Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 May 8

Gary Cooper (1901–1961) was an American film actor known for his natural, authentic, and understated acting style. He was a movie star from the end of the silent film era through the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider and soon established himself as a Western hero in films such as The Virginian (1929). He played the lead in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), and extended his range of performances to include roles in most major film genres. He portrayed champions of the common man in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). In his later years, he delivered award-winning performances in High Noon (1952) and Friendly Persuasion (1956). Cooper received three Academy Awards and appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitors poll of top ten film personalities every year from 1936 to 1958. His screen persona embodied the American folk hero. (Full article...)

Recently featured: The Sinking of the Lusitania – 2002 Pacific typhoon season – Kosta Pećanac

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

• ... that Jean Metzinger painted Soldier at a Game of Chess (pictured) 100 years ago while mobilized in World War I?
• ... that Ray Barra danced Romeo in John Cranko's first narrative ballet for the Stuttgart Ballet, Romeo and Juliet?
• ... that the Brooklyn Free School is run by democratic meeting and a "noncoercive" philosophy that includes no grades, tests, homework, or compulsory classes?
• ... that against medical advice, consultant physician Richard Bayliss went skiing within three weeks of his heart attack?
• ... that Luciano Berio based Quattro versioni originali della "Ritirata notturna di Madrid" on Boccherini's night street music of Madrid?
• ... that Monte Alén National Park prohibits the hunting of the Goliath frog, the biggest frog in the world?
• ... that the European Sea Ports Organisation represents over 98 percent of the seaports of the European Union?
• ... that the BBC1 game show Decimate has been praised for upholding the true meaning of the word "decimate"?

• In snooker, Stuart Bingham (pictured) wins the World Championship.
• In association football, Chelsea win the Premier League.
• Violent protests occur in Burundi after the country's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, announces that he will seek a third term.
• In boxing, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. defeats Manny Pacquiao to unify the WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring welterweight titles.
• In horse racing, American Pharoah, ridden by Victor Espinoza, wins the Kentucky Derby.
• Following a week of protests in Baltimore, Maryland, six police officers are charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

Ongoing:

Nepal earthquake – Yemeni Civil War

Recent deaths: Ruth Rendell – Maya Plisetskaya

May 8: Victory in Europe Day; World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day; Miguel Hidalgo's Birthday in Mexico; Parents' Day in South Korea

• 1794 – The Reign of Terror: Branded a traitor, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, a former royal tax collector with the Ferme générale, was tried, convicted, and guillotined on the same day.
• 1886 – In Atlanta, American pharmacist John Pemberton first sold his carbonated beverage Coca-Cola as a patent medicine, claiming that it cured a number of diseases.
• 1927 – French aviators Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli aboard L'Oiseau Blanc biplane, attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, disappeared after takeoff.
• 1945 – In the presence of Allied commanders the representatives of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht signed the German Instrument of Surrender, ending World War II in Europe (Wilhelm Keitel pictured).
• 1963 – In Huế, South Vietnam, soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam opened fire into a crowd of Buddhist protestors against a government ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesākha, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.

More anniversaries: May 7 – May 8 – May 9

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Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) was an English historian who published The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Born in Putney, Surrey, he became a voracious reader while being raised by his aunt, and was sent to study at Magdalen College, Oxford, and in Switzerland. Returning to England, in 1761 Gibbon published his first book, Essai sur l'Étude de la Littérature. This was well received, but Gibbon's next book was a failure. In the early 1770s Gibbon began writing his history of the Roman Empire, which was received with great praise.

Painting: Henry Walton