1497 – Vasco da Gama set sail on the first direct European voyage to India on the 8th July 1497.
1775 – The Olive Branch Petition was signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies on the 8th July 1775.
1882 – Percy Grainger the Australian-American pianist and composer was born on the 8th July 1882 (died 1961).
1831 – John Pemberton the American chemist and inventor of Coca-Cola was born on the 8th July 1831 (died 1888).
1838 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin the German general and businessman and founder of the Zeppelin Airship Company was born on the 8th July 1838 (died 1917).
1839 – John D. Rockefeller the American businessman, philanthropist and founder of the Standard Oil Company was born on the 8th July 1839 (died 1937).
1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published on the 8th July 1889.
1892 – Pavel Korin the Russian painter was born on the 8th July 1892 (died 1967).
1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its lowest level of the Great Depression on the 8th July 1932, closing at 41.22.
1947 – Reports were broadcast that a UFO crashed landed in Roswell, New Mexico on the 8th July 1947.
1948 – The United States Air Force accepted its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF) on the 8th July 1948.
1949 ~ Wolfgang Puck the Austrian celebrity chef, restaurateur and businessman based in America was born Wolfgang Johannes Topfschnig in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia, Austria on the 8th July 1949. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies. Wolfgang Puck’s official website: www.WolfgangPuck.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/WolfgangPuck | Twitter: www.twitter.com/WolfgangBuzz | YouTube: www.youtube.com/WolfgangBuzz | Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/WolfgangPuck | instagram: www.instagram.com/ChefWolfgangPuck | www.foodspotting.com/WolfgangPuck | www.foodily.com/u/WolfgangPuck
1958 – Kevin Bacon the American actor and singer was born on the 8th July 1958.
1961 – Andrew Fletcher the English keyboard player from Depeche Mode was was born on the 8th July 1961.
1970 – Beck the American singer-songwriter and producer was born on the 8th July 1970.
1974 ~ Tami Erin the American actress and model was born Tamara Erin Klicman on the 8th July 1974. Tami Erin is best known for playing Pippi Longstocking in The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking 1988 film.
1994 – Dick Sargent the American actor died on the 8th July 1994 (born 1930).
1994 – Kim Jong-il began to assume supreme leadership of North Korea on the 8th July 1994, upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung.
1998 – Jaden Smith the American actor was born on the 8th July 1998.
2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program on the 8th July 2011.
Today in History for July 8th ~ video presented by the Associated Press…