1913
Jun 8, Emily Wilding Davison (b.1872), a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), died from injuries 4 days earlier when she tried to block the path of a racehorse owned by King George V. See link for video of race.

1942
Jun 8, In Paris on the first day Helene Berr was forced to wear the yellow star to distinguish Jews: "My God, I didn't know this would be so hard. I was very brave all day. I held my head high and looked people so straight in the eyes they turned away. But it's hard ... This morning, I went out with Mother. Two kids in the street pointed at us saying 'Hey? You see? Jewish.'"


1998
Jun 8, Larisa Yudina (53), an independent journalist in Kalmykia, was found dead in a pond with a fractured skull and multiple stab wounds. She had pursued investigations of corruption of KirsanIlyumzhinov, the president of Kalmykia. The murder was called a political killing. Two aides of Ilyumzhinov were later arrested by the police and confessed to the killing.


2002
Jun 8, Serena Williams won the French Open, defeating her older sister, Venus.

2003
Jun 8, Annika Sorenstam won the LPGA Championship for her 5th major title. Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero won the French Open men's final over Martin Verkerk.




2006
Jun 8, SheikhaHayaRashed Al Khalifa, a pioneering lawyer and women's rights advocate from Bahrain, was elected UN General Assembly president, the first woman from the Middle East to take the post.


2007
Jun 8, Mary Winkler, who'd killed her preacher husband with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay in bed, was sentenced in Selmer, Tenn., to three years in prison. She ended up serving 67 days in custody, 12 in jail and the rest in a mental health facility.

2009
Jun 8, North Carolina State Univ. terminated former first lady Mary Easley’s $170,000-a-year job after e-mails showed that former Gov. Mike Easley had served as an intermediary when the school hire her.

2009
Jun 8, North Korea convicted Laura Ling and Euna Lee, American journalists for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV media venture, and sentenced them to 12 years of hard labor for crossing into its territory, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

2011
Jun 8, Meredith Vieira ended her five year stint as co-host of the popular Today Show. The veteran newswoman is leaving television to spend more time with her husband, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. Vieira is being replaced on Today by Ann Curry.

2011
Jun 8, In Nevada, Carolyn Goodman, wife of popular Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, succeeded him in office. She was easily elected, receiving 61% of the vote.