May 7

July 1

44 BC The month of July was named after Julius Caesar by a decision of the Roman Senate in 44 BC as July was the month of his birth. Before that, it had been known as Quintilis (fifth) as it was the fifth month in the old calendar. Until the 18th century, the word July in English had the stress on the first syllable and rhymed with duly or truly.

1535 When Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII's chancellor, refused to swear that the king was the head of the church, he was charged with an offence against the Act of Supremacy. After fifteen months in prison in the Tower of London, More was found guilty of high treason on July 1, 1535. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, but the King commuted this to execution by decapitation. More was executed 6 days later.

William Frederick Yeames, Sir Thomas More meets his daughter after his sentence of death

1543 King Henry VIII of England proposed the marriage between the six-month-year old Scottish Queen, Mary Queen of Scots and his own son, Prince Edward, hoping for a union of Scotland and England. On July 1, 1543, the Treaty of Greenwich was signed, which promised that at the age of ten Mary would marry Edward and move to England, where Henry could oversee her upbringing. The betrothal was later annulled by the Scottish parliament precipitating war with England.

1555 The English Protestant John Bradford was burned at the stake as a heretic on July 1,1555, during Queen Mary's reign. He had the habit of saying when he saw criminals going to their execution, "But for the grace of God, there goes John Bradford", which is where the saying, "There but for the grace of God goes I" originated.

1690 When the deposed King James II of England and Ireland landed in Ireland in March 1689, the Irish Parliament did not follow the example of the English Parliament and declared that James remained King. The Battle of the Boyne took place a near Drogheda in the east of Ireland on July 1, 1790 between the forces of King James and William III of England. It resulted in a victory for William and James II fled to France where he was received by his cousin and ally, Louis XIV.

1731 Benjamin Franklin and several other members of a philosophical association joined their resources on July 1, 1731 to found the first public library in Philadelphia. The newly founded Library Company ordered its first books the following year, mostly theological and educational tomes, but by 1741 the library also included works on exploration, geography, history, poetry and science. The success of this library encouraged the opening of libraries in other American cities.

Library and Surgeon's Hall, Fifth-street Engraving, 1800, by William Russell Birch

1746 Tartan was banned after the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, as part of an attempt to bring warring tribes under government control. It wasn't legalized again until 1782. Australia and some other countries celebrate Tartan Day on July 1, the anniversary of the repeal of the 1746 UK Act banning the wearing of tartan.

1770 Lexell's Comet, also known as Comet D/1770 L1, holds the record for passing closest to Earth among all recorded comets. It made its closest approach on July 1, 1770, coming within a distance of 0.015 astronomical units (AU) or approximately 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) of our planet. After its close approach, Lexell's Comet moved away from Earth and has not been observed since. It is considered a "lost comet" because its orbit hasn't been accurately determined since its 1770 appearance.

1804 The French writer George Sand (real name Aurora Dupin) was born in Paris on July 1, 1804.She was notorious for wearing trousers, smoking cigars and  penning her literary works under a male pseudonym. Dupin's refusal to act like a "real woman" made her  popular among the artists and intelligentsia of her time and helped ignite the woman's revolution.

1863 The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, 1863. It was fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces over three days. The battle is often called the turning point of The American Civil War as Union Major General George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac stopped attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.

Hancock at Gettysburg by Thure de Thulstrup

1867 The Canadian city of Vancouver originated with a community named Gastown that originated on July 1, 1867 with a makeshift tavern set up on a plank between two stumps run by John "Gassy Jack" Deighton.  In 1886, was incorporated as the City of Vancouver, named after George Vancouver,  the first European to visit the area in the 1790s. 

1874 The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, went on sale on July 1, 1874. Initially, The Sholes and Glidden typewriter received an unenthusiastic reception from the public as several design deficiencies remained. These included being only able to print upper-case letters and the typist being unable to see what was being written as it was entered.
An improved model, the Remington No. 2, was introduced in 1878.

1874 Philadelphia Zoo, USA's first public zoo, opened on July 1, 1874. The zoological gardens were commissioned in 1859, though the opening was delayed due to the American Civil War. It eventually opened on July 1, 1874 with 1,000 animals and an admission price of 25 cents.


1874 Charley Ross was a 4-year-old American child whose kidnapping on July 1, 1874 for ransom became a nationwide sensation. In addition to the heavy press coverage, some prominent Philadelphians enlisted the help of the famous Pinkerton detective agency, who had millions of flyers and posters printed with Ross's likeness.  Charley, who was never found, had been lured by two men offering candy and fireworks, giving rise to the warning "never take candy from strangers".

1881 The first direct long-distance call between two countries using standard telephone equipment was made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States on July 1, 1881. 

1896 Many historians believe during the last ten years of her life, Harriet Beecher Stowe suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. During this time Stowe rewrote Uncle Tom's Cabin . Stowe imagined that she was engaged in the original composition, and for several hours every day she industriously used pen and paper, inscribing long passages of the book almost exactly word for word. After a gradual decline to an invalid, Stowe died on July 1, 1896 at her Hartford home on July 1, 1896.

Harriet Beecher-Stowe

1908 'SOS' is the Morse-code signal (…---…) used by shipping and the like in distress to summon immediate aid, hence any urgent appeal for help. This distress signal was first adopted by the German government in radio regulations effective April 1905. It was recommended at the Radio Telegraph Conference the following year and officially adopted as the worldwide standard on July 1, 1908.

1912 Harriet Quimby, the first woman pilot to fly across the English Channel, was killed in a flying accident over Dorchester Bay during a Harvard-Boston aviation meet on July 1, 1912. She was tossed from her airplane after it unexpectedly pitched forward.


1915 Leutnant Kurt Wintgens became the first military fighter pilot to score a victory over an opposing aircraft on July 1, 1915. He was flying the synchronized machine-gun armed fighter plane, the Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker when he engaged a French Morane-Saulnier Type L "Parasol" two-seater. After a few minutes of combat with the Fokker both of the French aircrew were injured  bit they managed to land their Morane Parasol safely, in friendly territory.

1916 Dwight Eisenhower met and fell in love with Mamie Geneva Doud of Boone, Iowa, six years his junior, while he was stationed in Texas. She was very popular and had many suitors before she met Dwight, who she described as "the spiffiest looking man I've ever talked to in my life." They married on July 1, 1916 and had two sons, Doud Dwight "Icky" Eisenhower who died of scarlet fever aged three and John Eisenhower who retired from active duty as a brigadier general in 1963.

1941 Commercial television was authorized by the FCC on July 1, 1941 and NBC television begun commercial operation by its affiliate WNBT New York using channel 1 the same day. The world's first legal television commercial advertisement, for Bulova watches, was aired at 2:29 PM on July 1, 1941 before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.


1956 Two days after Marilyn Monroe secretly married Jewish playwright Arthur Miller they had a second, Jewish ceremony on July 1. 1956. One newspaper greeted their nuptials with the headline "Egghead Weds Hourglass." Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were granted a divorce in Mexico on the grounds of ‘incompatibility’, after less than five years of marriage.

1956 In the early days of television, Elvis Presley famously sang "Hound Dog" to a basset hound named Sherlock on The Steve Allen Show on July 1, 1956. Presley was often criticized at the time for his gyrating hips and suggestive dance moves. Allen, the host of the show, had asked Presley to tone down his act, and the basset hound was a way of doing that.


1960 Ghana became the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence from the British  in March 1957. Ghana became a Republic and Kwame Nkrumah its first President on July 1, 1960. This meant that Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ceased to be its Head of State.

1961 Diana, Princess of Wales was born on July 1, 1961, in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was named after Diana Russell, an 18th century ancestor. Russell was born Lady Diana Spencer, was often called Di, and very nearly the married the then Prince of Wales. Diana failed all her O-level school examinations twice, and described herself as being "as thick as a plank." She did win a school award for having the ‘best-kept guinea pig’ and a school cup for ‘helpfulness’.


1962 Following the First World War Rwanda was placed under Belgian administration as a League of Nations mandate, then as the United Nations Trust territory.  In 1961, the Belgians held a referendum in which the country (then known as Ruanda) voted to abolish the monarchy. It achieved full independence on July 1, 1962 after a Hutu revolt led to massacres of Tutsis and the establishment of a Hutu-dominated republic named Rwanda.

1962 Burundi (former Ruanda-Urundi), gained independence from the Kingdom of Belgium on July 1, 1962. The Republic of Burundi is a tiny landlocked nation of 8.5 million people about the size of Belgium. The major part of its territory is covered by mountains, lakes, tropical jungles (about the 30% of the land) and rivers.

1963 ZIP Codes were introduced for United States mail on July 1, 1963.The ZIP in "ZIP code" means Zoning Improvement Plan. The United States Postal Service (USPS) implemented ZIP codes as a way to improve mail sorting and delivery efficiency. The country was divided into postal zones, and a numerical code was assigned to each zone. This system helped automate the sorting process by enabling mail to be quickly and accurately routed to the appropriate destination.

1967 The actress Pamela Anderson was born at 11:21 AM in Ladysmith, British Columbia on July 1, 1967, which was Canada's 100th birthday.  Despite not being the first baby born in Canada on July 1, 1967, Anderson was still referred to in the press as Canada's "Centennial Baby."  She went on to become a celebrity starring in several successful television shows and movies, including Baywatch and Scary Movie 3. 


1967 The European Community was formally created on July 1, 1967 out of a merger of the three European Communities: the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The European Community went on to become the European Union in 1993.

1970 The Ford Thunderbird began life in February 1953 in direct response to Chevrolet's new sports car, the Corvette. Production of the Thunderbird began the following year with the car beginning sales as a 1955 model in October 1954. The very last Ford Thunderbird ever made emerged from a Ford factory in Wixom, Michigan on July 1, 1970.

1974 When Argentine president Juan Perón died on July 1, 1974, he was succeeded by his wife and vice president, Isabel, who became the first female president of any country in the world. She served as president of Argentina until March 1976.


1979 Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player on July 1, 1979. Called  "Walkman boogie-paks,' they went on sale for $150. Though Sony predicted the Walkman would sell about 5,000 units a month, people snatched it up and it sold more than 50,000 in the first two months.
The Sony Walkman changed the way people listen to music and resulted in a boom in cassette sales. Despite a rash of imitations, the Walkman became the generic term.

1988 Nike's first "Just Do It" advertisement debuted on July 1, 1988. Nike ad agency executive Dan Wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan as being the last words spoken by convicted murderer Gary Gilmore before being shot to death by a firing squad in Utah in 1977.


1997 The United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China on July 1, 1997 concluding 156 Years of British Rule. The territory became China's first provincial-level special administrative region with a high degree of autonomy under the principle of one country, two systems.

1998 Barbra Streisand has been married twice. Her first husband was actor Elliott Gould. They had one child together, Jason Gould, who was born in 1966. Streisand's second husband is actor James Brolin, whom she married on July 1, 1998. Both of Streisand's husbands starred in Capricorn One (1977).

2005 The world's first live TV Sudoku show, Sudoku Live, was a puzzle contest first broadcast on July 1, 2005, on Sky One, which was presented by Carol Vorderman. Phil Kollin of Winchelsea, England, was the series grand prize winner, taking home over £23,000 over a series of games.


2006 The Qinghai–Tibet Railway, the world's highest railway and the only railway line to the Tibet Autonomous Region, was inaugurated on July 1, 2006.  The railway is 1,142 kilometers long and connects the city of Golmud in Qinghai Province to the capital of Tibet, Lhasa. The highest point on the railway is Tanggula Pass, which is 5,072 meters above sea level.

2012 The mayor of Idyllwild, California is a Golden Retriever. Max (Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller) was voted into office during an election held in June 2012, and was inaugurated to a one-year term on July 1, 2012. After Mayor Max passed away. in April 2013 he was succeeded by Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller, II. In March 2014, as the end of Max's term approached, the Idyllwild citizens overwhelmingly pled for Mayor Max's continuation in perpetuity.


2012 By its territorial expansion on July 1, 2012 southwest into the Moscow Oblast, the area of Moscow more than doubled, going from 1,091 to 2,511 square kilometers (421 to 970 sq mi).The expansion was part of a government plan to improve the management of Moscow's urban growth. The new territory included several towns and villages, as well as some undeveloped land. 

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