History by month
July
31 days of history. Every date is an entry point to the events, births, and moments that shaped our world.
July 1
1997 Britain and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, requiring London to
July 2
1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing segreg
July 3
1775 The Continental Congress authorized a unified force to coordinate colonial resis
July 4
1776 The Continental Congress ratified a draft Thomas Jefferson composed to formally
July 5
1775 The Second Continental Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition in a desperate
July 6
1942 Anne Frank and her family slip into the hidden annex above her father's office,
July 7
1981 Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court, shattering a t
July 8
1776 Readers heard the Declaration of Independence proclaimed aloud in Philadelphia w
July 9
1877 Spencer Gore claimed victory in the inaugural Gentlemen's Singles at the first L
July 10
1940 The German Luftwaffe launched a relentless assault on British convoys in the Eng
July 11
1804 Aaron Burr's single shot shattered Alexander Hamilton's liver and lodged in his
July 12
1690 William's elite Dutch Blue Guards forced a crossing at the Boyne ford, driving b
July 13
1863 Opponents of the Civil War conscription law ignited three days of violent riotin
July 14
1789 Parisian insurgents stormed the Bastille to seize its massive stockpile of gunpo
July 15
1799 Soldier Pierre-François Bouchard unearthed a granodiorite stele embedded in Fort
July 16
1945 J. Robert Oppenheimer named this first nuclear detonation after a John Donne poe
July 17
1429 Joan of Arc's military successes cleared the path for Charles VII to claim his c
July 18
1936 Rebels led by General Francisco Franco toppled Spain's democratic government in
July 19
1848 The convention in Seneca Falls launches a formal demand for women's suffrage thr
July 20
1969 Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface to collect 47.5 pounds of moon roc
July 21
1861 Confederate reinforcements raced down the railroad to meet Union troops at Bull
July 22
1934 John Dillinger walked out of the Biograph Theater after watching Manhattan Melod
July 23
1914 Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum demanding Serbia dismantle nationalist gr
July 24
1847 Brigham Young guided 148 exhausted Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley aft
July 25
1978 Louise Joy Brown enters the world via planned Caesarean section, becoming the fi
July 26
1947 Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 into law, instantly res
July 27
1953 The United States, China, and North Korea signed an armistice agreement that hal
July 28
1914 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia after Belgrade rejects the harsh terms of
July 29
1958 President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law on J
July 30
1965 Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, creating Medi
July 31
1964 Ranger 7 smashed into the lunar surface and beamed back the first close-up photo