July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, leaving 177 days until the year’s end.
In this post, we revisit historical events reflecting the day’s rich and diverse impact on history and society.
July 8, 2011: Angola’s TAAG Angolan Airlines sets a record for transporting bulk cargo by air. TAAG flies 210 tonnes of project cargo to Brazil. 32 tonnes are flown per flight on Boeing 777 aircraft.
July 8, 2011: The orbiter Atlantis was launched on the final space shuttle mission.
July 8, 2003: Sudan’s deadliest aviation disaster occurs when a Sudan Airways passenger jet loses power after an engine fails 15 minutes after takeoff from Port Sudan. The plane returns to the airport, misses the runway, and hits the ground 5 km away, killing all 117 people on board.
July 8, 2000: Venus Williams won her first Wimbledon title, defeating defending champion Lindsay Davenport. Williams became the first Black female Wimbledon champion since Althea Gibson, who won in 1957 and 1958.
July 8, 1996: The British pop band the Spice Girls released their debut single, “Wannabe,” which catapulted them to international fame.
July 8, 1994: Kim Il Sung, who led North Korea with autocratic power for 46 years and was officially titled the “Great Leader,” died. His son, Kim Jong Il, succeeded him. Kim Il Sung was the communist leader of North Korea from 1948 until his death. He established a communist provisional government and became the first premier.
During his rule, Korea was divided into North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, and South Korea, supported by the United States. North Korea’s invasion of South Korea led to the Korean War.
July 8, 1949: South Africa’s Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55 of 1949 goes into effect. One of the laws of the new apartheid government, the act bans marriage between whites and other races.
July 8, 1941: Upon the German army’s invasion of Pskov, 180 miles from Leningrad, Russia, the chief of the German army general staff, General Franz Halder, records in his diary Hitler’s plans for Moscow and Leningrad: “To dispose fully of their population, which otherwise we shall have to feed during the winter.”
July 8, 1889: John L. Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds to defend his title in the last heavyweight championship bout held under London Prize Ring rules. These rules featured a 24-ft (7.3-m) square ring enclosed by ropes. A knockdown ended the round, followed by a 30-second rest and 8 seconds to return to the center. Butting, gouging, hitting below the waist, and kicking were prohibited.
July 8, 1775: The Invasion of Algiers ordered by Spain’s King Charles III ended in a dramatic failure for the Europeans. A fleet carrying 20,000 Italian and Spanish troops aboard 74 warships and 230 transport ships sailed into a trap set by Algerian defenders under Baba Mohammed ben-Osman. The Europeans suffered significant losses, with a quarter of their forces defeated, while Algerian casualties were minimal.
July 8, 1497: Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon with a fleet of four vessels, ultimately opening a sea route from Western Europe to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope. This voyage marked the beginning of a new era in world history.
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