Births on May 8

Red Nichols, American cornet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1965)

Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader.

27 May

Battle of Tsushima
Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
28 May

Battle of Tsushima
Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
26 Sep

Special theory of relativity
Albert Einstein publishes his first paper on the special theory of relativity.
26 Oct

Norway
Sweden accepts the independence of Norway.
30 Oct

Nicholas II of Russia
Czar Nicholas II of Russia issues the October Manifesto, granting the Russian peoples basic civil liberties and the right to form a duma. This was October 17 in the Julian calendar.