April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 267 days remain until the end of the year.
1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in continental North America, is dedicated.
1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos 1832 – Black Hawk War: Around 300 United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans 1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons 1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL 1959 – The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank 1974 – Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the all-time leader in career home runs by hitting his 715th home run off of Al Downing at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.