Today is Friday, May 8, the 128th day of 2015. There are 237 days left in the year.
1429 — French troops under Joan of Arc rescues Orleans
1521 — Parliament of Worms installs edict against Marten Luther
1660 — English parliament asks King Charles II to resign
1823 — “Home Sweet Home” first sung (London)
1879 — George Selden files for first patent for a gasoline-driven automobile
1895 — China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki
1944 — First eye bank opens (NYC)
1945 — V-E Day; Germany signs unconditional surrender, WWII ends in Europe
1962 — London trolley buses go out of service
1967 — Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army
1970 — Beatles release “Let it Be” album
1980 — World Health Organization announced smallpox had been eradicated