July 8

From Metapedia

[edit] Events

• 1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.
• 1497 - Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India.
• 1663 - Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island.
• 1776 - The Liberty Bell is rung to summon the people of Philadelphia for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
• 1997 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.

[edit] Births

• 1836 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (d. 1914)
• 1838 - Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, German inventor (d. 1917)
• 1839 - John D. Rockefeller, American businessman (d. 1937)
• 1907 - George W. Romney, American businessman and politician (d. 1995)
• 1908 - Nelson A. Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
• 1958 - Tzipi Livni, Israeli politician

[edit] Deaths

• 1967 - Vivien Leigh, English actress (b. 1913)
• 1994 - Kim Il-sung, North Korean leader (b. 1912)
• 1999 - Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)