What are the important events that happened on July 8? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

July 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

July 8 is the 189^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 176 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is June 25, 2025 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,198,880 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectaoctacontaenneagon’ day.

Cancer is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Ruby is the modern birthstone for this month. Ruby is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 224 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,582 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

July 8 Historical Events

• 1775 –
  The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies.
• 1864 –
  Ikedaya Jiken: the Choshu Han shishi’s planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya.
• 1874 –
  The Mounties begin their March West.
• 1879 –
  Sailing ship USS Jeannette (1878) departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
• 1889 –
  The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published.
• 1907 –
  Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first Follies on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.
• 1947 –
  Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
• 1962 –
  Ne Win besieges and dynamites the Rangoon University Student Union building to crash the Student Movement.
• 1966 –
  King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
• 1988 –
  The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.

Who were born on July 8?

• 1882 –
  Percy Grainger, Australian composer (d. 1961)
• 1892 –
  Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
• 1904 –
  Henri Cartan, French mathematician (d. 2008)
• 1920 –
  Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish industrialist (Lego Group) (d. 1995)
• 1928 –
  Mladen Kerstner, Croatian journalist, author and humorist (d. 1991)
• 1934 –
  Ed Lumley, Canadian corporate executive and politician
• 1944 –
  Jeffrey Tambor, American actor
• 1945 –
  Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician
• 1968 –
  Michael Weatherly, American actor
• 1979 –
  André, Armenian singer

Who died on July 8?

• 1695 –
  Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, physicist and horologist (b. 1629)
• 1895 –
  Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (b. 1821)
• 1930 –
  Sir Joseph Ward, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856)
• 1956 –
  Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist (b. 1881)
• 1957 –
  Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (b. 1879)
• 1979 –
  Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1917)
• 1990 –
  Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
• 2001 –
  John O'Shea, New Zealand film director (b. 1920)
• 2011 –
  Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States (b. 1918)
• 2011 –
  Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (b. 1924)