Today in History

Today is Tuesday, July 8, the 189th day of 2025. There are 176 days left in the year. Today in History On July 8, 2018, divers rescued four of the 12 boys who'd been trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand with their soccer coach for more than two weeks. (The remaining eight boys and their coach were rescued over the next two days.) Also on this date In 1776, Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, outside the State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. In 1853, an expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo Bay, Japan, on a mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese. In 1889, the first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published. In 1947, a New Mexico newspaper, the Roswell Daily Record, quoted officials at Roswell Army Air Field as saying they had recovered a "flying saucer" that crashed onto a ranch; officials then said it was actually a weather balloon. In 1950, President Harry S. Truman named Gen. Douglas MacArthur commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea. (Truman would fire MacArthur for insubordination nine months later.) In 1972, the Nixon administration announced a deal to sell $750 million in grain to the Soviet Union. (However, the Soviets were also engaged in secretly buying subsidized American grain, resulting in what critics dubbed "The Great Grain Robbery.") In 1994, Kim Il Sung, North Korea's communist leader since 1948, died at age 82. In 2000, Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport for her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Black female champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958. In 2010, the largest spy swap between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War unfolded as 10 people accused of spying in suburban America pleaded guilty to conspiracy and were ordered deported to Russia in exchange for the release of four prisoners accused of spying for the West. In 2011, the 135th and final space shuttle mission began when space shuttle Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center. In 2021, President Joe Biden said the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan would end on Aug. 31; in a speech in the White House East Room, Biden made an impassioned argument for exiting the nearly 20-year war without sacrificing more America lives, but acknowledged that there would be no "mission accomplished" moment to celebrate. In 2022, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech. Today's Birthdays Actor Jeffrey Tambor is 81. Drummer Jaimoe Johanson (The Allman Brothers Band) is 81. Actor Kim Darby is 78. Children's musician Raffi is 77. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is 76. Actor Anjelica Huston is 74. Writer Anna Quindlen is 73. Author and politician Marianne Williamson is 73. Pro Football Hall of Famer Jack Lambert is 73. Actor Kevin Bacon is 67. Singer Joan Osborne is 63. Actor Lee Tergesen (TV: "Oz") is 60. Actor Billy Crudup is 57. Actor Michael Weatherly (TV: "NCIS") is 57. Musician Beck is 55. Actor Kathleen Robertson is 52. Christian rock musician Stephen Mason (Jars of Clay) is 50. Actor Milo Ventimiglia (MEE'-loh vehn-tih-MEEL'-yuh) is 48. Actor Lance Gross (TV: "Tyler Perry's House of Payne") is 44. Actor Sophia Bush is 43. Actor Maya Hawke is 27. Actor Jaden Smith is 27.