Less than a year before adopting the Declaration of Independence, the Second Continental Congress signed the Olive Branch Petition on July 8, 1775.

The third-to-last paragraph pleaded:

“We therefore beseech your Majesty, that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned by the system before-mentioned, and to settle peace through every part of our Dominions, with all humility submitting to your Majesty’s wise consideration…”

It’s powerful to remember: before declaring independence, Americans declared their desire not to break away—but to be heard, and to preserve unity.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

The Space Shuttle Atlantis during the launch of NASA’s final mission of the Space Shuttle program

– July 8, 2011

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

A cabinet card of Union officer and POW Eli Lilly before he founded the Eli Lilly Company.

Eli Lilly was born on July 8, 1838 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Image via Library of Congress, no known restrictions

On July 8, 1889 a person could purchase the Wall Street Journal for just 2 cents, which was published for the first time.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

First Pennsylvania-Santa Fe Air-Rail Transcontinental Tri-Motored Plane Leaving Columbus, O., July 8, 1929.

via LOC, no known restrictions

The inventor of Coca-Cola, John Pemberton was born on July 8, 1831 in Knoxville, Georgia.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

July 8, 1898 saw the end of criminal leader Jefferson “Soapy” Smith’s reign over Skagway, Alaska during the Klondike gold rush. Vigilantes organized at the Juneau Wharf to end the activities of Smith’s gang of bunco men, resulting in a shoot out that killed Soapy and Frank Reid, whose epitaph states “He gave his life for the honor of Skagway.”

From LOC via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US

Photograph of the Battlefield at Ticonderoga c. late 1800s/early 1900s

Sign on the tree says “Abercrombies defeat, July 8th 1758. Loss 2000.”

Image via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions

Two men pouring liquor into storm drain

7/8/1921

Image via Wikimedia Commons, no known restrictions

On July 8, 1693, about twenty-nine years after New Amsterdam was renamed New York, police officers were authorized to wear uniforms for the first time.

Image: The New York Police Officer of 1693.
Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. New York Public Library Digital Collections.
No known restrictions

American tennis star Alice Marble of California won the ladies singles title at Wimbledon on July 8, 1939.
Later that same year she won the ladies U.S. National Championship in tennis.

Image from NPG via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

July 8, 1964

In the midst of the Cold War’s urgency, a Convair technician examines a missile component at a General Dynamics facility. Convair’s extensive contributions to American aerospace and defense programs include shaping the country’s missile systems, from early space launch technologies to intercontinental ballistic platforms.

This image, which has been conserved in the Convair Negative Collection, depicts not only machinery but also the manual labor that propelled a period of strategic importance.

Image via Wikimedia Commons image, public domain

John Nixon reading The Declaration of Independence in the state-house yard on July 8, 1776.

“JOHN NIXON READ AND PROCLAIMED, to a great concourse of people, in a voice clear and distinct enough to be heard in the garden of Mr. Norris’s house on the east side of Fifth Street, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE PUBLICLY FOR THE FIRST TIME. It is recorded that it was received with heart-felt satisfaction, and that the company declared their approval by their repeated huzzas. Thomas Dewees was at this time Sheriff of Philadelphia, and as he had the alternative of reading it himself or causing it to be read, Mr. Nixon was selected, doubtless from his prominence as a citizen and as a member of the Committee of Safety. There is now deposited in Independence Hall a broadside copy of the Declaration, printed at the time, which was found among some papers of John Nixon, and is possibly the very one from which he read and proclaimed it on the eighth of July, 1776.”

From: Memoir of the life and services of Colonel John Nixon by Charles Henry Hart, published in 1877
https://archive.org/details/memoiroflifeands00hartiala/page/8
Source says not in copyright

Image from 1876, public domain

“I believe the power to make money is a gift of God … to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind.”

– John D. Rockefeller who was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. He is considered to be the wealthiest American in history (adjusting for inflation.)

Image: John D. Rockefeller via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Kevin Bacon, who had roles in films such as Friday the 13th, Footloose, The River Wild and A Few Good Men, was born on July 8, 1958 in Philadelphia.

Image: Kevin Bacon in A Few Good Men (1992) via Alamy

July 8, 1948 – 10 months after the US Air Force becomes a branch of the military WAFs (Women in the Air Force) proudly join its ranks. Shown here a WAF Officer candidate salutes the American flag in Texas in 1952. In 1976 the WAF was discontinued and all USAF personnel serve their country on an equal basis.

image: USAF via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
in the US