http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
July 8, 1951: Paris celebrates 2,000th birthday
On this day in 1951, Paris, the capital city of France, celebrates turning 2,000 years old. In fact, a few more candles would've technically been required on the birthday cake, as the City of Lights was most likely founded around 250 B.C.
The history of Paris can be traced back to a Gallic tribe known as the Parisii, who sometime around 250 B.C. settled an island (known today as Ile de la Cite) in the Seine River, which runs through present-day Paris. By 52 B.C., Julius Caesar and the Romans had taken over the area, which eventually became Christianized and known as Lutetia, Latin for "midwater dwelling." The settlement later spread to both the left and right banks of the Seine and the name Lutetia was replaced with "Paris." In 987 A.D., Paris became the capital of France. As the city grew, the Left Bank earned a reputation as the intellectual district while the Right Bank became known for business.
During the French Renaissance period, from the late 15th century to the early 17th century, Paris became a center of art, architecture and science. In the mid-1800s, Napoleon III hired civic planner Georges-Eugene Hausmann to modernize Paris. Hausmann's designs gave the city wide, tree-lined boulevards, large public parks, a new sewer system and other public works projects. The city continued to develop as an important hub for the arts and culture. In the 1860s, an artistic movement known as French Impression emerged, featuring the work of a group of Paris-based artists that included Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Today, Paris is home to some 2 million residents, with an additional 10 million people living in the surrounding metropolitan area. The city retains its reputation as a center for food, fashion, commerce and culture. Paris also continues to be one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, renowned for such sights as the Eiffel Tower (built in 1889 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution), the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame Cathedral (built in 1163), Luxembourg Gardens and the Louvre Museum, home to Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Mona Lisa."
This seemed interesting as well, so I thought I'd share this bit of World War II history from the same website mentioned above:
July 8, 1941: German general's diary reveals Hitler's plans for Russia
On this day in 1943, upon the German army's invasion of Pskov, 180 miles from Leningrad, Russia, the chief of the German army general staff, General Franz Halder, records in his diary Hitler's plans for Moscow and Leningrad: "To dispose fully of their population, which otherwise we shall have to feed during the winter."
On June 22, the Germans had launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, with over 3 million men. Enormous successes were enjoyed, thanks in large part to a disorganized and unsuspecting Russian army. By July 8, more than 280,000 Soviet prisoners had been taken and almost 2,600 tanks destroyed. The Axis power was already a couple of hundred miles inside Soviet territory. Stalin was in a panic, even executing generals who had failed to stave off the invaders.
Franz Halder, as chief of staff, had been keeping a diary of the day-to-day decision-making process. As Hitler became emboldened by his successes in Russia, Halder recorded that the "Fuhrer is firmly determined to level Moscow and Leningrad to the ground." Halder also records Hitler's underestimation of the Russian army's numbers and the bitter infighting between factions within the military about strategy. Halder, among others, wanted to make straight for the capital, Moscow; Hitler wanted to meet up with Field Marshal Wilhelm Leeb's army group, which was making its way toward Leningrad. The advantage Hitler had against the Soviets would not last. Winter was approaching and so was the advantage such conditions would give the Russians.
During the First Crusade, 15,000 starving Christians marched in a religious procession around Jerusalem as the Muslim defenders looked on. The beautiful and historically rich city of Paris, present day capital of France, was founded on this date. Peter the Great ended the Swedish Empire. The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence was read, and the Liberty Bell tolled to celebrate it. Vermont became the first state to abolish slavery. King Louis XVIII returned to France following the departure of Napoleon. Woodrow Wilson returned back to the United States, following the Treaty of Paris. Harding became the first sitting President to visit Alaska. The withdrawal of troops from Vietnam began on this date in 1969.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
939 - The Major Occultation, or Ghaybat el-Kubra of Muhammad al-Mahdi
951 - Paris is founded
1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.
1283 - War of the Sicilian Vespers: Battle of Malta
1497 - Vasco da Gama departs for trip to India
1579 - Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, was discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.
1608 - The first French settlement at Quebec was established by Samuel de Champlain.
1663 - King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island.
1672 - Willem II becomes captain-/admiral-general
1680 - The first confirmed tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1693 - NYC authorized first police uniforms in American colonies
1709 - Peter the Great of Russia defeated Charles XII at Poltava, in the Ukraine, The Swedish empire was effectively ended.
1716 - Great Northern War: Battle of Dynekilen
1755 - Britain broke off diplomatic relations with France as their disputes in the New World intensified.
1758 - English and Colonial assault on France at Ticonderoga, NY
1776 - Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the U.S. Declaration of Independence to a crowd at Independence Square in Philadelphia.
1777 - Vermont became the first colony to abolish slavery, and adopted male suffrage
1778 - George Washington headquarters at West Point for his Continental Army
1792 - France declares war on Prussia
1794 - French troops captured Brussels, Belgium.
1795 - Kent County Free School changed its name to Washington College. It was the first college to be named after U.S. President George Washington. The school was established by an act of the Maryland Assembly in 1723.
1796 - US State Dept issues first American passport
1797 - First US senator (William Blount of Tennessee) expelled by impeachment
1800 - Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives 1st cowpox vaccination to his son to prevent smallpox
1805 - American Bill Richmond knocks out Jack Holmes, Kilburn Wells, England
1815 - Louis XVIII returned to Paris after the defeat of Napoleon.
1816 - Frost in Waltham, MA
1822 - Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
1833 - Russia & Turkey sign defense treaty
1835 - Liberty Bell cracks (again) Naturalist Charles Darwin
1836 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches Saint-Helena
1838 - Arabs attack Jewish community of Safed
1849 - St Paul's Place in the Bronx named
1853 - Commodore Matthew Perry sails his frigate Susquehanna into Tokyo Bay
1859 - King Charles XV/Carl IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
1861 - CS Gen Sibley is given command of rebel troops in NM territory
1861 - Skirmish at Florida, MI - A rebel encampment is attacked & dispersed
1862 - Odore R Timby patents revolving gun turret
1864 - The Shinsengumi sabotage the Choshu-han shishi's planned attack on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya. This event is known as Ikedaya Jiken.
1865 - C.E. Barnes patented the machine gun.
1870 - Congress authorizes registration of trademarks
1870 - Gov Holden of NC declares Casswell County in a state of insurrection
1874 - The Mounties begin their March West.
1876 - White terrorists attack Black Republicans in Hamburg SC, killing 5
1879 - The first ship to use electric lights departed from San Francisco, CA.
1881 - Edward Berner, druggist in Two Rivers, WI, poured chocolate syrup on ice cream in a dish. To this time chocolate syrup had only been used for making ice-cream sodas.
1889 - The Wall Street Journal was first published.
1889 - John L. Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain, in the last championship bare-knuckle fight. The fight lasted 75 rounds.
1889 - Wall Street Journal begins publishing
1891 - 61°F, highest temp for July
1891, in Baltimore & Phila
1892 - American Psychological Association organized, Worcester, Mass
1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
1895 - Delagoa Bay Railway opens in South-Africa 1896 - William Jennings Bryan "cross of gold" speech at Dem convention
1897 - Harbor Hospital formally opens 1898 - Phillies Red Donahue no-hits Boston Braves, 5-0
1898 - US battle fleet under adm Dewey occupies Isla Grande at Manila
1898 - The shooting death of crime boss Soapy Smith releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.
1900 - 1st night baseball, league game (Zanesville at Grand Rapids)
1902 - John McGraw, accused by Ban Johnson of trying to wreck Baltimore & Washington clubs, negotiates his release from the Orioles
1905 - Part of Angel Island allocated for Immigration Detention Center
1907 - Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first "Follies" on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.
1907 - Florenz Ziegfeld staged 1st `Follies' on NY Theater roof
1909 - 1st pro baseball game (minor league) played under lights
1911 - Nan Aspinwall is 1st woman to make solo transcont trip by horse
1912 - G E V Crutchley (Oxford) 99 retired measles v Cambridge
1912 - Giants Rube Marquard loses after winning 21 straight Baseball Great Babe Ruth
1918 - Babe Ruth's blast over the fence in Fenway scores Amos Strunk, the Red Sox win 1-0 over Cleve, prevailing rules reduce Babe's HR to a triple
1919 - U.S. President Wilson returned to New York City from the Versailles Peace Conference in France.
1922 - 35th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Suzanne Lenglen beats M Mallory (62 60)
1923 - Harding becomes 1st sitting president to visit Alaska (Metlakahtla)
1923 - Walter Mittelholzer flies Junkers F-13 to Spitsbergen/Oostland
1928 - Phillies set record of errorless 25 inning doubleheader 1932 - Depression low point of Dow Jones Industrial Average, 41.22
1932 - Herbert Sutcliffe scores his 100th 100, Yorkshire v Gloucs
1933 - 46th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Helen Moody beats D Round (64 68 63)
1933 - Public Works Administration becomes effective
1935 - 3rd All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 4-1 at Municipal Stadium, Cleve
1938 - Would be start of Eng/Aust Test Cricket at Old Trafford Washout
1939 - 59th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Bobby Riggs beats E Cooke (26 86 36 63 62)
1941 - 9th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 7-5 at Briggs Stadium, Detroit
1941 - All Jews living in Baltic States are obligated to wear a Jewish Star
1943 - 4th day of battle at Kursk: Gen Model uses last tank reserve
1943 - British air raid sinks U-232
1943 - NSB-leader A Mussert meets with Heinrich Himmler
1943 - US invasion fleet passes Bizerta Tunisia
1944 - British troops march into Caen
1944 - Japanese kamakize attacks on US lines at Saipan
1946 - "Tidbits of 1946" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 8 performances
1946 - Baseball grants $5,000 minimum salary
1947 - 14th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 2-1 at Wrigley Field, Chicago
1947 - Demolition work began in New York City for the new permanent headquarters of the United Nations.
1947 - Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crashed landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
1948 - 500th anniversary Russian orthodox church celebrated in Moscow
1949 - Monte Irvin & Hank Thompson are 1st blacks to play for NY Giants
1950 - 33.4 cm rain fall at York, Nebraska (state record)
1950 - 57th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Louise Brough beats M duPont (61 36 61) WW2 General Douglas MacArthur
1950 - Gen Douglas MacArthur named commander-in-chief, UN forces in Korea
1950 - Leroy Deans awarded 1st Order of Purple Heart in Korea
1950 - General Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.
1951 - Yankee Joe DiMaggio & mgr Casey Stengel feud
1952 - 19th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 3-2 in 5 at Shibe Park, Phila
1953 - US stops aid to Persia
1953 - Notre Dame announced that the next five years of its football games would be shown in theatres over closed circuit TV.
1954 - KMOX (now KMOV) TV channel 4 in Saint Louis, MO (CBS) 1st broadcast
1954 - Military junta selects colonel Armas president of Guatemala
1956 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
1957 - Baeball Owners re-elect Commissioner Ford Frick
1957 - CDC incorporates
1957 - Irish premier Eamon de Valera arrests Sinn-Fein leaders
1958 - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the first official gold album. It was for the Oklahoma soundtrack.
1958 - 25th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 4-3 at Memorial Stadium, Balt
1960 - The Soviet Union charged Gary Powers with espionage. He was shot down in a U-2 spy plane.
1960 - Fidel Castro ends Havana's Intl League team, Sugar Kings move to NJ
1961 - Fred Trueman takes 5-0 in 24 balls to rip through Aussies
1961 - Portuguese steamer "Save" breaks up off Mozambique, 227 die
1963 - Reports of Charlie Finley's intention to move KC A's to Oakland
1963 - US bans all monetary transactions with Cuba, all Cuban-owned assets in the United States were frozen.
1965 - Joe Morgan is 1st Houston player with 6 hits in a game
1966 - US airline strike (until Aug 19th)
1966 - King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
1967 - 74th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Billie Jean King beats A Jones (63 64)
1967 - Helen Weston of Detroit rolls a record 4,585 in 24 games
1968 - Israeli-Egyptian artillery duel along Suez Canal
1969 - Thor Heyerdahl & reed raft Ra II land in Barbados 57 days from Morocco
1969 - The U.S. Patent Office issued a patent for the game "Twister."
1969 - US troop withdrawal begins in Vietnam
1969 - IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.
1970 - The San Francisco Giant’s Jim Ray Hart became the first National League player in 59 seasons to collect six runs batted (RBI) during a single inning.
1971 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1972 - US sells grain to USSR for $750 million
1973 - NY Mets are 12½ games back in NL and go on to win pennant
1974 - USSR performs underground nuclear test
1974 - Yank shortstop Jim Mason ties record with 4 doubles in 9 inn game
1975 - Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin visits West-Germany
1975 - Pres Ford announced he'll seek Republican nomination for pres
1975 - Quake damages over 2,000 temples in Pagan Burma, 20-foot-high seated Buddha of Thandawgya decapitated
1976 - Randy Jones wins NL record 16 games before All Star break
1977 - Sabra Starr finishes longest recorded belly dance (100 hrs)
1978 - 92nd Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Bjorn Borg beats Jimmy Connors (62 62 63)
1978 - Alessandro Pertini elected pres of Italy
1978 - Pioneer-Venus 2 Multi-probe launched to Venus
1979 - Congo adopts constitution
1979 - Don Martina's MAN party wins election in Dutch Antilles
1979 - Voyager 2 takes 1st ever photo of Jupiter's satellite Adrastea (J14)
1980 - 51st All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 4-2 at Dodger Stadium, LA
1980 - All star MVP: Ken Griffey (Cin Reds)
1981 - France performs nuclear test
1981 - PM Maurois nationalizes banks/plane/steel industry in France
1981 - Senate confirms Sandra Day O'Conner to Supreme Court (99-0)
1981 - The Solar Challenger became the frist solar-powered airplane to cross the English Channel.
1982 - "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 5 perfs
1982 - Billy Martin records his 1,000th career win as a manager
1982 - Porn star John Homes convicted of receiving stolen property
1982 - Senegalese Trotskyist political party LCT is legally recognized.
1983 - Rudi Koopmans retains European middleweight title Tennis Great John McEnroe
1984 - 98th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: John McEnroe beats J Connors (61 61 62)
1985 - 99th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Boris Becker beats K Curren (63 67 76 64)
1985 - Marge Schott becomes CEO of Cincinnati Red
1986 - Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes.
1986 - NASA establishes Safety, Reliability Maintain & Quality Assurance
1986 - Zimbabwe beats Netherlands by 25 runs to win ICC Trophy
1987 - Kitty Dukakis, revealed addiction to amphetamines for 26 years
1988 - Indians' Bud Black sets club record for most batters hit in inning (3)
1988 - Miami Arena opens
1988 - Rockers Jonathan "Chico" and Robert DeBarge indicted on drug trafficking
1988 - Stevie Wonder announces he will run for mayor of Detroit in 1992
1989 - Carlos Saul Menum becomes pres of Argentina
1989 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1990 - 12:34:56 on 7/8/90 (1234567890) Singer-Songwriter Stevie Wonder
1990 - Brewers beat Angels 20-7, including 13 in 5th inning
1990 - Germany defeated Argentina, 1-0 in the World Cup at Rome. It was their third World Cup title.
1990 - Greg Lemond wins his 3rd Tour de France (90:43:20 avg 23.3 mph)
1990 - Trailing 7-0, Brewers tie Angels & then score 13 in 5th to win 20-7
1991 - Pitts Pirate Pres Carl Barger becomes 1st pres of Fla Marlins
1991 - Major league umpire Steve Palermo and former NFL defensive lineman Terence Mann were shot trying to help 2 waitresses from being robbed
1992 - Florida Marlins unveil their uniform
1992 - Thomas Klestil installed as president of Austria
1992 - Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities.
1994 - Preliminary trial rules there is enough evidence to try OJ Simpson
1994 - Sonia O'Sullivan runs female 2K world record (5:25.36)
1994 - Space shuttle STS-65 (Columbia 17), launches
1994 - St Maarten "Godfather" Claude Wathey sentenced to 1½ years
1995 - 102nd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Graf beats Arantxa S Vicario (46 61 75)
1995 - First CFL game between 2 US teams, Las Vegas Posse vs Sacramento Gold
1997 - The Mayo Clinic and the U.S. government warned that the diet-drug combination known as "fen-phen" could cause serious heart and lung damage.
1997 - NATO invited Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to join the alliance in 1999.
1997 - 68th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 3-1 at Jacobs Field, Cleveland
1997 - NATO invites Poland, Hungary & Czech Republic to join
1999 - Allen Lee Davis is executed by electrocution by the state of Florida, the last use of the electric chair for capital punishment in Florida.
2000 - J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was released in the U.S. It was the fourth Harry Potter book.
2003 - Sudan Airways Flight 39, with 116 people on board, crashes in Sudan; the only survivor is a two-year-old boy who subsequently dies as a result of his injuries.
2010 - The Solar Impulse completed the first 24-hour flight by a solar powered plane.
2011 - Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program from the Kennedy Space Center. It is the 135th and final flight of the space shuttle program, which started in 1981. For its final mission, the Atlantis is carrying 8,000 lbs of spare parts and supplies to the International Space Station. The space shuttle program officially ends when the Atlantis returns two weeks later.
2012 - Roadside car bomb kills 14 civilians in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province
2012 - Tens of thousands protest over election corruption in Mexico City after Enrique Pe
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jul08.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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