July 8



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

Up to 1900 
 1478 - Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian humanist, poet and linguist (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 writer (d. 1695).
 1640 - Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1660)
 1735 - Domenico Vandelli, Italian naturalist (d. 1816)
 1760 - Christian Kramp, French mathematician (d. 1826)
 1792 – Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Queen of Bavaria (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 (d. 1915)
 1831 – John Pemberton, American inventor, of Coca-Cola (d. 1888)
 1836 – Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (d. 1914).
 1838 - Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, industrialist and entrepreneur (d. 1898)
 1838 – Ferdinand 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 and graphologist (d. 1911)
 1864 - F. Holland Day, American photographer (d. 1933)
 1867 - Kaethe 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)
 1885 - Hugo Boss, German fashion designer (d. 1948)
 1890 - Walter Hasenclever, German playwright and poet (d. 1940)
 1892 - Richard Aldington, English author and poet (d. 1962)
 1892 - Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
 1894 - Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist (d. 1984)
 1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist (d. 1971)
 1898 - Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972)
 1900 - George Antheil, American pianist, composer and author (d. 1959)

1901  1950 
 1904 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician (d. 2008)
 1905 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator (d. 1997)
 1906 - Philip Johnson, American architect (d. 2005)
 1907 - George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (d. 1995)
 1908 – Louis Jordan, American jazz and blues musician (d. 1975)
 1908 – Nelson A. Rockefeller, American politician, 41st Vice President of the United States and 49th Governor of New York (d. 1979)
 1914 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician (d. 2010)
 1914 - Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpeter (d. 1993)
 1918 - Paul B. Fay, American politician, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009)
 1918 - Irwin Hasen, American comic artist and cartoonist (d. 2015)
 1919 – Walter Scheel, President of West Germany (d. 2016)
 1920 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (Lego group) (d. 1995)
 1921 - Edgar Morin, French philosopher and politician
 1923 - Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler
 1924 - Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and blues musician (d. 2005)
 1925 - Nicholas Brathwaite, former Prime Minister of Grenada  (d. 2016)
 1925 - Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
 1926 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychologist and psychiatrist (d. 2004)
 1926 - David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher (d. 2014)
 1930 - Jerry Vale, American singer and actor (d. 2014)
 1931 - Thorvald Stoltenberg, Norwegian politician (d. 2018)
 1932 - Franca Raimondi, Italian singer (d. 1988)
 1933 - Peter Orlovsky, American poet (d. 2010) 
 1934 – Marty Feldman, English comedian and actor (d. 1982)
 1935 - John David Crow, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
 1935 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2010)
 1938 - Dario Gradi, Italian-English football manager
 1940 - Karin Hannak, Austrian artist
 1941 - Michael K. Frith, British artist and television producer
 1944 - Jai Johanny Johanson, American drummer
 1944 - Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer
 1945 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss Federal Councillor
 1947 - Kim Darby, American actress
 1947 - Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader
 1948 – Raffi, Canadian children's entertainer
 1949 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-born celebrity chef
 1949 - Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 2009)

1951  1975 
 1951 – Anjelica Huston, American actress
 1952 – Ahmad Nazif, former Prime Minister of Egypt
 1952 - Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1952 - Marianne Williamson, American author and activist
 1955 – Monty Don, English gardener and television presenter
 1956 - Millard Hampton, American sprinter
 1957 - Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter
 1957 - Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author
 1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician
 1958 – Tzipi Livni, Israeli politician
 1958 - Neetu Singh, Indian actress and costume designer
 1959 - Tom Egeland, Norwegian writer and journalist
 1959 - Billy Kimball, American screenwriter and producer
 1959 - Robert Knepper, American actor
 1959 – Pauline Quirke, English actress
 1961 - Andrew Fletcher, English keyboardist
 1961 - Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1962 - Joan Osborne, American singer and songwriter
 1964 - Linda de Mol, Dutch actress and screenwriter
 1964 - Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager
 1965 - Dan Levinson, American clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader
 1968 - Billy Crudup, American actor
 1968 - Michael Weatherly, American actor, producer and director
 1970 – Beck, American singer
 1970 - Todd Martin, American tennis player and coach
 1971 - Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player and coach
 1971 - Amy O'Neill, American actress
 1973 - Sally Lindsay, British actress
 1973 - Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress and producer
 1974 - Jeanna Friske, Russian actress and singer (d. 2015)

From 1976 
 1976 - Ellen MacArthur, English sailor
 1976 - Wang Liping, Chinese race walker
 1977 – Christian Abbiati, Italian footballer
 1977 - Milo Ventimiglia, American actor, director and producer
 1977 - Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
 1980 – Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
 1981 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
 1982 – Sophia Bush, American actress
 1982 - Pendleton Ward, American animator, screenwriter, producer and voice actor
 1985 - Jamie Cook, English guitarist
 1986 - Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
 1986 - Kenza Farah, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
 1986 - Jake McDorman, American actor
 1987 - Vlada Roslyakova, Russian model
 1988 - Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
 1990 - Kevin Trapp, German footballer
 1991 - Jamie Blackley, Manx actor
 1991 - Devon Conway, New Zealand cricketer
 1992 - Sky Ferreira, American singer-songwriter and actress 
 1992 – Benjamin Grosvenor, British pianist
 1992 - Son Heung-min, South Korean footballer
 1998 – Jaden Smith, American actor
 2004 - Gayle, American singer

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 08