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 Ce, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
1926 - Elisabeth Kubler-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 Roque, 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 - Shinzo Abe, 2-time Prime Minister of Japan, assassinated (b. 1954)
Observances
Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine)
July 08