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What Happened Today in History on November 8

Explore the historical events that shaped our world on November 8th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.

429 BCE, circa. November

Pericles, influential Athenian statesman and general, dies during the Plague of Athens.

The Battle of Kulikovo takes place, where the Russian forces under Dmitry Donskoy defeat the Golden Horde.

Hernán Cortés and his Spanish conquistadors arrive at the coast of Mexico, beginning their conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Stockholm Bloodbath: Danish forces under King Christian II execute a large number of Swedish nobles in Stockholm. The executions were carried out on November 8 and 9, 1520, after King Christian II coronation. 

The Battle of Sekigahara in Japan marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate and the end of the Sengoku period.

Montana is admitted to the United States of America becoming the 41st State.

German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovers X-rays while experimenting with cathode rays on November 8, 1895, he noticed a fluorescent screen glowing in the dark; realizing that unknown rays were passing through solid objects. He captured the first X-ray image of his wife's hand to prove the discovery. More

Adolf Hitler's first attempted coup, the Beer Hall Putsch, is foiled in Munich, Germany.

Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa during World War II, begins.

John F. Kennedy is elected president of the United States, becoming the 35th President of the nation. He was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas; the fourth American president to be assassinated.

Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013. it was one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded with multiple landfalls, causing widespread destruction and at least 6,300 deaths and over 1,000 missing people.

Donald Trump is elected as President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton.