World History of July 8

The Byzantines defeat the Hungarian army decisively at Sirmium, forcing the Hungarians to sue for peace.

Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet, defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta.

Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.

Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.

Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.

Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava, thus effectively ending Sweden's status as a major power in Europe.

The Battle of Dynekilen forces Sweden to abandon its invasion of Norway.

An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile's coastline.

Reverend Jonathan Edwards preaches to his congregation in Enfield, Connecticut his most famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"; an influence for the First Great Awakening.

French forces hold Fort Carillon against the British at Ticonderoga, New York.

British forces defeat French forces in the last naval battle in New France.

The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America.

Church bells (possibly including the Liberty Bell) are rung after John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.

Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.

The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade.

King Charles XV & IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway.

Ikedaya Incident: The Choshu Han shishis planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya.

The Mounties begin their March West.

The Hamburg massacre prior to the 1876 United States presidential election results in the deaths of six African-Americans of the Republican Party, along with one white assailant.

Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.

The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.

St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.

The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.

Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.

The first rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa is played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.

Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.

Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash-landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident.

The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called the Women's Air Force (WAF).

Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.

Ne Win besieges and blows up the Rangoon University Student Union building to crush the Student Movement.

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 is destroyed by a bomb near 100 Mile House, Canada, killing 52.

King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.

The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.

Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American self-determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.

Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.

The inaugural 1980 State of Origin game is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20-10 at Lang Park.

Aeroflot Flight 4225 crashes near Almaty International Airport in the then Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (present day Kazakhstan) killing all 166 people on board.

A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein results in the Dujail Massacre over the next several months.

The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, Kerala in India killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.

West Germany win the FIFA World Cup final against defending champions Argentina, with Andreas Brehme scoring the game's only goal.

Kim Jong Il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il Sung.

Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on an international science mission.

Sudan Airways Flight 139 crashes near Port Sudan Airport during an emergency landing attempt, killing 116 of the 117 people on board.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.

Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers.

The Brazil national football team suffers its joint-worst defeat, losing 7-1 to Germany in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, in a match dubbed the Mineiraço.

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is shot and killed with an improvised firearm due to resentment against the Unification Church.

Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian linguist, poet, and playwright (died 1550)

Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (died 1580)

Alberto Bolognetti, Roman Catholic cardinal (died 1585)

Carlos, Prince of Asturias (died 1568)

Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (died 1653)

Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (died 1695)

Christian Kramp, French mathematician and academic (died 1826)

Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (died 1842)

Giorgio Pullicino, Maltese painter and architect (died 1851)

Francis Leopold McClintock, Irish admiral and explorer (died 1907)

Frederick W. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (died 1915)

John Pemberton, American chemist and pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola (died 1888)

Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (died 1914)

Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, and businessman, founded Eli Lilly and Company (died 1898)

Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (died 1917)

John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company (died 1937)

Arthur Evans, English archaeologist and academic (died 1941)

John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (died 1916)

Alfred Binet, French psychologist and graphologist (died 1911)

Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (died 1945)

Alexandros Papanastasiou, Greek sociologist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (died 1936)

Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (died 1961)

Ernst Bloch, German philosopher, author, and academic (died 1977)

Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (died 1948)

Stanton Macdonald-Wright, American painter (died 1973)

Richard Aldington, English author and poet (died 1962)

Pavel Korin, Russian painter (died 1967)

R. Carlyle Buley, American historian and author (died 1968)

Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984)

Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971)

Melville Ruick, American actor (died 1972)

George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author (died 1959)

Henri Cartan, French mathematician and academic (died 2008)

Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator and director (died 1997)

Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (died 2005)

George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (died 1995)

Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and actor (died 1975)

Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (died 1979)

V. K. R. Varadaraja Rao, Indian economist, politician, professor and educator (died 1991)

Alan Brown, English soldier (died 1971)

Ike Petersen, American football player (died 1995)

Carlos Betances Ramírez, Puerto Rican general (died 2001)

Ken Farnes, English cricketer (died 1941)

Alejandra Soler, Spanish politician (died 2017)

Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal (died 2010)

Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpet player (died 1993)

Neil D. Van Sickle, American Air Force major general (died 2019)

Lowell English, United States Marine Corps general (died 2005)

Jean Rouverol, American author, actress and screenwriter (died 2017)

Pamela Brown, English actress (died 1975)

Faye Emerson, American actress (died 1983)

J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (died 1999)

Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (died 2009)

Irwin Hasen, American illustrator (died 2015)

Oluf Reed-Olsen, Norwegian resistance member and pilot (died 2002)

Julia Pirie, British spy working for MI5 (died 2008)

Edward B. Giller, American Air Force major general (died 2017)

Craig Stevens, American actor (died 2000)

Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (died 2016)

Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (died 1995)

John Money, New Zealand psychologist and sexologist, known for his research on gender identity, and responsible for controversial involuntary sex reassignment of David Reimer (died 2006)

Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler (died 2019)

Val Bettin, American actor (died 2021)

Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (died 2005)

Charles C. Droz, American politician (died 2025)

Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (died 2014)

Arthur Imperatore Sr., Italian-American businessman (died 2020)

Bill Mackrides, American football quarterback (died 2019)

Dominique Nohain, French actor, screenwriter and director (died 2017)

David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher and author (died 2014)

John Dingell, American lieutenant and politician (died 2019)

Martin Riesen, Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender (died 2003)

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and author (died 2004)

Maurice Hayes, Irish educator and politician (died 2017)

Khensur Lungri Namgyel, Tibetan religious leader

Bob Beckham, American country singer (died 2013)

Balakh Sher Mazari, former prime minister of Pakistan (died 2022)

Jerry Vale, American singer (died 2014)

Antonio Lamer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Chief Justice of Canada (died 2007)

Raquel Correa, Chilean journalist (died 2012)

Edward D. DiPrete, American politician, 70th Governor of Rhode Island (died 2025)

Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (died 1982)

John David Crow, American football player and coach (died 2015)

Steve Lawrence, American actor and singer (died 2024)

Vitaly Sevastyanov, Russian engineer and cosmonaut (died 2010)

Diane Clare, English actress (died 2013)

Ed Lumley, Canadian businessman and politician, 8th Canadian Minister of Communications (died 2025)

Joe B. Mauldin, American bass player and songwriter (died 2015)

Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager

Phil Gramm, American economist and politician

Jaimoe, American drummer

Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer

Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician, 91st President of the Swiss Confederation

Kim Darby, American actress

Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (died 2016)

Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae

Raffi, Egyptian-Canadian singer-songwriter

Ruby Sales, American civil-rights activist

Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-American chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (died 2009)

Alan Ashby, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster

Anjelica Huston, American actress and director

Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster

Marianne Williamson, American author and activist

Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player and coach

Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter

Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author

Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician

Andreas Carlgren, Swedish educator and politician, 8th Swedish Minister for the Environment

Tzipi Livni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel

Pauline Quirke, English actress

Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league player and coach

Ces Drilon, Filipino journalist

Andrew Fletcher, English keyboard player (died 2022)

Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (died 2024)

Karl Seglem, Norwegian saxophonist and record producer

Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Mark Christopher, American director and screenwriter

Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager

Dan Levinson, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader

Ralf Altmeyer, German-Chinese virologist and academic

Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician

Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer

Charlie Cardona, Colombian singer

Billy Crudup, American actor

Shane Howarth, New Zealand rugby player and coach

Sugizo, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer

Beck, American singer-songwriter and producer

Mark Butler, Australian politician

Sylvain Gaudreault, Canadian educator and politician

Todd Martin, American tennis player and coach

Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player and coach

Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player

Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer

Shōsuke Tanihara, Japanese actor

Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress and writer

Hu Liang, Chinese field hockey player

Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer

Ellen MacArthur, English sailor

Christian Abbiati, Italian footballer

Paolo Tiralongo, Italian cyclist

Milo Ventimiglia, American actor, director, and producer

Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player

Urmas Rooba, Estonian footballer

Mat McBriar, American football player

Ben Jelen, Scottish-American singer-songwriter

Eric Chouinard, American-Canadian ice hockey player

Robbie Keane, Irish footballer

Wolfram Müller, German runner

Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player

Shonette Azore-Bruce, Barbadian netball player

Sophia Bush, American actress and director

Hakim Warrick, American basketball player

John Bowker, American baseball player

Rich Peverley, Canadian ice hockey player

Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer

Josh Harrison, American baseball player

Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (died 2012)

Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist

Yarden Gerbi, Israeli Judo champion

Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (died 2012)

Kevin Trapp, German footballer

Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer

Ariel Camacho, Mexican singer-songwriter (died 2015)

Son Heung-min, Korean footballer

David Corenswet, American actor

Marlon Humphrey, American football player

Bryce Love, American football player

Maya Hawke, American actress

Jaden Smith, American actor and rapper

İpek Öz, Turkish tennis player

Kilian, Irish bishop

Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne (born 773)

Gunther, archbishop of Cologne

Qatr al-Nada, wife of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadid

Grimbald, French-English monk and saint (born 827)

Edgar the Peaceful, English king (born 943)

Pope Eugene III (born 1087)

Theobald I of Navarre (born 1201)

Adolf IV of Holstein, Count of Schauenburg

Albert of Saxony, Bishop of Halberstadt and German philosopher (born circa 1320)

Diego de Almagro, Spanish general and explorer (born 1475)

Pope Gregory XV (born 1554)

Edward Wooster, English-American settler (born 1622)

Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (born 1629)

Robert South, English preacher and theologian (born 1634)

Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (born 1649)

Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (born 1735)

Richard Mique, French architect (born 1728)

Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (born 1792)

Henry Raeburn, Scottish portrait painter (born 1756)

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (born 1774)

Oscar I of Sweden (born 1799)

Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter and lithographer (born 1805)

Ben Holladay, American businessman (born 1819)

Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (born 1821)

Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (born 1834)

Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author (born 1880)

Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (born 1877)

Ellen Oliver (suffragette), British suffragette and purity activist (born 1870)

Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1856)

Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (born 1863)

Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (born 1848)

Havelock Ellis, English psychologist and author (born 1859)

Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, historian, and politician (born 1874)

Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, Algerian-French general (born 1856)

Refik Saydam, Turkish physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1881)

Jean Moulin, French soldier and leader of the French Resistance (born 1899)

Othmar Spann, Austrian sociologist, economist, and philosopher (born 1878)

August Alle, Estonian lawyer, author, and poet (born 1890)

Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and critic (born 1881)

Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (born 1881)

Vivien Leigh, British actress (born 1913)

Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (born 1882)

Kurt Reidemeister, German mathematician connected to the Vienna Circle (born 1893)

Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and politician (born 1936)

Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and producer (born 1924)

Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Education Minister of Israel (born 1884)

Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer and coach (born 1877)

Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906)

Michael Wilding, English actor (born 1912)

Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917)

Joe McDonnell (hunger striker), Irish Republican Army member (born 1951)

Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (born 1902)

Phil Foster, American actor and screenwriter (born 1913)

Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1909)

Skeeter Webb, American baseball player and manager (born 1909)

Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (born 1903)

Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet and author (born 1896)

Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (born 1905)

Howard Duff, American actor (born 1913)

James Franciscus, American actor (born 1934)

Abul Hasan Jashori, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and freedom fighter (born 1918)

Christian-Jaque, French director and screenwriter (born 1904)

Kim Il Sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (born 1912)

Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (born 1927)

Dick Sargent, American actor (born 1930)

Irene Prador, Austrian-born actress and writer (born 1911)

Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player, author, and feminist (born 1905)

Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut. Third man to walk on the moon. (born 1930)

John O'Shea, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1920)

Ward Kimball, American animator and trombonist (born 1914)

Paula Danziger, American author and educator (born 1944)

Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (born 1911)

June Allyson, American actress and singer (born 1917)

Chandra Shekhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of India (born 1927)

Jack B. Sowards, American screenwriter and producer (born 1929)

John Templeton, American-born British businessman and philanthropist (born 1912)

Midnight, American singer-songwriter (born 1962)

Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (born 1924)

Betty Ford, 38th First Lady of the United States (born 1918)

Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud, Saudi Arabian politician (born 1934)

Ernest Borgnine, American actor (born 1917)

Gyang Dalyop Datong, Nigerian physician and politician (born 1959)

Martin Pakledinaz, American costume designer (born 1953)

Dick Gray, American baseball player (born 1931)

Edmund Morgan, American historian and author (born 1916)

Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (born 1980)

Rubby Sherr, American physicist and academic (born 1913)

Sundri Uttamchandani, Indian author (born 1924)

Brett Walker, American songwriter and producer (born 1961)

Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (born 1930)

John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (born 1925)

Ben Pangelinan, Guamanian businessman and politician (born 1956)

Howard Siler, American bobsledder and coach (born 1945)

Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (born 1953)

Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster (born 1945)

James Tate, American poet (born 1943)

Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist (born 1928)

Tab Hunter, American actor, pop singer, film producer and author (born 1931)

Naya Rivera, American actress, model and singer (born 1987)

Alex Pullin, Australian snowboarder (born 1987)

Shinzo Abe, Japanese politician (born 1954)

Larry Storch, American actor and comedian (born 1923)

Luis Echeverría, Mexican lawyer and politician (born 1922)

Tony Sirico, American actor (born 1942)

Edward D. DiPrete, American politician, 70th Governor of Rhode Island

Paulette Jiles, American writer (born 1943)