April 8 in Pop Culture History

1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, was dedicated.

1820 – The Venus de Milo statue was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.

1838 (Tornado) Calcutta, India.

1873 – The first commercially successful margarine manufacturing process was Patented (No. 137,564) by Alfred Paraf of New York.

1879 – “Fire Escape Ladder” was Patented (#214,224) by J.R. Winters.

1879 – Echo Farms Dairy Co. of New York sold milk in glass bottles for the first time in the US.

1952 – US President Harry Truman announced the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.

1953 – Man in the Dark, the first 3D motion picture produced and released by a major company, opened at the Globe Theater in New York City.

1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper met to discuss creating a new programming language, leading to COBOL.

1964 – Gemini 1, an unmanned test flight, was launched.

1988 – #1 Hit April 8, 1989 – April 14, 1989: Roxette – The Look

1990 – Twin Peaks premiered on ABC

1994 – Lead Singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, was found dead, having committed suicide three days earlier.

2000 – #1 Hit April 8, 2000 – June 16, 2000: Santana featuring The Product G&B – Maria Maria

2005 – Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph agreed to plead guilty. A security guard named Richard Jewell was initially considered the prime suspect in the case.

2006 – #1 Hit April 8, 2006 – May 12, 2006: Daniel Powter – Bad Day

2024 – There will be a total North American solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The path includes Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Ohio, New York and Maine