July 8

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 a religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.
• 1139 – Song Dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin Dynasty general Wanyan Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song wars.
• 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 on the first direct European 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 XII of Sweden at Poltava thus effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.
• 1716 – Great Northern War: the naval Battle of Dynekilen takes place.
• 1730 – An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile's coastline.
• 1758 – French forces hold Fort Carillon against the British at Ticonderoga, New York.
• 1760 – French and Indian War: Battle of Restigouche – British forces defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France.
• 1775 – The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies.
• 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 huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
• 1859 – King Charles XV & IV accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway.
• 1864 – Ikedaya Incident: the Choshu Han shishi's planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya.
• 1874 – The Mounties begin their March West.
• 1876 – White supremacists kill five Black Republicans in Hamburg, South Carolina.
• 1879 – Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
• 1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.
• 1892 – St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
• 1898 – The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.
• 1912 – Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves.
• 1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.
• 1937 – Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
• 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
• 1948 – The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
• 1960 – Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
• 1962 – Ne Win besieges and dynamites the Rangoon University Student Union building to crush the Student Movement.
• 1966 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
• 1968 – The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1970 – Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American self-determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.
• 1982 – Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail.
• 1988 – The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.
• 1994 – Kim Jong-il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung.
• 2003 – Delta Goodrem diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
• 2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.

Births

• 1528 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
• 1545 – Carlos, Prince of Asturias (d. 1568)
• 1593 – Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
• 1604 – Heinrich Albert, German composer and poet (d. 1651)
• 1621 – Jean de La Fontaine, French poet (d. 1695)
• 1760 – Christian Kramp, French mathematician (d. 1826)
• 1766 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842)
• 1792 – Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (d. 1854)
• 1819 – Francis Leopold McClintock, Irish admiral and explorer (d. 1907)
• 1830 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg (d. 1911)
• 1830 – Frederick W. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1915)
• 1831 – John Pemberton, American chemist, invented Coca-Cola (d. 1888)
• 1836 – Joseph Chamberlain, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1914)
• 1838 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (d. 1917)
• 1839 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company (d. 1937)
• 1851 – Arthur Evans, English archaeologist (d. 1941)
• 1857 – Alfred Binet, French psychologist (d. 1911)
• 1867 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (d. 1945)
• 1878 – Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (d. 1945)
• 1882 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (d. 1961)
• 1885 – Ernst Bloch, German philosopher (d. 1977)
• 1892 – Richard Aldington, English poet (d. 1962)
• 1892 – Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
• 1893 – R. Carlyle Buley, American historian and author (d. 1968)
• 1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1897 – Johannes Kaiv, Estonian diplomat (d. 1965)
• 1898 – Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972)
• 1900 – George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author (d. 1959)
• 1904 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician (d. 2008)
• 1905 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator and director (d. 1997)
• 1906 – Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (d. 2005)
• 1907 – George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (d. 1995)
• 1908 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and actor (Tympany Five) (d. 1975)
• 1908 – Nelson Rockefeller, American politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
• 1914 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpet player (d. 1993)
• 1917 – Faye Emerson, American actress (d. 1983)
• 1917 – J. F. Powers, American author (d. 1999)
• 1917 – Pamela Brown, English stage and film actress (d. 1975)
• 1918 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman and navy officer, United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Irwin Hasen, American cartoonist
• 1918 – Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000)
• 1919 – Walter Scheel, German politician, 4th President of West Germany
• 1919 – Mickey Carroll, American actor (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (d. 1995)
• 1920 – Chandrika Prasad Srivastava, Indian civil servant (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler
• 1924 – Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1924 – Edward Cornelius Reed Jr., American sergeant and judge (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist (d. 2004)
• 1927 – Maurice Hayes, Irish politician
• 1929 – Shirley Ann Grau, American author
• 1931 – Roone Arledge, American sportscaster (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Franca Raimondi, Italian singer (d. 1988)
• 1932 – Jerry Vale, American singer
• 1933 – Antonio Lamer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 2007)
• 1933 – Peter Orlovsky, American poet and actor (d. 2010)
• 1934 – Raquel Correa, Chilean journalist (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
• 1934 – Alice Gerrard, American singer and banjo player
• 1934 – Ed Lumley, Canadian businessman and politician
• 1935 – Steve Lawrence, American singer and actor (Steve and Eydie)
• 1935 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Russian engineer and astronaut
• 1938 – Diane Clare, English actress (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Ben Chapman, English politician
• 1941 – Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager
• 1942 – Phil Gramm, American economist and politician
• 1942 – Janice Pennington, American model and actress, co-founded the Hollywood Film Festival
• 1944 – Jai Johanny Johanson, American drummer (The Allman Brothers Band)
• 1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor
• 1945 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician, 91st President of the Swiss Confederation
• 1947 – Kim Darby, American actress
• 1947 – Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
• 1947 – Janice Kent, American actress, director and life coach
• 1948 – Raffi, Egyptian-Canadian singer-songwriter and author
• 1949 – Frank De Lima, American comedian
• 1949 – Dale Hoganson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1949 – Jim Miklaszewski, American journalist
• 1949 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian chef and actor
• 1949 – Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 2009)
• 1951 – Alan Ashby, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
• 1951 – Anjelica Huston, American actress
• 1952 – Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1952 – Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster
• 1952 – Anna Quindlen, American journalist and author
• 1952 – Marianne Williamson, American author and activist
• 1955 – Monty Don, German-English television host
• 1955 – Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress (d. 2008)
• 1956 – Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player and coach
• 1957 – Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter (Quiet Riot and Ratt)
• 1957 – Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author
• 1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and singer (The Bacon Brothers)
• 1958 – Andreas Carlgren, Swedish politician
• 1958 – Tzipi Livni, Israeli politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel
• 1958 – Neetu Singh, Indian actress and costume designer
• 1959 – Robert Knepper, American actor
• 1959 – Billy Kimball, American screenwriter and producer
• 1960 – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1961 – Andrew Fletcher, English keyboard player (Depeche Mode)
• 1961 – Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
• 1962 – Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Dead and Trigger Hippy)
• 1963 – Mark Christopher, American director and screenwriter
• 1963 – Whilce Portacio, Filipino-American author and illustrator
• 1964 – Linda de Mol, Dutch actress
• 1964 – Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager
• 1964 – Joe Rogers, American politician, 45th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado (d. 2013)
• 1965 – Dan Levinson, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader
• 1965 – Lee Tergesen, American actor
• 1966 – Ralf Altmeyer, German-Chinese virologist
• 1966 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician
• 1966 – Suzanne Krull, American actress (d. 2013)
• 1966 – Mike Nawrocki, American voice actor, animator, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded Big Idea Entertainment
• 1967 – Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1968 – Billy Crudup, American actor
• 1968 – Thom Fitzgerald, American-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Shane Howarth, New Zealand rugby player and coach
• 1968 – Akio Suyama, Japanese voice actor
• 1968 – Michael Weatherly, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Sugizo, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Luna Sea, X Japan, Juno Reactor, and S.K.I.N.)
• 1970 – Beck, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1970 – Sylvain Gaudreault, Canadian educator and politician
• 1970 – Todd Martin, American tennis player and coach
• 1971 – Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player and coach
• 1971 – John Juanda, Indonesian poker player
• 1971 – Amanda Peterson, American actress
• 1972 – Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1972 – Shōsuke Tanihara, Japanese actor
• 1973 – Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress
• 1974 – Tami Erin, American actress
• 1974 – Jeanna Friske, Russian actress and singer
• 1974 – Rene Reinmann, Estonian politician and felon
• 1975 – Elias Viljanen, Finnish singer and guitarist (Sonata Arctica)
• 1976 – Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
• 1976 – David Kennedy, American guitarist and songwriter (Angels & Airwaves, Box Car Racer, Hazen Street, and Over My Dead Body)
• 1977 – Paolo Tiralongo, Italian cyclist
• 1977 – Milo Ventimiglia, American actor, director, and producer
• 1977 – Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
• 1978 – Rachael Lillis, American voice actress
• 1978 – Urmas Rooba, Estonian footballer
• 1979 – Mat McBriar, American football player
• 1980 – Eric Chouinard, American-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
• 1981 – Iyari Limon, Mexican-American actress
• 1981 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
• 1981 – Wolfram Müller, German runner
• 1981 – Dagmar Oja, Estonian singer
• 1982 – Joshua Alba, American actor
• 1982 – Sophia Bush, American actress
• 1982 – Pendleton Ward, American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor
• 1982 – Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
• 1983 – John Bowker, American baseball player
• 1983 – Jaroslav Janiš, Czech race car driver
• 1983 – Daniel Navarro, Spanish cyclist
• 1983 – Rich Peverley, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Alexis Dziena, American actress
• 1984 – Daniella Sarahyba, Brazilian model
• 1985 – Triin Aljand, Estonian swimmer
• 1985 – Jamie Cook, English guitarist and songwriter (Arctic Monkeys)
• 1986 – Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Kenza Farah, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Jake McDorman, American actor
• 1987 – Vlada Roslyakova, Russian model
• 1988 – Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist
• 1988 – Dave Taylor, Australian rugby player
• 1988 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1989 – Yarden Gerbi, Israeli world champion judoka
• 1989 – Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (d. 2012)
• 1992 – Sky Ferreira, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1992 – Benjamin Grosvenor, English pianist
• 1998 – Jaden Smith, American actor and rapper
• 2000 – Sophie Nyweide, American actress

Deaths

• 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)
• 1273 – Anno von Sangershausen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (b. unknown)
• 1538 – Diego de Almagro, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
• 1623 – Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
• 1689 – Edward Wooster, English-American settler (b. 1622)
• 1695 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1629)
• 1716 – Robert South, English preacher (b. 1634)
• 1721 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1649)
• 1726 – John Ker, Scottish spy (b. 1673)
• 1784 – Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (b. 1735)
• 1794 – Richard Mique, French architect (b. 1728)
• 1822 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (b. 1792)
• 1826 – Luther Martin, American politician (b. 1748)
• 1850 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
• 1859 – Oscar I of Sweden (b. 1799)
• 1873 – Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter (b. 1805)
• 1887 – Ben Holladay, American businessman (b. 1819)
• 1895 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (b. 1821)
• 1898 – Soapy Smith, American gangster (b. 1860)
• 1905 – Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (b. 1834)
• 1913 – Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author (b. 1880)
• 1917 – Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
• 1930 – Joseph Ward, New Zealand politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856)
• 1933 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (b. 1863)
• 1934 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (b. 1848)
• 1939 – Havelock Ellis, English physician (b. 1859)
• 1941 – Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, historian, and politician (b. 1874)
• 1942 – Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French marshal (b. 1856)
• 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, American wife of Calvin Coolidge, 37th First Lady of the United States (b. 1879)
• 1961 – Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1878)
• 1962 – Georges Bataille, French philosopher (b. 1897)
• 1965 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (b. 1881)
• 1967 – Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani surgeon and politician (b. 1893)
• 1968 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (b. 1882)
• 1971 – Charlie Shavers, American trumpet player (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 and coach (b. 1877)
• 1979 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1979 – Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
• 1979 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
• 1981 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (b. 1902)
• 1985 – Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
• 1986 – Skeeter Webb, American baseball player (b. 1909)
• 1987 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian politician (b. 1903)
• 1987 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (b. 1896)
• 1988 – Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (b. 1905)
• 1990 – Howard Duff, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1913)
• 1991 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (b. 1934)
• 1994 – Christian-Jaque, French director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
• 1994 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (b. 1912)
• 1994 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (b. 1927)
• 1994 – Dick Sargent, American actor (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 2001 – John O'Shea, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Ward Kimball, American animator and trombonist (Firehouse Five Plus Two) (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Iranian conjoined twins (b. 1974)
• 2004 – Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)
• 2004 – Jean Lefebvre, French actor (b. 1922)
• 2006 – June Allyson, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Peter Hawkins, English voice actor (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Sabine Dunser, German singer from Elis (b. 1977)
• 2007 – Chandra Shekhar, Indian politician, 8th Prime Minister of India (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Jack B. Sowards, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1929)
• 2008 – John Templeton, American-English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1912)
• 2009 – Midnight, American singer-songwriter (Crimson Glory) (b. 1962)
• 2011 – Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Mary Fenech Adami, Maltese wife of Eddie Fenech Adami (b. 1933)
• 2011 – Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Lionel Batiste, American singer (Treme Brass Band) (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Gyang Dalyop Datong, Nigerian politician (b. 1959)
• 2012 – Dick Fowler, Canadian politician (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Martin Pakledinaz, American costume designer (b. 1953)
• 2012 – John Williams, American football player (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Chase, American dog (b. 2000)
• 2013 – Berhanu Dinka, Ethiopian economist and diplomat (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Dave Hickson, English footballer (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Edmund Morgan, American historian and author (b. 1916)
• 2013 – Nadezhda Popova, Russian pilot (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1980)
• 2013 – Rubby Sherr, American physicist and academic (b. 1913)
• 2013 – Sundri Uttamchandani, Indian author (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Brett Walker, American songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
• 2013 – Frank Woodrow Wilson, American politician (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abda and Sabas
  • Auspicius of Trier
  • Grimbald
  • Kilian, Totnan, and Colman
  • Procopius of Scythopolis
  • Sunniva and companions
  • Theobald of Marly
  • July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to July 8.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada