JULY
1st
1863- The Battle of Gettysburg began during the American Civil War.
1966- Medicare federal insurance program went into effect.
2nd
1917- A race riot occurred in St. Louis, Missouri resulting in an estimated 75 African Americans killed and hundreds injured. To protest the violence against blacks W.E.B. DuBois and James Weldon Johnson later led a silent march down Fifth Avenue in New York.
1964- The Civil Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
3rd
1863- The Battle of Gettysburg ended, with a Union victory.
1819- The Bank of Savings becomes the first savings bank in the U.S.
4th
1776- The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence.
1826, 1831- Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Monroe died.
5th
1865- The Salvation Army was founded in London.
1954- Rock and Roll is born when Elvis records That’s all Right.
6th
1785- The dollar becomes the monetary unit for the USA.
1917- A vaccine against rabies is proven by Louis Pasteur.
7th
1898- The Untied States annexed Hawaii.
1922- The Reader’s Digest was founded.
8th
1889- The first issue of Wall Street Journal is published.
1969- U.S. troop withdrawal begins in Vietnam.
9th
1922- Johnny Weissmuller is the first to swim the 100 meters freestyle in under 1 minute.
1968- US patent #3,392,261 for the "Portable Beam Generator," also known as a hand-held laser ray gun, was granted to inventor, Frederick R. Schollhammer.
10th
1918- World News Tonight premieres on ABC.
1999- The U.S. Women’s soccer team won the world cup.
11th
1893- HOOD'S Sarsaparilla CIH & CO Compound Extract was trademark registered.
1990- Bill Atkinson, the inventor of HyperCard software, left Apple Computers along with Andy Hertzfeld, co-inventor of the Apple Macintosh, and started a new company called General Magic.
12th
1862- Congress authorized the Medal of Honor.
1933- Congress passes the first minimum wage law in the US at 33 cents per hour.
13th
1787- Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance establishing formal procedures for transforming territories into states. It provided for the eventual establishment of three to five states in the area north of the Ohio River, to be considered equal with the original 13. The Ordinance included a Bill of Rights that guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest.
1967- Race riots break out in Newark leaving 27 dead.
14th
1965- Mariner 4 takes the first close-up photos of another planet, Mars.
1881- William H. Bonney “Billy the Kid” was shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
15th
1975- The Detroit Tigers name is trademark registered.
1985- Aldus PageMaker , the first desktop publishing program, was first shipped for sale to consumers, invented by Paul Brainard.
16th
African American journalist and anti-lynching crusader Ida B Wells (1862-1931) was born to slaves at Holly Springs, Missouri. Following the Civil War, as lynching became prevalent Wells traveled extensively, founding Anti-lynching societies and black women’s clubs.
1878- Thaddeus Hyatt was granted a patent for reinforced concrete.
17th
1955- Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.
1945- Atom bomb was successfully tested.
18th
1847- Elias Howe invented the sewing machine.
1986- Video of Titanic wreckage was released.
19th
1848- A women’s rights convention was held at Seneca Falls, New York Topics discussed included voting rights, property rights, and divorce. The convention marked the beginning of an organized women’s rights movement in the U.S.
1921- The name Breyers Ice Cream was trademark registered
20th
1969- A global audience watched on television as Apollo Astronaut Neil Armstrong took his first step onto the moon. As he stepped onto the moon’s surface he proclaimed, “ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” – inadvertently omitting an “a” before “man” and slightly changing the meaning.
1865- The Patent Act of 1865 directed the Commissioner of Patents to turn over patent fees to the Treasury and meet expenses through Congressional appropriations
21st
1861- In the American Civil War, the first Battle of Bull Run was fought at Manassas, VA.
1875- Mark Twain's novel "The Adventure of Tom Sawyer" was copyright registered.
22nd
1933- Wiley Post becomes first person to fly solo around the world.
1873- Louis Pasteur received a patent for the manufacture of beer and treatment of yeast.
23rd
1829- The typewriter is invented.
1906- The song "America the Beautiful" was copyright registered by Katharine Lee Bates.
24th
1956- A patent for an oral form of the antibiotic Penicillin was granted to Ernst Brandl and Hans Margreiter.
1898- American pilot Amelia Earhart (1898-1937) was born in Atchison, Kansas. She became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and to fly solo from Hawaii to California. She perished during a flight from New Guinea to Howland Island over the Pacific Ocean on July 3, 1937.
25th
1909- The world's first international overseas airplane flight was achieved by Louis Bleriot in a small monoplane. After asking, "Where is England?" he took off from France and landed in England near Dover, where he was greeted by British police.
1898- During the Spanish-American War, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico, which was then a Spanish colony. In 1917, Puerto Ricans became American citizens and Puerto Rico became an unincorporated territory of the U.S. Partial self-government was granted in 1947 allowing citizens to elect their own governor. In 1951, Puerto Ricans wrote their own constitution and elected a non-voting commissioner to represent them in Washington.
26th
1775- U.S. Postal System was established.
1945- The U.S. Cruiser Indianapolis arrived at Tinian Island in the Marianas with an unassembled Atomic bomb, met by scientists ready to complete the assembly.
27th
1789- United States State Department was established.
1949- First jet makes test flight.
28th
1868- The 14th Amendment adopted (post-Civil War Amendment intended to secure rights for former slaves)
1932- The Bonus March eviction in Washington, D.C., occurred as U.S. Army troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower and Major George S. Patton, attacked and burned the encampments of unemployed World War I veterans. About 15,000 veterans had marched on Washington, demanding payment of a war bonus they had been promised. After two months' encampment in Washington's Anacostia Flats, President Herbert Hoover ordered forced eviction of the bonus marchers by the U.S. Army.
29th
1958- NASA was created.
1883- Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was born in Dovia, Italy. He ruled Italy from 1922-1943, first as prime minister and then as "Il Duce," the absolute dictator.
30th
1928- The first color motion pictures were exhibited.
1933- The Monopoly board game was copyright registered. Charles Darrow, became the first millionaire game designer after he sold his patent to Parker Brothers.
1863- Automotive pioneer Henry Ford (1863-1947) was born in Dearborn Township, Michigan. He developed an assembly-line production system and introduced a $5-a-day wage for automotive workers. "History is bunk," he once said.
31st
1790- The U.S. Patent Office first opened its doors. The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont for a new method of making pearlash and potash. The patent was signed by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
1776- During the American Revolution, Francis Salvador became the first Jew to die in the conflict. He had also been the first Jew elected to office in Colonial America, voted a member of the South Carolina Provincial Congress in January 1775.