On this day: July 8

Events on July 8

• 1283 Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet, defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta. Wikipedia
• 1497 Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India. Wikipedia
• 1579 Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan. Wikipedia
• 1663 Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island. Wikipedia
• 1709 Great Northern War: Swedish forces under Charles XII were defeated by Russian troops led by Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1730 An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile's coastline. Wikipedia
• 1776 The United States Declaration of Independence received its first formal public reading, in Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 1822 Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1864 Ikedaya Incident: The Choshu Han shishis planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya. Wikipedia
• 1950 Korean War: American troops withdrew from Cheonan, in modern-day South Korea, after suffering heavy casualties from a North Korean attack. Wikipedia
• 1960 Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1980 Aeroflot Flight 4225 crashed near Almaty International Airport in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (present day Kazakhstan) killing all 166 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1980 Aeroflot Flight 4225 crashes near Almaty International Airport in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (present day Kazakhstan), killing all 166 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1982 A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein results in the Dujail Massacre over the next several months. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1994 Kim Jong Il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il Sung. Wikipedia
• 2014 Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers. Wikipedia
• 2014 German citizen Lars Mittank disappeared from Varna Airport, Bulgaria; his last known movements were widely watched on YouTube. Wikipedia
• 2014 In the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-final at the Mineirão, Germany defeated Brazil 7–1 (players pictured), breaking several tournament records. Wikipedia
• 2014 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. Wikipedia
• 2021 Head of a Bear sold at auction in London for a total of £8.8 million, a record for a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. Wikipedia
• 2022 Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated with an improvised firearm. Wikipedia
• 2022 Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is shot and killed with an improvised firearm due to resentment against the Unification Church. Wikipedia
• 2025 Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, causing 44 deaths, over 2.7 residents without power, and $28 billion to $32 billion dollars worth of damage. Wikipedia

Born on July 8

• 1593 Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (died 1653) Wikipedia
• 1621 Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (died 1695) Wikipedia
• 1831 John Pemberton, American chemist and pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola (died 1888) Wikipedia
• 1839 John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company (died 1937) Wikipedia
• 1851 Arthur Evans, English archaeologist and academic (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1857 Alfred Binet, French psychologist and graphologist (died 1911) Wikipedia
• 1867 Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1885 Ernst Bloch, German philosopher, author, and academic (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1894 Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1895 Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971) Wikipedia
• 1906 Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1908 Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (died 1979) Wikipedia
• 1919 Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 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 (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1951 Anjelica Huston, American actress and director Wikipedia
• 1958 Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician Wikipedia
• 1958 Tzipi Livni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel Wikipedia
• 1980 Robbie Keane, Irish footballer Wikipedia
• 1982 Sophia Bush, American actress and director Wikipedia
• 1991 Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer Wikipedia
• 1992 Son Heung-min, Korean footballer Wikipedia
• 1998 Jaden Smith, American actor and rapper Wikipedia

Died on July 8

• 689 Kilian, Irish bishop Wikipedia
• 810 Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne (born 773) Wikipedia
• 873 Gunther, archbishop of Cologne Wikipedia
• 1153 Pope Eugene III (born 1087) Wikipedia
• 1390 Albert of Saxony, Bishop of Halberstadt and German philosopher (born circa 1320) Wikipedia
• 1623 Pope Gregory XV (born 1554) Wikipedia
• 1695 Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (born 1629) Wikipedia
• 1822 Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (born 1792) Wikipedia
• 1967 Vivien Leigh, British actress (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 1979 Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1979 Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 1994 Kim Il Sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2012 Ernest Borgnine, American actor (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 2022 Shinzo Abe, Japanese politician (born 1954) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day: Abda and Sabas Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Auspicius of Trier Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Grimbald Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Landrada Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Kilian and Totnan Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Saints Peter and Fevronia Day (Russian Orthodox) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Priscilla and Aquila Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Procopius of Scythopolis Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Sunniva and companions Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 8” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.