July 8
1663 - King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island.
1776 - Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia.
1777 - Vermont became the first 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.
1919 - President Woodrow Wilson received a tumultuous welcome in New York City after his return from the Versailles Peace Conference in France.
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. (To this day, there are those who believe what fell to Earth was an alien spaceship carrying extra-terrestrial beings.)
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 Oklahoma!.
1972 - 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 despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes.
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.
2004 - Enron founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay pleaded innocent to charges related to the energy company's collapse. (He was convicted, but died while the case was on appeal.)
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 launched into space from the Kennedy Space Center as the 135th and final mission of the space shuttle program, which had begun 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.
2017 - At the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, world powers lined up against President Donald Trump on climate change, reaffirming their support for international efforts to fight global warming. After their first face-to-face meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he thought Trump believed his denials of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential vote.
2021 - President Joe Biden said the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan would end on Aug. 31; in a speech in the White House East Room, Biden made an impassioned argument for exiting the nearly 20-year war without sacrificing more America lives, but acknowledged that there would be no “mission accomplished” moment to celebrate.
Birthdays
21 - Riele Downs (actress)
24 - Jaden Smith (actor)
24 - Maya Hawke (actress)
29 - Aimee Kelly (actress)
34 - Liz Katz (model)
36 - Jake McDorman (actor)
40 - Sophia Bush (actress)
41 - Lance Gross (actor)
43 - Ben Jelen (singer)
49 - Kathleen Robertson (actress)
49 - Sebastian Maniscalco (comedian)
52 - Beck (singer)
54 - Michael Weatherly (actor)
54 - Billy Crudup (actor)
55 - Michael B. Silver (actor)
57 - Lee Tergesen (actor)
57 - Corey Parker (actor)
59 - Rocky Carroll (actor)
60 - Joan Osborne (singer)
61 - Toby Keith (singer)
63 - Robert Knepper (actor)
64 - Kevin Bacon (actor)
71 - Anjelica Huston (actress)
73 - Wolfgang Puck (chef)
74 - Jonelle Allen (actress)
75 - Kim Darby (actress)
78 - Jeffrey Tambor (actor)
87 - Steve Lawrence (singer)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - July 8
1889 - John L. Sullivan successfully defends the last officially sanctioned, bare-knuckle world heavyweight championship fight near Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Jake Kilrain's trainer throws in the towel after 75 one-minute 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 in Rome to win the World Cup.
1995 - Steffi Graf wins her sixth Wimbledon singles championship.
2000 - Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Black female champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1957-58.
2003 - Dominik Hasek announced that he planned to come out of retirement and rejoin the Detroit Red Wings.
2010 - During an ESPN primetime special, basketball free agent LeBron James announced he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat.
2012 - Roger Federer equaled Pete Sampras’ record of seven men’s singles titles at the All England Club and won his 17th Grand Slam title overall, beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
2014 - Germany routs Brazil 7-1 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.
1663 - King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island.
1776 - Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia.
1777 - Vermont became the first 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.
1919 - President Woodrow Wilson received a tumultuous welcome in New York City after his return from the Versailles Peace Conference in France.
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. (To this day, there are those who believe what fell to Earth was an alien spaceship carrying extra-terrestrial beings.)
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 Oklahoma!.
1972 - 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 despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes.
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.
2004 - Enron founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay pleaded innocent to charges related to the energy company's collapse. (He was convicted, but died while the case was on appeal.)
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 launched into space from the Kennedy Space Center as the 135th and final mission of the space shuttle program, which had begun 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.
2017 - At the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, world powers lined up against President Donald Trump on climate change, reaffirming their support for international efforts to fight global warming. After their first face-to-face meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he thought Trump believed his denials of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential vote.
2021 - President Joe Biden said the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan would end on Aug. 31; in a speech in the White House East Room, Biden made an impassioned argument for exiting the nearly 20-year war without sacrificing more America lives, but acknowledged that there would be no “mission accomplished” moment to celebrate.
Birthdays
21 - Riele Downs (actress)
24 - Jaden Smith (actor)
24 - Maya Hawke (actress)
29 - Aimee Kelly (actress)
34 - Liz Katz (model)
36 - Jake McDorman (actor)
40 - Sophia Bush (actress)
41 - Lance Gross (actor)
43 - Ben Jelen (singer)
49 - Kathleen Robertson (actress)
49 - Sebastian Maniscalco (comedian)
52 - Beck (singer)
54 - Michael Weatherly (actor)
54 - Billy Crudup (actor)
55 - Michael B. Silver (actor)
57 - Lee Tergesen (actor)
57 - Corey Parker (actor)
59 - Rocky Carroll (actor)
60 - Joan Osborne (singer)
61 - Toby Keith (singer)
63 - Robert Knepper (actor)
64 - Kevin Bacon (actor)
71 - Anjelica Huston (actress)
73 - Wolfgang Puck (chef)
74 - Jonelle Allen (actress)
75 - Kim Darby (actress)
78 - Jeffrey Tambor (actor)
87 - Steve Lawrence (singer)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - July 8
1889 - John L. Sullivan successfully defends the last officially sanctioned, bare-knuckle world heavyweight championship fight near Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Jake Kilrain's trainer throws in the towel after 75 one-minute 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 in Rome to win the World Cup.
1995 - Steffi Graf wins her sixth Wimbledon singles championship.
2000 - Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Black female champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1957-58.
2003 - Dominik Hasek announced that he planned to come out of retirement and rejoin the Detroit Red Wings.
2010 - During an ESPN primetime special, basketball free agent LeBron James announced he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat.
2012 - Roger Federer equaled Pete Sampras’ record of seven men’s singles titles at the All England Club and won his 17th Grand Slam title overall, beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
2014 - Germany routs Brazil 7-1 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.
