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History on the 8th of August

History
Date Text
08 Aug 1914 WW2 Wilhelm Keitel was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann. 
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08 Aug 1914 WW2 Despite being outgunned Captain Howard Kelly on the British light cruiser HMS Gloucester opened fire on the German cruiser Breslau in order to delay the flight of the battlecruiser Goebern (Rear Admiral W. Souchon) to enable the pursuing British battlecruisers, under the flag of Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne, to catch up with their prey. The engagement had to be called off when the Gloucester ran short of coal. 
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08 Aug 1914 WW2 The Defence of the Realm Act, although primarily designed to protect Britain's Ports and Railways from sabotage or espionage, permitted the trial of Civilians by court martial. 
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08 Aug 1917 WW2 Edward Brooks was made a second lieutenant in the US Regular Army. 
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08 Aug 1920 WW2 Having captured Józef Pilsudski's plans from the body of a dead Polish officer, Mikhail Tukhachevsky (who regarded them as a hoax) issued his orders for the attack on Warsaw, Poland to be carried out on 14 Aug 1920, three days before Pilsudski planned to be ready. 
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08 Aug 1929 WW2 The German airship Graf Zeppelin began a round-the-world flight. 
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08 Aug 1929 WW2 Heinrich Himmler's daughter Gudrun was born. 
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08 Aug 1931 WW2 Workers go on strike at the Hoover Dam in the United States. 
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08 Aug 1932 WW2 General Nobuyoshi Muto succeeded Mannosuke Yamaoka as the Governor-General of Kwantung Leased Territory in northeastern China. 
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08 Aug 1932 WW2 Nobuyoshi Muto succeeded Shigeru Honjo as the commanding officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army in northeastern China. Kuniaki Koiso was named as Muto's chief of staff. 
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08 Aug 1932 WW2 Hiroshi Nemoto arrived in Shanghai, China. 
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08 Aug 1934 WW2 Per orders given by Adolf Hitler six days prior, the German Wehrmacht swore a personal oath of loyalty to Hitler rather than to the country. 
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08 Aug 1934 WW2 Roderick Carr was assigned to RAF Gosport, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. 
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08 Aug 1937 WW2 Japan declared Chinese cities of Beiping and Tianjin secure. 
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08 Aug 1937 WW2 A S-43 aircraft operated by China National Aviation Corporation was ditched due to rough weather at Chilang Point, Daya Bay, Guangdong Province, China; 3 were killed, 8 survived. 
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08 Aug 1938 WW2 The building of Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria began. 
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08 Aug 1938 WW2 Troops of 90th Division of Chinese 4th Corps repulsed Japanese assaults at Shizishan, Muopanshan, and Jiaojiashankou in Jiangxi Province, China. On the same day, 15th Division of Chinese 8th Corps captured Datianshan, Jiangxi. After dark, Japanese troops attacked Maanshan. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 Laws restricting education and employment were introduced in Romania. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 Wages of British military personnel increased by 6 pence per day; with this increase, a British Army private's weekly pay was increased to 17 shillings and 6 pence. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 Troops of the 2nd Battalion, UK (Scottish) Black Watch arrived in British Somaliland to reinforce against the Italian invasion. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 German submarine U-37 sank British ship Upwey Grange, carrying 5,380 tons of frozen beef from Argentina to Britain, 200 miles west of Ireland at 0114 hours; the entire crew of 86 took to lifeboats, but one of the boats, carrying 36, was never seen again. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 Adolf Hitler ordered Walter Warlimont, Alfred Jodl's deputy, to determine the positions of Soviet troops in preparation for Operation Barbarossa. On the same day, Wilhelm Keitel signed the Aufbau Ost directive, which called for the mobilization of the German military in eastern Germany. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 Edward Brooks was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 After several days of little action, the Germans launched continuous operations against the large convoy CW9, codenamed Peewit, of 25 merchant ships with Royal Navy escorts in the Strait of Dover. Torpedo boats attacked before dawn, sinking British ships Ouse, Holme Force (killing 6), and Fefe Coast (killing 5). As the convoy traveled westward, 300 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers escorted by 150 fighters struck, sinking Dutch ship Ajax (killing 4), British ship Coquetdale, and British ship Empire Crusader (killing 5); as the British fought back, 17 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, 26 Bf 109 fighters, and 9 Bf 110 fighters were shot down, but the RAF also lost 13 Hurricane fighters, 4 Spitfire fighters, and 1 Blenheim bombers. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 German armed merchant cruiser Widder sank Dutch collier Oostplein carrying 5,850 tons of coal from Britain to Buenos Aires, Argentina; the entire crew of 34 were rescued by Widder. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 Battleship No. 1, the future battleship Yamato, was launched at Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan. 
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08 Aug 1940 WW2 Operation Tube: British submarine HMS Proteus reached Malta from Gibraltar with spares for the newly-arrived Hurricane fighters. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 Yugoslavia was dissolved, with Italy annexing large areas. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 US Army aircraft and troops embarked for Iceland. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 The construction for trawler Anticosti was ordered. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 The Romanian General Staff issued Directive No. 31 calling for the capture of Odessa and the defeat of Soviet forces between the Dniester River and the Tiligulskiy Estuary in Ukraine. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 Soviet destroyer Valerian Kuibyshev made rendezvous with British submarine HMS Tigris off northern Russia. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 During the night, the first Soviet air attack was made on Berlin, Germany by naval Ilyushin Il-4 twin-engine bombers. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 Alexander Löhr was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht daily radio report. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 Shokaku was commissioned into service at Yokosuka, Japan. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 Joseph Stalin ordered the formation of eight Guards mortar regiments directly under the control of the Stavka to operate Katyusha rocket launchers. 
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08 Aug 1941 WW2 The 6th and 12th Soviet Armies in the Uman Pocket in Ukraine were wiped out by German troops; over 100,000 Soviet prisoners were taken. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 In the morning, 7 Japanese cruisers and 1 destroyer under Gunichi Mikawa departed Kavieng, New Ireland and Rabaul, New Britain, sailing south without being detected; after sundown, the force caught the Allied warships by surprise off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; the Battle of Savo Island would result in the sinking of 3 US cruisers, 1 Australian cruiser, and 1 US destroyer; 1,077 US personnel were killed in this battle. Also on this date, US Marines captured the unfinished Japanese airfield at Guadalcanal at 1600 hours, which would later come to be known as Henderson Field. The US Marines also captured Tulagi (307 Japanese killed, 3 Japanese captured, 45 Americans killed), Gavutu, and Tanambogo (476 Japanese killed, 20 Japanese and Koreans captured, 70 Americans killed) islands in the afternoon. Finally, 26 Japanese G4M bombers and 12 Zero fighters based in Rabaul, New Britain attacked US ships off Guadalcanal at 1200 hours, damaging troop transport USS George F. Elliot and destroyer USS Jarvis (14 were killed); 18 G4M and 2 Zero aircraft were lost on this mission. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 German submarine U-98 mined waters off Jacksonville, Florida, United States. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 German submarines U-379 and U-176 attacked Allied convoy SC-94 485 miles southeast of the southern tip of Greenland in the afternoon; at 1325 hours, U-379 fatally damaged British merchant ship Anneberg and sank US merchant ship Kaimoku (50 survived); at 1518 hours, U-176 sank British merchant ship Kelso (3 were killed, 40 survived), sank British merchant ship Trehata (23 were killed, 25 survived), and disabled Greek merchant ship Mount Kassion (47 survived). British corvette HMS Dianthus counterattacked U-379 by ramming and depth charges, sinking the German submarine; 40 were killed, 5 survived. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 The Soviet Army launched a counter-offensive of Voronezh under Marshal Timoshenko. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 The Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee passed the Quite India resolution, and Mahatma Gandhi gave the Quit India speech at Gowalia Tank park in central Bombay. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 The Republic XP-47B prototype aircraft crashed during flight trials. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 British submarine HMS Turbulent destroyed the hulk of Italian destroyer Strale, which had run aground intentionally on 21 Jun 1942, after being attacked by British torpedo bombers, to prevent sinking. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 British submarine HMS Proteus sank Greek sailing vessel Firesia in the Aegean Sea south of Naxos island, Greece. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 Italian submarine Morosini became missing in the Bay of Biscay west of France. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 USS Silversides sank Japanese freighter Nikkei Maru off southern Honshu island, Japan. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 USS S-38 sank Japanese troop transport Meiyo Maru 14 miles west of Cape Staint George, New Ireland at 2000 hours; 353 were killed. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 German submarine U-601 entered the Kara Sea as a part of Operation Wunderland. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 USS S-31 arrived at Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska, ending her third war patrol. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 At Australian Papua, 3 companies of Australian 39th Battalion departed Deniki separately shortly after dawn to attack the Kokoda Track; Company A would recapture the airfield in the morning, but the other two companies' attacks would be repulsed. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 Saburo Sakai, flying an A6M Zero fighter, shot down a F4F Wildcat fighter flown by James Southerland. His fighter was subsequently hit by gunner Harold Jones in a SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber, blowing away the canopy, causing a gashing wound on his head that blinded him in one eye. He was able to fly his fighter back to Rabaul, New Britain, collapsing only after having successfully landed. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 USS Narwhal sank Japanese fishing boat Bifuku Maru 5 miles off the northeastern tip of Honshu island, Japan. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Mako, Pescadores. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 Dwight Eisenhower established his headquarter in England, United Kingdom. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 Six of the eight captured Nazi German saboteurs were executed in Washington DC, United States. The other two, George Dasch and Ernst Burger, were granted special treatment (30 years imprisonment and life imprisonment, respectively) by US President Franklin Roosevelt for their earlier cooperation that led to the capture of the other six. 
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08 Aug 1942 WW2 The Federal Grand Jury investigation on newspaper Chicago Tribune revealing classified military intelligence information made headlines on major US newspapers. Inadvertently this might have led to, though not proven, the changing of Japanese Navy radio communications encryption on 14 Aug 1942. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 The imprisoned Mussolini was transferred to the island of La Maddalena off Sardinia, Italy. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 King Vittorio Emanuele III decreed that Italy was under a state of siege. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 US troops landed at St. Agata, Sicily, Italy. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 USS Gar departed Fremantle, Australia for her ninth war patrol. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 Oberstleutnant Wilhelm Antrup was named the commanding officer of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 Battery B of the US Marine Corps 9th Defense Battalion was deployed at Kindu Point on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands to defend the southern coast of the island near Munda airfield. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 The commanding officer of US Marine Corps squadron VMF-214 Bill Pace was killed when his Corsair fighter overheated and crashed in the Solomon Islands. 
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08 Aug 1943 WW2 USS Whale sank Japanese aircraft transport Naruto Maru between Japan and Mariana Islands, hitting her with 2 of 4 torpedoes fired. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 German SS Lieutenant General Hans Kammler was named the Special Commissioner for the A-4 rocket program. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 USS Guitarro sank a small vessel off Luzon, Philippine Islands in the South China Sea with her deck gun. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 Winston Churchill, Alan Brooke, Louis Mountbatten, Clement Attlee, Anthony Eden, Oliver Lyttelton, and Albert Wedemeyer met in London, England, United Kingdom to discuss the future direction of war efforts in southeastern Asia. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 USS Luce completed a period of anti-submarine patrol off Attu in the Aleutian Islands and departed for San Francisco, California, United States. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 HMS Howe arrived at Trincomalee, Ceylon. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 HMS Valiant was damaged at Trincomalee, Ceylon when the floating drydock in which she was docked suddenly collapsed. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 The German offensive at Mortain, France, Operation Lüttich, was called off after it suffered severe losses to armoured columns from Allied air attacks. Inaccuracy of the American bombing, however, would kill many Canadians, Polish and British ground troops and would wound Major General R. F. L. Keller, commanding officer of Canadian 3rd Infantry Division. Meanwhile, Canadian forces launched Operation Totalize to the south of Caen while the US 15th Army Corp occupied Le Mans, France.
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann, the "ace of tank aces", was killed when his Tiger tank was knocked out leading an attack parallel to the main Caen-Falais Road in France. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 USS Preston arrived at Apra harbor, Guam. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 USS Sterlet sank a Japanese transport in the Pacific Ocean, hitting her with four of four torpedoes. 
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08 Aug 1944 WW2 Soviet convoy BD-5 departed Arkhangelsk, Russia, escorted by 3 trawlers. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 USS Blenny reported sinking 11 small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 At 2300 hours, the Soviet Union tore up the non-aggression treaty with Japan and declared war; the invasion would begin 61 minutes later at the start of the following day. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 US President Harry Truman signed the United Nations Charter, making the US the third nation to join the new organization. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 US President Truman threatened Japan with further nuclear devastation during a radio address. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 USS Manta departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her second war patrol. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 USS Cassin Young departed Okinawa, Japan for San Pedro, California, United States. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 About 60 American B-29 bombers attacked aircraft factories and arsenals near Tokyo, Japan. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 USS Whale made rendezvous with USS Dragonet in the Pacific Ocean and received a rescued pilot. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 US B-24 bombers based in the Philippine Islands struck Shinchiku Airfield (now Hsinchu), Taiwan. 
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08 Aug 1945 WW2 United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and France signed the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal in London, England, United Kingdom. The chief prosecutors from these four nations met for the first time. 
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08 Aug 1946 WW2 The Convair B-36 Peacemaker long-range strategic bomber took flight for the first time. It was the largest aircraft ever to go into service with the USAF. 
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08 Aug 1948 WW2 First flight of the Ilyushin Il-28, the Soviet Union's first jet powered bomber. It would be in frontline service within two years. 
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