TODAY IN HISTORY - MAY 8TH

1828 – Henry Dunant, Swiss businessman and activist, co-founded the Red Cross, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910) is born.

1846 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Palo Alto: Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.

1847 – Oscar Hammerstein I, American businessman and composer (d. 1919) is born.

1861 – American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.

1877 – At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.

1884 – Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972) is born.

1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.

1903 – Paul Gauguin, French painter and sculptor (b. 1848) dies.

1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.

1913 – Charles Scorsese, American actor and father of Martin Scorsese, (d. 1993) is born.

1927 – Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappear after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.

1940 – Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 1985) is born.

1940 – Toni Tennille, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Captain & Tennille) is born.

1945 – World War II: V-E Day, combat ends in Europe. German forces agree in Reims, France, to an unconditional surrender.

1970 – The Hard Hat Riot occurs in the Wall Street area of New York City as blue-collar construction workers clash with demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War.

1972 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.

1973 – A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.

1975 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor is born.

1976 – The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

1978 – The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.

1980 – The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.

1984 – The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

2009 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1917) dies.

2014 – Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (b. 1921) dies.