July 8 birthdays & history

Famous people born on July 8

• 1621Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet
• 1839John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company
• 1894Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1895Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1992Son Heung-min, Korean footballer
• 1593Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter
• 1908Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States
• 1991Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer
• 1958Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician
• 1951Anjelica Huston, American actress and director

What happened on July 8

• 1776The United States Declaration of Independence received its first formal public reading, in Philadelphia.
• 1822Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
• 1853The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade.
• 1859King Charles XV & IV accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway.
• 1874The Mounties begin their March West.
• 1879Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
• 1889The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.
• 1937Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
• 1970Richard 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.
• 1990West Germany won the FIFA World Cup final against defending champions Argentina, with Andreas Brehme scoring the game's only goal.
• 2014German citizen Lars Mittank disappeared from Varna Airport, Bulgaria; his last known movements were widely watched on YouTube.
• 2021Head of a Bear sold at auction in London for a total of £8.8 million, a record for a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci.

Also observed on July 8

• Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine)