08 July History
- 1099 - Christian Crusaders march around Jerusalem as Muslims watch from within the city.
- 1608 - The first French settlement at Quebec is established by Samuel de Champlain.
- 1663 - The British crown grants Rhode Island a charter guaranteeing freedom of worship.
- 1686 - The Austrians take Budapest from the Turks and annex Hungary.
- 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII at Poltava, in the Ukraine, effectively ending the Swedish empire.
- 1755 - Britain breaks off diplomatic relations with France as their disputes in the New World intensify.
- 1758 - The British attack on Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga, New York, is foiled by the French.
- 1794 - French troops capture Brussels, Belgium.
- 1815 - With Napoleon defeated, Louis XVIII returns to Paris.
- 1822 - 29-year old poet Percy Bysshe Shelley drowns while sailing in Italy.
- 1859 - The Truce at Villafranca Austria cedes Lombardy to France.
- 1863 - Demoralized by the surrender of Vicksburg, Confederates in Port Hudson, Louisiana, surrender to Union forces.
- 1864 - Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston retreats into Atlanta to prevent being flanked by Union General William T. Sherman.
- 1865 - Four of the conspirators in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination are hanged in Washington, D.C.
- 1879 - The first ship to use electric lights departs from San Francisco, California.
- 1905 - The mutinous crew of the battleship Potemkin surrenders to Rumanian authorities.
- 1918 - Ernest Hemingway is wounded in Italy while working as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross.
- 1941 - 20 B-17s fly in their first mission with the Royal Air Force over Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
- 1943 - American B-24 bombers strike Japanese-held Wake Island for the first time.
- 1960 - The Soviet Union charges American pilot Francis Gary Powers with espionage.
08 July Birthdays
- 1621 - Jean de La Fontaine, poet and author (Fables).
- 1838 - Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German designer and manufacturer of airships.
- 1839 - John D. Rockefeller, financier, philanthropist, founder of Standard Oil.
- 1869 - Wiliam Vaughan Moody, poet and playwright (The Great Divide).
- 1906 - Philip C. Johnson, architect.
- 1908 - Nelson Rockefeller, U.S. vice president to Gerald Ford.
- 1943 - Faye Wattleton, women's rights advocate.
- 1953 - Anna Quindlen, novelist.