On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
Portrait 1080 à 1920 PNG · created on your device
The missing six million viewers who were watching prime television last May and have disappeared this year are still watching, but on their own terms.
Three hundred miles south of Baghdad, Basra has been transformed by its own surge, now seven weeks old.
Supporters of a measure in Missouri cite concerns about illegal immigrants voting, but critics say tens of thousands of legal residents could be disenfranchised.
Carlos BeltrĂĄn continued his hot hitting, going 2 for 5 with a two-run homer and three runs batted in, to support Oliver PĂ©rez and give the Mets the victory.
James Frey stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park with his new book.
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of May 7, 2008, covering May 12, 2008.
Mariah Carey
Leona Lewis
Flight of the Conchords
Ashlee Simpson
Atmosphere
2008Robert Rauschenberg, American painter and illustrator (born 1925)[â ]
Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954â1964), a group of artworks which incorporated everyday objects as art materials and which blurred the distinctions between painting and sculpture. Rauschenberg was primarily a painter and a sculptor, but he also worked with photography, printmaking, papermaking and performance.
2008Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian (born 1910)[â ]
Irena StanisĆawa Sendler, operating under the nom de guerre Jolanta, was a Polish humanitarian, social worker, and nurse who served in the Polish Underground Resistance during World War II in German-occupied Warsaw. From October 1943 she was head of the children's section of Ć»egota, the Polish Council to Aid Jews.
2008An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.[â ]
An earthquake occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008. Measuring at 8.0 Ms, the earthquake's epicenter was located 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital, with a focal depth of 19 km (12 mi). The earthquake ruptured the fault for over 240 km (150 mi), with surface displacements of several meters. The earthquake was also felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghaiâ1,500 and 1,700 km away, respectivelyâwhere office buildings swayed with the tremor, as well as Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam. Strong aftershocks, some exceeding 6 Ms, continued to hit the area up to several months after the main shock, causing further casualties and damage. The earthquake also caused the largest number of geohazards ever recorded, including about 200,000 landslides and more than 800 quake lakes distributed over an area of 110,000 km2 (42,000 sq mi).
2008U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts the largest-ever raid of a workplace in Postville, Iowa, arresting nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.[â ]
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from transnational crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
In 2008, the world population was approximately 6,844,457,662 people[â ]