Major Events
- 1099 First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on
- 1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama departs on his first voyage and becomes the first European to reach India by sea
- 1777 Independent Vermont introduces a new constitution, prohibiting slavery
- 1800 Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse gives the first cowpox vaccination in the United States to his son to prevent smallpox
- 1853 Commodore Matthew C. Perry sails his frigate Susquehanna into Tokyo Bay, opening Japan to Western influence and trade
- 1948 500th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated in Moscow
- 1949 South Africa’s Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act commences, prohibiting marriage or a sexual relationship between White people and people of other races [1]
- More July 8 Events
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- 1996 British girls group the Spice Girls release their debut single “Wannabe” in the UK
Jul 8 in Sport
Did You Know?
The Mounties (North West Mounted Police) begin their March West from Fort Dufferin
Famous Weddings
- 1290 Princess Margaret (15), daughter of Edward I of England marries Duke Brabant John II (14) at Westminster Abbey, London
- 1551 William I, Prince of Orange (18) weds Dutch noble and heiress Countess Anna van Egmont (18), until her death in 1558
- 1800 British politician and future Prime Minister of UK George Canning (30) weds Scottish heiress Joan Scott (24-ish) at St George’s Anglican Church, Hanover Square, London, until his death in 1827
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