January 8 in history — What Happened Today in History

President of the United States George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.

An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 people on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.

Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.

Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.

Breakup of the Bell System: In the United States, AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.

A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".

Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.

Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.

Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.

Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.

Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.

President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.

In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.

Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic.

Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Waorani of Ecuador shortly after making first contact.

Andrei Zhdanov, Chairman of the Finnish Allied Commission, submits to the Finnish War Criminal Court an interrogation report by General Erich Buschenhagen, a German prisoner of war, on the contacts between Finnish and German military personnel before the Continuation War and a copy of Hitler's Barbarossa plan.

World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack invading Japanese Imperial forces.

World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.

Kashf-e hijab decree is made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran's head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.

Anarchist insurrection of January 1933 breaks out in Barcelona, Spain.

The Committee for Union Action is established in Guatemala.

Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuỵ is crowned emperor of Vietnam, the country's last monarch.

Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.

The steel strike of 1919 ends in failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" as conditions for ending World War I.

The African National Congress is founded, under the name South African Native National Congress (SANNC).

The city of San Diego passes an ordinance restricting free speech, provoking months of civil unrest between socialist Wobblies and business leaders that become the bloodiest free speech fight in history.

President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.

Valkyrae, American online streamer

Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer

Stefan Johansen, Norwegian footballer

Stefan Savić, Montenegrin footballer

Greg Smith, American basketball player

Blair Walsh, American football player

Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player

Adrián López, Spanish footballer

Michael Mancienne, English footballer

Alex Tyus, American-Israeli basketball player

Chris Douglas-Roberts, American basketball player

Cynthia Erivo, English actress and singer-songwriter

Freddie Stroma, English actor

Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor (born 1942)

Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (born 1926)

Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (born 1921)

Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher, Dutch-Australian swimmer (born 1925)

Antonino P. Roman, Filipino lawyer and politician (born 1939)

Kenojuak Ashevak, Canadian sculptor and illustrator (born 1927)

Jeanne Manford, American educator and activist, co-founded PFLAG (born 1920)

Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer (born 1930)

Dave Alexander, American singer and pianist (born 1938)

T. J. Hamblin, English haematologist and academic (born 1943)

Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian-French pianist and educator (born 1929)

Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician (born 1937)

Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer (born 1924)