On This Day in History for July 8

Events 1 - 100 of 144

• 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

• 1579 Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, was discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan

• 1672 William III is appointed stadholder by the States General in the Netherlands
• 1680 The first confirmed tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1693 NYC authorizes 1st police uniforms in American colonies
• 1709 Battle of Poltava; Russians defeat Swedes, end of Swedish empire as a major power
• 1716 Great Northern War: Battle of Dynekilen, a Danish-Norwegian force under Peter Tordenskjold traps and defeats Swedish force
• 1758 British and Colonial assault on French forces at Fort Ticonderoga, New York

• 1777 Vermont introduces new constitution making it the 1st US state to abolish slavery
• 1778 George Washington headquarters at West Point for his Continental Army
• 1792 France declares war on Prussia


• 1796 US State Department issues 1st US passport
• 1797 1st US senator (William Blount of Tennessee) expelled by impeachment
• 1800 Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives 1st cowpox vaccination in the US to his son to prevent smallpox
• 1805 American Bill Richmond knocks out Jack Holmes, Kilburn Wells, England
• 1816 Frost in Waltham, Massachusetts during "year without a summer"
• 1822 Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom
• 1833 Russia and Turkey sign defense treaty
• 1835 Liberty Bell cracks (again)

• 1838 Arabs attack Jewish community of Safed
• 1849 St Paul's Place in the Bronx named

• 1859 King Charles XV/Carl IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway
• 1861 Confederate General Sibley is given command of rebel troops in New Mexico territory
• 1862 Theodore R. Timby is granted a US patent for discharging guns in a revolving turret, using electricity
• 1864 The Shinsengumi sabotage the Choshu-han shishi's planned attack on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya. This event is known as Ikedaya Jiken
• 1870 US Congress authorizes registration of trademarks
• 1870 Governor Holden of North Carolina declares Casswell County to be in a state of insurrection
• 1874 The Mounties (North West Mounted Police) begin their March West from Fort Dufferin
• 1876 White terrorists attack Black Republicans in Hamburg South Carolina, killing 5
• 1889 John L Sullivan KOs Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds (last bare-knuckle bout)
• 1889 Wall Street Journal begins publishing
• 1891 61°F, highest temperature for July 1891, in Baltimore and Philadelphia
• 1892 American Psychological Association organized in Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
• 1892 St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892


• 1895 Delagoa Bay Railway opens in South Africa

• 1898 The shooting death of crime boss Soapy Smith releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip
• 1905 Part of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay allocated for Immigration Detention Center
• 1905 The soldiers of the Russian battleship "Potemkin" who mutinied, surrender to Romanian authorities, who turn ship over to Russian authorities soon after
• 1907 Florenz Ziegfeld staged 1st `Follies' on NY Theater roof
• 1908 Uprisings spread throughout Turkey
• 1911 Nan Aspinwall is 1st woman to make solo transcontinenal trip by horse
• 1912 G E V Crutchley (Oxford) 99 retired measles v Cambridge
• 1912 Giants Rube Marquard loses after winning 21 straight

• 1919 US President Woodrow Wilson returns to NYC from Versailles Peace Conference

• 1923 Walter Mittelholzer flies Junkers F-13 to Spitsbergen/Oostland
• 1932 Depression low point of Dow Jones Industrial Average, 41.22
• 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe scores his 100th 100, Yorkshire v Gloucshire
• 1933 Public Works Administration becomes effective
• 1941 All Jews living in Baltic States are obligated to wear a Jewish Star
• 1943 4th day of battle at Kursk: General Model uses last tank reserve
• 1943 British air raid sinks U-232

• 1943 US invasion fleet passes Bizerta Tunisia
• 1944 British troops march into Caen, Normandy
• 1944 Japanese kamikaze attacks on US lines at Saipan
• 1947 Demolition begins for UN HQ in NYC
• 1947 Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico
• 1948 500th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated in Moscow
• 1949 The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55 prohibiting marriage or a sexual relationship between White people and people of other race groups is passed in South Africa
• 1950 33.4 cm rain fall at York, Nebraska (state record)

• 1950 Leroy Deans awarded first Order of Purple Heart in Korea
• 1951 Yankee Joe DiMaggio and manager Casey Stengel feud
• 1953 US stops aid to Persia
• 1954 Military junta selects colonel Armas President of Guatemala
• 1956 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
• 1957 Irish premier Eamon de Valera arrests Sinn Fein leaders

• 1961 Fred Trueman takes 5-0 in 24 balls to rip through Aussies
• 1961 Portuguese steamer "Save" breaks up off Mozambique, 227 die
• 1963 Reports of Charlie Finley's intention to move KC A's to Oakland
• 1963 US bans all monetary transactions with Cuba
• 1965 Joe Morgan is 1st Houston player with 6 hits in a game
• 1966 US airline strike (until Aug 19th)
• 1966 King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi
• 1967 Helen Weston of Detroit rolls a record 4,585 in 24 games
• 1968 Israeli-Egyptian artillery duel along Suez Canal
• 1969 US troop withdrawal begins in Vietnam
• 1969 IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer
• 1971 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1971 During street disturbances, British soldiers shoot dead two Catholic civilians in Free Derry; riots erupt, the Social Democratic and Labour Party withdraw from Stormont in protest
• 1972 US sells grain to USSR for $750 million
• 1974 USSR performs underground nuclear test

• 1975 Quake damages over 2,000 temples in Pagan Burma, 20-foot-high seated Buddha of Thandawgya decapitated
• 1976 Randy Jones wins NL record 16 games before All Star break

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• 1528 Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy/governor of Netherland
• 1545 Don Carlos, son of Spanish king Philip II
• 1593 Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
• 1621 Jean de la Fontaine, French poet (Fables), born in Château-Thierry, Aisne, France (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)
• 1809 Ljudwit Gaj, Croatian writer/poet (Pjesma iz Zagorja)
• 1819 Alexander Hays, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Franklin, Pennsylvania (d. 1864)
• 1819 Francis Leopold McClintock, British naval officer and explorer (d. 1907)
• 1821 William Harvey Lamb Wallace, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Urbana, Ohio (d. 1862)
• 1824 Waldimir "Kriz" Krzyzanowski, Polish-American engineer, politician, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland (d. 1887)
• 1826 Benjamin Henry Grierson, American Major General (Union Army), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1911)
• 1826 Robert Kingston Scott, American governor of South Carolina (1868-1872) and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (d. 1900)
• 1829 Pierre A Vicomte de Ponson du Terrail, French serial writer
• 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 minister of Commerce/Colonies

• 1844 Mary Johnson Lincoln, educator (Boston Cooking School)
• 1851 Arthur J Evans, English archaeologist (Crete)
• 1857 Alfred Binet, French child psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test (Binet–Simon test), born in Nice, France (d. 1911)
• 1867 Kathe Kollwitz, German print maker/sculptor (Bauernkrieg)
• 1869 William V Moody, US poet (Death of Eve, Faith Healer)
• 1870 Marie C of Zeggelen, Dutch novelist (Koloniaaltje)
• 1871 Kornelis ter Laan, 1st Dutch socialist mayor (Zaandam)
• 1882 John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, British civil servant, politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1943-45), born in Midlothian, Scotland (d. 1945)
• 1885 Ann Jemima Flower, oldest resident of Netherlands
• 1885 Emil Bloch, German philosopher
• 1890 Walter Hasenvlever, German writer, born in Aachen (d. 1940)
• 1891 Elisabeth Zernike, Dutch writer (Poor Part, Bruidstijd)
• 1891 Josef Hora, Czech writer/poet (Working Day)
• 1892 Richard Aldington, writer
• 1892 Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
• 1893 Fritz Perls, father of Gestalt therapy
• 1894 Clemens VI Trefois, Flemish architect/sociologist
• 1895 Anton G J van de Velde, Flemish writer/director (God & the Worms)
• 1898 Alec Waugh, English novelist (Island in the Sun); brother of Evelyn, born in London, England (d. 1981)
• 1899 David Eli Lilienthal, US government organizer (Wisconsin)
• 1901 Donald Benjamin Harden, archaeologist
• 1904 Henri Cartan, French mathematician, born in Nancy (d. 2008)
• 1906 Philip Johnson, Cortalyou architect, born in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1907 George W Romney, (Gov-R-Mich)/US Secretary of HUD (1969-73)

• 1909 Petar Segedin, Croatian novelist (Holy Devil)
• 1910 Govan AM Mbeki, South African leader (ANC/SACP)
• 1914 Jyoti Basu, Indian politician
• 1919 Walter Scheel, German politician, West German Foreign Minister and President, born in Solingen (d. 2016)
• 1920 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish toy manufacturer (Lego Group) (d. 1995)
• 1926 Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Swiss-American author and psychiatrist (On Death and Dying), born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 2004)
• 1926 John D Dingell, (Rep-D-Michigan, 1955- )
• 1927 Maurice Hayes, Irish politician
• 1928 Carol Henry, choreographer (Garry Moore Show), born in Newark, New Jersey
• 1929 Shirley Ann Grau, author (Keepers of the House)
• 1930 Valeri Aleksandrovich Yazdovsky, Russian cosmonaut
• 1933 Antonio Lamer, French Canadian lawyer and chief justice
• 1934 Ed Lumley, Canadian corporate executive and former politician
• 1935 Vitali Ivanovich Sevastiyanov, USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 9, 18B)
• 1938 Marian Ackerman, women's rights advocacy administrator
• 1942 Phil Gramm, (Sen-R Texas, 1985- )
• 1943 Faye Wattleton, sociologist/pres (Planned Parenthood), born in St Louis, Missouri
• 1945 Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician
• 1947 Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian founder of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
• 1947 Jenny Diski, English writer (Stranger on a Train), born in London (d. 2016)
• 1949 Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-born celebrity chef, born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria
• 1952 Anna Quindlen, American columnist
• 1958 Tzipi Livni, Israeli politician, born in Tel Aviv
• 1958 Andreas Carlgren, Swedish politician
• 1964 Maryalice Demler, TV journalist and anchor, Miss New York (1991), born in North Tonawanda, New York
• 1968 Akio Suyama, Japanese seiyu
• 1973 Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Indian founder and CEO of mobile payments company Paytm, born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh

• 1290 Princess Margaret (15), daughter of Edward I of England marries John II of Brabant at Westminster Abbey
• 1551 Willem of Orange weds countess Anna van Egmond & Buren

• 1972 English prince Richard marries Birgitte of Deurs (Henriksen)

• 810 Pepin, son of Charlemagne, King of Italy, dies (birth date unknown)
• 975 Edgar, King of England (959-75), dies
• 1115 Peter the Hermit, French priest, led the People's Crusade, dies at about 64
• 1153 Eugene III, [Bernardo], Italian Pope (1145-53), dies
• 1253 Thibaud IV, poet/count of Champagne/King of Navarra, dies
• 1496 Benedetto Bonfiglio, Italian painter, dies
• 1531 Tilman Riemenschneider, German sculptor, dies at 71

• 1623 Gregory XV, [Alessandro Ludovisi], bishop of Bologna/Pope, dies at 69
• 1656 Alexander van der Capellen, mister of Aartsbergen, dies at about 64
• 1679 Samuel J Columbus, Swedish poet (Odae Sveticae), dies
• 1689 Edward Wooster, English Connecticut pioneer (b. 1622)
• 1695 Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer and scientist (science of dynamics), dies at 66
• 1716 Robert South, English churchman (b. 1634)
• 1721 Elihu Yale, English merchant and philanthropist (benefactor of Yale University), dies at 72
• 1726 John Ker, Scottish spy (b. 1673)
• 1784 Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist (b. 1735)
• 1788 Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, French marshal and statesman, 3rd Duke of Richilieu, dies at 92
• 1822 Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet (Prometheus unbound), drowns at 29
• 1826 Luther Martin, American statesman (b. 1748)
• 1850 Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
• 1855 William Parry, English Arctic explorer (Parry Channel), dies at 64
• 1859 Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway (1844-59), dies at 60
• 1863 Francis P Kenrick, Irish/US archbishop of Baltimore, dies at 65
• 1870 John D Zocher Jr, architect (Soestdijk Palace), dies at 79
• 1895 Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian scientist (b. 1821)
• 1898 Soapy Smith, American con artist (b. 1860)
• 1909 Gaston AA marquis de Gallifet, Fren min of War (1899-1900), dies at 79
• 1911 Ira Erastus Davenport, American magician, claimed to be a spirit medium, dies at 51
• 1913 Louis Hémon, French novelist (Maria Chapdelaine), dies at 32
• 1917 Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
• 1933 Anthony Hope, British author (b. 1863)
• 1934 Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer, dies at 1934
• 1939 [Henry] Havelock Ellis, English sexologist (Man & Woman), dies at 80
• 1941 Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, senator, historian and orientalist (b. 1874)
• 1943 Harry Oakes, Canadian ruler of Bahamas, murdered
• 1943 Jean "Max" Moulin, French resistance fighter, executed
• 1949 Antun Sa'ada, Syrian rightwing politician, executed in Lebanon
• 1950 Othmar Spann, Austrian economist and sociologist (Wahre State), dies at 71
• 1956 Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, dutch min of Justice (Nobel 54), dies
• 1956 Giovanni Papini, Italian author/poet (Un Uomo Finito), dies at 75
• 1957 Grace Goodhue Coolidge, American First Lady (1923-29), dies at 78
• 1957 William Adlington Cadbury, English chocolate maker, dies at 89
• 1959 Dale Buisand & Chester Ovnand killed in Viet Cong attack, becoming the second and third Americans killed in the Vietnam War
• 1962 Georges Bataille, French writer and philosopher (b. 1897)
• 1967 Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani Mother of the Nation, dies at 73
• 1969 Charmian Clift, Australian writer and essayist, dies at 45
• 1977 Rie Cramer, Dutch writer and illustrator, dies at 89
• 1979 Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1906)
• 1979 Robert B. Woodward, American organic chemist (Nobel 1965), dies at 62
• 1982 Virginia Hall [Goillot], American spy with British Special Operations during WWII (1940-1966), dies at 76
• 1985 Gardner Cowles Jr, US publisher (Look Magazine), dies at 82
• 1985 Simon Kuznets, US economist (Nobel 1971), dies at 84
• 1987 Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (Versos humanos), dies at 90
• 1987 Lionel Chevrier, Canadian politician (Canadian Member of Parliament), dies at 84
• 1994 Christian-Jaque, French director (Babette s'and va-t-and guerre), dies

• 1994 Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer (b. 1927)
• 1995 Elizabeth Adams, madam, dies at 65
• 1996 Amschel Rothschild, banker, dies at 41
• 1996 Ernest Armstrong, British politician (L) and teacher, dies at 81
• 1996 Thomas Mitchell, architect and engineer, dies at 90
• 1999 Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)
• 2000 FM-2030 [Fereidoun M. Esfandiary], Iranian-American author and transhumanist (Are You a Transhuman?), dies at 69
• 2004 Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)
• 2007 Chandra Shekhar, Indian politician, 8th Prime Minister of India (1990-91), dies at 80
• 2011 Mary Fenech Adami, First Lady of Malta (b. 1933)

• 2015 James Tate, American poet (Pulitzer Prize 1992), dies at 71
• 2016 Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philantropist (Edhi Foundation), dies at 88
• 2016 William H. McNeill, Canadian-born historian (Rise of the West), dies at 98

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