8 July in history

6 events that happened on 8 July, from 1099 to 1889.

  1. 1099 CE 927 years ago

    Crusaders process barefoot around the walls of Jerusalem

    Weakened by thirst and heat, the crusaders fasted and walked barefoot around besieged Jerusalem, ending on the Mount of Olives. A week later their final assault took the city.

  2. 1497 CE 529 years ago

    Vasco da Gama sails from Lisbon for India

    Vasco da Gama left Lisbon with four ships on a voyage that rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached Calicut in 1498. The sea route to India launched Portugal's maritime empire in Asia.

    Portuguese EmpireCape of Good HopeVasco da GamaCalicut

  3. 1709 CE 317 years ago

    Peter the Great crushes the Swedish army at Poltava

    Russian forces destroyed the army of Charles XII at Poltava in Ukraine. The battle ended Sweden's era as a great power and announced Russia as the dominant force in northern Europe.

    Peter the GreatUkraineSweden

  4. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    1776 CE 250 years ago

    The Declaration of Independence is first read in public in Philadelphia

    Colonel John Nixon read the Declaration to a crowd in the State House yard, now Independence Square. Tradition holds that the Liberty Bell rang out, though this story dates from the nineteenth century.

  5. 1853 CE 173 years ago

    Commodore Perry's 'Black Ships' arrive in Edo Bay

    US Commodore Matthew Perry anchored four warships off Uraga and demanded that Japan open its ports. The visit ended two centuries of restricted contact and set Japan on the path to rapid modernisation.

    Black ShipsEdo Bay

  6. 1889 CE 137 years ago

    The Wall Street Journal publishes its first issue

    Dow Jones and Company, founded by Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser, launched the Wall Street Journal. It became one of the world's most influential financial newspapers.

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