Updated July 8, 2014, 9:28 am
On July 8, 1950, Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.
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On July 8, 1839, John D. Rockefeller, who founded the Standard Oil Co. and gave more than $500 million to charitable causes, was born. Following his death on May 23, 1937, his obituary appeared in The Times.
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On This Date
| 1663 | King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island. |
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| 1776 | Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia. |
| 1853 | An expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo Bay, Japan, on a mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese. |
| 1889 | The Wall Street Journal was first published. |
| 1891 | Warren G. Harding married Florence K. DeWolfe in Marion, Ohio. |
| 1907 | Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first "Follies," on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City. |
| 1919 | President Woodrow Wilson received a tumultuous welcome in New York City after his return from the Versailles Peace Conference in France. |
| 1950 | Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea. |
| 1986 | Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes. |
| 1994 | Kim Il Sung, North Korea's communist leader since 1948, died at age 82. |
| 2004 | Enron founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay pleaded innocent to charges related to the energy company's collapse. (He was convicted, but died while the case was on appeal.) |
| 2010 | During an ESPN prime-time special, basketball free agent LeBron James announced he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. |
| 2011 | Former first lady Betty Ford died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93. |
Historic Birthdays
John D. Rockefeller
7/8/1839 - 5/23/1937
American industrialist and philanthropist.Go to obituary »
| 78 |
Samuel Gross 7/8/1805 - 5/6/1884 American surgeon, teacher and author |
|---|---|
| 54 |
Alfred Binet 7/8/1857 - 10/18/1911 French psychologist; developed measures of intelligence |
| 77 |
Kathe Kollwitz 7/8/1867 - 4/22/1945 German graphic artist and sculptor |
| 78 |
Percy Grainger 7/8/1882 - 2/28/1961 Australian-born American composer, pianist and conductor |
| 92 |
Ernst Bloch 7/8/1885 - 8/4/1977 German Marxist philosopher |
| 83 |
Alec Waugh 7/8/1898 - 9/3/1981 English novelist and travel writer |
| 81 |
David Lilienthal 7/8/1899 - 1/15/1981 American businessman and government official |
| 70 |
Nelson Rockefeller 7/8/1908 - 1/26/1979 American politician; New York governor (1959-73) and U.S. vice president (1974-7) |
| 66 |
Louis Jordan 7/8/1908 - 2/4/1975 American singer, saxophonist and bandleader |
| 78 |
Billy Eckstine 7/8/1914 - 3/8/1993 American singer and bandleader |