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July 8: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – July 8 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 8th July 1099: While 15,000 starving Christian soldiers take out a religious march around Jerusalem, its Muslim occupants watch.
2. 8th July 1497: Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator departed on his first voyage. He became the first European to reach India by sea.
3. 8th July 1579: The holy icon of the highest stature within the Russian Orthodox Church, Our Lady of Kazan, was discovered underground in Kazan, Tatarstan.
4. 8th July 1663: King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island today.
5. 8th July 1672: The States General in the Netherlands today appointed William III as Stadholder.
6. 8th July 1693: The first police uniforms in American colonies were authorized by New York City.
18th Century – What Happened on July 8 – The 1700s
7. 8th July 1709: The Russians defeated the Swedes in the battle of Poltava, ending of Swedish empire as a major power.
8. 8th July 1716: The Swedish forces were trapped and defeated by Danish-Norwegian forces led by Peter Tordenskjold in the battle of Dynekilen during the Great Northern War.
9. 8th July 1758: The French forces were today attacked by British and Colonial forces at Fort Ticonderoga in New York.
10. 8th July 1776: An assembly of citizens in Philadelphia was given the 1st public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon today.
11. 8th July 1777: Vermont issued a new Constitution today and became the first state in the US to abolish slavery.
12. 8th July 1778: West Point became George Washington’s headquarters for his continental army.
13. 8th July 1796: The first US passport was issued today by the US State Department.
14. 8th July 1797: Senator William Blount of Tennessee was expelled by impeachment. He became the first US Senator to be expelled thus.
19th Century – July 8 This Day That Year – The 1800s
15. 8th July 1800: Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse vaccinated his son with a cowpox vaccine to prevent smallpox. This was the first vaccination against smallpox in the US.
16. 8th July 1833: Defense Treaty signed by Russia and Turkey today.
17. 8th July 1838: The Jewish community of Safed was attacked by the Arabs today.
18. 8th July 1849: Naming of St Paul’s Place in the Bronx.
19. 8th July 1862: Theodore R. Timby obtained a US patent for discharging guns in revolving turrets using electricity.
20. 8th July 1870: Registration of trademarks authorized by US Congress.
21. 8th July 1878: In South Carolina, white terrorists attacked Black Republicans in Hamburg, killing 5.
22. 8th July 1889: Wall Street Journal started publication today.
23. 8th July 1892: The American Psychological Association was established at Clark University at Worchester, Massachusetts today.
24. 8th July 1892: The Great Fire of 1892 devastated St John’s on Newfoundland Island.
25. 8th July 1895: Canadian Prime Minister Charles Tupper resigned after only 69 days in office after losing the June 23rd election. His was the shortest term in the history of Canada.
26. 8th July 1898: Soapy Smith, the crime boss was shot dead today. Skagway in Alaska was released from his iron grip.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day July 8th – The 1900s
27. 8th July 1900: A night baseball, league game was played at Zanesville today.
28. 8th July 1905: In San Francisco Bay, a part of Angle Island was allotted for an immigration detention center.
29. 8th July 1905: Mutinying soldiers of the Russian battleship “Potemkin” surrendered to Romanian authorities. Soon after the surrender Romanian authorities turned the ship over to the Russians.
30. 8th July 1908: Upraising in Turkey spread throughout the country.
31. 8th July 1909: A professional baseball game, minor league, was played under lights for the first time today.
32. 8th July 1911: Nan Aspinwall completed a transcontinental trip by horse. She was the first woman to do so.
33. 8th July 1913: Alfred Carlton Gilbert got the patent for the erector set which became the most popular toy of all time.
34. 8th July 1915: In reply to President Woodrow Wilson’s second Lusitania note, the Germans said that Americans may sail on clearly marked neutral ships, but Germany did not deal with Wilson’s other demands.
35. 8th July 1923: President Warren G Harding was the first US president to visit Alaska while in office.
36. 8th July 1932: In a cricket match played between Yorkshire and Glouchire, batsman Herbert Sutcliff scored his 100th 100 today.
37. 8th July 1932: Depression drives Dow Jones Industrial Average to 41.22.
38. 8th July 1933: Public Works Administration came into effect today.
39. 8th July 1941: It became obligatory for all Jews living in the Baltic States to wear a Jewish Star.
40. 8th July 1943: A German U-232 sank under British air raid.
41. 8th July 1943: The US invasion fleet passed Bizerta, Tunisia today.
42. 8th July 1944: US lines at Saipan came under Japanese Kamikaze attacks.
43. 8th July 1944: British troops marched into Caen, Normandy today.
44. 8th July 1947: Demolition of the UN headquarters at New York City began today.
45. 8th July 1948: In Moscow Russia, the 500th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church was celebrated today.
46. 8th July 1949: In South Africa, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55 was passed. The act prohibits marriage or sexual relationships between white people and people of other race groups.
47. 8th July 1950: There was a record rainfall (33.4 cm, which is a state record) at York, Nebraska.
48. 8th July 1950: General Douglas MacArthur was appointed as commander-in-chief of UN forces in Korea.
49. 8th July 1953: Aid to Persia was stopped by the US.
50. 8th July 1954: Colonel Armas was selected as President of Guatemala by the military junta.
51. 8th July 1956: Atmospheric nuclear test conducted by the US at Entwetak today.
52. 8th July 1957: Synn Fein leaders were arrested today by the Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera.
53. 8th July 1957: “Thinker’s Lodge” held its first Pugwash Conference on nuclear disarmament of Pugwash, Nova Scotia in Canada.
54. 8th July 1960: Fidel Castro puts an end to Havana’s international League team, Sugar Kings to New Jersey.
55. 8th July 1961: England’s fast bowler Fred Truman playing against Australia took 5-0 in 24 balls.
56. 8th July 1961: A Portuguese steamer “Save” broke up off Mozambique. 227 people died in the disaster.
57. 8th July 1963: The US today imposed a ban on all monetary transactions with Cuba.
58. 8th July 1968: There was an exchange of Artillery fire between Israel and Egypt along the Suez Canal.
59. 8th July 1969: Withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam commenced today.
60. 8th July 1971: The US today performed a nuclear test at its Nevada test site.
61. 8th July 1972: The US today sold $750 million worth of grains to the USSR.
62. 8th July 1974: Underground nuclear test performed by USSR today.
63. 8th July 1975: US President Gerald Ford announced his plan to seek a Republican Presidential nomination.
64. 8th July 1978: In Italy, Sandro Pertini was elected as the 7th President of the Italian Republic today.
65. 8th July 1979: The Democratic Republic of Congo adopted its new Constitution today.
66. 8th July 1981: France performed a nuclear test today.
67. 8th July 1981: Banks, planes, and steel industries in France were nationalized today by Prime Minister Maurois.
68. 8th July 1986: “Safety, Reliability Maintain & Quality Assurance” established by NASA today.
69. 8th July 1989: USSR performed a nuclear test today at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.
70. 8th July 1992: Florida Marines unveiled their uniform today.
71. 8th July 1994: Space Shuttle STS-65,”Columbia 17”, was launched today.
72. 8th July 1997: NATO extended an invitation to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to join.
21st Century – July 8 This Day In History – The 2000s
73. 8th July 2003: Flight 39 of Sudan Airways, with 116 passengers on board, crashed in Sudan. A 2-year-old boy was the only one to survive the crash but later succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash.
74. 8th July 2011: In the final mission of the US Space Shuttle program, Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched today.
75. 8th July 2013: The Egyptian Army raided a sit-in protest in Cairo killing 42 people and injuring hundreds.
76. 8th July 2013: In India, a hotel collapsed in the city of Hyderabad killing at least a dozen people and injuring others.
77. 8th July 2014: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel instructed the defense forces to “take their gloves off” against Hamas and to take all necessary means to “restore peace” to Israeli citizens.
78. 8th July 2015: Technical errors forced the New York Stock Exchange to stop trading for four hours today.
79. 8th July 2017: UNESCO declared, Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, a world heritage site for Art Deco buildings.
80. 8th July 2018: Ethiopia and Eritrea, after a lapse of almost 20 years, announced the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in Asmara, Eritrea.
81. 8th July 2018: After 16 days, four boys are the first to be rescued by the Thai and international rescue teams from Tham Luang cave.
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