THE DAY IN HISTORY · AUGUST 8
August 8 in history
What happened on August 8: 5 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 1846, 1918, 1919, 1942 and 1944, each linked to the map that shows it.
Congressman David Wilmot moves to bar slavery from any land taken from Mexico. The House votes by section instead of party, and the road to the Civil War begins.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MAP →
— Battle of Amiens
8 Aug 1918 — 530 tanks, 800 aircraft, dominated artillery and total surprise: the German line breaks in hours and 15,000 surrender. Ludendorff calls it “the black day of the German Army” — not for the ground lost, but because the men gave up.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WWI MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Treaty of Rawalpindi
8 Aug 1919 — After a month’s border war, Britain signs away control of Afghanistan’s foreign policy. Watch the parchment north-west corner of this map become sovereign — the first piece of the imperial glacis to break off.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE & PARTITION MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Quit India Movement
8 Aug 1942 — Congress votes for immediate British withdrawal; Gandhi gives the crowd a mantra: “Do or die.” By dawn the whole leadership is jailed without trial, and the leaderless country rises anyway.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE & PARTITION MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Battle of Hengyang
23 Jun–8 Aug 1944 — In Ichigo’s path, 17,000 men of the Tenth Army hold a rail city against 100,000 for 47 days — the longest defense of the war. It falls; the corridor is cut through; and the political shock in Chungking and Washington outlasts the campaign.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE CHINA IN REVOLUTION MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
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