June 8
in history.

On the Ides of March, Roman dictator Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times on the steps of the Theatre of Pompey by a group of senators including Brutus and Cassius. His death ended the Roman Republic.

Under pressure from rebellious barons, King John of England seals Magna Carta, the first document to formally limit the power of an English king.

Ottoman forces under Mehmed II breach the walls of Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire after 1,000 years. The city is renamed Istanbul.

The world's greatest playwright was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. His works — 37 plays and 154 sonnets — have been translated into every major language.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish 'The Communist Manifesto' in London, a political pamphlet that would shape the political landscape of the 20th century.

President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. He dies the following morning, becoming the first U.S. president to be assassinated.

Nazi Germany unconditionally surrenders to the Allied forces. Victory in Europe Day is celebrated across the Western world, ending six years of war.

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel to outer space, completing one orbit of Earth in the Vostok 1 spacecraft in 108 minutes.