At the Beijing Olympics of 2008, the American swimmer Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in eight events between 9 and 17 August, breaking the record of seven golds in a single Games set by Mark Spitz in 1972, and setting seven world records. His 100 metres butterfly victory over Milorad Cavic was by only one hundredth of a second, 0.01 seconds, and was the narrowest. By the end of his career in 2016 he had won 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold, the most in Olympic history, with Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union, who won 18, in second place.
Before and after
- 13 July 2008Founding of Union for the Mediterranean
- 3 August 2008Death of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- from 7 August 2008 to 12 August 2008Russo-Georgian War
- 15 August 2008Discovery of Aegaeon
- 17 August 2008Michael Phelps wins eight gold medals in Beijing
- 18 August 2008Uzbin Valley ambush
- 28 August 2008Construction of Shanghai World Financial Center
- 2 September 2008Release of Google Chrome
- from 9 September 2008 to 18 January 2013Premiere of Fringe
More in Society, economy & sport
- 22 March 1945Founding of Arab League
- 27 December 1945Founding of World Bank
- 14 September 1960Founding of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
- 8 December 1991Founding of Commonwealth of Independent States
- 1 January 1995Founding of World Trade Organization
- 4 February 2004Founding of Facebook
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.