Reuters historical calendar - September 8

London, Sep 7 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on September 8 since 1900: 1900 - A hurricane and tidal wave killed at least 8,000 people in Galveston, Texas.

1941 - In World War Two, the blockade of Leningrad began as the German army encircled the city. The siege lasted until January 1944, with almost one million civilian deaths.

1943 - U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower announced the unconditional surrender of Italy in World War Two.

1944 - The first German V-2 flying bombs landed at Chiswick in London. Three people were killed.

1945 - Hideki Tojo, Japanese prime minister during most of World War Two, attempted suicide rather than face a war crimes tribunal.

He failed and was later found guilty and hanged.

1949 - Richard Strauss, German composer, died. He was known for his songs and operas, especially ''Der Rosenkavalier''.

1967 - A new constitution came into effect in Uganda, making the country a republic.

1974 - U.S. President Gerald Ford granted his predecessor Richard Nixon an unconditional pardon for all federal crimes he may have committed while he was in office.

1979 - Jean Seberg, U.S.-born actress, was found dead in her car in Paris. She had appeared in ''Saint Joan'' but was best remembered for her appearances in ''Breathless'' and ''Lilith''.

1991 - The southern Yugoslav republic of Macedonia voted overwhelmingly to become an independent state.

2000 - The largest gathering of world leaders in history ended at the United Nations with more than 150 kings, presidents and prime ministers assembled. The conference adopted aims for the U.N. to strengthen peacekeeping and reduce poverty.

2001 - India's Mira Nair became the first woman and the first Indian to win the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice film festival with her film ''Monsoon Wedding''.

2003 - Leni Riefenstahl, Adolf Hitler's filmmaker and one the last of Germany's famous Nazi-era figures, died. She was 101. Her films of a Nazi party rally and the 1936 Berlin Olympics brought her prewar fame and postwar notoriety.

2004 - The Genesis space capsule crashed when its parachute failed to open while returning to Earth. The craft had been on a three-year mission to collect solar ions, which were recovered by scientists though the spacecraft was destroyed.

**2005 - Thirty-three-year-old South African Hein Wagner became the world's fastest blind driver after driving a car across a remote airstrip at 269 kph.

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