Following are some of the major events to have occurred on June 8:
1928 – Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese nationalist army secured the surrender of Peking.
1935 – Omaha wins the 1935 Belmont Stakes.
1949 – “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, George Orwell’s vision of a world ruled by Big Brother, was published.
1995 – Lee Teng Hui became the first president of Taiwan to visit the United States, angering China.
1998 – Nigeria’s military ruler, General Sani Abacha, died suddenly after more than four years in power; General Abdulsalam Abubakar was sworn in as Nigeria’s ninth military ruler.
2000 – Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed direct presidential rule on Chechnya.
2000 – The British military attache in Athens, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, was shot and killed. The November 17 urban guerrilla group claimed responsibility the next day.
2001 – British Prime Minister Tony Blair won a historic second consecutive term in power by a huge margin, prompting opposition Conservative leader William Hague to resign.
2004 – Venus transits across the Sun in rare celestial event.
2008 – World’s longest line of pizzas is made in Sydney.
2017 – Britons vote in election following Brexit referendum.
