July in History

Historical Events on July

1997 China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule. The handover ceremony is attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

1775 American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1827 Slavery is abolished in New York State.

2009 The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.

1940 World War II: The United Kingdom and the Vichy France government break off diplomatic relations.

1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles.

1940 World War II: The Vichy government is established in France.

1942 Diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union are established.

1966 The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend.

1940 World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France.

2016 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May.

1989 Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

1992 A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.

1983 The Black July anti-Tamil riots begin in Sri Lanka, killing between 400 and 3,000. Black July is generally regarded as the beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

1936 The Axis powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.

1956 Following the World Bank's refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation.

1794 French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just are executed by guillotine in Paris, France.

1980 Iran adopts a new "holy" flag after the Islamic Revolution.

Famous Birthdays on July

1961 Diana, Princess of Wales

1971 Julian Assange

1935 Tenzin Gyatso

1946 George W. Bush

1954 Angela Merkel

1982 Priyanka Chopra

1954 Hugo Chávez

1947 Arnold Schwarzenegger

Famous Deaths on July

1826 Thomas Jefferson

2012 Fritz Langanke

1804 Alexander Hamilton

1827 Augustin-Jean Fresnel

2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

1885 Ulysses S. Grant

1980 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

1794 Maximilien Robespierre

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