- 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.
- 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet, defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta.
- 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.
- 1716 – The Battle of Dynekilen forces Sweden to abandon its invasion of Norway.
- 1730 – An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile’s coastline.
- 1758 – French forces hold Fort Carillon against the British at Ticonderoga, New York.
- 1760 – British forces defeat French forces in the last naval battle in New France.
- 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 – Joseph Bonaparte approves the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain.
- 1822 – Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
- 1853 – The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade.
- 1859 – King Charles XV & IV accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway.
- 1864 – Ikedaya Incident: The Choshu Han shishi’s planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya.
- 1874 – The Mounties begin their March West.
- 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.
- 1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.
- 1892 – St. John’s, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
- 1898 – The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.
- 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 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident.
- 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 besieges and dynamites the Rangoon University Student Union building to crush the Student Movement.
- 1966 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
- 1968 – The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.
- 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 – The inaugural 1980 State of Origin game is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20–10 at Lang Park.
- 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, 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.
- 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.
Births on July 8
- 1478 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian linguist, poet, and playwright (d. 1550)
- 1528 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
- 1538 – Alberto Bolognetti, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
- 1545 – Carlos, Prince of Asturias (d. 1568)
- 1593 – Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
- 1621 – Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (d. 1695)
- 1760 – Christian Kramp, French mathematician and academic (d. 1826)
- 1766 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842)
- 1779 – Giorgio Pullicino, Maltese painter and architect (d. 1851)
- 1819 – Francis Leopold McClintock, Irish admiral and explorer (d. 1907)
- 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)
- 1836 – Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1914)
- 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)
- 1851 – Arthur Evans, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1941)
- 1851 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1916)
- 1857 – Alfred Binet, French psychologist and graphologist (d. 1911)
- 1867 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (d. 1945)
- 1876 – Alexandros Papanastasiou, Greek sociologist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
- 1882 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (d. 1961)
- 1885 – Ernst Bloch, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1977)
- 1885 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (d. 1948)
- 1890 – Stanton Macdonald-Wright, American painter (d. 1973)
- 1892 – Richard Aldington, English author and poet (d. 1962)
- 1892 – Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
- 1893 – R. Carlyle Buley, American historian and author (d. 1968)
- 1894 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1898 – Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1900 – George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author (d. 1959)
- 1904 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician and academic (d. 2008)
- 1905 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator and director (d. 1997)
- 1906 – Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (d. 2005)
- 1907 – George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and actor (d. 1975)
- 1908 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
- 1908 – V. K. R. Varadaraja Rao, Indian economist, politician, professor and educator (d. 1991)
- 1909 – Alan Brown, English soldier (d. 1971)
- 1909 – Ike Petersen, American football back (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Carlos Betances Ramírez, Puerto Rican general (d. 2001)
- 1911 – Ken Farnes, English cricketer (d. 1941)
- 1913 – Alejandra Soler, Spanish politician (d. 2017)
- 1914 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 2010)
- 1914 – Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpet player (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Neil D. Van Sickle, American Air Force major general (d. 2019)
- 1915 – Lowell English, United States Marine Corps general (d. 2005)
- 1916 – Jean Rouverol, American author, actress and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1917 – Pamela Brown, English actress (d. 1975)
- 1917 – Faye Emerson, American actress (d. 1983)
- 1917 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1999)
- 1918 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Irwin Hasen, American illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Oluf Reed-Olsen, Norwegian resistance member and pilot (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Julia Pirie, British spy working for MI5 (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Edward B. Giller, U.S Major General (d. 2017)
- 1918 – Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (d. 2016)
- 1920 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (d. 1995)
- 1921 – John Money, New Zealand psychologist and sexologist, responsible for controversial sexual identity study on David Reimer (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 2019)
- 1924 – Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Charles C. Droz, American politician
- 1925 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Arthur Imperatore Sr., Italian-American businessman from New Jersey
- 1925 – Bill Mackrides, American football quarterback (d. 2019)
- 1925 – Dominique Nohain, French actor, screenwriter and director (d. 2017)
- 1926 – David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher and author (d. 2014)
- 1926 – John Dingell, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2019)
- 1926 – Martin Riesen, Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender
- 1926 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and author (d. 2004)
- 1927 – Maurice Hayes, Irish educator and politician (d. 2017)
- 1927 – Khensur Lungri Namgyel, Tibetan religious leader
- 1927 – Bob Beckham, American country singer (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Balakh Sher Mazari, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
- 1930 – Jerry Vale, American singer (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Antonio Lamer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Raquel Correa, Chilean journalist (d. 2012)
- 1934 – Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1934 – Edward D. DiPrete, American politician
- 1935 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Steve Lawrence, American actor and singer
- 1935 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Diane Clare, English actress (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Ed Lumley, Canadian businessman and politician, 8th Canadian Minister of Communications
- 1940 – Joe B. Mauldin, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1941 – Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager
- 1942 – Phil Gramm, American economist and politician
- 1944 – Jaimoe, American drummer
- 1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer
- 1945 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician, 91st President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1947 – Kim Darby, American actress
- 1947 – Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1947 – Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
- 1948 – Raffi, Egyptian-Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1948 – Ruby Sales, American civil-rights activist
- 1949 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-American chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur
- 1949 – Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 2009)
- 1951 – Alan Ashby, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
- 1951 – Anjelica Huston, American actress and director
- 1952 – Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster
- 1952 – Marianne Williamson, American author and activist
- 1956 – Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player and coach
- 1957 – Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter
- 1957 – Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author
- 1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician
- 1958 – Andreas Carlgren, Swedish educator and politician, 8th Swedish Minister for the Environment
- 1958 – Tzipi Livni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel
- 1959 – Pauline Quirke, English actress
- 1960 – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1961 – Ces Drilon, Filipino journalist
- 1961 – Andrew Fletcher, English keyboard player
- 1961 – Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1961 – Karl Seglem, Norwegian saxophonist and record producer
- 1962 – Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1963 – Mark Christopher, American director and screenwriter
- 1964 – Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager
- 1965 – Dan Levinson, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader
- 1966 – Ralf Altmeyer, German-Chinese virologist and academic
- 1966 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician
- 1967 – Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1968 – Billy Crudup, American actor
- 1968 – Shane Howarth, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1969 – Sugizo, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1970 – Beck, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1970 – Sylvain Gaudreault, Canadian educator and politician
- 1970 – Todd Martin, American tennis player and coach
- 1971 – Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player and coach
- 1972 – Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
- 1972 – Shōsuke Tanihara, Japanese actor
- 1974 – Hu Liang, Chinese field hockey player
- 1976 – Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
- 1976 – David Kennedy, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1976 – Ellen MacArthur, English sailor
- 1977 – Christian Abbiati, Italian footballer
- 1977 – Paolo Tiralongo, Italian cyclist
- 1977 – Milo Ventimiglia, American actor, director, and producer
- 1977 – Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
- 1978 – Urmas Rooba, Estonian footballer
- 1979 – Mat McBriar, American football player
- 1979 – Ben Jelen, Scottish-American singer-songwriter
- 1980 – Eric Chouinard, American-Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
- 1981 – Wolfram Müller, German runner
- 1981 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- 1982 – Sophia Bush, American actress and director
- 1982 – Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
- 1983 – John Bowker, American baseball player
- 1983 – Rich Peverley, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Jaime Garcia, Mexican baseball player
- 1986 – Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
- 1988 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
- 1988 – Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist
- 1988 – Dave Taylor, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Yarden Gerbi, Israeli Judo champion
- 1989 – Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (d. 2012)
- 1991 – Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer
- 1992 – Ariel Camacho, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1992 – Son Heung-min, Korean footballer
- 1992 – Xander Mobus, American voice actor
- 1997 – Bryce Love, American football player
- 1997 – Lauran Hibberd, English singer-songwriter
- 1998 – Jaden Smith, American actor and rapper
Deaths on July 8
- 689 – Kilian, Irish bishop
- 810 – Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne (b. 773)
- 873 – Gunther, archbishop of Cologne
- 900 – Qatr al-Nada, wife of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu’tadid
- 901 – Grimbald, French-English monk and saint (b. 827)
- 975 – Edgar the Peaceful, English king (b. 943)
- 1153 – Pope Eugene III (b. 1087)
- 1253 – Theobald I of Navarre (b. 1201)
- 1261 – Adolf IV of Holstein, Count of Schauenburg
- 1390 – Albert of Saxony, Bishop of Halberstadt and German philosopher (b. circa 1320)
- 1538 – Diego de Almagro, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1475)
- 1623 – Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
- 1689 – Edward Wooster, English-American settler (b. 1622)
- 1695 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1629)
- 1716 – Robert South, English preacher and theologian (b. 1634)
- 1721 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1649)
- 1784 – Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (b. 1735)
- 1794 – Richard Mique, French architect (b. 1728)
- 1820 – Octavia Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor (b. 1816)
- 1822 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (b. 1792)
- 1850 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
- 1859 – Oscar I of Sweden (b. 1799)
- 1873 – Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter and lithographer (b. 1805)
- 1887 – Ben Holladay, American businessman (b. 1819)
- 1895 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (b. 1821)
- 1905 – Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (b. 1834)
- 1913 – Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author (b. 1880)
- 1917 – Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
- 1930 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856)
- 1933 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (b. 1863)
- 1934 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (b. 1848)
- 1939 – Havelock Ellis, English psychologist and author (b. 1859)
- 1941 – Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, historian, and politician (b. 1874)
- 1942 – Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Algerian-French general (b. 1856)
- 1942 – Refik Saydam, Turkish physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Jean Moulin, French soldier (b. 1899)
- 1950 – Othmar Spann, Austrian sociologist, economist, and philosopher (b. 1878)
- 1952 – August Alle, Estonian lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1890)
- 1956 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and critic (b. 1881)
- 1965 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (b. 1881)
- 1968 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (b. 1882)
- 1971 – Kurt Reidemeister, German mathematician connected to the Vienna Circle (b. 1893)
- 1972 – Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and politician (b. 1936)
- 1973 – Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)
- 1973 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Education Minister of Israel (b. 1884)
- 1973 – Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer and coach (b. 1877)
- 1979 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1979 – Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
- 1979 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 1981 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Phil Foster, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
- 1986 – Skeeter Webb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1909)
- 1987 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1903)
- 1987 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet and author (b. 1896)
- 1988 – Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (b. 1905)
- 1990 – Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1991 – James Franciscus, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1994 – Christian-Jaque, French director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
- 1994 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (b. 1912)
- 1994 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (b. 1927)
- 1994 – Dick Sargent, American actor (b. 1930)
- 1996 – Irene Prador, Austrian-born actress and writer (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player, author, and feminist (b. 1905)
- 1999 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
- 2001 – John O’Shea, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Ward Kimball, American animator and trombonist (b. 1914)
- 2004 – Paula Danziger, American author and educator (b. 1944)
- 2005 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (b. 1911)
- 2006 – June Allyson, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
- 2007 – Chandra Shekhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of India (b. 1927)
- 2007 – Jack B. Sowards, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1929)
- 2008 – John Templeton, American-born British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1912)
- 2009 – Midnight, American singer-songwriter (b. 1962)
- 2011 – Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Gyang Dalyop Datong, Nigerian physician and politician (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Martin Pakledinaz, American costume designer (b. 1953)
- 2013 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Edmund Morgan, American historian and author (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1980)
- 2013 – Rubby Sherr, American physicist and academic (b. 1913)
- 2013 – Sundri Uttamchandani, Indian author (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Brett Walker, American songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
- 2014 – Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
- 2014 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Ben Pangelinan, Guamanian businessman and politician (b. 1956)
- 2014 – Howard Siler, American bobsledder and coach (b. 1945)
- 2014 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (b. 1953)
- 2015 – Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1945)
- 2015 – James Tate, American poet (b. 1943)
- 2016 – Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Tab Hunter, American actor, pop singer, film producer and author (b. 1931)
Holidays and observances on July 8
- Christian Feast Day:
- Abda and Sabas
- Auspicius of Trier
- Grimbald
- Kilian, Totnan, and Colman
- Peter and Fevronia Day (Russian Orthodox)
- Procopius of Scythopolis
- Sunniva and companions
- Theobald of Marly
- July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine)