Reuters historical calendar - August 8

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on August 8 in history: 1900 - The first Davis Cup tennis competition, named after Dwight Filley Davis, began at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, and was won by the United States two days later.

1919 - Frank Winfield Woolworth, US businessman who founded the five-and 10-cent stores in 1879, died. By his death, the F W Woolworth company had over 1,000 outlets.

1942 - In World War Two, six German saboteurs were executed in the United States. The six, who had landed on Long Island in June, were electrocuted in a District of Columbia jail.

1963 - In Britain's ''Great Train Robbery'', a gang held up the Glasgow-London mail train and stole 2.6 million pounds.

1967 - A declaration signed in Bangkok by the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand led to the formation of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

1974 - Richard Nixon announced on television that he was resigning for his part in the Watergate scandal.

1988 - UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar announced that a ceasefire in the 8-year Iran-Iraq War would take effect on Aug. 20.

1990 - Iraq announced that it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province; President George Bush sent US troops to Saudi Arabia as part of a multinational force to defend the kingdom.

1994 - Jordanian and Israeli leaders opened the first border crossing between their countries after 46 years of hostilities.

2000 - Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's former deputy premier, was found guilty of sodomy and jailed for nine years.

2004 - The legendary oil field firefighter Red Adair, a fearless Texan who put out well fires around the globe, died aged 89.

2005 - US magazine publisher John Johnson, who jolted the mostly black readers of Ebony and Jet with violent images that lent visibility and momentum to the civil rights movement, died aged 87.

REUTERS KR KN1131