July 8

2024 Calendar

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

Up to 1900

1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in a religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.
1283 - War of the Sicilian Vespers: Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet, defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta in the Battle of Malta.
1497 – Vasco da Gama sets sail for his first voyage to India.
1579 - Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.
1663 - Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island.
1709 - Great Northern War: Battle of Poltava - Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XIII of Sweden at Poltava, ending Sweden's role as a major European power.
1716 - Great Northern War: The naval Battle of Dynekilen takes place.
1730 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages 1,000 kilometers of Chile's coastline.
1760 - French and Indian War: Battle of Restigouche - British forces defeat the French in the last battle in New France.
1776 – The Declaration of Independence is read out for the first time and the Liberty Bell is rung, in Philadelphia.
1808 - Joseph Bonaparte approves the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as King of Spain.
1822 - Chippewas turn over a large section of land in present-day Ontario over to the United Kingdom.
1853 - US Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrives at Edo Bay (present-day Tokyo) with a treaty requesting trade.
1859 - Charles XV of Sweden/IV of Norway becomes King of Sweden-Norway.
1879 - Sailing ship USS Jeannette leaves San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
1889 – The Wall Street Journal is first published.
1892 - The city of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador is largely damaged by fire.
1898 – Crime boss Soapy Smith is killed in Skagway, Alaska.

1901 – 2000

1927 - Heavy rain in the night to July 9 causes major flooding in Saxony, Germany, killing 160 people.
1932 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, at 41.22.
1937 - Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
1948 - The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a programme called Women In the Air Force.
1960 – Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
1966 - King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is removed from power by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
1982 - Assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein in Dujail.
1986 - Kurt Waldheim becomes President of Austria.
1989 - Carlos Menem becomes President of Argentina.
1990 – Germany wins the FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina 1-0.
1992 - Thomas Klestil becomes President of Austria.
1994 – Kim Il-Sung dies. His son Kim Jong-Il takes over the role of supreme leader.
1997 – NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to join.

From 2001

2001 - Goran Ivanisevic, as a rank outsider, wins the Men's Singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Patrick Rafter in the final.
2003 - The first attempted separation of conjoined twins, carried in Singapore, fails, as Ladan and Laleh Bijani die of complications from the operation to separate them.
2004 – Heinz Fischer becomes President of Austria, two days after the death of his predecessor, Thomas Klestil.
2005 – The G-8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, concludes, with promises of aid to developing countries.
2007 – Roger Federer wins his fifth consecutive Wimbledon Men's Singles tennis title, defeating Rafael Nadal in five sets.
2011 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches in the last launch of the Space Shuttle programme.
2014 - Israel launches Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, following the killing of Israeli teenagers which had led to tensions between Israel and Hamas.
2014 - Brazil v Germany: In the semi finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the Brazil national football team is beaten 7-1 by the Germany national football team in a shock result. Several footballing and World Cup records are beaten in this match, in which Germany's Miroslav Klose scored his record-breaking 16th World Cup goal.
2016 - The New European, a new British pro-European newspaper, publishes its first weekly edition, in response to the Brexit vote.
2018 - In the British Government, David Davis resigns as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

Births

Deaths

Up to 1900

810 - Pepin of Italy (b. 773)
901 - Grimbald, French-English monk and saint (b. 827)
975 - Edgar the Peaceful, English King (b. 943)
1153 - Pope Eugene III (b. 1087)
1538 - Diego de Almagro, Spanish explorer and general (b. 1475)
1623 – Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
1695 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch astronomer and scientist (b. 1629).
1721 – Elihu Yale, American university benefactor (b. 1649).
1822 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (b. 1792).
1832 - Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter (b. 1756)
1850 - Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
1855 – William Edward Parry, English arctic explorer (b. 1790).
1859 – King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (b. 1799).
1864 - David Hazzard, American politician, Governor of Delaware (b. 1781)
1873 - Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter (b. 1805)
1893 - Abraham K. Allison, American politician, 6th Governor of Florida (b. 1810)
1897 - Isham G. Harris, American politician, 18th Governor of Tennessee (b. 1818)
1898 – Soapy Smith, American outlaw (b. 1860).

1901 – 2000

1905 - Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (b. 1834)
1930 – Joseph Ward, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856)
1933 - Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (b. 1863)
1934 - Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (b. 1848)
1939 - Havelock Ellis, English psychologist and author (b. 1859)
1941 - Moses Schorr, Polish historian, rabbi and politician (b. 1874)
1942 - Refik Saydam, 5th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1881)
1943 – Jean Moulin, French Resistance leader (b. 1899)
1950 - Othmar Spann, Austrian sociologist, economist and philosopher (b. 1878)
1956 - Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author and critic (b. 1881)
1957 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (b. 1879).
1962 – Georges Pataille, French writer and philosopher (b. 1897).
1967 – Fatimah Jinnah, Pakistani Mother of the Nation (b. 1893).
1971 - Charlie Shavers, American trumpeter (b. 1920)
1973 - Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)
1973 - Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli educator and politician (b. 1884)
1973 - Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer (b. 1877)
1975 - Lennart Skoglund, Swedish footballer (b. 1929)
1979 – Shin'ichiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist (b. 1906).
1979 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist (b. 1917)
1985 - Simon Kuznets, Russian-American economist (b. 1901)
1985 - Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French movie director, screenwriter and actor (b. 1909)
1986 - Skeeter Webb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1909)
1987 - Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1903)
1987 - Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (b. 1896)
1988 – Ray Barbuti, American sportsman (b. 1905)
1990 - Howard Duff, American actor, director and producer (b. 1913)
1994 – Kim Il-Sung, President of North Korea (b. 1912)
1994 - Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (b. 1927)
1995 - Aleksander Arulaid, Estonian chess player (b. 1924)
1999 - Peter Conrad, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1930)

From 2001

2002 – Ward Kimball, American animator (b. 1914)
2003 - Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Iranian conjoined twins (b. 1974)
2004 – Paula Danziger, American writer (b. 1944)
2006 – June Allyson, American actress (b. 1917)
2007 - Chandra Shekhar, 9th Prime Minister of India (b. 1927)
2011 – Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States (b. 1918)
2012 - Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917)
2014 - Ben Pangelinan, American-Guamanian politician (b. 1955)
2014 - John V. Evans, American politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (b. 1925)
2015 - Irwin Keyes, American actor (b. 1952)
2016 - Javed Akhtar, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1940)
2016 - Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist, activist and humanitarian (b. 1928)
2016 - Harold A. Linstone, German-American mathematician and futurist (b. 1924)
2016 - William H. McNeill, Canadian-American historian and author (b. 1917)
2016 - Jacques Rouffio, French director and screenwriter (b. 1928)
2017 - Nelsan Ellis, American actor (b. 1977)
2017 - Elsa Martinelli, Italian actress and model (b. 1935)
2017 - Don Johns, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1937)
2018 - Alan Gilzean, Scottish footballer (b. 1938)
2018 - Tab Hunter, American actor and musician (b. 1931)
2018 - M. M. Jacob, Indian politician (b. 1927)
2018 - Oliver Knussen, Scottish composer (b. 1952)
2018 - Frank Ramsey, American basketball plauer (b. 1931)
2018 - Robert D. Ray, American politician, 38th Governor of Iowa (b. 1928)
2022 – Shinzō Abe, 2-time Prime Minister of Japan, assassinated (b. 1954)

Observances

Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine)

July 8

Events

Up to 1900

1901 – 2000

From 2001

Births

Up to 1900

1901 – 1950

1951 – 1975

From 1976

Deaths

Up to 1900

1901 – 2000

From 2001

Observances