July 16:

1763: Birthday of John Jacob Astor

1769: Dedication of the first Catholic mission in California.

1779: Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne launched a daring attack against fortified British positions at Stony Point, NY, successfully taking the fortress from the British enabling the Americans to control the Hudson River. He earned the nickname "Mad" Anthony for is heroics, a name he carried proudly for the rest of his life.

1790: Congress declared Washington, D.C. to be the new capital of the United States.

1918: The Bolsheviks murdered the Romanov family including the former Czar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their children (Anastasia included).

1945: First successful detonation of a nuclear device at the Trinity site in New Mexico. This was the culmination of years of work by British & American scientists costing billions of dollars and based in part upon the scientific theories of Albert Einstein.

1945: Beginning of the Potsdam Conference: The Allies met to discuss the final stages of WWII. Pres. Truman met with Joseph Stalin for the first time who he told about the successful detonation of the first atomic bomb. Stalin already knew about the Manhattan Project because of his spies in America.

1969: Launch of Apollo 11, the first space flight to land a man on the surface of the moon.

1995: Amazon opened for business.

1999: John F. Kennedy, Jr. died in a plane crash.

July 17:

1955: Disneyland opened to the public.

1975: America's Apollo 18 docked with Soyuz 19 as an example of dtente in space.

1996: TWA 747 Flight #800 exploded over Long Island shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport killing all on board.

2014: The Russians shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight #17 over the Ukraine border.

July 18:

64: Rome burned. While Nero did not start the fire and probably did not fiddle during it, he did blame Christians for it and used it as an excuse for persecutions.

1792: Death of American Naval hero John Paul Jones.

1863: The 54thMassachusetts, a famous black regiment (immortalized in the film Glory), led by Col. Robert Gould Shaw assaulted Fort Wager in South Carolina resulting in a significant number of deaths including Shaw himself. They failed to take the fort but the black soldiers did demonstrate their bravery under fire.

1925: Publication of Adolf Hitler's autobiographical Mein Kampfdescribing his twisted philosophy and the measures he planned to take when he gained power. The book was stunningly prophetic in that he set out to complete much of that agenda after he did gain power.

1936: Beginning of the Spanish Civil War as a rebellion of military officers in Spanish Morocco spread to the mainland.

1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated to an unprecedented 3rdterm as president. Before, no president had ever sought a 3rdterm, following the precedents set by George Washington.

1969: Sen. Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge at Chappaquiddick on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts killing Mary Jo Kopechne and her unborn child. He escaped from the crash but inexplicably waited several hours to report the accident.

1984: A crazed gunman opened fire on a McDonald's crowd in San Ysidro, California killing 21.

1986: Video of the Titanicwreckage at the bottom of the Atlantic was released to the public.

July 19:

1553: Lady Jane Grey was deposed as Queen of England after sitting on the throne for only nine days.

1799: Soldiers in Napoleon's army discovered the Rosetta Stone which would enable Egyptologists to begin translating Ancient hieroglyphics.

1848: A women's rights convention began in Seneca Falls, New York, organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and attended by Frederick Douglass.

1943: American bombing of Rome.

July 19th, 1877 - the Championship match of the 1st Wimbledon tennis tournament
is played (only men's singles contested)

July 20:

1881: Sitting Bull surrendered to the U.S. Army.

1944: plot by German army officers led by Col. Claus von Stauffenberg to assassinate Adolf Hitler failed. The bomb planted in a briefcase exploded but the dictator survived.

1969: Moonwalk: Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon, followed by Buzz Aldrin.

1973: Death of martial arts expert Bruce Lee.

1976: NASA's spacecraft Viking 1 landed on Mars.

1977: Johnstown, Pennsylvania het by another great flood, this one killing 84 people.

2012: Crazed gunman opened fire on a crowd in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado killing 12 including a 6 year old girl.

July 21:

365: A powerful earthquake off the coast of Greece produced a tsunami that devastated Alexandria, Egypt killing aps 5,000. Modern scientists think that it was actually two quakes, the larger measuring about 8.0 on the Richter scale.

1861: First Battle of Bull Run: The first major battle of the Civil War resulted in a Confederate victory, Gen. Thomas L. Jackson earning the nickname "Stonewall", and both sides' hopes of a short war dashed.

1899: Birthday of Ernest Hemingway

1925: High School Biology teacher John T. Scopes was convicted of teaching evolution in violation of state law.

1970: Completion of the Aswan High Dam

2005: Islamofascist terrorists attempted to bomb the London subway system. Fortunately, none of the three bombs detonated.

2011: The Space Shuttle program came to end when Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center.

July 22:

1862: Pres. Abraham Lincoln discusses his plans to emancipate the slaves with his Cabinet.

1934: Notorious gangster John Dillinger, America's "Public Enemy #1", was shot to death in Chicago.

1942: The Nazis began deporting Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp.

1987: Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev announced his willingness to accept a ban on intermediate range nuclear missiles. Negotiations between the communist dictator and U.S. President Ronald Reagan eventually produced the IMF Treaty which did just that.

1991: Capture of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer

2003: Qusay and Uday Hussein, sons of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein were killed in a firefight with American forces.

2013: Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, gave birth to their first child, Prince George.

July 23:

1885: Death of former general & president Ulysses S. Grant

1914: Weeks after the assassination of the hair to the Austrian throne, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia with terms impossible to accept. Events would continue to spiral out of control leading to the outbreak of WWI.

1952: Gen. Gamal Abdal Nasser staged a military coup to overthrow the government of King Farouk.

1967: Riots began in Detroit.

1982: Three actors, including two children, were killed on the set while filming "Twilight Zone."

July 24:

1567: Mary Queen of Scots was deposed

1847: Mormons, led by Brigham Young, settled in the Salt Lake Valley.

1901: William Sydney Porter, aka O. Henry, was released from prison where he had served a three year sentence for attempting to embezzle funds from a bank.

1911: American archaeologist Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu, a settlement of the Incan civilization, in modern Peru.

1959: "Kitchen Debate": Vice President Richard M. Nixon engaged in a spontaneous debate with Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev over the relative merits of communism vs. capitalism.

1969: Apollo 11 safely returned to earth after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon.

2005: Lance Armstrong won his seventh Tour de France.

July 25:

1832: First railroad accident in U.S. history took place in Quincy, Massachusetts when four people were thrown from the train and over a cliff, resulting in the death of one.

1897: Jack London set sail for the Klondike.

1898: During the Spanish-American War, U.S. forces invaded Puerto Rico facing little resistance and only seven deaths.

1917: Exotic dancer Mata Hari was sentenced to death as a spy for the Germans.

1943: Benito Mussolini was removed from power by his own Grand Council.

1945: During the Potsdam Conference Pres. Harry S. Truman casually told Joseph Stalin about the successful detonation of the first atomic bomb. Stalin already knew about the Manhattan Project because of his spies in America.

1956: The Swedish liner Stockholmcollided with the Italian liner Andrea Doriaduring a foggy night. The Andrea Doriasank the next morning in a disaster that claimed 51 lives.

1969: Pres. Richard Nixon announced the Nixon Doctrine: America's Asian allies were responsible for their own defense.

1978: Birth of world's first "test tube" baby.

2000: The supersonic jet Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff from Charles DeGaulle International Airport outside Paris killing all on board.

July 26:

1775: The Second Continental Congress established the U.S. postal system with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster Genera.

1847: The Republic of Liberia declared its independence, the first democratic republic in Africa. Liberia had been established by the American Colonization Society for the repatriation of former slaves.

1908: Attorney General Charles Bonaparte established the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

1943: Birthday of Mick Jagger

1945: Winston Churchill resigned as prime minister of the Great Britain after his party lost an election to the Labour Party.

1947: Pres. Harry S. Truman signed into law the National Security Act, establishing much of the bureaucratic framework that would govern the early years of the Cold War.

1948: Pres. Harry S. Truman signed an executive order to desegregate the U.S. armed forces.

1956: Egyptian Pres. Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

1990: Pres. George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

July 27:

1794: Macimilien Robespierre, leader of the Committee of Public Safety and of the Reign of Terror, is overthrown by the National Convention. After the execution of Georges Danton in April, other top leaders grew increasingly concerned by the radicalism and capriciousness of the his dictatorship.

1921: Scientists in Toronto successfully isolated insulin, a hormone key to treating diabetes.

1953: An armistice was signed ending the Korean War. There has never been a peace treaty.

1974: The House Judiciary Committee recommended that Pres. Richard M. Nixon be impeached.

1996: A bomb went off at a free concert at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park killing 1.

historian said:

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July 27:

1794: Macimilien Robespierre, leader of the Committee of Public Safety and of the Reign of Terror, is overthrown by the National Convention. After the execution of Georges Danton in April, other top leaders grew increasingly concerned by the radicalism and capriciousness of the his dictatorship.

1921: Scientists in Toronto successfully isolated insulin, a hormone key to treating diabetes.

1953: An armistice was signed ending the Korean War. There has never been a peace treaty.

1974: The House Judiciary Committee recommended that Pres. Richard M. Nixon be impeached.

1996: A bomb went off at a free concert at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park killing 1.

---

Hooray for 1921

Could not agree more. I know several people with diabetes who benefit from these medical advances. Then, of course, we all are familiar with Lauren Cox.

Speaking of Lauren, we all need to pray for her since she has COVID-19.

July 28:

1868: Congress officially adopted the Fourteenth Amendment after its ratification by the states.

1914: The Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. Soon, the great powers of Europe would declare war on each other transforming a small regional conflict into WWI.

1929: Birthday of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy

1932: Pres. Herbert Hoover sent the U.S. Army under the command of Douglas MacArthur to remove the Bonus Army Marchers who had encamped upon the Mall in Washington, D.C. Destitute because of the Great Depression, these veterans of WWI were protesting to convince the government to give them early a financial bonus promised to them.

1945: A B-25 bomber got lost in the fog and crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City killing 14.

July 29:

1588: English naval forces defeated the Spanish Armada in the English Channel.

1900: An Italian-American anarchist assassinated King Umberto I of Italy.

1909: General Motors purchased Cadillac, the nation's leading maker of luxury automobiles, for $4.5 million.

1914: Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany and Czar Nicholas II of Russia, cousins, exchanged telegrams in response to the worsening international situation in the Balkans.

1921: Adolf Hitler became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the Nazis.

1958: Congressed passed legislation to create NASA. This was done in response to the Soviets' successful launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, a few months earlier.

1981: Prince Charles married Lady Diana.

July 30:

1619: The first legislative assembly in the New World was convened in Jamestown, Virginia.

1945: The USS Indianapoliswas sunk by Japanese torpedoes in shark infested waters. Only 316 of 1,196 men survived. The ship had already completed its mission of delivering parts of the atomic bombs that would later be dropped on Japan.

1956: Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law a bill that declared "In God We Trust" as the nation's official motto.

1965: Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law.

1976: Bruce Jenner won the decathlon in the Montreal Olympics.

2003: The last classic Volkswagon Beetle rolled off the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico. It was the 21,529,464thbeetle to be manufactured.

historian said:

---

July 30:

1619: The first legislative assembly in the New World was convened in Jamestown, Virginia.

1945: The USS Indianapoliswas sunk by Japanese torpedoes in shark infested waters. Only 316 of 1,196 men survived. The ship had already completed its mission of delivering parts of the atomic bombs that would later be dropped on Japan.

1956: Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law a bill that declared "In God We Trust" as the nation's official motto.

1965: Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law.

1976: Bruce Jenner won the decathlon in the Montreal Olympics.

2003: The last classic Volkswagon Beetle rolled off the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico. It was the 21,529,464thbeetle to be manufactured.

---

There is a book titled , All The Drowned Sailors about the USS Indianapolis. It's a very good read

Thanks for the tip.

July 31:

1556: Death of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order.

1715: A hurricane struck off the east coast of Florida, sinking 10 Spanish ships loaded with New World treasure and killing over 1,000.

1777: The Marquis de Lafayette accepted a commission in the Continental Army with the rank of major-general without pay.

1917: The Third Battle of Ypres began in Flanders, Belgium. The Allies launched yet another assault on German lines, a battle that would last for months and produce few resultsexcept massive casualties.

1941: Under instructions from Hitler, Hermann Goering wrote orders to Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler's immediate subordinate, to plan out what would become known as the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem, the Holocaust.

1964: NASA's unmanned spacecraft Ranger 7 took the first close range photographs of the moon.

1975: Labor organizer Jimmy Hoffa was reported missing. He has never been found since.

1715. I'm sure divers have gone down several times in search of the gold?

Some has been found, but only a fraction:

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/divers-find-4-5-million-worth-of-gold-coins-in-sunken-1715-spanish-ship-off-florida-coast

If they have a few hundred coins, that might be 1-2 chests. Each ship probably had several more. It's conceivable that the total value if it all were to be found might be several hundred million dollars.

historian said:

---

Some has been found, but only a fraction:

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/divers-find-4-5-million-worth-of-gold-coins-in-sunken-1715-spanish-ship-off-florida-coast

If they have a few hundred coins, that might be 1-2 chests. Each ship probably had several more. It's conceivable that the total value if it all were to be found might be several hundred million dollars.

---

Interesting. Thanks Historian

August 1:


1498: Christopher Columbus landed in South America for the first time.

1774: Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen.

1864: Gen. Philip Sheridan took command of the Army of Shenandoah.

1914: Days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, WWI began as Germany & Russia declared war on each other and German units crossed into Luxembourg as a prelude to an invasion of France.

1936: Opening ceremonies for the Berlin Olympics hosted by Adolf Hitler.

1943: PT-109 sank in the South Pacific. Lt. John F. Kennedy's leadership helped the 11 survivors remain alive until they could be rescued.

1944: Beginning of the Warsaw Uprising of Poles opposed to the Nazi Occupation.

1944: Anne Frank wrote the last entry in her diary.

1961: Six Flags opened their first amusement park in Arlington, Texas.

1966: Former Marine Charles Whitman climbed to the top of Texas Tower on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin loaded with guns and ammunition and began firing on people below, killing 14 and wounding 31. He was finally stopped when killed by Texas Rangers.

1975: Helsinki Final Act was signed by the U.S., the Soviet Union, Canada, and every European country except Albania.

1981: Initial broadcast of MTV.

historian said:

---

August 1

1966: Former Marine Charles Whitman climbed to the top of Texas Tower on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin loaded with guns and ammunition and began firing on people below, killing 14 and wounding 31. He was finally stopped when killed by Texas Rangers.

---

Whitman was actually killed by Austin PD officers Sergeant Ramiro Martinez and Houston McCoy.

I know Martinez was a Texas Ranger because he & his wife were friends of my parents and I went to school with his twin daughters. Maybe that was later. He also was JP in my home town. That definitely was later.

historian said:

---

August 1:


1498: Christopher Columbus landed in South America for the first time.

1774: Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen.

1864: Gen. Philip Sheridan took command of the Army of Shenandoah.

1914: Days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, WWI began as Germany & Russia declared war on each other and German units crossed into Luxembourg as a prelude to an invasion of France.

1936: Opening ceremonies for the Berlin Olympics hosted by Adolf Hitler.

1943: PT-109 sank in the South Pacific. Lt. John F. Kennedy's leadership helped the 11 survivors remain alive until they could be rescued.

1944: Beginning of the Warsaw Uprising of Poles opposed to the Nazi Occupation.

1944: Anne Frank wrote the last entry in her diary.

1961: Six Flags opened their first amusement park in Arlington, Texas.

1966: Former Marine Charles Whitman climbed to the top of Texas Tower on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin loaded with guns and ammunition and began firing on people below, killing 14 and wounding 31. He was finally stopped when killed by Texas Rangers.

1975: Helsinki Final Act was signed by the U.S., the Soviet Union, Canada, and every European country except Albania.

1981: Initial broadcast of MTV.

---

1966 I remember this so well. It was horrible. I was in the 6th grade. Even then. I couldn't believe he was on a major college campus doing this. 60's were awful

Also on this day... 1971...George Harrison and Friends ... the concert for Bangladesh....

Here is George & Slowhand with "whole my Guitar Gently Weeps"

So Kinky wrote their little ditty about the rumor about a tumor... The Ballad of Charles Whitman

Wichitabear said:

---

historian said:

---

August 1:


1498: Christopher Columbus landed in South America for the first time.

1774: Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen.

1864: Gen. Philip Sheridan took command of the Army of Shenandoah.

1914: Days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, WWI began as Germany & Russia declared war on each other and German units crossed into Luxembourg as a prelude to an invasion of France.

1936: Opening ceremonies for the Berlin Olympics hosted by Adolf Hitler.

1943: PT-109 sank in the South Pacific. Lt. John F. Kennedy's leadership helped the 11 survivors remain alive until they could be rescued.

1944: Beginning of the Warsaw Uprising of Poles opposed to the Nazi Occupation.

1944: Anne Frank wrote the last entry in her diary.

1961: Six Flags opened their first amusement park in Arlington, Texas.

1966: Former Marine Charles Whitman climbed to the top of Texas Tower on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin loaded with guns and ammunition and began firing on people below, killing 14 and wounding 31. He was finally stopped when killed by Texas Range


1975: Helsinki Final Act was signed by the U.S., the Soviet Union, Canada, and every European country except Albania.

1981: Initial broadcast of MTV.

---

1966 I remember this so well. It was horrible. I was in the 6th grade. Even then. I couldn't believe he was on a major college campus doing this. 60's were awful

---

More than law enforcement folks were shooting at the guy... a friend of mine and a couple of buddies, with Austin police permission, were loosing rounds at the Tower shooter with their deer rifles.

Definitely a different time.

August 2:


1776: Congressional delegates met to sign the Declaration of Independence, an enlarged copy prepared by a professional calligrapher. This is the one on display in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

1923: Pres. Warren G. Harding died of food poisoning while on an Alaska trip. Shortly thereafter, news would break of scandals relating to oil deposits on government lands at Teapot Dome that would taint his cabinet.

1934: After the death of German Pres. Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler combine to the two offices into one and became Fhrer.

1945: Conclusion of the Potsdam Conference

1985: A sudden thunderstorm in north Texas caused a plane to crash at DFW Airport killing 135.

1990: Iraq invaded Kuwait over border oil claims.

1992: Jackie Joyner-Kersee won the gold in heptathlon during the Olympics in Barcelona. She also became the first woman to win two consecutive gold medals in the event.