Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Today is the 189th day of 2025. There are 176 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1099
Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
1497
Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European 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
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.
1730
An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile's coastline.
1775
The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America.
1776
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.
1808
Promulgation of the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter Joseph Bonaparte intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain.
1876
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
1879
Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
1881
The ice cream sundae was invented in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, when a soda fountain owner poured chocolate syrup over a dish of ice cream.
1889
The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.
1892
St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
1912
Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves.
1932
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.
1933
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.
1937
Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
1947
The Roswell incident took place, as debris was found in Roswell, New Mexico and was claimed by some to be part of a crashed alien spaceship. The government said it was from a military balloon. Will we ever know?
1948
The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
1960
Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
1962
Ne Win, the military dictator of Burma, besieges and blows up the Rangoon University Student Union building to crush the Student Movement.
1965
Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 is destroyed by a bomb near 100 Mile House, Canada, killing 52.
1966
King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
1968
The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.
1969
A patent for the famous board game Twister was granted.
1970
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.
1972
Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
1980
Aeroflot Flight 4225 crashes near Almaty International Airport in the then Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (present day Kazakhstan) killing all 166 people on board.
1982
A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein results in the Dujail Massacre over the next several months.
1988
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.
1994
Kim Jong Il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il Sung.
1996
The Spice Girls released "Wannabe," one of the most recognizable pop songs in history, for the first time.
2003
Sudan Airways Flight 139 crashes near Port Sudan Airport during an emergency landing attempt, killing 116 of the 117 people on board.
2011
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.
2014
Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers.
2021
President Joe Biden announces that the official conclusion of U.S. involvement in the War in Afghanistan will be on August 31, 2021.
Notable Births
1830
Frederick W. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State. (d. 1915)
1831
John Pemberton, American chemist and pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola. (d. 1888)
1838
Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, and businessman, founded Eli Lilly and Company. (d. 1898)
1838
Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company. (d. 1917)
1839
John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company. (d. 1937)
1885
Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss AG. (d. 1948)
1907
George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan. (d. 1995)
1908
Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States. (d. 1979)
1918
Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy. (d. 2009)
1921
John Money, New Zealand psychologist and sexologist, known for his research on gender identity, and responsible for controversial involuntary sex reassignment of David Reimer. (d. 2006)
1928
Balakh Sher Mazari, former prime minister of Pakistan. (d. 2022)
1935
Steve Lawrence.American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gorme, billed as "Steve and Eydie". (d. 2024)
1944
Jeffrey Tambor is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom The Ropers (1979-1980).
1949
Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-American chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur.
1951
Anjelica Huston, an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
1952
Marianne Williamson, American author, activist, and presidential candidate.
1958
Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician.
1961
Toby Keith was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. (d. 2024)
1970
Beck David Hansen, known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
1998
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He has received various accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an MTV Movie Award, a BET Award and a Young Artist Award.
Notable Deaths
1898
The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip. (b. 1860)
1930
Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand. (b. 1856)
1967
Vivien Leigh, a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). (b. 1913)
1973
Gene L. Coon was an American screenwriter, television producer, and novelist. He is best remembered for work on the original Star Trek as a screenwriter, story editor. (b. 1924)
1994
Kim Il Sung was a Korean politician and the founder of North Korea. He ruled the country from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death. (b. 1912)
1994
Richard Stanford Cox, known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor. He is best known for being the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on ABC's fantasy situation comedy Bewitched. (b. 1930)
2002
Ward Walrath Kimball was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. (b. 1914)
2006
June Allyson was an American stage, film, and television actress, dancer, and singer. (b. 1917)
2007
Chandra Shekhar was an Indian politician who served as the 8th Prime Minister of India. (b. 1927)
2011
Former First Lady Betty Ford, who was active in raising awareness about drug and alcohol addiction, died at the age of 93. (b. 1918)
2012
Ernest Borgnine, an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. (b. 1917)
2015
Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster.
(b. 1945)
2018
Tab Hunter was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. (b. 1931)
2022
Larry Storch was an American actor and comedian best known for his comic television roles including as bumbling Corporal Randolph Agarn on F Troop which won a nomination for Emmy Award in 1967. (b. 1923)
2022
Tony Sirico was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in The Sopranos Series. (b. 1942)