July
National Day of Canada. Feast day of St Gall of Clermont, Saints Aaron and Julius, St Eparchius or Cybard, St Oliver Plunket, St Carilephus or Calais, St Thierry or Theodoric of Mont d'Or, St Servanus or Serf, St Simeon Salus, and St Shenute.
Events
1690 At the Battle of the Boyne, William III of England defeated the Jacobites under James II. 1751 The first volume of Diderot's Encyclopédie was published in Paris. 1838 Charles Darwin presented a paper to the Linnaean Society in London, on his theory of the evolution of species. 1863 The Battle of Gettysburg, in the American Civil War, began. 1916 The first Battle of the Somme began; more than 21,000 men were killed on the battle's first day. 1937 The telephone emergency service, 999, became operational in Britain. 1940 Guernsey was occupied by German forces. 1990 A state treaty establishing a unified economy and monetary system for East and West Germany went into effect. 1991 The Warsaw Pact, the last vestige of the Cold War-era Soviet bloc, was formally disbanded.
Births
George Sand, French novelist, 1804; Louis Blériot, French aviator, 1872; Charles Laughton, English film actor, 1899; Olivia de Havilland, US film actress, 1916; HRH the Princess of Wales, 1961; Carl Lewis, US athlete, 1961.
Deaths
Charles Goodyear, US inventor, 1860; Allan Pinkerton, US founder of the Detective Agency, 1884; Harriet Beecher Stowe, US author, 1896; Erik Satie, French composer, 1925; Juan Perón, Argentinian politician, 1974.
Feast day of Saints Processus and Martinian, St Monegundis, and St Otto of Bamberg.
Events
1644 Oliver Cromwell defeated Prince Rupert at theBattle of Marston Moor, his first victory over the Royalists in the English Civil War. 1865 At a revivalist meeting at Whitechapel, London, William Booth formed the Salvation Army. 1900 The 2nd Olympic Games opened in Paris. 1940 The Vichy Government was set up in France, headed by Henri Pétain. 1956 Elvis Presley recorded `Hound Dog' and `Don't Be Cruel' in New York. 1964 President Johnson signed the US Civil Rights Bill prohibiting racial discrimination. 1990 Over a thousand Muslim pilgrims were killed when a stampede occurred in a pedestrian tunnel leading to the holy city of Mecca.
Births
Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, 1489; Christoph Gluçk, German composer, 1714; William Henry Bragg, English physicist, 1862; Hermann Hesse, German poet and novelist, 1877; David Owen, British politician, 1938; Kenneth Clarke, British politician, 1940.
Deaths
Nostradamus, French physician and astrologer, 1566; Jean Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher and writer, 1778; Amelia Earhart, US aviator, disappeared over the Pacific, 1937; Ernest Hemingway, US novelist, 1961; Betty Grable, US film actress, 1973; Vladimir Nabokov, Russian novelist, 1977.
Feast day of St Thomas the Apostle, St Anatolius of Constantinople, Saints Irenaeus and Mustiola, St Leo II, pope, St Anatolius of Laodicea, St Rumold or Rombaut, St Bernardino Realino, and St Helidorus of Altino.
Events
1608 French explorer Samuel Champlain founded Québec. 1863 The Union forces, under General Meade, defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Gettysburg. 1905 In Odessa, over 6,000 people were killed by Russian troops to restore order during a general strike. 1954 Nearly nine years after the end of the World War II, food rationing in Britain finally ended. 1962 Following a referendum, France proclaimed Algeria independent. 1976 An Israeli commando force rescued 103 hostages from a hijacked aircraft, who were being held at Entebbe airport, Uganda. 1988 The USS Vincennes, patrolling the Gulf during the Iran Iraq conflict, mistook an Iranian civil airliner for a bomber and shot it down, killing all 290 people on board.
Births
Robert Adam, Scottish architect and designer, 1728; Leos Janác ek, Czech composer, 1854; Franz Kafka, Czech writer, 1883; Ken Russell, British film director, 1927; Tom Stoppard, British dramatist, 1937; Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer, 1951.
Deaths
Marie de' Medici, Queen of France, 1642; Theodor Herzl, Austrian Zionist leader, 1904; Joel Chandler Harris, US author, 1908; Brian Jones, English rock guitarist, 1961; Jim Morrison, US singer, 1971; Rudy Vallee, US singer, 1986; Joe De Rita, US comedian, 1993.
Independence Day in the USA. Feast day of The Martyrs of Dorchester, St Andrew of Crete, St Elizabeth of Portugal, St Ulric of Augsburg, St Bertha of Blangy, and St Odo of Canterbury.
Events
1776 The American Declaration of Independence was adopted. 1829 Britain's first regular scheduled bus service began running, between Marylebone Road and the Bank of England, in London. 1848 The Communist Manifesto was published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. 1946 The Philippine Islands were given independence by the USA. 1968 Alec Rose landed at Portsmouth in Lively Lady, having sailed single-handed around the world. 1991 Colombia's President Cesar Gaviria Trujillo lifted state of siege that had been in effect since 1984.
Births
Nathaniel Hawthorne, US author, 1804; Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian soldier and patriot, 1807; Gertrude Lawrence, English actress, 1898; Louis Armstrong, US jazz trumpeter and singer, 1900; Neil Simon, US dramatist, 1927; Gina Lollobrigida, Italian film actress, 1927.
Deaths
Samuel Richardson, English novelist, 1761; Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US president, 1826; John Adams, 2nd US president, 1826; James Monroe, 5th US president, 1831; Marie Curie, Polish scientist, 1934; Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player, 1939.
National Day of Venezuela. Feast day of St Antony-Mary Zaccaria, and St Athanasius the Athonite.
Events
1791 George Hammond was appointed the first British ambassador to the USA. 1946 A swimsuit designed by Louis Reard, called `bikini', was first modelled at a Paris fashion show. 1948 Britain's National Health Service came into operation. 1965 Maria Callas, at the age of 41, gave her last stage performance singing Tosca at Covent Garden, London. 1967 Israel annexed Gaza. 1969 The Rolling Stones gave a free concert in Hyde Park two days after the death of guitarist Brian Jones; it was attended by 250,000 people. 1980 Bjorn Borg won the Wimbledon singles championship for a record fifth consecutive time. 1989 Convicted for his involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, US Army Colonel Oliver North was fined $150,000 and given a suspended sentence.
Births
Sarah Siddons, English actress, 1755; Cecil Rhodes, South African statesman, 1853; Dwight Davis, US statesman, 1879; Jean Cocteau, French poet, novelist, artist, and film director, 1889; Georges Pompidou, French statesman, 1911; Elizabeth Emanuel, English dress designer, 1953.
Deaths
Thomas Stamford Raffles, British colonial administrator, 1826; Austen Henry Layard, British archaeologist, 1894; Georges Bernanos, French author, 1948; Thomas Joseph Mboya, Kenyan statesman, 1969; Walter Adolph Gropius, US architect, 1969; Georgette Heyer, English novelist, 1974.
National day of Malawi. Feast day of St Romulus of Fiesole, St Dominica, St Mary Goretti, St Goar, St Modwenna, St Godeleva, St Sexburga, and St Sisoes.
Events
1535 Sir Thomas More was beheaded on London's Tower Hill for treason. 1553 Mary I acceded to the throne, becoming the first queen to rule England in her own right. 1685 James II defeated the Duke of Monmouth, claimant to the throne, at the Battle of Sedgemoor, the last battle to be fought on English soil. 1892 Britain's first non-white MP was elected Dadabhai Naoraji won the Central Finsbury seat. 1928 The first all-talking feature film, Lights of New York, was presented at the Strand Theatre in New York City. 1965 The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night was premiered in London, with royal attendance. 1988 An explosion aboard the North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha resulted in the loss of 166 lives.
Births
Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia, 1796; Bill Haley, US rock musician, 1925; Janet Leigh, US film actress, 1927; Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader, 1935; Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian pianist, 1937; Sylvester Stallone, US film actor, 1946.
Deaths
Guy de Maupassant, French writer, 1893; Kenneth Grahame, Scottish children's author, 1932; Aneurin Bevan, British statesman, 1960; William Faulkner, US novelist, 1962; Louis Armstrong, US jazz musician, 1971; Otto Klemperer, German conductor, 1973; John Bolton, English astronomer, 1993.
Feast day of St Hedda of Winchester, Saints Ethelburga, Ercongota and Sethrida, St Palladius, Saints Cyril and Methodius, St Pantaenus, and St Felix of Nantes.
Events
1853 US naval officer Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan, and persuaded her to open trade contacts with the West. 1927 Christopher Stone became the first `disc jockey' on British radio when he presented his `Record Round-up' from Savoy Hill. 1929 The Vatican City State, with the pope as its sovereign, came into being through the Lateran Treaty. 1982 Queen Elizabeth II was woken by a strange man sitting on her bed in Buckingham Palace; the presence of the intruder, who merely asked her for a cigarette, raised concerns about Palace security. 1985 The unseeded 17-year-old Boris Becker became the youngest ever men's singles champion at Wimbledon. 1990 Martina Navratilova won a record ninth Wimbledon singles title.
Births
Marc Chagall, Russian painter and designer, 1887; George Cukor, US film director, 1899; Vittorio de Sica, Italian film director, 1901; Pierre Cardin, French fashion designer, 1922; Ringo Starr, English drummer, 1940; Tony Jacklin, English golfer, 1944.
Deaths
King Edward I, 1307; Giacomo da Vignola, Italian architect, 1573; R B Sheridan, English dramatist, 1816; Georg Ohm, German physicist, 1854; Arthur Conan Doyle, British author, 1930; Flora Robson, British actress, 1984.
Feast day of St Adrian III, pope, St Raymund of Toulouse, Saints Aquila and Prisca or Priscilla, St Kilian and his Companions, St Sunniva and her Companions, St Withburga, St Grimbald, and St Procopius of Caesarea.
Events
1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama left Lisbon for a voyage on which he discovered the Cape route to India. 1709 Charles XII of Sweden was defeated by Peter the Great's army at the Battle of Poltava, crushing Sweden's territorial ambitions. 1884 The National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) was founded in London. 1907 Ziegfeld's Follies opened for the first time, on Broadway. 1943 Jean Moulin, the French Resistance leader known as `Max', was executed by the Gestapo. 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler became the first to climb Everest entirely without oxygen. 1991 Iraq admitted to the UN that it had been conducting clandestine programs to produce enriched uranium, a key element in nuclear weapons.
Births
Jean de la Fontaine, French writer, 1621; Joseph Chamberlain, British statesman, 1836; John D Rockefeller, US millionaire, 1839; Arthur Evans, English archaeologist, 1851; Percy Grainger, Australian composer, 1882; Billy Eckstine, US singer, 1915.
Deaths
Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet, 1822; Anthony Hope, British novelist, 1933; Henry Havelock Ellis, English physician and author, 1939; Vivien Leigh, English film actress, 1967; Michael Wilding, English film actor, 1979; Judith Chrisholm, British aviator, 1988; Fred Weick, US aeronautical engineer, 1993.
National Day of Argentina. Feast day of St Veronica de Julianis, St Nicholas Pieck and his Companions, St Everild, and the Martyrs of Gorcum.
Events
1810 Napoleon annexed Holland, making his brother, Louis, its king. 1816 Argentina declared independence from Spain at the Congress of Tucuman. 1877 The first Wimbledon Lawn Tennis championship was held at its original site at Worple Road. 1922 Johnny Weissmuller, aged 18, swam the 100m in under a minute (58.6 sec). 1938 In anticipation of World War II, 35 million gas masks were issued to Britain's civilian population. 1979 In Nicaragua, General Somoza was overthrown by the Sandinista rebels. 1984 Lightning struck York Minster Cathedral and set the roof on fire, destroying the south transept. 1991 The International Olympic Committee lifted a 21-year-old boycott on South Africa.
Births
Elias Howe, US inventor, 1819; Bruce Bairnsfather, British cartoonist, 1888; Barbara Cartland, English novelist, 1901; Edward Heath, British politician, 1916; Michael Williams, British actor, 1935; David Hockney, English painter, 1937.
Deaths
Jan van Eyck, Flemish painter, 1440; Edmund Burke, British statesman, 1797; Zachary Taylor, 12th US president, 1850; King Camp Gilette, US safety-razor inventor, 1932; Randall Thompson, US composer, 1984.
`Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.' Alfred Hitchcock, reported on 10 July 1960
Feast day of St Felicity, The Seven Brothers, St Amelberga, and Saints Rufina and Secunda.
Events
1460 In the Wars of the Roses, the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton. 1553 Following the death of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England. 1900 The Paris underground railway, the Metro, was opened. 1958 Britain's first parking meters were installed, in Mayfair, London. 1962 The US communications satellite Telstar was launched, bringing Europe the first live television from the USA. 1976 Seveso, in northern Italy, was covered by a cloud of toxic weedkiller leaked from a chemicals factory; crops and 40,000 animals died. 1985 The Greenpeace campaign ship Rainbow Warrior sank in Auckland, New Zealand, after two explosions tore its hull.
Births
John Calvin, French religious reformer, 1509; Camille Pissarro, French painter, 1830; Marcel Proust, French author, 1871; Carl Orff, German composer, 1895; Arthur Ashe, US tennis player, 1943; Arlo Guthrie, US singer, 1947.
Deaths
Hadrian, Roman emperor, 138; El Cid, Spanish hero, 1099; Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, French photographic pioneer, 1851; Karl Richard Lepsius, German Egyptologist, 1884; Jelly Roll Morton, US ragtime pianist and composer, 1941; Giorgio de Chirico, Italian painter, 1978; Masuji Ibuse, Japanese writer, 1993.
National Day of Mongolia Feast day of St Benedict, St John of Bergamo, St Drostan, St Olga, and St Hidulf.
Events
1708 The Duke of Marlborough's forces defeated the French at the Battle of Oudenarde, in the War of the Spanish Succession. 1776 Captain Cook sailed from Plymouth in the Resolution, accompanied by the Discovery, on his last expedition. 1848 London's Waterloo Station was officially opened. 1950Andy Pandy, the BBC's popular children's television programme, was first transmitted. 1975 Excavations at the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, near the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an, uncovered an army of 8,000 life-size terracotta warriors dating to about 206 BC 1977 In Britain, Gay News was fined £1,000 for publishing a poem which portrayed Jesus as homosexual. 1979 America's Skylab I returned to earth after 34,981 orbits and six years in space.
Births
Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, 1274; Frederick I, King of Prussia, 1657; John Quincy Adams, 6th US president, 1767; Yul Brynner, US film actor, 1915; Peter de Savary, British entrepreneur and yachtsman, 1944; Leon Spinks, US boxer, 1953.
Deaths
Alfred Dreyfus, French soldier, 1935; George Gershwin, US composer, 1937; Arthur John Evans, English archaeologist, 1941; Paul Nash, English painter, 1946; Buddy DeSylva, US lyricist and film director, 1950; Laurence Olivier, English actor and director, 1989.
Orangeman's Day in Northern Ireland. Feast day of St John the Iberian, St Jason, Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus, St John Gualbert, St John Jones, St Veronica, and St Felix.
Events
1543 Henry VIII married Catherine Parr, his sixth and last wife, at Hampton Court Palace. 1794 British admiral Horatio Nelson lost his right eye at the siege of Calvi, in Corsica. 1878 Cyprus was ceded to British administration by Turkey. 1920 US President Wilson opened the Panama Canal. 1930 Australian batsman Don Bradman scored a record 334 runs of which a record 309 were scored in one day against England at Leeds. 1970 Thor Heyerdahl and his crew crossed the Atlantic in 57 days, in a papyrus boat. 1991 Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, was found stabbed to death in Tokyo.
Births
Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman emperor, 100 BC; Henry Thoreau, US author, 1817; George Eastman, US photographic pioneer, 1854; Amadeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor, 1884; Bill Cosby, US comedian and actor, 1937; Jennifer Saunders, English comedienne and actress, 1958.
Deaths
Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch scholar, 1536; Titus Oates, British conspirator, 1705; Charles Stewart Rolls, British engineer and aviator, 1910; Mazo de la Roche, Canadian novelist, 1961; Kenneth More, British actor, 1982.
Feast day of Saints Bridget and Maura, St Henry the Emperor, St Silas or Silvanus, St Francis Solano, and St Eugenius of Carthage.
Events
1793 Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary leader, was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday. 1837 Queen Victoria became the first sovereign to move into Buckingham Palace. 1871 The first cat show was held, organised by Harrison Weir, at Crystal Palace, London. 1878 The Treaty of Berlin was signed, granting Bosnia-Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary, and gaining the independence of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro from Turkey. 1930 The World Football Cup was first held in Uruguay; the hosts beat the 13 other competing countries. 1985 Two simultaneous `Live Aid' concerts, one in London and one in Philadelphia, raised over £50 million for famine victims in Africa.
Births
John Dee, English alchemist, astrologer, and mathematician, 1527; George Gilbert Scott, English architect, 1811; Sidney Webb, English social reformer, 1859; David Storey, English novelist and dramatist, 1933; Harrison Ford, US film actor, 1942.
Deaths
Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, 1712; James Bradley, English astronomer, 1762; Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary leader, 1793; John Charles Frémont, US explorer, 1890; Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer, 1951; Seretse Khama, Botswanan politician, 1980.
National day of France (Bastille Day), and of Iraq. Feast day of St Marcellinus or Marchelm, St Camillus de Lellis, St Ulric of Zell, and St Deusdedit of Canterbury.
Events
1789 The Bastille was stormed by the citizens of Paris and razed to the ground as the French Revolution began. 1823 During a visit to Britain, King Kamehameha II of Hawaii and his queen died of measles. 1867 Alfred Nobel demonstrated dynamite for the first time at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey. 1958 In a military coup led by General Kassem, King Faisal of Iraq was assassinated and a republic proclaimed. 1959 The USS Long Beach, the first nuclear warship, was launched. 1967 Abortion was legalized in Britain. 1972 Gary Glitter and the Glittermen (later called the Glitter Band) gave their first concert in Wiltshire. 1989 Over 300,000 Siberian coalminers went on strike, demanding better pay and conditions.
Births
Emmeline Pankhurst, English suffragette, 1858; Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish author, 1904; Woody Guthrie, US folk singer, 1912; Gerald Ford, 38th US president, 1913; Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film director, 1918; Bruce Oldfield, British fashion designer, 1950.
Deaths
Alfred Krupp, German industrialist, 1887; Paul Kruger, Boer leader, 1904; William Henry Perkin, English chemist and inventor of aniline dyes, 1907; Grock, Swiss clown, 1959; Adlai Stevenson, US statesman, 1965.
Feast day of St Swithin, St Athanasius of Naples, St Bonaventure, St Donald, St Edith of Polesworth, St Barhadbesaba, St David of Munktorp, St Vladimir of Kiev, and St Pompilio Pirrotti.
Events
1099 Jerusalem was captured by the Crusaders with troops led by Godfrey and Robert of Flanders and Tancred of Normandy. 1795 The Marseillaise, written by Rouget de Lisle in 1792, was officially adopted as the French national anthem. 1857 During the Indian Mutiny, the second Massacre of Cawnpore (now Kanpur) took place, in which 197 English women and children were killed. 1869 Margarine was patented by Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès in Paris. 1948 Alcoholics Anonymous, in existence in the USA since 1935, was founded in London. 1965 US Mariner transmitted the first close-up pictures of Mars. 1990 In an ongoing campaign of violence, separatist Tamil Tigers massacred 168 Muslims in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital.
Births
Inigo Jones, English architect, 1573; Rembrandt, Dutch painter, 1606; Hammond Innes, English novelist, 1913; Iris Murdoch, Irish novelist, 1919; Julian Bream, English guitarist, 1933; Harrison Birtwistle, English composer, 1934; Linda Ronstadt, US singer, 1946.
Deaths
General Tom Thumb, circus dwarf, 1883; Anton Chekhov, Russian dramatist and author, 1904; Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian dramatist and poet, 1929; John Pershing, US soldier, 1948; Paul William Gallico, US writer, 1976; Margaret Mary Lockwood, English film actress, 1990.
Feast day of St Mary Magdalen Postel, St Fulrad, St Athenogenes, St Helier, St Eustathius of Antioch, and St Reineldis.
Events
622 Traditionally, the beginning of the Islamic Era, when Mohammed began his flight (the Hejira) from Mecca to Medina. 1661 Europe's first banknotes were issued, by the Bank of Stockholm. 1782 Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail was first performed, in Vienna. 1918 The last tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, along with his entire family, family doctor, servants, and even the pet dog, was murdered by Bolsheviks at Ekaterinburg. 1945 The first atomic bomb developed by Robert Oppenheimer and his team at Los Alamos was exploded in New Mexico. 1965 The Mont Blanc road tunnel, linking France with Italy, was opened. 1990 An earthquake struck the main Philippine island of Luzon, killing over 1,500 people.
Births
Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter, 1486; Joshua Reynolds, English painter, 1723; Roald Amundsen, Norwegian polar explorer, 1872; Barbara Stanwyck, US film actress, 1907; Ginger Rogers, US film actress and dancer, 1911; Margaret Court, Australian tennis player, 1942.
Deaths
Pope Innocent III, 1216; Anne of Cleves, 4th wife of Henry VIII, 1557; Josiah Spode, English potter, 1827; Hilaire Belloc, British author, 1953; John Phillips Marquand, US writer, 1960; Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor, 1989.
Feast day of The Seven Apostles of Bulgaria, St Clement of Okhrida and his Companions, St Leo IV, pope, St Ennodius, St Kenelm, St Speratus and his Companions, St Marcellina, and St Nerses Lampronazi.
Events
1453 With the defeat of the English at the Battle of Castillon, the Hundred Years' War between France and England came to an end. 1841 The first issue of the humorous magazine Punch was published in London. 1917 The British royal family changed their name from `House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha' to `House of Windsor'. 1945 The Potsdam Conference of Allied leaders Truman, Stalin, and Churchill (later replaced by Attlee) began. 1975 The US Apollo spacecraft and the Russian Soyuz craft successfully docked while in orbit. 1981 The Humber Estuary Bridge, the world's longest single-span structure, was officially opened by the Queen. 1990 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein threatened to use force against Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, to stop them driving oil prices down by overproduction.
Births
Maxim Litvinov, Soviet leader, 1876; Erle Stanley Gardner, US novelist, 1889; James Cagney, US film actor, 1899; Phyllis Diller, US comedienne, 1917; Donald Sutherland, Canadian film actor, 1935; Wayne Sleep, British dancer and choreographer, 1948.
Deaths
Adam Smith, Scottish economist, 1790; Charlotte Corday, murderess of Marat, executed, 1793; James McNeill Whistler, US painter, 1903; Dragolub Mihajlovic, Serbian nationalist, executed, 1946; Billy Holiday, US jazz singer, 1959.
National day of Spain. Feast day of St Bruno of Segni, St Pambo, St Arnoul or Arnulf of Metz, and St Frederick of Utrecht.
Events
64 The great fire began in Rome and lasted for nine days. 1870 The Vatican Council proclaimed the Dogma of Papal Infallibility in matters of faith and morals. 1923 Under the Matrimonial Causes Bill, British women were given equal divorce rights with men. 1925 Mein Kampf, Hitler's political testament, was published. 1936 The Spanish Civil War began with an army revolt led by Francisco Franco against the Republican government. 1955 Disneyland, the 160-acre amusement park, opened near Anaheim, California. 1984 In San Ysidro, California, a security guard walked into a McDonalds and began shooting randomly, killing 20 people and wounding 16.
Births
Gilbert White, English naturalist, 1720; W M Thackeray, English novelist and poet, 1811; Nelson Mandela, South African politician, 1918; John Glenn, US astronaut and politician, 1921; Richard Branson, British entrepreneur, 1950; Nick Faldo, English golfer, 1957.
Deaths
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Italian painter, 1610; Antoine Watteau, French painter, 1721; Peter III, Tsar of Russia, murdered, 1762; Jane Austen, English novelist, 1817; Thomas Cook, British pioneer travel agent, 1892; Jack Hawkins, British film actor, 1973; Jean Negulesco, Romanian-born US film director, 1993.
Feast day of Saints Justa and Rufina, St Ambrose Autpert, St Macrina the Younger, St Arsenius the Great, St James of Nisibia, St Symmachus, pope, and St John Plesington.
Events
1545 The Mary Rose, the pride of Henry VIII's battle fleet, keeled over and sank in the Solent with the loss of 700 lives. (The ship was raised 11 Oct 1982 to be taken to Portsmouth Dockyard.) 1837 Brunel's 70 m/236 ft steamship, the Great Western, was launched at Bristol. 1848 At a convention in Seneca Falls, New York, female rights campaigner Amelia Bloomer introduced `bloomers' to the world. 1903 The first Tour de France cycle race was won by Maurice Garin. 1949 Laos gained independence. 1991 A major political scandal erupted in South Africa after the government admitted that it had made secret payments to the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party.
Births
Samuel Colt, US inventor, 1814; Edgar Degas, French painter, 1834; Lizzie Borden, alleged US axe murderess, 1860; Charles Horace Mayo, US physician, 1865; A J Cronin, Scottish novelist, 1896; Ilie Nastase, Romanian tennis player, 1946.
Deaths
Petrarch, Italian poet, 1374; Matthew Flinders, English navigator and explorer of Australia, 1814; Tom Hayward, English cricketer, 1939; Syngman Rhee, Korean politician, 1965; Clarence White, US pop guitarist, 1973; Szymon Goldberg, Polish-born violinist and conductor, 1993.
National day of Colombia Feast day of St Margaret of Antioch, St Elias of Jerusalem, St Ansegisus, St Aurelius of Carthage, St Flavian of Antioch, St Wulmar, St Gregory Lopez, St Wilgefortis or Liberata, and St Joseph Barsabas the Just.
Events
1837 London's first railway station, Euston, was opened. 1845 Charles Sturt became the first European to enter Simpson's Desert in central Australia. 1885 Professional football was legalized in Britain. 1940 In the USA, Billboard published the first singles-record charts. 1944 German staff officer Colonel von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler, in Rastenburg, Germany. 1968 During a BBC radio interview, actress Jane Asher announced that her engagement to Beatle Paul McCartney was off; he was not the first to find out. 1975 After an 11-month journey, the US uncrewed Viking 1 made a soft landing on Mars.
Births
Petrarch, Italian poet, 1304; Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviator, 1873; John Reith, Scottish engineer and 1st director general of the BBC, 1889; Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, 1919; Jacques Delors, French politician, 1925; Diana Rigg, English actress, 1938.
Deaths
Pope Leo XIII, 1903; Andrew Lang, Scottish historian and folklore scholar, 1912; Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, 1937; Ian Macleod, British statesman, 1970; Bruce Lee, US `Chinese Western' actor, 1973; Harry Worth, English comedian, 1989.
National day of Belgium. Feast day of St Laurence of Brindisi, St Victor of Marseilles, St Arbogastes, and St Praxedes.
Events
1798 The Battle of the Pyramids took place, in which Napoleon, soon after his invasion of Egypt, defeated an army of some 60,000 Mamelukes. 1861 The Confederates defeated the Union troops in the first Battle of Bull Run, in the American Civil War. 1897 London's Tate Gallery, built on the site of the Millbank Prison, was opened. 1944 Guam, in the western Pacific, which had been under Japanese occupation since Dec 1941, was retaken by US Marines. 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike replaced her murdered husband as prime minister of Sri Lanka, becoming the first woman to hold this office. 1969 The lunar module Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and US astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin took their first exploratory walk. 1990 More than 150,000 people attended `The Wall', a large-scale concert staged by rock performers in East Berlin to celebrate the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.
Births
Paul Julius von Reuter, German news agency founder, 1816; Ernest Hemingway, US novelist, 1899; Kay Starr, US singer, 1922; Norman Jewison, canadian film director, 1926; Jonathan Miller, English TV, film and theatre director, 1934; Cat Stevens, English rock singer and songwriter, 1948.
Deaths
Robert Burns, Scottish poet, 1796; Ellen Tracy, English actress, 1928; George Macaulay Trevelyan, British historian, 1962; Albert Luthuli, South African politician, 1967; Basil Rathbone, English actor, 1967.
National Day of Poland. Feast day of St Mary Magdalen, St Joseph of Palestine, St Philip Evans, St Vandrille or Wandregesilus, and St John Lloyd.
Events
1812 The Duke of Wellington defeated the French in the Battle of Salamanca, in Spain. 1933 Wiley Post completed the first around the world solo aeroplane flight the journey took 7 days, 18 hrs and 49.5 min. 1934 US bank robber and `public enemy no 1', John Dillinger, was gunned down by an FBI squad in Chicago. 1946 Bread rationing started in Britain. 1976 The musical show A Chorus Line was staged in London for the first time. 1991 Prime Minister John Major unveiled the government's `Citizen's Charter' aimed at improving public services.
Births
Philip I, King of Spain, 1478; Gregor Mendel, Austrian monk and botanist, 1822; Selman Abraham Waksman, US biochemist, 1888; Alexander Calder, US sculptor, 1898; Bryan Forbes, British author, director and producer, 1926; Terence Stamp, British actor, 1938.
Deaths
Marie François Xavier Bichat, French anatomist, 1802; Florenz Ziegfeld, US theatrical producer, 1932; Mackenzie King, Canadian statesman, 1950; Carl Sandburg, US poet, 1967; Mortimer Wheeler, British archaeologist, 1976.
National Day of Ethiopia and of The United Arab Republic. Feast day of St Anne or Susanna, St John Cassian, St Romula and her Companions, St Apollinaris of Ravenna, The Three Wise Men, St Bridget of Sweden, and St Liborius.
Events
1745 Charles Stuart, the Young Pretender, landed in the Hebrides. 1864 Dr Livingstone returned to England. 1940 The Local Defence Volunteers were renamed the Home Guard by Winston Churchill. 1952 King Farouk of Egypt was deposed by General Neguib. 1967 In the heat of the mountain stage of the Tour de France, British cyclist Tony Simpson, 29, collapsed and died. 1986 Prince Andrew married Lady Sarah Ferguson in Westminster Abbey, and was created Duke of York.
Births
Arthur Whitten Brown, British aviator, 1886; Raymond Chandler, US novelist, 1888; Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor, 1892; Michael Wilding, English actor, 1912; Richard Rogers, English architect, 1933; Graham Gooch, English cricketer, 1953.
Deaths
Domenico Scarlatti, Italian composer, 1757; Isaac Singer, US inventor, 1875; Ulysses Grant, general and 18th US president, 1885; D W Griffith, US film director, 1948; Eddie Rickenbacker, US World War I fighter pilot, 1973; Jahangir, Pakistani cricketer, 1988; Raul Gardini, Italian businessman, 1993.
Feast day of St Christina the Astonishing, St Boris or Romanus, St Declan, St Christina of Bolsena, St Lewinna, and St Gleb or David.
Events
1534 Jacques Cartier landed at Gaspé in Canada and claimed the territory for France. 1704 Admiral Sir George Rooke captured Gibraltar from the Spaniards. 1824 The result of the world's first public opinion poll, on voters' intentions in the 1824 US Presidential election, was published in the Harrisburg Pennsylvanian. 1851 The window tax in Britain was abolished. 1925 A six-year-old girl became the first patient to be successfully treated with insulin, at Guy's Hospital, London. 1990 A Catholic nun and three policemen were killed by an IRA landmine hidden at the side of a road in County Armagh.
Births
Simón Bolvar, South American liberator, 1783; Alexandre Dumas Père, French author, 1802; Frank Wedekind, German dramatist, 1864; Emelia Earhart, US aviator, 1898; Peter Yates, British film director, 1919; Lynda Carter, US actress and singer, 1951.
Deaths
Martin van Buren, 8th US president, 1862; Matthew Webb, English swimmer, 1883; Sacha Guitry, French actor and dramatist, 1957; Constance Bennett, US film actress, 1965; James Chadwick, English physicist, 1974; Peter Sellers, English actor, 1980.
`The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part ... The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.' Pierre de Coubertin, speech on this day 1908
Feast day of St Christopher, Saints Thea, Valentina and Paul, St James the Greater, and St Magnericus.
Events
1139 Alfonso I of Portugal defeated the Moors at Ourique. 1581 A confederation of the northern provinces of the Netherlands proclaimed their independence from Spain. 1909 French aviator Louis Blériot made the first Channel crossing in an aeroplane, which he had designed. 1917 Margaretha Zelle, the Dutch spy known as Mata Hari, was sentenced to death. 1943 Benito Mussolini was forced to resign as Dictator of Italy, bringing an end to the Fascist regime. 1948 Bread rationing in Britain ended. 1952 The European Coal and Steel Community, established by the treaty of Paris 1951, was ratified. 1978 The first test-tube baby in Britain was born Louise Joy Brown, at Oldham General Hospital, Lancashire.
Births
Arthur James Balfour, British statesman, 1848; Walter Brennan, US film actor, 1894; Johnny `Rabbit' Hodges, US jazz saxophonist, 1907; Annie Ross, British singer, 1930; Colin Renfrew, British archaeologist, 1937; Steve Goodman, US songwriter, 1948.
Deaths
Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Roman emperor, 306; Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, 1834; Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and inventor, 1843; Henry Mayhew, British social investigator and founder of Punch, 1887; Engelbert Dolfuss, Austrian statesman, 1934.
National Day of Liberia. Feast day of St Anne, St Simeon the Armenian, St Joachim, and St Bartholomea Capitanio.
Events
1745 The first recorded women's cricket match was played near Guildford, Surrey, between teams from Hambledon and Bramley. 1847 Liberia became the first African colony to secure independence. 1908 The US Federal Bureau of Investigation, concerned in particular with internal security, was founded. 1945 The Labour Party won a landslide victory in Britain's General Election. 1956 President Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal which led to confrontation with Britain, France, and Israel. 1958 Debutantes were presented at the British Royal Court for the last time. 1987 Cyclist Steve Roche became the first Irishman, and only the second non-continental European, to win the Tour de France.
Births
George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist, 1856; Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist, 1875; Aldous Huxley, English novelist, 1894; Stanley Kubrick, US film director, 1928; Mick Jagger, British rock singer, 1943; Vitas Gerulaitis, US tennis player, 1954.
Deaths
Samuel Houston, US general and president of the Republic of Texas, 1863; George Borrow, English writer, 1881; Eva Perón, Argentinian populist leader, 1952; Charles Clore, English financier, 1979; Averell Harriman, US statesman and diplomat, 1986.
Feast day of The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, St Theobald of Marly, The Martyrs of Salsette, Saints Aurelia, Natalia and their Companions, and St Pantaleon.
Events
1694 The Bank of England was founded by act of Parliament. 1866 The Great Eastern arrived at Heart's Content in Newfoundland, having successfully laid the transatlantic telegraph cable. 1942 The Battle of El Alamein ended after 17 days, with the British having prevented the German and Italian advance into Egypt. 1953 The Korean armistice was signed at Panmujom, ending three years of war. 1985 Ugandan President Milton Obote was overthrown for a second time, this time by a coup led by Brigadier Tito Okello. 1988 British pole-vault record holder Jeff Gutteridge was banned for life by the British Amateur Athletic Board for taking steroids.
Births
Alexandre Dumas fils, French dramatist, 1824; Hilaire Belloc, English poet and author, 1870; Anton Dolin, British dancer and choreographer, 1904; Bobbie Gentry, US singer, 1942; Alan Border, Australian cricketer, 1955; Christopher Dean, British ice skater, 1958.
Deaths
John Dalton, English physicist and chemist, 1844; William Matthew Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist, 1942; Gertude Stein, US novelist and poet, 1946; Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, 1980; James Mason, English actor, 1984; Osbert Lancaster, British writer and artist, 1986.
National Day of Peru. Feast day of Saints Nazarius and Celsus, St Botvid, and St Samson of Dol.
Events
1786 The first potato arrived in Britain, brought from Colombia by Sir Thomas Harriot. 1794 Maximilien Robespierre and 19 other French Revolutionaries went to the guillotine. 1821 San Martin and his forces liberated Peru and proclaimed its independence from Spain. 1858 Fingerprints were first used as a means of identification by William Herschel, who later established a fingerprint register. 1868 The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, dealing with citizens' rights of all races, was ratified. 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, beginning World War I. 1976 The Tian Shan area of China was struck by an earthquake which caused over 800,000 deaths.
Births
Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet, 1844; Beatrix Potter, English author and illustrator, 1866; Marcel Duchamp, French painter, 1887; Rudy Vallee, US singer, 1901; Garfield Sobers, West Indian cricketer, 1936; Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor.
Deaths
Thomas Cromwell, Chancellor to King Henry VIII, executed, 1540; Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet and soldier, 1655; Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer, 1741; Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer, 1750; Nathan Mayer Rothschild, British banker, 1836; Otto Hahn, German nuclear physicist, 1944.
Feast day of St Martha, Saints Beatrice and Simplicius, Saints Faustinus and Beatrice, St Felix, antipope, St William of Saint-Brieuc, St Lupus of Troyes, and St Olav, King of Norway.
Events
1588 The Spanish Armada was defeated by the English fleet under Howard and Drake, off Plymouth. 1900 King Umberto I of Italy was assassinated by an anarchist and succeeded by Victor Emmanuel. 1948 The 14th Olympic Games opened in London the first in 12 years, due to World War II. 1949 The first regular televised weather forecast was broadcast by the BBC. 1968 Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Church's traditional teaching on (and condemnation of) birth control. 1981 The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer at London's St Paul's Cathedral; the televised ceremony was watched by over 700 million viewers around the world.
Births
Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and politician 1805; Booth Tarkington, US author, 1869; Benito Mussolini, Italian leader, 1883; Sigmund Romberg, US composer, 1887; Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish UN secretary-general, 1905; Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer.
Deaths
Robert Schumann, German composer, 1833; Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter, 1890; John Barbirolli, English conductor, 1970; Raymond Massey, Canadian actor, 1983; David Niven, British film actor, 1983; Luis Buñuel, Spanish film director, 1983.
Feast day of St Julitta of Caesarea, St Tatwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, Saints Abdon and Sennen, and St Peter Chrysologus.
Events
1793 Toronto (known as York until 1834) was founded by General John Simcoe. 1935 `Penguin' paperback books, founded by Allen Lane, went on sale in Britain. 1948 The world's first radar station was opened, to assist shipping at the port of Liverpool. 1963 Kim Philby, British intelligence officer from 1940 and Soviet agent from 1933, fled to the USSR. 1966 England won the Football World Cup in London, beating West Germany 4 2. 1990 Ian Gow, Conservative MP for Eastbourne, a close friend and personal advisor to Prime Minister Thatcher, was killed by a car bomb at his home.
Births
Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, architect, and writer, 1511; Emily Brontë, English novelist, 1818; Henry Ford, US car manufacturer, 1863; Henry Moore, English sculptor, 1898; Daley Thompson, British athlete, 1958; Kate Bush, English singer, 1958.
Deaths
William Penn, English Quaker leader, 1718; Thomas Grey, English poet, 1771; Denis Diderot, French encyclopedist, 1784; Otto von Bismarck, German politician, 1898; Lynn Fontanne, US actress, 1983; Howard Dietz, US lyricist, 1983.
July 31
Feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola, St Justin de Jacobis, St Neot, and St Helen of Skövde.
Events
1498 Columbus arrrived at Trinidad on his third voyage. 1919 The Weimar Republic was established in post-war Germany. 1910 Dr Crippen was arrested aboard the SS Montrose as it was docking at Quebec; charged with the murder of his wife, he was the first criminal to be caught by the use of radio. 1954 Mount Godwin-Austin (K2) in the Himalayas was first climbed by an Italian expedition, led by Ardito Desio. 1965 Cigarette advertising on British television was banned. 1971 US astronauts David Scott and James Irwin entered their Lunar Roving Vehicle and went for a ride on the Moon. 1991 At a superpower summit in Moscow, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), and announced that they would be co-sponsoring a Middle East peace conference.
Births
John Ericsson, US naval engineer, 1803; Milton Friedman, US economist, 1912; Peter Nichols, English dramatist, 1927; Lynne Reid Banks, English author, 1929; Geraldine Chaplin, US film actress, 1944; Evonne Cawley, Australian tennis player, 1951.
Deaths
Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuits, 1556; Andrew Jackson, 17th US president, 1875; Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer, 1886; Hedley Verity, English cricketer, 1943; Jim Reeves, US country singer, 1964; Leonard Cheshire, British pilot and philanthropist, 1992; King Baudouin I of the Belgians, 1993.