Browse all events for July 08.
Joe McDonnell, Irish political prisoner, dies
Joseph McDonnell (14 September 1951 – 8 July 1981) was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
Bennie Railplane
The Bennie Railplane was a form of rail transport invented by George Bennie (1891–1957), which moved along an overhead rail by way of propellers.
Government of Ireland Bill enacted
The Government of Ireland Act 1914 was the Home Rule Bill that had been first introduced in 1912 and debated in Parliament for two years, which was finally passed under the Parliament Act 1911 and given Royal Assent on 18 September 1914. However, on the same day a Suspensory Act was also passed, which suspended the enactment of two Acts of Parliament (the Government of Ireland Act and the Welsh Churches Act) initially for 12 months due to the outbreak of war.
Last official bare knuckle title fight
Jack Kilrain is perhaps best known for challenging champion John L. Sullivan in 1889 in the last world heavyweight championship prizefight decided with bare knuckles under London Prize Ring rules in history.
Sir Henry Raeburn, died
Sir Henry Raeburn RA RSA FRSE( (/ˈreɪbərn/; )4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland.
Sir Francis McClintock, born
Sir Francis Leopold McClintock KCB FRS (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. He confirmed explorer John Rae’s controversial report gathered from Inuit sources on the fate of Franklin’s lost expedition, the ill-fated Royal Navy undertaking commanded by Sir John Franklin in 1845 attempting to be the first to traverse the Northwest Passage.
Bernard (Barney) Hughes, born
Brendan (Barney) Hughes was born in Armagh in 1808. Starting out as a baker’s boy, he moved to Belfast at the age of 19 to continue baking.
Forth and Clyde Canal Opened
The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allowed navigation from Edinburgh on the east coast to the port of Glasgow on the west coast. The canal is 35 miles (56 km) long and it runs from the River Carron at Grangemouth to the River Clyde at Bowling, and had an important basin at Port Dundas in Glasgow.
Mary Anne Mc Cracken, radical and philanthropist, is born in Belfast
Mary Ann McCracken (8 July 1770 – 26 July 1866) was a social activist and campaigner in Belfast, Ireland, whose extensive correspondence is cited as an important chronicle of her times.
Robert Edgeworth, former MP, dies
A Deadly Duel that Haunted Him the Rest of His Life Robert Edgeworth, a member of the prominent Longford family and MP for St Johnstown (1713–1727), was described as follows: ‘He had no notion of good breeding, was outrageously rude and abusive to persons he disliked, had a strange disposition to fighting and quarrelling and was quite void of fear of any man living; but was most childishly fearful of apparitions and goblins especially after he had killed Mr Atkinson in a duel in Clontarf Wood, after which time he could never lie without a lighted candle in his room and a servant either in his chamber or within his call … He hated many people, loved nobody, nor nobody loved him.’