Today In History [7th May, 2015]

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

Today in History
May 8
1450           Jack Cade's Rebellion–Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.
1541           Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River which he calls Rio de Espiritu Santo.
1559           An act of supremacy defines Queen Elizabeth I as the supreme governor of the church of England.
1794           The United States Post Office is established.
1846           The first major battle of the Mexican War is fought at Palo Alto, Texas.
1862           General 'Stonewall' Jackson repulses the Federals at the Battle of McDowell, in the Shenendoah Valley.
1864           Union troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House to find the Confederates waiting for them.
1886           Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton invents Coca Cola.
1895           China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki.
1904           U.S. Marines land in Tangier, North Africa, to protect the Belgian legation.
1919           The first transatlantic flight by a navy seaplane takes-off.
1933           Hahatma Gandhi begins a hunger strike to protest British oppression in India.
1940           German commandos in Dutch uniforms cross the Dutch border to hold bridges for the advancing German army.
1942           The Battle of the Coral Sea between the Japanese Navy and the U.S. Navy ends.
1945           The final surrender of German forces is celebrated as VE (Victory Europe) day.
1952           Allied fighter-bombers stage the largest raid of the war on North Korea.
1958           President Eisenhower orders the National Guard out of Little Rock as Ernest Green becomes the first black to graduate from an Arkansas public school.
1967           Boxer Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army.
1984           The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Summer Olympics planned for Los Angeles.
1995           Jacques Chirac is elected president of France.

Born on May 8
1668           Alain Rene Lesage, French writer (The Adventures of Gil Blas, Turcaret).
1753           Miguel Hidalgo, Mexican nationalist.
1828           Jean Henri Dunant, Swiss philanthropist, founder of the Red Cross and YMCA, first recipient (jointly) of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1829           Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist.
1884           Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953).
1895           Edmund Wilson, American critic and essayist.
1906           Roberto Rossellini, Italian film director.
1910           Mary Lou Williams, jazz pianist and composer.
1920           Sloan Wilson, American author (The man in the Gray Flannel Suit, A Summer Place).
1928           Theodore Sorenson, advisor to John F. Kennedy.
1930           Gary Snyder, beat poet.
1937           Thomas Pynchon, novelist (Gravity's Rainbow).
1940           Peter Benchley, novelist (Jaws, The Deep).
1952           Beth Henley, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Crimes of the Heart).