have occurred on August 08

 

Reuters


1900 - The first Davis Cup tennis competition began at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, and was won by the United States two days later.

 

1919 - Frank Winfield Woolworth, the American businessman who founded the 5- and 10-cent stores in 1879, died. By the time of his death, the F.W. Woolworth company had over 1,000 outlets.

 

1942 - In World War Two, six German saboteurs were executed in the United States. The six, who had landed on Long Island in June, were electrocuted in a District of Columbia jail.

 

1963 - A gang held up the Glasgow-London mail train and stole 2.6 million pounds in what became known in Britain as the "Great Train Robbery".

 

1988 - U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar announced that a ceasefire in the 8-year Iran-Iraq War would take effect on Aug. 20.

 

1992 - USA men's 4 x 100m relay team sets world record at Barcelona Olympics.

 

1994 - Jordanian and Israeli leaders opened the first border crossing between their countries after 46 years of hostilities.

 

1999 - Roller skaters in Taiwan set new world record for skating in a circle without breaking apart.

 

2000 - Malaysian former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was found guilty of sodomy and sentenced to nine years in prison.

 

2009 - Tens of thousands of participants attempt to set a world record for the largest number of people practising Taiji in multiple locations.

 

2016 - Dozens killed in attack on Quetta hospital in Pakistan.