Saddam Hussein Assassination Attempt

July 8, 1982

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's motorcade is ambushed in Dujail in an assassination attempt. Saddam's retaliation for this assassination attempt led to his 2006 execution.
As Saddam's motorcade was traveling in Dujail, a dozen gunmen used the cover of the date palm orchards lining both sides of the road to ambush his motorcade. Two of his bodyguards were killed and most of the attackers were either killed or captured in the ensuing four-hour firefight.
Saddam arrested suspected members of the plot and their family members as well. Over 140 people were executed, including four people who had been found not guilty but were mistakenly executed as well. The suspects were members of the Shiite Dawa Party, an organization viewed as a terrorist organization by the West.
These executions were the primary charges for which Saddam was convicted and executed in 2006. Saddam's half-brother and Iraqi intelligence chief, Barzan Hassan, and Awad Bandar, the former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were also hanged in 2007 for "aiding and abetting" in crimes against humanity for naming the suspected Dawa Party members to be arrested.
This event became known as the Dujail Massacre.

Cross of Gold

July 8, 1896

William Jennings Bryan gives his famous speech advocating against the gold standard. "Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."
Bryan, a former United States Representative from Nebraska, gave his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The gold standard, which the U.S. had effectively been on since 1873, limited the money supply but eased trade with other nations, such as the United Kingdom, whose currency was also based on gold. Many Americans, including Bryan, believed that making both gold and silver legal tender was necessary for the nation's economic health.

American Psychological Association

July 8, 1892

The American Psychological Association (APA) is founded. Its purpose is to advance psychology as a science. This first meeting was held at Clark University in the office of G. Stanley Hall, who became the APA's first president.

The Wall Street Journal

July 8, 1889

The first issue of the famous paper is published.

First U.S. Trademark Law

July 8, 1870

The first U.S. trademark law is passed by the U.S. Congress. It was later declared unconstitutional.

Declaration of Independence

July 8, 1776

The first public reading of the U.S. Declaration of Independence is given.

Kevin Bacon

Born July 8, 1958

American actor. Film: Footloose (1984), She's Having a Baby (1988), and Flatliners (1990).

Anjelica Huston

Born July 8, 1951

American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Prizzi's Honor (1985, Oscar) and The Addams Family (1991, Morticia).

Steve Lawrence (Sidney Leibowitz)

Born July 8, 1935 d. 2024

American singer. Steve Lawrence was married to partner Eydie Gormé.
In 1953, 18-year-old Lawrence was hired by talk show host Steve Allen to be one of the singers on Allen's local New York City late night show, along with Eydie Gormé and Andy Williams. Music: Go Away Little Girl (1962, #1).

Creator of Monday Night Football

Roone Arledge

Born July 8, 1931 d. 2002

American sports broadcasting pioneer, winner of 36 Emmys. TV: President of ABC Sports (1968-86) and President of ABC News (1977-98), creator of Monday Night Football, Wide World of Sports, 20/20, Prime Time Live, and Nightline. Arledge also coined ABC's famous tagline "Thrill of victory, agony of defeat".

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Born July 8, 1926 d. 2004

Swiss-born American physician, author of On Death and Dying (1969). She identified the stages of dying as: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Pamela Brown

Born July 8, 1917 d. 1975

English Emmy-winning actress. TV: Victoria Regina (1961, Duchess of Kent, Emmy).

Billy Eckstine (William Eckstein)

Born July 8, 1914 d. 1993

American blues singer. Music: Blue Moon, Fools Rush In, and I Apologize. He was the first black singer to become a national sex symbol.

George Romney

Born July 8, 1907 d. 1995

American politician, automotive executive, ex-Governor of Michigan. As chief executive of AMC from 1954-62, he bucked current trends and introduced the compact car (a word he coined).

Goat Testicle Doctor

John R. Brinkley (John Romulus Brinkley)

Born July 8, 1885 d. 1942

American quack. Although he had no properly accredited medical training and bought his medical degree from a "diploma mill", Brinkley became rich and famous as the "goat-gland doctor". He would transplant goat testicles into humans for the purpose of improving virility and sexual performance. At the height of his career he had amassed millions of dollars, but died nearly penniless as a result of the large number of malpractice, wrongful death, and fraud suits brought against him. At least 42 of patients died shortly after treatment.
Brinkley was born to a poor North Carolina mountain man who practiced medicine and served as a medic for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Brinkley himself yearned to be a doctor, but dropped out of medical school due to inability to pay his tuition, and eventually bought a certificate from a diploma mill known as the Kansas City Eclectic Medical University.
In 1918, he opened a clinic in Milford, Kansas, initially treating victims of the Spanish Flu pandemic.
Soon after, he began implanting goat testicular glands, which Brinkley claimed would restore male virility and fertility. The cost was $750 ($11,000 in current dollars). He began a marketing campaign based on the birth of a child from one of his goat gland patients.
He would go on to build a radio station in Kansas to promote his medical practice, but the Federal Radio Commission refused to renew his station's broadcasting license. He then built the 50,000-watt border-blaster radio station XER in Mexico in 1931. Its signal was strong enough to be picked up in Kansas. But in 1932, Congress passed the Brinkley Act outlawing this practice. After a series of lawsuits, he declared bankruptcy in 1941 and died penniless in 1942.

Alfred Binet

Born July 8, 1857 d. 1911

French psychologist. He developed and pioneered the use of I.Q. tests (1904).

John Davison Rockefeller, Sr.

Born July 8, 1839 d. 1937

American philanthropist. Co-founded Standard Oil Company (1870). Considered the wealthiest American of all time, he gave away over $750,000,000. He was the grandfather of U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.

Dominique-Jean Larrey

Born July 8, 1766 d. 1842

French surgeon in Napoleon Bonaparte's army. He initiated the use of field hospitals (the forerunner of MASH units), army ambulance corps, and triages. He also published the first description of trench foot.

Third Person to Walk on the Moon

Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr.

Died July 8, 1999 b. 1930

American astronaut, third person to walk on the Moon (1969). Upon stepping on the Moon's surface, Conrad commented, "Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." Personal Motto: "If you can't be good, be colorful."

Larry Storch (Lawrence Samuel Storch)

Died July 8, 2022 b. 1923

American actor. TV: F Troop (1965-67, Cpl. Agarn) and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963-66, Phineas J. Whoopee).

Tab Hunter (Arthur Andrew Kelm)

Died July 8, 2018 b. 1931

American actor. With his surfer-boy looks, he was one of the hottest teen idols of the 1950s. TV: The Tab Hunter Show (1960-61) and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1977-78, Mary's father - after plastic surgery). Film: Island of Desire (1952).

Ernest Borgnine (Ermes Effron Borgnino)

Died July 8, 2012 b. 1917

American Oscar-winning actor. Ernest Borgnine enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating high school in 1935, was honorably discharged in October of 1941, but reenlisted shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
After the war, his mother encouraged him to go into acting, telling him "You always like getting in front of people and making a fool of yourself, why don't you give it a try?"
Borgnine was married five times, including a brief marriage to Ethel Merman in 1964, which started with a disastrous honeymoon and calling it quits after 42 days.
TV: McHale's Navy (1962-66, Lt. Cdr. Quinton McHale), Airwolf (1984-86, Dominic Santini), All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series (1996-98, Carface Caruthers), and SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-2012, voice of Mermaid Man). Film: From Here to Eternity (1953, Sergeant "Fatso" Judson), Marty (1955, Oscar win for the title role), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Dirty Dozen (1967, Major Gen. Sam Worden), The Wild Bunch (1969), and The Poseidon Adventure (1972, Detective Rogo).

Betty Ford (Elizabeth Ann Bloomer)

Died July 8, 2011 b. 1918

American First Lady (1974-77) to Gerald Ford (38th U.S. President), founder of the Betty Ford Clinic (1982).
Shortly after becoming First Lady, she underwent a mastectomy for breast cancer. Ford decided to be open about her illness. Her openness raised awareness of breast cancer, resulting in more women self-examining themselves which led to an increase in reported cases of breast cancer, a phenomenon known as the "Betty Ford blip".
After Gerald Ford's loss of the 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter, First Lady Betty Ford put her dance lessons to use and danced on the White House Cabinet Room table.

June Allyson (Ella Geisman)

Died July 8, 2006 b. 1917

American actress, typically portraying "the girl next door." Film: Best Foot Forward (1943), Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), and The Glenn Miller Story (1954).

Dick Sargent (Richard Cox)

Died July 8, 1994 b. 1930

American actor. TV: Bewitched (1969-72, replacing Dick York as Darrin).

Father of the Nuclear Navy

Hyman George Rickover

Died July 8, 1986 b. 1900

American navy admiral, "Father of the Nuclear Navy." He directed the development of nuclear powered submarines.

Vivien Leigh

Died July 8, 1967 b. 1913

British Oscar-winning actress. Film: Gone with the Wind (1939, Oscar, Scarlett O'Hara) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Oscar).

Sir William Edward Parry

Died July 8, 1855 b. 1790

British explorer. Explored the Arctic and unsuccessfully searched for a Northwest Passage. He attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole, reaching 82°45′ North latitude, a record for farthest north exploration that stood for nearly 50 years.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Died July 8, 1822 b. 1792

English poet. He is considered one of the more influential philosophical poets in the English language. He was married to Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein.

Elihu Yale

Died July 8, 1721 b. 1649

English colonial official. For whom Yale University is named.

Christiaan Huygens

Died July 8, 1695 b. 1629

Dutch scientist. His improvements on telescope lenses enabled him to discover Saturn's rings and 6th moon Titan (1656). He also built the first pendulum clock (1656), published the first book on probability (1657), discovered the polarization of light (1678), and founded the wave theory of light.

Gregory XV (Alessandro Ludovisi)

Died July 8, 1623 b. 1554

Italian religious leader, 234th Pope (1621-23).

Eugene III

Died July 8, 1153 b. ????

Italian-born religious leader, 167th Pope (1145-53).