On this day — May 8

taking the name Leo XIV as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.

capital city of Afghanistan killing at least 55 people and wounding over 150.

killing 35 people.

Northern Ireland.

René Jalbert, Sergeant-at-Arms of the Assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the Cross of Valour.

later joined by 14 other countries.

preventing the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded except under extreme circumstances.

by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.

the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

President Richard Nixon announces his order to place naval mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.