Today
Friday May 8 2026
- Day of the year
- 128/ 365
- Week
- 192,026
- Days left
- 23735%
- Moon
- 62%Waning gibbous
Today is Friday, May 8, 2026. It is day 128 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 237 remain, and 35% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 19.
What's celebrated on this date
World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
WorldwideUnited Nations — International Days
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Benedict IIpope
- Boniface IVpope
- Julian of NorwichEnglish theologian and anchoress
- Methodius of ThessalonikiChristian missionary to the Slavs
- Arsenius the GreatDesert Father
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 05:46
- Sunset
- 19:59
- Length of day
- 14h 13m+2 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:53
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Spring
began on March 20, 2026
Next season
Summer — 44 days, June 21, 2026 (June solstice)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Memorial Day — May 25, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waning gibbous
Illumination : 62%
Moon age : 21.2 days
- Next full moon
- May 31, 2026
- Next new moon
- May 16, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Taurus
until May 21, 2026 — Gemini
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
589
Reccared I opens the Third Council of Toledo, marking the entry of Visigothic Spain into the Catholic Church. Wikipedia
1360
The Hundred Years War: the Treaty of Brétigny is drafted between King Edward III of England and King John II of France (the Good). Wikipedia
1429
The Hundred Years War: Joan of Arc lifts the Siege of Orléans, turning the tide of the war Wikipedia
1541
Hernando de Soto stops near present-day Walls, Mississippi, and sees the Mississippi River (then known by the Spanish as Río de Espíritu Santo, the name given to it by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519). Wikipedia
1794
Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme générale, is tried, convicted and guillotined in one day in Paris. Wikipedia
1886
Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1902
In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast. Wikipedia
1942
World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington. Wikipedia
1978
The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Wikipedia
2025
The 2025 papal conclave elects Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, taking the name Leo XIV as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day May 8
- 1653Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (died 1734)
- 1737Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (died 1794)
- 1753Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican priest and rebel leader (died 1811)
- 1828Henry Dunant, Swiss businessman and activist, co-founded the Red Cross, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1910)
- 1829Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist and composer (died 1869)
- 1884Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (died 1972)
- 1898Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (died 1960)
- 1899Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992)
Died on this day May 8
- 1794Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist and biologist (born 1743)aged 51 years
- 1880Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (born 1821)aged 59 years
- 1891Helena Blavatsky, Russian-English mystic and author (born 1831)aged 60 years
- 1903Paul Gauguin, French painter and sculptor (born 1848)aged 55 years
- 1982Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (born 1950)aged 32 years
- 1994George Peppard, American actor and producer (born 1928)aged 66 years
- 1999Dirk Bogarde, English actor and screenwriter (born 1921)aged 78 years
- 2008François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (born 1982)aged 26 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 05:46 and sets at 19:59, giving 14h 13m of daylight — 2 minutes more than yesterday. It has been spring since March 20, 2026; summer opens in 44 days, on June 21, 2026 (June solstice).
The moon is waning gibbous, 62% illuminated. The next full moon falls on May 31, 2026 and the next new moon on May 16, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches May 8 to Benedict II, Boniface IV and Julian of Norwich.
May 8 is World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, designated by the United Nations or one of its agencies.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Reccared I opens the Third Council of Toledo, marking the entry of Visigothic Spain into the Catholic Church (589); The Hundred Years War: the Treaty of Brétigny is drafted between King Edward III of England and King John II of France (the Good) (1360). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Claude Louis Hector de Villars was born on May 8, 1653; Antoine Lavoisier died on May 8, 1794.
231 days remain until Christmas and 238 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — May 8 falls under the sign of Taurus.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 35%
- of the year elapsed
- 231
- until Christmas
- 238
- until New Year
- 662
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26