08 July History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.