On this day in history - May 8

What Happened On This Day – May 8

• 1984 Moscow announces that the USSR will not take part in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles

  Several other countries, such as Cuba, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Vietnam joined the boycott. 4 years earlier, the United States had not sent any athletes to the Summer Olympics in Moscow.

• 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climb Mount Everest without oxygen supply

  Prior to the Italian and Austrian mountaineers' ascent, it was thought to be impossible to conquer the world's highest mountain without supplemental oxygen.

• 1970 The Beatles release the album Let It Be

  The recording was the last studio album ever released by the legendary English rock band.

• 1927 The White Bird and its crew mysteriously disappear

  French aviators, Charles Nungesser and François Coli, had taken off from Paris in their Levasseur PL.8 biplane in an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight. Their disappearance remains a mystery. Charles Lindbergh succeeded two weeks later.

• 1886 Coca-Cola is invented

  According to legend, Dr. John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, produced the syrup in a brass pot in his backyard. It was first intended as a patent medicine. Today, Coca-Cola is one of the world's most popular soft drinks and one of the most recognized trademarks.