This day in China A calendar of Chinese history
For every day of the year, the facts that marked China or its history with the rest of the world: festivals and anniversaries, births and deaths, wars and treaties, discoveries, disasters, sport and culture.
Today,
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Birth
Birth of Li Ning
Gymnast Li Ning is born in Liuzhou, Guangxi, on 8 September 1963. He won six medals, three of them gold, at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the first Summer Olympics contested by the People's Republic of China, and later founded the sportswear brand that bears his name.
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War
Battle of Huoyi
On 8 September 617, Li Yuan, the rebel Duke of Tang, defeats an elite Sui army outside the town of Huoyi with a force of some 25,000 men. The victory opens the road to the imperial capital and paves the way for the founding of the Tang dynasty.
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Birth
Birth of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
The future Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, born Li Longji, comes into the world in Luoyang on 8 September 685. A grandson of Empress Wu Zetian, he reigned for forty-three years, from 712 to 756, one of the longest reigns in Chinese history, and died in exile in 762.
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Birth
Birth of Paul Chater
Businessman Paul Chater is born on 8 September 1846. A British subject of Armenian descent whose family roots were in Calcutta, he became one of the leading figures of colonial Hong Kong.
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Birth
Birth of Jeffrey Koo
Taiwanese banker Jeffrey Koo Sr. is born on 8 September 1933. A third-generation member of the Koo family, he served as honorary chairman of CTBC Financial Holding and co-founded the Koos Group.
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Birth
Birth of Li Yan
Short track speed skater Li Yan is born in Baoquanling, Heilongjiang, on 8 September 1968. She took Olympic silver in 1992.