June 8

This day in history:

• 1794 – Maximilien Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution's new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across France.
• 452 – Attila leads a Hun army in the invasion of Italy, devastating the northern provinces as he heads for Rome.
• 1867 – Coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Hungary following the Austro-Hungarian compromise (Ausgleich).
• 1906 – Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.

Births:

• 1671 – Tomaso Albinoni, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1751)
• 1900 – Lena Baker, African-American maid executed for capital murder, later pardoned posthumously (d. 1945)
• 1876 – Alexandre Tuffère, Greek-French triple jumper (d. 1958)

Deaths:

• 1621 – Anne de Xainctonge, French saint, founded the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin (b. 1567)
• 1876 – George Sand, French author and playwright (b. 1804)
• 1982 – Satchel Paige, American baseball player (b. 1906)

Holidays:

• World Brain Tumor Day
• Engineer's Day (Peru)
• Bounty Day (Norfolk Island)

Random Article of the day:

ABA League MVP