July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 176 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.
- 1283 - War of the Sicilian Vespers: Battle of Malta
- 1497 - Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India.
- 1579 - Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, was discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.
- 1663 - Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island.
- 1680 - The first confirmed tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1709 - Great Northern War: Battle of Poltava: Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at Poltava thus effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.
- 1716 - Great Northern War: Battle of Dynekilen
- 1758 - French forces hold Fort Carillon against British at Ticonderoga, New York.
- 1760 - French and Indian War: Battle of Restigouche - British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France.
- 1775 - The Olive Branch Petition is adopted by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies.
- 1776 - The Declaration of Independence was read aloud in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1822 - Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
- 1859 - King Charles XV / Carl IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
- 1864 - The Shinsengumi sabotage the Choshu-han shishi's planned attack on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya, this event is known as Ikedaya Jiken.
- 1874 - The Mounties begin their March West.
- 1876 - White supremacists kill five Black Republicans in Hamburg, SC.
- 1889 - The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published.
- 1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland was devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
- 1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetalism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
- 1898 - The shooting death of crime boss Soapy Smith releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.
- 1932 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22.
- 1947 - Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
- 1966 - King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi was deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
- 1969 - IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.
- 1977 - The ashes of Ahn Eak-tai, a Korean composer and conductor, were transferred from the island of Majorca to the Korean National Cemetery.
- 1982 - Assassination attempt against former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail.
- 1982 - Senegalese Trotskyist political party LCT is legally recognized.
- 1992 - Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities.
- 1997 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.
- 1999 - Allen Lee Davis is executed by electrocution by the state of Florida, the last use of the electric chair for capital punishment in Florida.
- 2003 - Sudan Airways Flight 39, with 116 people on board, crashes in Sudan; the only survivor is a two-year-old child.
- 2004 - Michael Brown Okinawa assault incident. United States Marine Corps officer Michael Brown is convicted on Okinawa for "attempting an indecent act" and "destruction of property" and is sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years.
Births
- 1528 - Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
- 1545 - Don Carlos of Spain (d. 1568)
- 1593 - Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
- 1621 - Jean de la Fontaine, French writer (d. 1695)
- 1760 - Christian Kramp, French mathematician (d. 1826)
- 1766 - Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842)
- 1792 - Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, queen of Bavaria (d. 1854)
- 1819 - Francis Leopold McClintock, British naval officer and explorer (d. 1907)
- 1830 - Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1915)
- 1830 - Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Altenburg (d. 1911)
- 1836 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (d. 1914)
- 1838 - Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, German inventor (d. 1917)
- 1839 - John D. Rockefeller, American businessman (d. 1937)
- 1851 - Arthur Evans, English archaeologist (d. 1941)
- 1857 - Alfred Binet, French psychologist (d. 1911)
- 1867 - Käthe Kollwitz, German artist (d. 1945)
- 1878 - Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (d. 1945)
- 1882 - Percy Grainger, Australian composer (d. 1961)
- 1885 - Ernst Bloch, German philosopher (d. 1977)
- 1892 - Richard Aldington, English poet (d. 1962)
- 1892 - Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
- 1895 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1898 - Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1904 - Henri Cartan, French mathematician
- 1905 - Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator (d. 1997)
- 1906 - Philip Johnson, American architect (d. 2005)
- 1907 - George W. Romney, American businessman and politician (d. 1995)
- 1908 - Louis Jordan, American saxophonist (d. 1975)
- 1908 - Nelson A. Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
- 1914 - Jyoti Basu, Indian politician
- 1914 - Billy Eckstine, American jazz singer (d. 1993)
- 1917 - Faye Emerson, American actress (d. 1983)
- 1918 - Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1919 - Walter Scheel, German politician
- 1920 - Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish industrialist (Lego Group) (d. 1995)
- 1923 - Harrison Dillard, American athlete
- 1924 - Johnnie Johnson, American blues musician (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-born psychiatrist (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Maurice Hayes, Irish politician
- 1932 - Jerry Vale, American singer
- 1933 - Marty Feldman, English comedian and actor (d. 1982)
- 1933 - Antonio Lamer, French Canadian lawyer and chief justice
- 1934 - Ed Lumley, Canadian corporate executive and former politician
- 1935 - Steve Lawrence, American entertainer and singer
- 1935 - Vitali Sevastyanov, Russian cosmonaut
- 1941 - Dario Gradi, Italian-born football manager
- 1942 - Phil Gramm, American politician
- 1944 - Jai Johanny Johanson, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band)
- 1944 - Jeffrey Tambor, American actor
- 1945 - Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician
- 1947 - Kim Darby, American actress
- 1947 - Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian founder of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
- 1948 - Raffi, Canadian children's entertainer
- 1949 - Frank Delima, American comedian
- 1949 - Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-born celebrity chef
- 1951 - Anjelica Huston, American actress
- 1952 - Jack Lambert, American football player
- 1952 - Anna Quindlen, American columnist
- 1955 - Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress
- 1956 - Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player
- 1957 - Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian television personality
- 1957 - Carlos Cavazo, American musician (Quiet Riot)
- 1958 - Kevin Bacon, American actor
- 1958 - Neetu Singh, Indian Actress
- 1958 - Andreas Carlgren, Swedish politician
- 1959 - Robert Knepper, American actor
- 1960 - Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1961 - Toby Keith, American singer
- 1961 - Andrew Fletcher, English musician (Depeche Mode)
- 1962 - Joan Osborne, American singer and songwriter
- 1964 - Linda de Mol, Dutch actress and host
- 1967 - Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1968 - Akio Suyama, Japanese seiyu
- 1968 - Billy Crudup, American actor
- 1968 - Michael Weatherly, American actor
- 1969 - Sugizo Japanese guitarist and singer
- 1970 - Beck, American singer
- 1972 - Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
- 1972 - Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 - Shōsuke Tanihara, Japanese actor
- 1973 - Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress
- 1974 - Zhanna Friske, Russian actress and singer
- 1974 - Tami Erin, American actress and model
- 1975 - Elias Viljanen, Finnish Guitarist
- 1976 - Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
- 1977 - Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
- 1977 - Milo Ventimiglia, American actor
- 1980 - Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
- 1981 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- 1982 - Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
- 1982 - Joshua Alba, American actor
- 1982 - Sophia Bush, American actress
- 1983 - Jaroslav Janiš, Czech racing car driver
- 1983 - Elizabeth Del Mar, American pornographic actress
- 1984 - Alexis Dziena, American actress
- 1985 - Jamie Cook, British musician (Arctic Monkeys)
- 1986 - Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 - Vlada Roslyakova, Russian supermodel
- 1992 - Benjamin Grosvenor, Pianist
- 1998 - Jaden Smith, American actor
Deaths
- 810 - Pepin, King of Italy (b. 773)
- 975 - King Edgar of England
- 1153 - Pope Eugene III
- 1538 - Diego de Almagro, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1623 - Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
- 1689 - Edward Wooster, English Connecticut pioneer (b. 1622)
- 1695 - Christiaan Huygens, Dutch scientist (b. 1629)
- 1716 - Robert South, English churchman (b. 1634)
- 1721 - Elihu Yale, American benefactor of Yale University (b. 1649)
- 1726 - John Ker, Scottish spy (b. 1673)
- 1784 - Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist (b. 1735)
- 1822 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (b. 1792)
- 1826 - Luther Martin, American statesman (b. 1748)
- 1850 - Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
- 1855 - Sir William Edward Parry, English Arctic explorer (b. 1790)
- 1859 - King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (b. 1799)
- 1895 - Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian scientist (b. 1821)
- 1898 - Soapy Smith, American con artist (b. 1860)
- 1905 - Walter Kittredge, American musician (b. 1834)
- 1913 - Louis Hémon, French-born writer (b. 1880)
- 1917 - Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
- 1930 - Sir Joseph Ward, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856)
- 1933 - Anthony Hope, British author (b. 1863)
- 1934 - Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (b. 1848)
- 1939 - Havelock Ellis, British physician (b. 1859)
- 1941 - Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, senator, historian and orientalist (b. 1874)
- 1943 - Jean Moulin, French Resistance leader (b. 1899)
- 1950 - Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher (b. 1878)
- 1956 - Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist (b. 1881)
- 1957 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (b. 1879)
- 1967 - Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani Mother of the Nation (b. 1893)
- 1967 - Vivien Leigh, English actress (b. 1913)
- 1971 - Charlie Shavers, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1920)
- 1973 - Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- 1979 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1906)
- 1979 - Robert B. Woodward, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1917)
- 1979 - Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
- 1981 - Wild Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (b. 1902)
- 1986 - Skeeter Webb, American baseball player (b. 1909)
- 1987 - Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (b. 1896)
- 1987 - Lionel Chevrier, Canadian politician (b. 1903)
- 1988 - Ray Barbuti, American athlete (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1991 - James Franciscus, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1994 - Kim Il-sung, North Korean leader (b. 1912)
- 1994 - Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer (b. 1927)
- 1994 - Dick Sargent, American actor (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)
- 2001 - John O'Shea, New Zealand film director (b. 1920)
- 2002 - Ward Kimball, American animator (b. 1914)
- 2004 - Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Jean Lefebvre, French actor (b. 1922)
- 2006 - June Allyson, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2006 - Peter Hawkins, British actor/voice actor (b. 1924)
Holidays and observances
- Annual Soapy Smith wake, held each year in Skagway, Alaska in the Gold Rush Cemetery and in Hollywood, California at the Magic Castle
- Saints Abda and Sabas
- Saint Auspicius, bishop of Trier
- Saint Evodius, bishop of Rouen, confessor (Translation)
- Saint Grimbald, abbot, confessor
- Saint Kilian of Würzburg, bishop, and companions
- Saint Nummius, confessor St. Nom
- Saint Procopius, martyr
- Saint Quintinus, martyr (Invention)
- Saint Theobald (Thibaut), abbot
- Saint Barbara (Translation)
- Saint Elizabeth, queen of Portugal
- Saint Sunniva and companions, virgins
External links
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