On This Day In History
July 5th
1687 Isaac Newton‘s great work Principia published by Royal Society in England, outlining his laws of motion and universal gravitation
1811 Venezuelan Declaration of Independence: 7 provinces declare themselves independent of Spain
1852 Frederick Douglass, fugitive slave, delivers his ‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’ speech to the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, condemns the celebration as hypocritical sham
1865 US Secret Service begins operating under the Treasury Department
1994 Amazon.com founded in Bellevue, Washington by Jeff Bezos
2004 First Indonesian presidential election by the people – first round (eventually won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono)
Did You Know?
Louis Reard’s design for a bikini swimsuit debuts at the Paris fashion show
Today in History in 1946
Would You Believe?
Followers of Indian spiritual leader Ashutosh Mahara win a court case, 3 years after his death, to keep his body in a freezer in case he should return to life
Today in History in 2017
July 6th
1348 Papal bull of Pope Clement VI issued during the Black Death stating Jews not to blame and urging their protection
1785 US Congress unanimously resolves the name of US currency to the “dollar” and adopts decimal coinage
1885 Louis Pasteur successfully give an anti-rabies vaccine to 9-year-old Joseph Meister, saving his life
1923 The Central Executive Committee accepts the Treaty of Union, signed in Moscow in December 1922, and the Russian Empire becomes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
1967 Nigerian Civil War erupts as Nigerian forces invade the secessionist state of Biafra
1970 California passes 1st “no fault” divorce law
July 7th
1520 Battle of Otumba, Mexico: Hernán Cortés and the Tlaxcalans defeat a numerically superior Aztec force
1937 Japanese and Chinese troops clash at the Marco Polo Bridge, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War
1947 Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident
2005 Coordinated terrorist bomb blasts strike London’s public transport system during the morning rush hour killing 52 and injuring 700
2005 Influenced by global Live 8 concerts, G8 leaders pledge to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010
Did You Know?
Sliced bread sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder. Described as the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.
Today in History in 1928
Would You Believe?
1st comic book “The Wasp” is published in Hudson, New York criticizing Republican politicians
Today in History in 1802
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