Daily Calendar for Thursday, May 8, 2025

Truman Day (Missouri)

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.

Born

Harry S Truman (33rd U.S. president) – 1884
Red Nichols (musician) – 1905
Roberto Rossellini (director) – 1906
Sloan Wilson (writer) – 1920
Don Rickles (comedian) – 1926
Sir David Attenborough (naturalist) – 1926
Ricky Nelson (singer) – 1940
Toni Tennille (singer) – 1943
Beth Henley (dramatist) – 1952
Melissa Gilbert (actress) – 1964
Enrique Iglesias (singer) – 1975

Died

Rudolf Serkin (pianist) – 1991
George Peppard (actor) – 1994
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) – 2004
Dom DiMaggio (baseball player; holds the record for the longest consecutive game hitting streak in Boston Red Sox history) – 2009
Maurice Sendak (children’s books author and illustrator) – 2012
Jeanne Cooper (actress) – 2013

Events

Coca-Cola went on sale– 1886
Bill Miner robbed train near Kamloops, British Columbia– 1906
First Catholic mass in an airship (Hindenburg) over ocean– 1936
The German High Command surrendered unconditionally to the Allies (WW II - VE Day)– 1945
The Beatles’ album Let It Be, was released in the U.K.– 1970
Nancy Mace became the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college– 1999
Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns was named MVP for the 2004-05 basketball season. He was the first Canadian to receive the honor– 2005

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Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, saw hailstones as big as grapefruits– 1981
Midland, Texas, saw a temperature of 103 degrees F– 1989
Asheville, North Carolina, saw a temperature of 26 degrees F– 1989
A large water spout twisted the waters on Barnegat Bay between Toms River and Seaside Heights, New Jersey, at about 2:30 pm.– 2021

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