Truman Day is celebrated in Missouri on May 8 to honor the birthday of Harry S Truman, the 33rd U.S. president. Truman was born in 1884 in Lamar, Missouri. His parents couldn’t decide whether Truman’s middle name should honor maternal grandfather Solomon Young or paternal grandfather Anderson Shipp Truman, so they chose the letter “S” as the name instead. Truman usually signed his name with a period after the “S,” however.
Daily Calendar for Thursday, May 8, 2025
Born
- Harry S Truman (33rd U.S. president) –
- Red Nichols (musician) –
- Roberto Rossellini (director) –
- Sloan Wilson (writer) –
- Don Rickles (comedian) –
- Sir David Attenborough (naturalist) –
- Ricky Nelson (singer) –
- Toni Tennille (singer) –
- Beth Henley (dramatist) –
- Melissa Gilbert (actress) –
- Enrique Iglesias (singer) –
Died
- Rudolf Serkin (pianist) –
- George Peppard (actor) –
- Bandit (billed as the world’s heaviest raccoon, died. He lived with his owner in Palmerton, PA. Bandit tipped the scales at nearly 75 pounds, three times the average for his breed. Bandit was born with a bad thyroid gland. When he hit 52.5 pounds in 1999, his girth garnered him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records) –
- Dom DiMaggio (baseball player; holds the record for the longest consecutive game hitting streak in Boston Red Sox history) –
- Maurice Sendak (children’s books author and illustrator) –
- Jeanne Cooper (actress) –
Events
- Coca-Cola went on sale–
- Bill Miner robbed train near Kamloops, British Columbia–
- First Catholic mass in an airship (Hindenburg) over ocean–
- The German High Command surrendered unconditionally to the Allies (WW II - VE Day)–
- The Beatles’ album Let It Be, was released in the U.K.–
- Nancy Mace became the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college–
- Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns was named MVP for the 2004-05 basketball season. He was the first Canadian to receive the honor–
Weather
- Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, saw hailstones as big as grapefruits–
- Midland, Texas, saw a temperature of 103 degrees F–
- Asheville, North Carolina, saw a temperature of 26 degrees F–
- A large water spout twisted the waters on Barnegat Bay between Toms River and Seaside Heights, New Jersey, at about 2:30 pm.–
