On This Day In History
7 July 1937. Japanese forces invaded China, beginning the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, which went on until 9 September 1945 and only ended with Japan’s military surrender to the Allies. The war had the second highest death toll in history. pic.twitter.com/lDCrJ6U6Yu
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 7, 2022
7 July 1947. An alien spaceship supposedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, USA. It became known as “The Roswell incident”. Space scientists reject the idea it really was an alien spaceship, but some UFO believers still think otherwise. pic.twitter.com/weRh82Z7v6
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 7, 2022
7 July 1965. This first episode of the BBC TV series, Tomorrow's World, was broadcast. It examined new and possible future developments in science and technology. It ran for 38 years until 16 July 2003. pic.twitter.com/A3RhKmmY3E
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 7, 2022
25 July 1984. Soviet cosmonaut, Svetlana Savitskaya, became the first woman to walk in space, aboard Salyut 7. To this day she remains the only Russian woman to have walked in space. pic.twitter.com/nO31InSSGw
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 7, 2022
7 July 2005. A series of 4 coordinated suicide bomb attacks (“7/7”) were carried out by Islamist terrorists in London. They were targeted at commuters on the city's public transport system and killed 52 people and 4 suicide bombers. pic.twitter.com/PYVztvfPRD
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 7, 2022
7 July 2006. Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd, died (aged 60). He was the primary songwriter on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and he contributed to second album, A Saucerful of Secrets. In April 1968, he left the group due to mental illness. pic.twitter.com/tTKQmHxhxk
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 7, 2022
7 July 2014. Alfredo Di Stéfano died (aged 88). He’s best known for his time with Real Madrid. He scored in each of the club’s 5 consecutive victories in the European Cup from 1956 to 1960. He’s also Real Madrid’s 3rd highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals. pic.twitter.com/tYHRAJnmvW
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 7, 2022
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
This day 34 years ago – 8 July 1985 – Ryanair began operations with an inaugural flight between Waterford and London Gatwick on a 15-seater turboprop plane.
Today, it is the largest airline in Europe, and the fifth largest globally, carrying 138.9 million passengers in 2018. pic.twitter.com/u8VL0zTHOr
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) July 8, 2019
#otd in 1917, soldier Maria Bochkareva's all-female 'death battalion' fought in its first battle. An opponent of the Bolsheviks, she later fled to campaign in the US and Europe. She returned to Russia, and was executed as a counter-revolutionary in 1920. https://t.co/YRqBrP80FE pic.twitter.com/yIirTLWTGR
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) July 8, 2022
On this day in 1860, more than 50 years after Congress banned the trafficking of enslaved Africans into the U.S., the slave ship Clotilde arrived in Mobile, Alabama. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/ZPWTXGGIRw
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) July 8, 2022
8 July 1822. The English poet, Percy Shelley (aged 29), drowned in Italy while sailing his boat “Ariel” on the Gulf of Spezia. Shelley was not famous or acclaimed during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death. pic.twitter.com/Obi19OL8ov
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 8, 2022
8 July 1884. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), was founded in London, as the London SPCC. It is a charity that campaigns and is working on child protection in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands. pic.twitter.com/loayFJXxPM
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 8, 2022
8 July 1889. Boxing legend John L. Sullivan beat Jake Kilrain, in the last world heavyweight championship bare-knuckle fight. The fight lasted 75 rounds stretched over 2 hours, 16 minutes and 25 seconds when Kilrain’s corner finally threw in the towel. pic.twitter.com/TBxwSgLSsR
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 8, 2022
8 July 1889. The first issue of, The Wall Street Journal, was published, consisting of 4 pages, and costing 2 cents. The specialist financial journal has been printed continuously since its inception on 6 days per week. pic.twitter.com/TEuWdPjj9d
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 8, 2022
8 July 1965. The 1963 “Great Train Robber” Ronald Biggs sensationally escaped from Wandsworth prison, by scaling a 30ft wall, with three other prisoners. Biggs remained at large until he returned to Britain voluntarily in 2001 when he was seriously ill. pic.twitter.com/lu5PvaJEFd
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 8, 2022
8 July 1967. Hollywood legend, Vivien Leigh, died (aged 53). She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for her performance as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, her best known role, and as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. pic.twitter.com/7LCuPC1C8h
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 8, 2022
PHOTO OF THE DAY. Marilyn Monroe’s hair and makeup test for her last film, Something's Got to Give, which was never completed (1962) pic.twitter.com/CQTITa4Ugi
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 8, 2022
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