Summary of the Day ✨ 8 January (08/01)
Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the nation’s Congress while Ukrainian Flight 752 was shot down by Iranian missiles shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 passengers aboard. In a day marked by violence and instability, 23 people died in a Venezuelan police massacre and notorious drug lord Joaquín Guzmán was recaptured after escaping prison, as another plane crash in Sweden claimed the lives of two pilots.
Historical Events 📜
- 2023: Supporters of former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro storm the Brazilian Congress.
- 2021: Twenty-three people are killed in what is described as a police ″massacre″ in La Vega, Caracas, Venezuela.
- 2020: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashes immediately after takeoff at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport; all 176 on board are killed. The plane was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile.
- 2016: Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world’s most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico.
- 2016: West Air Sweden Flight 294 crashes near the Swedish reservoir of Akkajaure; both pilots, the only people on board, are killed.
- 2011: Sitting US Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is shot in the head along with 18 others in a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Giffords survived the assassination attempt, but six others died, including John Roll, a federal judge.
- 2010: Gunmen from an offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attack a bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three people and injuring another nine.
- 2009: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.
- 2005: The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
- 2004: The RMS Queen Mary 2, then the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by her namesake’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
- 2003: Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.
- 2003: Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.
- 2002: President of the United States George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
- 1996: An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 people on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.
- 1994: Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
Famous Births 👶
- 2001: Zach Charbonnet, American football player
- 2000: Noah Cyrus, American singer, songwriter, and actress
- 1999: Ignas Brazdeikis, Lithuanian-Canadian basketball player
- 1999: Damiano David, Italian singer-songwriter
- 1998: Tony Bradley, American basketball player
- 1998: Jhoan Durán, Dominican baseball player
- 1995: Ryan Destiny, American actress and singer
- 1994: Glenn Robinson III, American basketball player
- 1993: William Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1993: Sophie Pascoe, New Zealand swimmer
- 1992: Stefanie Dolson, American basketball player
- 1992: Koke, Spanish footballer
- 1992: Valkyrae, American online streamer
- 1991: Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer
- 1991: Stefan Johansen, Norwegian footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Mangkra Souvanna Phouma, Laotian prince (born 1938)
- 2024: Adan Canto, Mexican actor (born 1981)
- 2022: Michael Lang, American concert promoter and producer (born 1944)
- 2021: Iancu Țucărman, Romanian Holocaust survivor (born 1922)
- 2020: Pat Dalton, Australian footballer (born 1942)
- 2020: Buck Henry, American actor, screenwriter, and director (born 1930)
- 2017: Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (born 1925)
- 2017: James Mancham, Seychellois politician, President 1976-77 (born 1939)
- 2017: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian politician (born 1934)
- 2017: Peter Sarstedt, Indian-British singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)
- 2016: Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver (born 1926)
- 2016: German Moreno, Filipino television host, actor, comedian and talent manager (born 1933)
- 2015: Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor (born 1942)
- 2015: Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (born 1926)
- 2015: Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (born 1921)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Babinden (Belarus, Russia)
- Christian feast day:
Abo of Tiflis - Christian feast day:
Apollinaris Claudius - Christian feast day:
Blessed Eurosia Fabris - Christian feast day:
Gauchito Gil (Folk Catholicism) - Christian feast day:
Gudula - Christian feast day:
Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church (USA)) - Christian feast day:
Lawrence Giustiniani - Christian feast day:
Lucian of Beauvais - Christian feast day:
Maximus of Pavia - Christian feast day:
Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
Pega (Anglican and Roman Catholic churches) - Christian feast day:
Severinus of Noricum - Christian feast day:
Thorfinn of Hamar - Christian feast day:
January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)