On this day: 8 August

Spring and Autumn period: Amid a succession dispute, the forces of Duke Zhuang of Lu, who was attempting to install a claimant to the Qi throne, were defeated at the Battle of Qianshi.

Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald partition the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions.

Hassan II of Alamut proclaims the qiyāma, according to which Ismaili practice would change from traditional Islamic practice.

Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.

Reconquista: In the early stages of the Mudéjar revolt, Muslim rebels captured the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera in present-day Spain, holding it for about two months.

Krishnadeva Raya is crowned Emperor of Vijayanagara at Chittoor.

The cornerstone of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observatory Uraniborg was laid on the island of Hven.

Mehmed IV (1648–1687) succeeds Ibrahim I (1640–1648) as Ottoman sultan.

The foundation for what is now known as the Wren Building, the oldest surviving college building in the United States, was laid in a ceremony at Middle Plantation, Virginia.

Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the king of Portugal in Lisbon, Portugal.

Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.

Four hundred Shawnee people agree to relinquish their lands in Ohio in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River in the Treaty of Wapakoneta.

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).

Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee, despite them being exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, now commemorated as Emancipation Day in the state.

The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.

Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.

Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight, at a racecourse at Le Mans, France.

The Battle of Amiens began in northern France, marking the start of the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive through the German front lines that ultimately led to the end of World War I.

The German airship Graf Zeppelin departed Lakehurst, New Jersey, on a flight to circumnavigate the world.

World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.

Tropical Storm Beryl formed over southeastern Louisiana, making it one of the few tropical cyclones to form over land.

The first night baseball game in the history of Chicago's Wrigley Field (game was rained out in the fourth inning).

Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission: Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.

Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.

The Warsaw radio mast (pictured), then the tallest structure ever built, at 646.38 metres (2,120.7 ft), collapsed due to an error in exchanging the guys on the highest telecommunications equipment of the mast.

Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence.

A tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumps approximately 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat full of passengers.

Space Shuttle program: STS-118 Mission: Endeavour takes off on a mission to the International Space Station.

An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.

The 29th modern summer Olympic Games take place in Beijing, China until August 24.

The World Health Organization declared the Western African Ebola epidemic, which began in December 2013, to be a public health emergency of international concern.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus takes oath as Chief Adviser to form an interim government in Bangladesh.