July 8 in History
1497 — Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer, departs with four ships and 170 men from Lisbon on the first direct European voyage to India. By December 16, the fleet has passed the Great Fish River — where Bartholomeus Dias turned back in 1488. They reach India on May 20 1498.
1538 — Diego de Almagro, 63, Spanish conquistador (Chile and Peru), is executed by garrotte and then beheaded in Cuzco, Peru, following a power struggle with his countrymen, the Pizzaro brothers.
1709 — Peter the Great defeats Charles XII at Poltava in the Ukraine, beginning the Swedish Empire’s decline as a European power and Russia’s rise in northeastern Europe.
1838 — Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and designer/manufacturer of the Zeppelin airships, is born in Konstanz.
1889 — In Mississippi, US, boxing champion John L Sullivan defeats Jake Kilrain in the last world heavyweight prize fight decided with bare knuckles under London Prize Ring rules. Kilrain’s corner throws in a sponge in the 75th round. Sullivan becomes the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing (1882-92). 1926 — Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist, pioneer in near-death studies and author, is born (one of triplets) in Zürich. In her groundbreaking book “On Death and Dying” (1969), she discusses her theory of the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance). 1932 — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 41.22, with an intra-day low of 40.56, its lowest point during the Great Depression.
1933 — The first rugby test between South Africa and Australia is played at Newlands in Cape Town. The Springboks win 17-3, and take the series 3-2. 1941 — Twenty B-17s carry out their first mission with the Royal Air Force — a high-altitude daylight raid on the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven. 1961 — John Profumo, 48, Britain’s secretary of state for war, meets wannabe model Christine Keeler, 19, and they have a brief affair. Keeler’s involvement with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché, sparks international interest, but no breach of national security is found. Profumo resigns on June 4 1963, but the scandal costs the Tories the 1964 elections. 2011 — At Cape Canaveral, Florida, Atlantis and four astronauts rocket into orbit on the last of Nasa’s 135-flight space shuttle programme which started with Columbia on April 12 1981.
2011 — British Prime Minister David Cameron announces plans for a judicial inquiry into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Andy Coulson, 43, the paper’s editor from 2003 to 2006 and Cameron’s ex-media chief is arrested.