Holidays Calendar for July 8, 2019
International Town Criers Day is observed annually on the second Monday of July. It celebrates a profession that is often thought to be extinct, but this is just a common misconception. While the profession is certainly a rarity these days, town criers still exist and even hold annual competitions.
Family, Love and Fidelity Day is a relatively new Russian celebration, that is dedicated to family and its values. The holiday was established in 2008 and it's annually observed on July 8.
There are several informal holidays that pay homage to chocolate, National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day is one of them. It is celebrated every year on July 8.
If you need to cool down on July 8, treat yourself to a delicious freezer pop because it is National Freezer Pop Day. This fun holiday was created to celebrate frozen snacks that originated in the United States in the 1960s.
July is National Blueberry Month in the United States, and July 8 is National Blueberry Day. This holiday was created to highlight the health benefits of blueberries and encourage people to enjoy these delicious berries in any form they can.
National Love Your Skin Day is celebrated annually on July 8. It was created to raise awareness of the benefits of proper skincare and encourage people to develop a skincare routine and actually stick to it.
Disabled and Elderly Persons Day is an official observance in Tajikistan. Marked on July 8, it was established to demonstrate that people with disabilities and elderly people are full-fledged members of society, which must take into account their interests, needs and rights.
Festivals on July 8, 2019
- Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in Kaustinen, Finland
- Art Gene in Tbilisi, Georgia
- Toronto Caribbean Carnival in Toronto, Canada
- Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan, Armenia
- Paris Jazz Festival in Paris, France
- Sterling Renaissance Festival in Sterling (NY), USA
- San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, Spain
- Bristol Renaissance Faire in Kenosha, USA
- Rapa das Bestas of Sabucedo in Sabucedo, Spain
- Buxton International Festival in Buxton, United Kingdom
- Off d’Avignon in Avignon, France
- Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, USA
- Copenhagen Jazz Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark
- Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Canada
- Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Neuchâtel, Switzerland
This Day in History
- 2020 Died: Naya Rivera, American actress, singer and model best known for her role as Santana Lopez on Glee. She accidentally drowned in Lake Piru, California.
- 2014 Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in response to the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers.
- 2006 Died: Catherine Leroy, French-American photojournalist and war photographer best remembered for her coverage of the Vietnam War.
- 2003 Sudan Airways Flight 139 crashed at Port Sudan, killing all 117 people on board, due to a loss of power it experienced some 15 minutes after takeoff.
- 2001 The Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched in the 135th and final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It landed on July 21, 2011.
- 1998 Born: Jaden Smith, American rapper and actor, the son of Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith. He made his film debut with his father Will in The Pursuit of Happyness.
- 1998 Born: Maya Hawke, American model, actress and singer songwriter, the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. She gained recognition for starring in Stranger Things.
- 1994 Died: Kim Il-sung (born Kim Sŏng-ju), North Korean statesman who was the leader and architect of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
- 1994 Died: Christian-Jaque (pseudonym of Christian Maudet), French filmmaker whose best known work is the 1952 film Fanfan la Tulipe.
- 1982 Born: Sophia Bush, American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Brooke Davis in One Tree Hill and as Erin Lindsay in Chicago P.D.Б.
- 1982 Up to a dozen gunmen attempted to assassinate Iraqi president Saddam Hussein during his visit to the small Shi'a town of Dujail.
- 1979 Died: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist who was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics, sharing it with two other scientists.
- 1979 Died: Robert Burns Woodward, American organic chemist who was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his outstanding achievements.
- 1977 Born: Milo Ventimiglia, American actor best known for his television roles as Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls, Peter Petrelli on Heroes, and Jack Pearson on This Is Us.
- 1968 Born: Billy Crudup, American actor best known for his roles as Russell Hammond in Almost Famous and Will Bloom in Big Fish.
- 1967 Died: Vivien Leigh, British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire.
- 1966 King Mwambutsa IV Bangiricenge of Burundi was deposed by Michel Micombero in favor of his son, Crown Prince Charles Ndizeye.
- 1961 Born: Andy Fletcher, English musician best known as a keyboardist and founding member of the electronic band Depeche Mode.
- 1958 Born: Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician known for his roles in Footloose, JFK, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, Mystic River, and many other notable movies.
- 1957 Died: Grace Coolidge, the wife of the 36th President of the United States Calvin Coolidge and First Lady of the U.S. from 1923 to 1929.
- 1951 Born: Anjelica Huston, American actress, director and model. She has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
- 1917 Born: Pamela Brown, English stage and film actress known for her roles in Personal Affair, Richard III, Lust for Life, Lady Caroline Lamb.
- 1895 Died: Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian scientist known for his groundbreaking work in chemistry and various branches of physics.
- 1894 Born: Pyotr Kapitsa, Soviet physicist who was awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics for his inventions in the area of low-temperature physics.
- 1889 The Wall Street Journal was published for the first time. It was founded by Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser.
- 1885 Born: Ernst Bloch, German Marxist philosopher whose best known works include The Principle of Hope and Atheism in Christianity.
- 1839 Born: John D. Rockefeller, American business magnate and philanthropist primarily remembered as a co-founder of the Standard Oil Company.
- 1838 Born: Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and aircraft manufacture best known as the founder of the Zeppelin airship company.
- 1822 Died: Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the major English Romantic poets who is widely regarded as one of the best lyric poets in the English language.
- 1808 Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, approved the Bayonne Statute as the intended basis for his rule as King of Spain.
- 1730 An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake occurred in Valparaíso. It triggered a major tsunami and caused severe damage from Chillan to La Serena.
- 1721 Died: Elihu Yale, British-American merchant and philanthropist. Yale University was named in his honor because he was a benefactor of the original college.
- 1709 The Battle of Poltava was fought between Russia and Sweden during the Great Northern War. It resulted in a decisive Russian victory.
- 1695 Died: Christiaan Huygens, Dutch polymath. His work included the discovery of Saturn's moon Titan and the invention of the pendulum clock.
- 1621 Born: Jean de La Fontaine, French fabulist and poet. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe.
- 1497 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama set sail on his first voyage. His fleet consisting of four ships traveled around Africa to India and back.