July 8

Events

• 939 - The Major Occultation, or Ghaybat el-Kubra of Muhammad al-Mahdi
• 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 is read aloud in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell was famously rung.
• 1822 - Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
• 1853 - Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay.
• 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 is 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 crashed landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
• 1960 - Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
• 1962 - Ne Win sieged and dynamited the Ragoon University Student Union building to crash the Student Movement.
• 1966 - King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
• 1969 - IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.
• 1970 - Richard Nixon delivers special congressional message enunciating Native American Self-Determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination Act.
• 1977 - The ashes of Ahn Eak-tai, a Korean conductor and the composer of the national anthem Aegukga, are 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 boy who subsequently dies as a result of his injuries.

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 industrialist and philanthropist (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 - Dale Hoganson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 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 - Tzipi Livni, Israeli politician
• 1958 - Pauline Quirke, British actress
• 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
• 1964 - Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1965 - Lee Tergesen, American actor
• 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
• 1971 - Amanda Peterson, American actress
• 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
• 1976 - David Kennedy, American guitarist (Angels & Airwaves)
• 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
• 1983 - John Bowker, American baseball player
• 1984 - Alexis Dziena, American actress
• 1985 - Jamie Cook, British musician (Arctic Monkeys)
• 1986 - Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 - Vlada Roslyakova, Russian model
• 1992 - Benjamin Grosvenor, British pianist
• 1998 - Jaden Smith, American actor

Deaths

• 810 - Pepin, King of Italy (b. 773)
• 901 - Saint Grimbald
• 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)
• 1962 - Georges Bataille, French writer and philosopher (b. 1897)
• 1967 - Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani political figure (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 - Christian-Jaque, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
• 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

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada