What are the important events that happened on January 8? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

January 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

January 8 is the 8^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 358 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 26, 2023 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 473,520 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘octagon’ day.

Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 33 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,035 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

January 8 Historical Events

• 307 –
  Jin Huidi, Chinese Emperor of the Jin Dynasty, is poisoned and succeeded by his son Jin Huaidi.
• 1838 –
  Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
• 1877 –
  Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
• 1889 –
  Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the ‘Art of Applying Statistics’— his punched card calculator.
• 1906 –
  A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
• 1961 –
  In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle’s policies in Algeria.
• 1975 –
  Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
• 1981 –
  A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be “perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time”.
• 2010 –
  Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three.
• 2011 –
  An attempted assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona at a Safeway grocery store kills 6 people and wounds 13, including Giffords.

Who were born on January 8?

• 1885 –
  A. J. Muste, Dutch pacifist and activist (d. 1967)
• 1888 –
  Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (d. 1972)
• 1911 –
  Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress and entertainer (d. 1970)
• 1924 –
  Ron Moody, English actor
• 1925 –
  Helmuth Hubener, German activist (d. 1942)
• 1926 –
  Jani Christou, Greek composer
• 1947 –
  Samuel Schmid, Swiss politician
• 1955 –
  Mike Reno, Canadian musician
• 1968 –
  Keith Mullings, American boxer
• 1972 –
  Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer

Who died on January 8?

• 1794 –
  Justus Möser, German statesman (b. 1720)
• 1916 –
  Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
• 1942 –
  Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American religious publisher (b. 1869)
• 1948 –
  Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)
• 1972 –
  Kenneth Patchen, American poet (b. 1911)
• 1976 –
  Robert Forgan, British fascist (b. 1891)
• 1996 –
  Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (b. 1907)
• 2002 –
  Dave Thomas, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1932)
• 2005 –
  Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (b. 1952)
• 2007 –
  Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-born actress (b. 1922)