July 8
1776 - Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence was given in Philadelphia.
1777 - Vermont becomes the first American colony to abolish slavery.
1853 - An expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo Bay, Japan, on a mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese.
1889 - The Wall Street Journal began publication.
1947 - A New Mexico newspaper, the Roswell Daily Record, quoted officials at Roswell Army Air Field as saying they had recovered a "flying saucer" that crashed onto a ranch; officials then said it was actually a weather balloon.
1950 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.
1958 - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the first official gold album; it was for the soundtrack to the musical "Oklahoma!"
1973 - The Nixon administration announced a deal to sell $750 million in grain to the Soviet Union. (However, the Soviets were also engaged in secretly buying subsidized American grain, resulting in what critics dubbed "The Great Grain Robbery.")
1986 - Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria.
1989 - Carlos Saul Menem was inaugurated as president of Argentina in the country's first transfer of power from one democratically elected civilian leader to another in six decades.
1994 - Kim Il Sung, North Korea's communist leader since 1948, died at age 82.
2010 - The largest spy swap between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War unfolded as 10 people accused of spying in suburban America pleaded guilty to conspiracy and were ordered deported to Russia in exchange for the release of four prisoners accused of spying for the West.
2011 - The space shuttle Atlantis launches into space for the last time from the Kennedy Space Center. It is the 135th and final flight of the space shuttle program, which started in 1981.
2011 - Former first lady Betty Ford died in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 93.
2016 - On the first day of a two-day summit in Warsaw, NATO leaders geared up for a long-term standoff with Russia, ordering multinational troops to Poland and the three Baltic states as Moscow moved forward with its own plans to station two new divisions along its western borders.
2018 - Divers rescued four of the 12 boys who'd been trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand with their soccer coach for more than two weeks. (The remaining eight boys and their coach were rescued over the next two days.) Actor and singer Tab Hunter died at the age of 86.
2022 - Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech — an attack that stunned a nation with some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere. The 67-year-old Abe was Japan's longest-serving leader when he resigned in 2020.
Birthdays
22 - Riele Downs (actress)
25 - Jaden Smith (actor)
25 - Maya Hawke (actress)
30 - Aimee Kelly (actress)
35 - Liz Katz (model)
37 - Jake McDorman (actor)
41 - Sophia Bush (actress)
42 - Lance Gross (actor)
44 - Ben Jelen (singer)
50 - Kathleen Robertson (actress)
53 - Beck (singer)
55 - Michael Weatherly (actor)
55 - Billy Crudup (actor)
56 - Michael B. Silver (actor)
58 - Corey Parker (actor)
60 - Rocky Carroll (actor)
61 - Joan Osborne (singer)
62 - Toby Keith (singer)
64 - Robert Knepper (actor)
65 - Kevin Bacon (actor)
72 - Anjelica Huston (actress)
74 - Wolfgang Puck (chef)
75 - Jonelle Allen (actress)
76 - Kim Darby (actress)
79 - Jeffrey Tambor (actor)
88 - Steve Lawrence (singer)
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Today in Sports History - July 8
1889 - John L. Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain, in the last championship bare-knuckle fight. The fight lasted 75 rounds.
1953 - Notre Dame announced that the next five years of its football games would be shown in theatres over closed circuit TV.
1970 - The Jim Ray Hart (San Francisco Giants) became the first National League player in 59 seasons to collect six runs batted (RBI) during a single inning.
1990 - West Germany defeats Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup.
2000 - Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport for her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Black female champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958.
2003 - Dominik Hasek announced that he planned to come out of retirement and rejoin the Detroit Red Wings.
2014 - Germany defeats Brazil in a record 7-1 rout in the semifinals of the World Cup.
2015 - The NFL's Washington Redskins have their trademark vacated on the grounds it may cause offence to native Americans.
1776 - Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence was given in Philadelphia.
1777 - Vermont becomes the first American colony to abolish slavery.
1853 - An expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo Bay, Japan, on a mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese.
1889 - The Wall Street Journal began publication.
1947 - A New Mexico newspaper, the Roswell Daily Record, quoted officials at Roswell Army Air Field as saying they had recovered a "flying saucer" that crashed onto a ranch; officials then said it was actually a weather balloon.
1950 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.
1958 - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the first official gold album; it was for the soundtrack to the musical "Oklahoma!"
1973 - The Nixon administration announced a deal to sell $750 million in grain to the Soviet Union. (However, the Soviets were also engaged in secretly buying subsidized American grain, resulting in what critics dubbed "The Great Grain Robbery.")
1986 - Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria.
1989 - Carlos Saul Menem was inaugurated as president of Argentina in the country's first transfer of power from one democratically elected civilian leader to another in six decades.
1994 - Kim Il Sung, North Korea's communist leader since 1948, died at age 82.
2010 - The largest spy swap between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War unfolded as 10 people accused of spying in suburban America pleaded guilty to conspiracy and were ordered deported to Russia in exchange for the release of four prisoners accused of spying for the West.
2011 - The space shuttle Atlantis launches into space for the last time from the Kennedy Space Center. It is the 135th and final flight of the space shuttle program, which started in 1981.
2011 - Former first lady Betty Ford died in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 93.
2016 - On the first day of a two-day summit in Warsaw, NATO leaders geared up for a long-term standoff with Russia, ordering multinational troops to Poland and the three Baltic states as Moscow moved forward with its own plans to station two new divisions along its western borders.
2018 - Divers rescued four of the 12 boys who'd been trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand with their soccer coach for more than two weeks. (The remaining eight boys and their coach were rescued over the next two days.) Actor and singer Tab Hunter died at the age of 86.
2022 - Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech — an attack that stunned a nation with some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere. The 67-year-old Abe was Japan's longest-serving leader when he resigned in 2020.
Birthdays
22 - Riele Downs (actress)
25 - Jaden Smith (actor)
25 - Maya Hawke (actress)
30 - Aimee Kelly (actress)
35 - Liz Katz (model)
37 - Jake McDorman (actor)
41 - Sophia Bush (actress)
42 - Lance Gross (actor)
44 - Ben Jelen (singer)
50 - Kathleen Robertson (actress)
53 - Beck (singer)
55 - Michael Weatherly (actor)
55 - Billy Crudup (actor)
56 - Michael B. Silver (actor)
58 - Corey Parker (actor)
60 - Rocky Carroll (actor)
61 - Joan Osborne (singer)
62 - Toby Keith (singer)
64 - Robert Knepper (actor)
65 - Kevin Bacon (actor)
72 - Anjelica Huston (actress)
74 - Wolfgang Puck (chef)
75 - Jonelle Allen (actress)
76 - Kim Darby (actress)
79 - Jeffrey Tambor (actor)
88 - Steve Lawrence (singer)
===============================
Today in Sports History - July 8
1889 - John L. Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain, in the last championship bare-knuckle fight. The fight lasted 75 rounds.
1953 - Notre Dame announced that the next five years of its football games would be shown in theatres over closed circuit TV.
1970 - The Jim Ray Hart (San Francisco Giants) became the first National League player in 59 seasons to collect six runs batted (RBI) during a single inning.
1990 - West Germany defeats Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup.
2000 - Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport for her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Black female champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958.
2003 - Dominik Hasek announced that he planned to come out of retirement and rejoin the Detroit Red Wings.
2014 - Germany defeats Brazil in a record 7-1 rout in the semifinals of the World Cup.
2015 - The NFL's Washington Redskins have their trademark vacated on the grounds it may cause offence to native Americans.
