June 8

Today in History
• 452 - Italy invaded by Attila the Hun
• 793 - Vikings in long ships from Norway plunder St Cuthbert's monastery
• 1191 - King Richard I of England arrives to join the Siege of Acre
• 1551 - Pope Julius III excommunicates Duke Ottario Farnese of Parma
• 1663 - Battle at Amegical: English and Portuguese fleet beats Spanish
• 1783 - Laki volcano in southern Iceland begins 8-month eruption, killing 10,000
• 1786 - Commercially made ice cream 1st advertised (Mr Hall in NYC)
• 1789 - James Madison introduces a proposed Bill of Rights


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Bounty Day
• Corpus Christi
• National Best Friends Day
• National Name Your Poison Day
• National Upsy Daisy Day
• Temotu Province Day
• Thomas Paine Day
• World Oceans Day

Birthdays
• 1625 - Giovanni D Cassini, Perinaldo, France, discoverer, 4 moons of Saturn
• 1652 - William Dampier, English explorer/pirate, 1st Englishman to explore Australia
• 1717 - John Collins, American politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (1786-90)
• 1743 - Alessandro Cagliostro [Giuseppe Balsamo], Italian adventurer and magician
• 1772 - Robert Stevenson, Scottish civil engineer (Bell Rock Lighthouse, Scotland)
• 1813 - David Dixon Porter, United States Navy admiral
• 1821 - Samuel White Baker, English explorer (Ceylon and Egypt)
• 1824 - James Loudon, Dutch politician, Governor-General of Dutch East Indies