July 1: 1520: Spanish conquistadors led by
Hernan Cortes fought their way out of Tenochtitlan after dark.
1523: Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos became the first
Lutheran martyrs, burned at the stake by Catholic authorities in Brussels.
1766:
Franois-Jean de la Barre, a young French nobleman, was tortured and beheaded before his body was burnt on a pyre along with a copy of Voltaire's
Philosophical Dictionaryfor the crime of not saluting a Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, France.
1770: Lexell's Comet was seen closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, within 1.36 million miles.
1804: Birthday of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin (aka
George Sand), French author and playwright
1807: Birthday of Thomas Green Clemson, American politician and educator, founder of
Clemson University 1846:
Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone.
1863: Beginning of the
Battle of Gettysburg: Union & Confederate forces clashed near the small town in southern Pennsylvania when southern forces went looking for shoes.
1867:
Canadian Independence Day: Great Britain recognized the autonomous Dominion of Canada. Canadians would have an independent government but still maintain ties to the British.
1881: The world's first international telephone call was made between New Brunswick in Canada and Maine.
1896: Death of
Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author and abolitionist
1898: American forces fought the Spanish at El Caney &
San Juan Hil lin Cuba. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders were an important part of the fight.
1903: Start of the first
Tour de France bicycle race.
1908: SOS was adopted as the international distress signal.
1911: Germany sparked the Agadir Crisis by sending a gunship to Morocco.
1916: Beginning of the
Battle of the Somme. The British launched a major offensive against German positions on the western front, partly to provide some relief for the French who were bogged down at
Verdun. The British suffered horribly on this first daywith apx 19,000 killed and 40,000 wounded. To make matters worse, after 4 months of bitter fighting, they would gain only a small territory while continuing to suffer huge casualties with similar no real gains at Verdun.
1916: Birthday of
Olivia de Havilland, British-American actress
1925: Death of Eric Satie, French pianist and composer
1942: Beginning of the
Battle of El Alamein: British forces under Gen. Bernard Montgomery began a fight in North Africa against German forces under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The British would succeed in driving the Germans out of Egypt and thus denying them control of the vital Suez Canal.
1942: Birthday of
Andrae Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor
1946: The first postwar nuclear weapons test in the South Pacific.
1947: Prestigious journal Foreign Affairs published an article by "X" (
George F. Kennan) about the aims of the Soviets in postwar Europe. The essay called for a policy of containment which became America's policy during the early years of the Cold War.
1961: Birthday of Diana, Princess of
Wales 1967: The
European Community was formally created from the merger of the Common Market, the European Coal & Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.
1979:
Sony Walkman went on sale for the first time.
1991: Death of Michael Landon, American actor, director, and producer
1997:
Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese control and their nightmare began. The city was granted special privileges but the communist dictators were never happy with that as recent events have made clear.
1997: Death of Robert Mitchum, American actor
2000: Death of Walter Matthau, American actor
2003: Over 500,000 people in Hong Kong protested against new proposed anti-sedition legislation.
2004: Death of Marlon Brando, American actor
2009: Death of Karl Malden, American actor
2020: The
United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement replaced
NAFTA.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
