On This Day In History
July 8th
1099 First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on
1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama departs on his first voyage, will become the 1st European to reach India by sea
1777 Independent Vermont introduces a new constitution, prohibiting slavery
1800 Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives 1st cowpox vaccination in the US to his son to prevent smallpox
1853 Commodore Matthew C. Perry sails his frigate Susquehanna into Tokyo Bay, opening Japan to Western influence and trade
1948 500th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated in Moscow
1949 South Africa’s Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act commences, prohibiting marriage or a sexual relationship between White people and people of other races
Did You Know?
The Mounties (North West Mounted Police) begin their March West from Fort Dufferin
Today in History in 1874
Would You Believe?
Alfred Carlton Gilbert‘s patent for the Erector Set is issued, it becomes one of the most popular toys of all time
Today in History in 1913
July 9th
1401 Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) destroys Baghdad, killing 20,000
1790 Russo-Swedish War: Second Battle of Svensksund – in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian fleet
1868 Louisiana and South Carolina are the last states to ratify the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing civil rights
1893 Daniel Williams repairs the torn pericardium of a knife wound patient, James Cornish, without penicillin or blood transfusion
1917 British battleship HMS Vanguard explodes at Scapa Flow (the result of an internal explosion of faulty cordite), killing 804
1971 Henry Kissinger visits the People’s Republic of China to negotiate a detente between the US and China
2002 The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
2017 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proclaims victory over Islamic State forces in Mosul
Did You Know?
Nintendo release arcade game “Donkey Kong” created by Shigeru Miyamoto in Japan (July 31 in the US)
Today in History in 1981
Would You Believe?
Michael Fagan breaks into Buckingham Palace and enters the Queen’s bedroom in Buckingham Palace, London
Today in History in 1982
July 10th
1778 American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain
1940 Battle of Britain begins as Nazi forces attack shipping convoys in the English Channel
1985 French foreign intelligence agents blow up the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbor, New Zealand to prevent it interfering with French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira is killed.
1991 Boris Yeltsin sworn in as 1st elected President of the Russian Federation
2012 The American Episcopal Church becomes the first to approve a rite for blessing gay marriages
Did You Know?
Lady Godiva rides naked on horseback through Coventry, according to legend, to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes
Today in History in 1040
Would You Believe?
World’s official highest recorded temperature at Greenland Ranch (now known as Furnace Creek Ranch), Death Valley, California at 134 °F (56.7 °C)
Today in History in 1913
July 11th
1405 Chinese fleet commander Zheng He sets sail on his first major expedition, to the Spice Islands, leading 208 vessels, including 62 treasure ships with 27,800 sailors
1533 Pope Clement VII excommunicates England’s King Henry VIII
1818 English poet John Keats writes “In the Cottage Where Burns is Born”, “Lines Written in the Highlands”, and “Gadfly”
1877 Kate Edger becomes New Zealand’s first woman graduate and first woman in the British Empire to earn a Bachelor of Arts
1944 Franklin Roosevelt announces that he will run for a fourth term as President of the United States
1995 More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys are massacred by Bosnian Serbs after they overrun the UN ‘safe haven’ of Srebrenica on directive of Radovan Karadžić
Did You Know?
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is first published by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
Today in History in 1960
Would You Believe?
Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán escapes from Altiplano maximum-security prison west of Mexico City via a specially constructed 1.5 km tunnel from his cell to a nearby house
Today in History in 2015
July 12th
1679 Britain’s King Charles II ratifies Habeas Corpus Act allowing prisoners right to be imprisoned to be examined by a court
1690 Battle of Boyne: in Ireland, Protestant King William III defeats English Catholic King James II
1790 French Revolution: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is adopted, putting the Catholic Church in France under the control of the state
1804 Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies after being shot in a pistol duel the previous day by Vice President Aaron Burr
1863 In New Zealand, British forces invade the Waikato, home of the Māori King Movement, beginning a new phase of the New Zealand Wars between the colonial government and allied Māori tribes on one side and Māori on the other
1913 150,000 Ulstermen gather and resolve to resist Irish Home Rule by force of arms; since the British Liberals have promised the Irish nationalists Home Rule, civil war appears imminent
1943 World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka – Russia defeats German forces in one of the largest ever tank battles
1957 US Surgeon General Leroy Burney connects smoking with lung cancer
Did You Know?
Mormon leader Joseph Smith says God allows polygamy
Today in History in 1843
Would You Believe?
Joseph Dunn (14) is attacked by a shark, suffering non-fatal wounds in New Jersey, the final episode in a spate of shark attacks along the Jersey coast where 4 people died over 12 days
Today in History in 1916