Summary of the Day ✨ 8 November (08/11)
Global events saw significant political shifts as Myanmar’s election results led to a military coup months later, while Donald Trump won the US presidency and India implemented a sudden currency demonetization. Cultural and natural disasters also marked the day with the inauguration of Louvre Abu Dhabi and the devastating impact of Typhoon Haiyan on the Philippines.
Historical Events 📜
- 2020: Myanmar holds the 2020 general election, re-electing a government led by the National League for Democracy, which is deposed by the Burmese military the following February during the 2021 Myanmar coup d’état.
- 2017: The Louvre Abu Dhabi was inaugurated by the French president Emmanuel Macron and then-crown prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- 2016: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly announces the withdrawal of ₹500 and ₹1000 denomination banknotes.
- 2016: Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton, the first woman ever to receive a major party’s nomination.
- 2013: Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, strikes the Visayas region of the Philippines; the storm left at least 6,340 people dead with over 1,000 still missing, and caused $2.86 billion (2013 USD; equivalent to $3.95 billion in 2025) in damage.
- 2011: The potentially hazardous asteroid 2005 YU55 passes 0.85 lunar distances from Earth (about 324,600 kilometres or 201,700 miles), the closest known approach by an asteroid of its brightness since 2010 XC15 in 1976.
- 2006: Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Israeli Defense Force kill 19 Palestinian civilians in their homes during the shelling of Beit Hanoun.
- 2004: Iraq War: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
- 2002: Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441: The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face “serious consequences”.
- 1999: Bruce Miller is killed at his junkyard near Flint, Michigan. His wife Sharee Miller, who convinced her online lover Jerry Cassaday to kill him (before later killing himself) was convicted of the crime, in what became the world’s first Internet murder.
- 1997: Eritrea adopts the nakfa as its official currency.
- 1994: Republican Revolution: On the night of the 1994 United States midterm elections, Republicans make historic electoral gains by securing massive majorities in both houses of Congress (54 seats in the House and eight seats in the Senate, additionally), thus bringing to a close four decades of Democratic domination.
- 1988: U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush is elected as the 41st president.
- 1987: Remembrance Day bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb explodes in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland during a ceremony honouring those who had died in wars involving British forces. Twelve people are killed and sixty-three wounded.
- 1983: TAAG Angola Airlines Flight 462 crashes after takeoff from Lubango Airport killing all 130 people on board. UNITA claims to have shot down the aircraft, though this is disputed.
Famous Births 👶
- 2004: Ilyas Ansah, German footballer
- 2000: Jade Pettyjohn, American actress
- 2000: Jasmine Thompson, English singer
- 1999: Isaac Bonga, German basketball player
- 1999: Katherine Uchida, Canadian rhythmic gymnast
- 1997: Leonardo Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
- 1997: Akram Tawfik, Egyptian footballer
- 1996: Jens Stage, Danish footballer
- 1994: Lauren Alaina, American singer and songwriter
- 1993: Przemek Karnowski, Polish basketball player
- 1993: Fraser Mullen, Scottish footballer
- 1992: Christophe Vincent, French footballer
- 1991: Aaron Fotheringham, American wheelchair athlete
- 1991: Jack Littlejohn, Australian rugby league player
- 1991: Riker Lynch, American actor and singer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Graham Richardson, Australian politician (born 1949)
- 2024: Elizabeth Nunez, American novelist (born 1944)
- 2024: June Spencer, English actress (born 1919)
- 2024: Trevor Sorbie, Scottish hairdresser (born 1949)
- 2020: Alex Trebek, Canadian-American television personality and longtime host of Jeopardy! (born 1940)
- 2018: Dennis Wrong, Canadian-born American sociologist (born 1923)
- 2015: Rhea Chiles, American philanthropist, founded the Polk Museum of Art (born 1930)
- 2015: Joseph Cure, American ice hockey player and actor (born 1984)
- 2015: Rod Davies, Australian-English astronomer and academic (born 1930)
- 2015: Om Prakash Mehra, Indian air marshal and politician (born 1919)
- 2015: Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero, Sri Lankan monk and activist (born 1942)
- 2014: Phil Crane, American academic and politician (born 1930)
- 2014: Luigi Gorrini, Italian soldier and pilot (born 1917)
- 2014: Don Paul, American football player and sportscaster (born 1925)
- 2014: Hugo Sánchez Portugal, Spanish-Mexican footballer and sportscaster (born 1984)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity (Roman Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
Four Crowned Martyrs - Christian feast day:
Godfrey of Amiens - Christian feast day:
Johann von Staupitz (Lutheran) - Christian feast day:
Blessed John Duns Scotus - Christian feast day:
Saints and Martyrs of England (Church of England) - Christian feast day:
Tysilio - Christian feast day:
Willehad of Bremen - Christian feast day:
November 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Intersex Day of Remembrance (New South Wales, Australia)
- International Day of Radiology (European Society of Radiology)
- National Aboriginal Veterans Day (Canada)
- Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers of Heaven (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- World Urbanism Day
- Victory Day (Azerbaijan)