July 8

Historic Events

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. ›

2022

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

2014

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

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. ›

2011

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

2003

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

1994

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

1994

Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on an international science mission. ›

1990

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

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. ›

1982

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

1980

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

1980

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

1972

Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani. ›

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. ›

1966

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

1965

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

1962

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

1960

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

1948

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

1947

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

1937

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

1932

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

1912

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

1892

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

1889

The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published. ›

1879

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

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. ›

1874

The Mounties begin their March West. ›

1864

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

1859

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

1853

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

1832

An Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pascha defeats an Ottoman army under Mehmed Pascha in the battle of Hims. ›

1822

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

1776

John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. ›

1775

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

1760

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

1758

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

1741

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. ›

1730

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

1716

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

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. ›

1663

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

1658

Abaza Hasan Pasha and his allies declare a revolt against grand vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, demanding his execution and marching on Istanbul. ›

1651

The Venetian fleet under Alvise Mocenigo engages with an Ottoman fleet under Hosambegzade Ali Pasha south of Naxos, defeating it after three days. ›

1579

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

1497

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

1283

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

1167

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