Today is Wednesday, the 8th of May of 2019. It is the 128th day of the year. 237 days remain until the end of the year. 44 days until summer begins and 545 days until presidential elections Tuesday November 3, 2020
(1 year 5 months and 26 days from today)
The sun rises at 6:06 am
and the sun will set at 8:08 pm.
Today we will have 14 hours and 2 minutes of daylight.
Solar noon will be at 1:07 pm.
The first high tide was at 1:47 am
and the next high tide will be at 4:09 pm.
The first low tide will be at 8:37 am
and the next low tide at 8:29 pm.
The Moon is currently 14.1% visible; a Waxing Crescent
Moon Direction: 9.39° N↑
Moon Altitude: -30.62°
Moon Distance: 234030 mi
Next Full Moon: Saturday May 18, 2019 at 2:11 pm
Next New Moon: Monday June 3, 2019 at 3:01 am
Next Moonrise: Today at 9:09 am
Today is…
Donate a Day's Wages to Charity Day
National Coconut Cream Pie Day
National Give Someone a Cupcake Day
National Root Canal Appreciation Day
National Third Shift Workers Day
Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day
Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War
World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
Today is also…
Emancipation Day (Columbus, Mississippi)
Furry Dance (Helston, UK)
Liberation Day (Czech Republic)
Miguel Hidalgo's birthday (Mexico)
Parents' Day (South Korea)
If today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this day with…
1737 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (d. 1794)
1821 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1885)
1824 – William Walker, American physician, lawyer, journalist and mercenary (d. 1860)
1846 – Oscar Hammerstein I, American businessman and composer (d. 1919)
1884 – Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
1895 – Edmund Wilson, American critic, essayist, and editor (d. 1972)
1905 – Red Nichols, American cornet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1965)
1906 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1977)
1910 – Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (d. 1981)
1911 – Robert Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1938)
1913 – Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (d. 1984)
1920 – Tom of Finland, Finnish illustrator (d. 1991)
1926 – David Attenborough, English environmentalist and television host
1926 – Don Rickles, American comedian and actor (d. 2017)
1928 – Ted Sorensen, American lawyer, 8th White House Counsel (d. 2010)
1930 – Gary Snyder, American poet, essayist, and translator
1937 – Thomas Pynchon, American novelist
1940 – Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 1985)
1940 – Toni Tennille, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1944 – Gary Glitter, English singer-songwriter
1945 – Keith Jarrett, American pianist and composer
actor
1958 – Roddy Doyle, Irish novelist, playwright, and screenwriter
1961 – Bill de Blasio, American politician, 109th Mayor of New York City
1964 – Melissa Gilbert, American actress and director
1970 – Naomi Klein, Canadian author and activist
1976 – Martha Wainwright, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1977 – Joe Bonamassa, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
…and on this day in history…
1541 – Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo.
1877 – At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens.
1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.
1898 – The first games of the Italian football league system are played.
1899 – The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin produced its first play.
1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.
1919 – Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended World War I.
1945 – World War II: German forces in the west agree to an unconditional surrender.
1973 – A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.
1976 – The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
1978 – The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
1980 – The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.