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. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Monday or Tuesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Thursday or Saturday (56).

Events

• 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
• 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on 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.
• 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu.
• 1663 – Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.
• 1709 – Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava, thus effectively ending Sweden's time as a major power in Europe.
• 1716 – The Battle of Dynekilen forces Sweden to abandon its invasion of Norway.
• 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 – British forces defeat French forces in the last naval battle in New France.
• 1775 – The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America.
• 1776 – Church bells (possibly including the Liberty Bell) are rung after John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
• 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.
• 1853 – The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade.
• 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 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.
• 1933 – The first rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa is played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.
• 1937 – Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
• 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident.
• 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.
• 1972 – Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
• 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.
• 2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.
• 2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the killing of Israeli teenagers.

Births

• 1478 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian linguist, poet, and playwright (d. 1550)
• 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 author and poet (d. 1695)
• 1760 – Christian Kramp, French mathematician and academic (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 and pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola (d. 1888)
• 1836 – Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1914)
• 1838 – Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, and businessman, founded Eli Lilly and Company (d. 1898)
• 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 and academic (d. 1941)
• 1857 – Alfred Binet, French psychologist and graphologist (d. 1911)
• 1867 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (d. 1945)
• 1882 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (d. 1961)
• 1885 – Ernst Bloch, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1977)
• 1885 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (d. 1948)
• 1890 – Stanton Macdonald-Wright, American painter (d. 1973)
• 1892 – Richard Aldington, English author and poet (d. 1962)
• 1892 – Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
• 1893 – R. Carlyle Buley, American historian and author (d. 1968)
• 1894 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1898 – Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972)
• 1900 – George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author (d. 1959)
• 1904 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician and academic (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 (d. 1975)
• 1908 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
• 1909 – Alan Brown, English soldier (d. 1971)
• 1911 – Ken Farnes, English cricketer (d. 1941)
• 1914 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpet player (d. 1993)
• 1915 – Neil D. Van Sickle, American Air Force major general
• 1917 – Pamela Brown, English actress (d. 1975)
• 1917 – Faye Emerson, American actress (d. 1983)
• 1917 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Irwin Hasen, American illustrator (d. 2015)
• 1918 – Craig Stevens, American actor and singer (d. 2000)
• 1919 – Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (d. 2016)
• 1920 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (d. 1995)
• 1923 – Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler
• 1924 – Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
• 1926 – David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher and author (d. 2014)
• 1926 – John Dingell, American lieutenant and politician
• 1926 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and author (d. 2004)
• 1927 – Maurice Hayes, Irish educator and politician
• 1930 – Jerry Vale, American singer (d. 2014)
• 1932 – Franca Raimondi, Italian singer (d. 1988)
• 1933 – Antonio Lamer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Raquel Correa, Chilean journalist (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
• 1934 – Ed Lumley, Canadian businessman and politician, 8th Canadian Minister of Communications
• 1935 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1935 – Steve Lawrence, American actor and singer
• 1935 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Diane Clare, English actress (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Joe B. Mauldin, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2015)
• 1941 – Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager
• 1942 – Phil Gramm, American economist and politician
• 1944 – Jai Johanny Johanson, American drummer
• 1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer
• 1945 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician, 91st President of the Swiss Confederation
• 1947 – Kim Darby, American actress
• 1947 – Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016)
• 1947 – Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
• 1948 – Raffi, Egyptian-Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1949 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-American chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur
• 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 and director
• 1952 – Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1952 – Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster
• 1952 – Marianne Williamson, American author and activist
• 1956 – Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player and coach
• 1957 – Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter
• 1957 – Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author
• 1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician
• 1958 – Andreas Carlgren, Swedish educator and politician, 8th Swedish Minister for the Environment
• 1958 – Tzipi Livni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel
• 1959 – Billy Kimball, American screenwriter and producer
• 1959 – Pauline Quirke, English actress and screenwriter
• 1960 – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1961 – Ces Drilon, Filipino journalist
• 1961 – Andrew Fletcher, English keyboard player
• 1961 – Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1961 – Karl Seglem, Norwegian saxophonist and record producer
• 1962 – Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1963 – Mark Christopher, American director and screenwriter
• 1964 – Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager
• 1965 – Dan Levinson, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader
• 1966 – Ralf Altmeyer, German-Chinese virologist and academic
• 1966 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician
• 1966 – Mike Nawrocki, American voice actor, animator, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded Big Idea Entertainment
• 1968 – Billy Crudup, American actor
• 1968 – Thom Fitzgerald, American-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Shane Howarth, New Zealand rugby player and coach
• 1968 – Michael Weatherly, American actor
• 1969 – Sugizo, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
• 1969 – George Fisher, American singer-songwriter
• 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
• 1972 – Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1973 – Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress and producer
• 1975 – Elias Viljanen, Finnish singer and guitarist
• 1976 – Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
• 1976 – David Kennedy, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1976 – Ellen MacArthur, English sailor
• 1976 – Grettell Valdéz, Mexican actress
• 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 – Wolfram Müller, German runner
• 1981 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
• 1982 – Sophia Bush, American actress and director
• 1982 – Pendleton Ward, American animator, producer, 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
• 1985 – Jamie Cook, English guitarist and songwriter
• 1986 – Jaime Garcia, Mexican baseball player
• 1986 – Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Paul Flynn, Irish Gaelic footballer
• 1988 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1988 – Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist
• 1988 – Dave Taylor, Australian rugby player
• 1989 – Yarden Gerbi, Israeli world champion and Olympic bronze medalist judoka
• 1989 – Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (d. 2012)
• 1992 – Sky Ferreira, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1992 – Son Heung-min, South Korean footballer
• 1992 – Benjamin Grosvenor, English pianist

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)
• 1538 – Diego de Almagro, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1475)
• 1390 – Albert of Saxony, Bishop of Halberstadt and German philosopher (b. circa 1320)
• 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 and theologian (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 and playwright (b. 1792)
• 1850 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
• 1859 – Oscar I of Sweden (b. 1799)
• 1873 – Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter and lithographer (b. 1805)
• 1887 – Ben Holladay, American businessman (b. 1819)
• 1895 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (b. 1821)
• 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, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th 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 rabbi, historian, and politician (b. 1874)
• 1942 – Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, Algerian-French general (b. 1856)
• 1942 – Refik Saydam, Turkish physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1881)
• 1943 – Jean Moulin, French soldier (b. 1899)
• 1950 – Othmar Spann, Austrian sociologist, economist, and philosopher (b. 1878)
• 1952 – August Alle, Estonian lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1890)
• 1956 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and critic (b. 1881)
• 1965 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (b. 1881)
• 1968 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (b. 1882)
• 1971 – Kurt Reidemeister, German mathematician connected to the Vienna Circle (b. 1893)
• 1971 – Charlie Shavers, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1920)
• 1972 – Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and politician (b. 1936)
• 1973 – Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)
• 1973 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Education Minister of Israel (b. 1884)
• 1973 – Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer and coach (b. 1877)
• 1979 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1979 – Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
• 1979 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
• 1981 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (b. 1902)
• 1985 – Phil Foster, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
• 1986 – Skeeter Webb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1909)
• 1987 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1903)
• 1987 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet and author (b. 1896)
• 1988 – Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (b. 1905)
• 1990 – Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1991 – James Franciscus, American actor (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)
• 1995 – Aleksander Arulaid, Estonian chess player (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Irene Prador, Austrian-born actress and writer (b. 1911)
• 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 (b. 1914)
• 2004 – Paula Danziger, American author and educator (b. 1944)
• 2005 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (b. 1911)
• 2006 – June Allyson, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Chandra Shekhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of India (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Jack B. Sowards, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1929)
• 2008 – John Templeton, American-born British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1912)
• 2009 – Midnight, American singer-songwriter (b. 1962)
• 2011 – Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Lionel Batiste, American singer and drummer (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Gyang Dalyop Datong, Nigerian physician and politician (b. 1959)
• 2012 – Martin Pakledinaz, American costume designer (b. 1953)
• 2013 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Dave Hickson, English footballer and manager (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Edmund Morgan, American historian and author (b. 1916)
• 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)
• 2014 – Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
• 2014 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Ben Pangelinan, Guamanian businessman and politician (b. 1956)
• 2014 – Howard Siler, American bobsledder and coach (b. 1945)
• 2014 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (b. 1953)
• 2015 – Irwin Keyes, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1952)
• 2015 – Paul J. Lioy, American scientist and academic (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Ernie Maresca, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1945)
• 2015 – James Tate, American poet (b. 1943)
• 2016 – Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abda and Sabas
  • Auspicius of Trier
  • Grimbald
  • Kilian, Totnan, and Colman
  • Peter and Fevronia Day (Russian Orthodox)
  • Procopius of Scythopolis
  • Sunniva and companions
  • Theobald of Marly
  • July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine)

External links

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