Events for July 08

July 8, 1930

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.

July 8, 1730

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.’

July 8, 1819

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.

July 8, 1770

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.