July 31st in History

30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.

1423 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant – the French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne

1492 - The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.

1498 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.

1588 - The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.

1655 - Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): the Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.

1790 - The first US patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

1856 - Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.

1932 - The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.

1941 - The Holocaust: under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."

1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.

1991 - The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles.

1992 - Georgia joins the United Nations.

2006 - Fidel Castro hands over power to brother Raúl Castro.

2012 - Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the greatest number of medals won at the Olympics.

Famous Birthdays

1143 - Emperor Nijō of Japan

1527 - Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

1737 - Princess Augusta of Great Britain

1835 - Henri Brisson, 50th Prime Minister of France

1839 - Ignacio Andrade, 25th President of Venezuela

1921 - Peter Benenson, lawyer and activist, founder of Amnesty International

1921 - Whitney Young, civil rights activist

1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, actress

1951 - Evonne Goolagong, tennis player

1958 - Bill Berry, singer-songwriter and drummer

1964 - Jim Corr, singer-songwriter and guitarist

1965 - J. K. Rowling, author

1974 - Emilia Fox, actress

1978 - Will Champion, drummer and singer

1988 - A. J. Green, footballer

1989 - Victoria Azarenka, tennis player

1992 - Kyle Larson, race car driver

July 30th in History

579 - Pope Benedict I dies

762 - Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur.

1629 - An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people.

1718 - William Penn, businessman and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania dies

1756 - In Saint Petersburg, Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly-built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers.

1898 - Otto von Bismarck, 1st Chancellor of Germany dies

1930 - In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup. Uruguay wins 4-2 against Argentina

1956 - A joint resolution of the US Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God we trust as the US national motto.

1965 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

1980 - Vanuatu gains independence.

2006 - The world's longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.

2012 - A power grid failure leaves seven states in northern India without power, affecting 360 million people.

Famous Birthdays

1549 - Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

1863 - Henry Ford, businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company

1919 - Berniece Baker Miracle, author, half-sister of Marilyn Monroe

1936 - HRH Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz

1947 - Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, virologist, discovered HIV

1963 - Lisa Kudrow, actress, writer, and producer

1974 - Hilary Swank, actress

1979 - Graeme McDowell, golfer

1983 - Nathan Carter, actor

1993 - Katie Cecil, singer, guitarist, and actress

July 29th in History

1148 - The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.

1565 - The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1567 - James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.

1693 - War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen – France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.

1836 - Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

1848 - Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt – in Tipperary, Ireland, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.

1899 - The First Hague Convention is signed.

1900 - In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.

1921 - Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

1948 - Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad – after a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, open in London, United Kingdom.

1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.

1973 - Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.

1987 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).

2005 - Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.

Famous Birthdays

1166 - Henry II, Count of Champagne

1846 - Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil

1883 - Benito Mussolini, Il Duce/Dictator of Italy

1905 - Dag Hammarskjöld, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations

1917 - Rochus Misch, courier, bodyguard, and telephone operator for Adolf Hitler, last survivor of the Führerbunker

1933 - Robert Fuller, actor

1942 - Tony Sirico, actor

1949 - Jamil Mahuad, 51st President of Ecuador

1959 - John Sykes, singer-songwriter and guitarist

1968 - Rodney Allen Rippy, actor

1973 - Wanya Morris, singer

1980 - Fernando González, tennis player

1982 - Allison Mack, actress

1990 - Matt Prokop, actor

July 28th in History

1540 - Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.

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

1809 - Peninsular War: Battle of Talavera – Sir Arthur Wellesley's British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeats a French force led by Joseph Bonaparte.

1821 - José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from Spain.

1896 - The city of Miami, Florida is incorporated.

1914 - World War I: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia after Serbia rejects the conditions of an ultimatum sent by Austria on July 23 following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

1957 - Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan, kill 992.

1993 - Andorra joins the United Nations.

2005 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.

2008 - The historic Grand Pier in Weston super Mare burns down for the second time in 80 years.

Famous Birthdays

1347 - Margaret of Durazzo, Queen consort of Naples

1746 - Thomas Heyward, Jr., signer of the United States Declaration of Independence

1860 - Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia

1929 - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 37th First Lady of the United States

1941 - Susan Roces, actress

1943 - Richard Wright, keyboard player and songwriter

1954 - Hugo Chávez, military officer and President of Venezuela

1964 - Lori Loughlin, actress

1974 - Justin Lee Collins, comedian, author, and actor

1981 - Cole Williams, actor

1990 - Simone Pizzuti, footballer

1993 - Hannah Lochner, actress

July 27th in History

1054 - Siward, Earl of Northumbria invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth.

1214 - Battle of Bouvines : Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England's Angevin Empire.

1382 - Joanna I of Naples dies

1549 - The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reaches Japan.

1694 - A Royal charter is granted to the Bank of England.

1794 - French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 "enemies of the Revolution".

1890 - Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.

1929 - The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, is signed by 53 nations.

1940 - The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.

1941 - Japanese troops occupy French Indochina.

1942 - World War II: Allied forces successfully halt the final Axis advance into Egypt.

1953 - Fighting in the Korean War ends when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.

1955 - The Allied occupation of Austria stemming from World War II, ends.

1974 - Watergate scandal: the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.

1990 - The Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Republic declares independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union. Until 1996 the day is celebrated as the Independence Day of Belarus; after a referendum held that year the celebration of independence is moved to June 3.

2007 - Phoenix News Helicopter Collision: news helicopters from Phoenix, Arizona television stations KNXV and KTVK collide over Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix while covering a police chase;

Famous Birthdays

1740 - Jeanne Baré, explorer

1777 - Thomas Campbell, poet

1866 - António José de Almeida, 6th President of Portugal

1915 - Mario Del Monaco, tenor

1938 - Gary Gygax, game designer and writer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons

1952 - Roxanne Hart, actress

1956 - Carol Leifer, actress

1969 - Triple H, wrestler

1975 - Alessandro Pistone, footballer

1977 - Jonathan Rhys Meyers, actor

1989 - Charlotte Arnold, actress

1993 - Max Power, footballer

July 26th in History

1469 - Wars of the Roses: the Battle of Edgecote Moor pitting the forces of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick against those of Edward IV of England takes place.

1533 - Atahualpa, the 13th and last Emperor of the Incas, dies by strangulation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro's Spanish conquistadors. His death marks the end of 300 years of Inca civilization.

1745 - The first recorded women's cricket match takes place near Guildford, England.

1788 - New York ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 11th state of the United States.

1847 - Liberia declares independence.

1882 - The Republic of Stellaland is founded in Southern Africa.

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

1941 - World War II: in response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.

1945 - The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election of July 5 by a landslide, removing Winston Churchill from power.

1945 - The Potsdam Declaration is signed in Potsdam, Germany.

1951 - Walt Disney's 13th animated film, Alice in Wonderland, premieres in London, England, United Kingdom.

1953 - Fidel Castro leads an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution. The movement took the name of the date: 26th of July Movement

1965 - Full independence is granted to the Maldives.

2005 - Mumbai, India receives 99.5cm of rain (39.17 inches) within 24 hours, bringing the city to a halt for over 2 days.

2009 - The militant Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram attacks a police station in Bauchi, leading to reprisals by the Nigeria Police Force and four days of violence across multiple cities.

Famous Birthdays

1678 - Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor

1802 - Mariano Arista, 42nd President of Mexico

1909 - Vivian Vance, actress

1928 - Francesco Cossiga, 8th President of Italy

1929 - Joe Jackson, manager, father of the Jackson family

1942 - Vladimír Mečiar, 1st Prime Minister of Slovakia

1943 - Mick Jagger, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

1955 - Asif Ali Zardari, 11th President of Pakistan

1968 - Olivia Williams, actress

1979 - Mageina Tovah, actress

1985 - Matt Riddlehoover, actor, director, and producer

1993 - Elizabeth Gillies, actress and singer

1996 - Tatjana Vorobjova, tennis player

July 25th in History

285 - Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler.

306 - Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.

1261 - The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.

1547 - Henry II of France is crowned.

1554 - Mary I of England marries Philip II of Spain at Winchester Cathedral

1593 - Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.

1603 - James VI of Scotland is crowned as King of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707.

1783 - American Revolutionary War: The war's last action, the Siege of Cuddalore, is ended by preliminary peace agreement.

1797 - Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain).

1799 - At Abu Qir in Egypt, Napoleon I of France defeats 10,000 Ottomans under Mustafa Pasha.

1837 - The first commercial use of an electrical telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London.

1868 - Wyoming becomes a United States territory.

1898 - After over two months of sea-based bombardment, the United States invasion of Puerto Rico begins with US troops led by General Nelson Miles landing at harbor of Guánica, Puerto Rico.

1920 - France captures Damascus.

1943 - World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by his own Italian Grand Council and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.

1957 - The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed.

1978 - Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born.

1994 - Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948.

2007 - Pratibha Patil was sworn in as India's first female President.

Famous Birthdays

1336 - Albert I, Duke of Bavaria

1848 - Arthur Balfour, 33rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1860 - Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

1894 - Gavrilo Princip, assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

1923 - Estelle Getty, actress

1935 - Barbara Harris, actress

1954 - Ken Greer, musician and producer

1967 - Matt LeBlanc, actor

1975 - Jean-Claude Darcheville, footballer

1985 - James Lafferty, actor

1987 - Michael Welch, actor

1989 - Noel Callahan, actor

July 24th in History

1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.

1411 - Battle of Harlaw, one of the bloodiest battles in Scotland, takes place.

1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and replaced by her 1 year old son James VI.

1823 - Slavery is abolished in Chile.

1866 - Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.

1911 - Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas".

1950 - Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.

1967 - During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! ("Long live free Quebec!"). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians.

1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

1974 - Watergate scandal: the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

1977 - End of a four day long Libyan–Egyptian War.

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.

1983 - George Brett batting for the Kansas City Royals against the New York Yankees, has a game-winning home run nullified in the "Pine Tar Incident".

1990 - Iraqi forces start massing on the Kuwait-Iraq border.

2001 - Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through democratic election to a different office.

2009 - The MV Arctic Sea, reportedly carrying a cargo of timber, is allegedly hijacked in the North Sea by pirates, but much speculation remains as to the actual cargo and events.

Famous Birthdays

923 - Emperor Suzaku of Japan

1561 - Princess Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern

1860 - Princess Charlotte of Prussia

1915 - Dick Sprang, illustrator

1933 - John Aniston, actor

1942 - Chris Sarandon, actor

1947 - Robert Hays, actor

1965 - Kadeem Hardison, actor

1972 - Jen Miller, actress and author

1979 - Rose Byrne, actress

1982 - Trevor Matthews, actor and producer

1987 - Filipe Francisco dos Santos, footballer

1990 - Jay McGuiness, singer

1991 - Manuel Fischnaller, footballer

July 23rd in History

1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe, France.

1793 - Prussia re-conquers Mainz from France.

1840 - The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.

1881 - The Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.

1903 - The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.

1914 - Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia will reject those demands and Austria will declare war on July 28.

1929 - The Fascist government in Italy bans the use of foreign words.

1942 - The Holocaust: the Treblinka extermination camp is opened.

1942 - Bulgarian poet and Communist leader Nikola Vaptsarov is executed by firing squad.

1952 - The European Coal and Steel Community is established.

1967 - 12th Street Riot: in Detroit, Michigan, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It will leave 43 killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned.

1984 - Vanessa Williams becomes the first Miss America to resign when she surrenders her crown after nude photos of her appeared in Penthouse magazine.

1986 - In London, United Kingdom, HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.

1992 - A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger(later Pope Benedict XVI) , establishes that it is necessary to limit rights of homosexual people and non-married couples.

1992 - Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.

1995 - Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it will become visible to the naked eye nearly a year later.

1999 - Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan is crowned King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the death of his father.

2012 - At least 107 people are killed and more than 250 others wounded in a string of bombings and attacks in Iraq.

Famous Birthdays

1301 - Otto, Duke of Austria

1503 - Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen consort of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary

1649 - Pope Clement XI

1885 - Georges V. Matchabelli, businessman, created Prince Matchabelli perfume

1895 - Aileen Pringle, actress

1925 - Tajuddin Ahmad, 1st Prime Minister of Bangladesh

1933 - Richard Rogers, architect, designed the Millennium Dome and Lloyd's building

1944 - Dino Danelli, drummer

1951 - Edie McClurg, actress

1961 - Woody Harrelson, actor

1965 - Slash, guitarist, songwriter, and producer

1970 - Charisma Carpenter, actress

1973 - Monica Lewinsky, former White House intern

1980 - Michelle Williams, singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

1982 - Paul Wesley, actor

1985 - Blake Harrison, actor

1989 - Daniel Radcliffe, actor

The line of succession to the British throne

1. HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
- Born 1948. Eldest son of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

2. HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
- Born 1982. Eldest son of HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales

3. HRH Prince George of Cambridge
- Born 2013. Son of HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

4. HRH Prince Henry of Wales
- Born 1984. Second son of HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales.

5. HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York
- Born 1960. Second son of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

6. HRH Princess Beatrice of York
- Born 1988. Eldest daughter of HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

7. HRH Princess Eugenie of York
- Born 1990. Second daughter of HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

8. HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
- Born 1964. Third son of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

9. James, Viscount Severn
- Born 2007. Son of HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

10. Lady Louise Windsor
- Born 2003. Daughter of HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

11. HRH Anne, The Princess Royal
- Born 1950. Daughter of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

12. Peter Phillips
- Born 1977. Son of HRH Anne, The Princess Royal

13. Savannah Phillips
- Born 2010. Eldest daughter of Peter Phillips

14. Isla Phillips
- Born 2012. Second daughter of Peter Phillips

15. Zara Tindall, MBE
- Born 1981. Second daughter of HRH Anne, The Princess Royal

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s descendants are followed by those of her late sister Princess Margaret, her only sibling.

The offspring of their father King George VI’s siblings then follow, with more than 60 living people descended from his father King George V, who died in 1936.

The monarchy’s website lists 40 people, though some extensive counts reach around 2,000 people eligible to inherit.
Drawn up in an era of religious strife, the Act of Settlement 1701, which sets out the succession laws, states that only Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover, the mother of King George I, can accede to the throne.

Royal birth

Kensington Palace has announced that HRH the Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a son. 8lbs 6oz. HRH Prince George of Cambridge is 3rd in line to the British throne

July 22nd in History

1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1298 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Falkirk – King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeat William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk.

1676 - Pope Clement X dies

1706 - The Acts of Union 1707 are agreed upon by commissioners from the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which, when passed by each countries' Parliaments, lead to the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1805 - Napoleonic Wars: War of the Third Coalition – Battle of Cape Finisterre – an inconclusive naval action is fought between a combined French and Spanish fleet under Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve of Spain and a British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder.

1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Peninsular War – Battle of Salamanca – British forces led by Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) defeat French troops near Salamanca, Spain.

1894 - The first ever motor race is held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The fastest finisher was the Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, but The 'official' victory was awarded to Albert Lemaître driving his 3 hp petrol engined Peugeot.

1937 - New Deal: the United States Senate votes down President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.

1937 - New Deal: the United States Senate votes down President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.

1942 - Holocaust: the systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto begins.

1943 - World War II: Allied forces capture the Italian city of Palermo.

1976 - Japan completes its last reparation to the Philippines for war crimes committed during the imperial Japan's conquest of the country in the Second World War

2003 - Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year old son, and a bodyguard.

2011 - Norway is the victim of twin terror attacks, the first being a bomb blast which targeted government buildings in central Oslo, the second being a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya.

2013 - HRH The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to HRH Prince George of Cambridge. He is third in line to the British throne

Famous Birthdays

1210 - Joan of England, Queen consort of Scotland

1510 - Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence

1713 - Jacques-Germain Soufflot, architect, designed the Panthéon

1848 - Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

1890 - Rose Kennedy, wife of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.

1931 - Perry Lopez, actor

1942 - Peter Habeler, mountaineer

1946 - Johnson Toribiong, 7th President of Palau

1954 - Pierre Lebeau, actor

1963 - Rob Estes, actor

1967 - Irene Bedard, actress

1978 - A. J. Cook, actress

1983 - Aldo de Nigris, footballer

1989 - Keegan Allen, actor

1992 - Selena Gomez, actress and singer

2002 - HH Prince Felix of Denmark, Count of Monpezat

2013 - HRH Prince George of Cambridge, 3rd in line to the British throne

July 21st in History

356 BC - The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson.

365 - A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt. The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the Richter Scale. 5,000 people perished in Alexandria, and 45,000 more died outside the city.

1242 - Battle of Taillebourg : Louis IX of France puts an end to the revolt of his vassals Henry III of England and Hugh X of Lusignan

1656 - The Raid on Malaga takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.

1796 - Robert Burns, poet, dies

1831 - Inauguration of Leopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians.

1865 - In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown.

1914 - The Crown council of Romania decides for the country to remain neutral in World War I.

1972 - The Troubles: Bloody Friday – the Provisional IRA detonate 22 bombs in central Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom in the space of 80 minutes, killing 9 and injuring 130.

1977 - The start of the four day long Libyan–Egyptian War.

1983 - The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at -89.2 °C (-128.6 °F).

2005 - Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar July 7 bombings, target London's public transportation system. All four bombs fail to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers are captured and later convicted and imprisoned for long terms.

Famous Birthdays

1620 - Jean Picard, astronomer

1858 - Maria Christina of Austria, Queen Consort of Spain

1908 - Harold "Jug" McSpaden, golfer

1926 - Paul Burke, actor

1930 - Helen Merrill, singer

1948 - Art Hindle, actor

1973 - Caroline Néron, singer, actress and fashion designer

1980 - Tailor James, model

1989 - Marco Fabián, footballer

July 20th in History

70 - Siege of Jerusalem – Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.

1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle – King Edward I of England takes the stronghold using the War Wolf.

1810 - Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.

1871 - British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.

1903 - The Ford Motor Company ships its first car.

1917 - World War I: The Corfu Declaration, which leads to the creation of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.

1922 - The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.

1940 - Denmark leaves the League of Nations.

1949 - Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war.

1951 - King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.

1968 - The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.

1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 11 successfully makes the first manned landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon almost 7 hours later. (US Time)

1982 - Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regents Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.

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

2012 - During a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, a gunman opens fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring 58.

Famous Birthdays

356 BC - Alexander the Great, King of Persia and Asia, Pharaoh of Egypt, and King of Macedonia

1868 - Miron Cristea, 1st Patriarch of All Romania

1890 - George II of Greece

1929 - Mike Ilitch, businessman, co-founded Little Caesars

1942 - Pete Hamilton, NASCAR racer

1945 - John Lodge, singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer

1953 - Dave Evans, singer

1964 - Dean Winters, actor

1973 - HRH Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway

1978 - Charlie Korsmo, actor

1982 - Percy Daggs III, actor

1985 - David Mundy, footballer

1989 - Javier Cortés, footballer

1999 - HRH Princess Alexandra of Hanover

July 19th in History

64 - Great Fire of Rome: a fire begins to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control. According to a popular, but untrue legend, Nero fiddled as the city burned.

514 - St. Pope Symmachus dies

1333 -Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Halidon Hill – The English win a decisive victory over the Scots.

1544 - Italian War of 1542–1546: the first Siege of Boulogne begins.

1545 - The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology.

1553 - Lady Jane Grey is replaced by Mary I of England as Queen of England after only nine days of reign.

1843 - Isambard Brunel's steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.

1848 - Women's rights: a two-day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.

1870 - Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

1903 - Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.

1916 - World War I: Battle of Fromelles – British and Australian troops attack German trenches in a prelude to the Battle of the Somme.

1964 - Vietnam War: at a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

1983 - The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.

1997 - The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumes a ceasefire to end their 25-year campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

Famous Birthdays

1688 - Giuseppe Castiglione, Jesuit Brother

1759 - St. Seraphim of Sarov, saint

1822 - Princess Augusta of Cambridge

1865 - Charles Horace Mayo, surgeon, founder of the Mayo Clinic

1919 - Dallas McKennon, actor

1934 - Francisco de Sá Carneiro, 111th Prime Minister of Portugal

1947 - Brian May, singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and author

1961 - Campbell Scott, American actor

1971 - Urs Bühler, tenor

1976 - Benedict Cumberbatch, actor

1981 - Nenê, footballer

1986 - Deance Wyatt, actor and dancer

1990 - Steven Anthony Lawrence, actor

July 18th in History

1290 - King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B'Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.

1334 - The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.

1389 - Kingdom of France and Kingdom of England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace; the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years' War.

1812 - The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars.

1870 - The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.

1925 - Adolf Hitler publishes his personal manifesto Mein Kampf.

1936 - Army uprising in Spanish Morocco starts Spanish Civil War.

1968 - Intel is founded in Santa Clara, California.

1994 - The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Centre) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.

1996 - Battle of Mullaitivu. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army's base, killing over 1200 Army soldiers.

Famous Birthdays

1501 - Isabella of Austria, Queen consort of Sweden

1552 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

1818 - Louis Gerhard De Geer, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden

1890 - Frank Forde, 15th Prime Minister of Australia

1909 - Mohammed Daoud Khan, 1st President of Afghanistan

1918 - Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid revolutionary, President of South Africa

1934 - Darlene Conley, actress

1938 - Ian Stewart, pianist

1942 - Giacinto Facchetti, footballer

1961 - M.J. Alexander, author and photographer

1962 - Jack Irons, singer and musician

1967 - Vin Diesel, actor

1979 - Jason Weaver, actor

1982 - Dominika Luzarová, tennis player

1985 - Chace Crawford, actor

1991 - Karina Pasian, singer and pianist

July 17th in History

1429 - Hundred Years' war – Charles VII of France is crowned the King of France in the Reims Cathedral after a successful campaign by Joan of Arc

1717 - King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians, where George Frideric Handel's Water Music is premièred.

1762 - Catherine II (Catherine the Great) becomes Tsar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia. She was the longest-ruling female leader of Russia

1791 - Members of the French National Guard under the command of General Lafayette open fire on a crowd of radical Jacobins at the Champ de Mars, Paris, during the French Revolution, killing as many as 50 people.

1856 - The Great Train Wreck of 1856 in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, kills over 60 people.

1917 - King George V issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British Royal Family will bear the surname Windsor.

1918 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are murdered by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

1918 - The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55; 5 lives are lost.

1936 - Spanish Civil War: An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently-elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain starts the civil war.

1945 - World War II: the leaders of the three Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin, meet in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.

1955 - Disneyland is dedicated and opened by Walt Disney in Anaheim, California.

1976 - History of East Timor: East Timor is annexed, and becomes the 27th province of Indonesia.

1998 - Papua New Guinea earthquake: A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 3,183, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless.

2009 - Jakarta double bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels killed 9 people including 4 foreigners.

Famous Birthdays

1698 - Pierre Louis Maupertuis, mathematician

1839 - Ephraim Shay, inventor and engineer, invented the Shay locomotive

1899 - James Cagney, actor

1915 - Fred Ball, actor

1935 - Diahann Carroll, actor

1939 - Ali Khamenei, 2nd Supreme Leader of Iran

1947 - HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay.

1949 - Geezer Butler, musician and songwriter

1954 - Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany

1957 - Fern Britton, television host

1963 - His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho

1968 - Andre Royo, actor

1975 - Konnie Huq, television host

1979 - Mike Vogel, actor

1985 - Tom Fletcher, singer-songwriter and musician

1987 - Darius Boyd, rugby player

July 16th in History

622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar.

1054 - Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the start of the East–West Schism.

1377 - Coronation of Richard II of England.

1557 - Anne of Cleves,  fourth wife of King Henry VIII dies.

1661 - The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.

1790 - The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.

1809 - The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.

1861 - American Civil War: at the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25 mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.

1931 - Emperor Haile Selassie I signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.

1935 - The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1951 - King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin I of Belgium.

1965 - The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.

1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 11, the first manned space mission to land on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1979 - Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.

1993 -The Slackware operating system is first released.

2008 - Sixteen infants in Gansu Province, China, who had been fed on tainted milk powder, are diagnosed with kidney stones; in total an estimated 300,000 infants are affected.

Famous Birthdays

1194 - St. Clare of Assisi, saint

1611 - Archduchess Cecilia Renata of Austria, Queen consort of Poland and Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania

1896 - Trygve Lie, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations

1919 - Choi Kyu-hah, 4th President of South Korea

1936 - Buddy Merrill, guitarist

1942 - Margaret Court, tennis player

1956 - Jerry Doyle, actor

1967 - Will Ferrell, comedian and actor

1968 - Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia

1976 - Anna Smashnova, tennis player

1987 - Andrew James Allen, actor

1990 - James Maslow, actor, singer, and dancer

1994 - Mark Indelicato, actor

July 15th in History

1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege.

1149 - The reconstructed Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem

1381 - John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, drawn and quartered in the presence of King Richard II of England.

1685 - Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth is executed at Tower Hill, England after his defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685.

1815 - Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.

1823 - A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy.

1910 - In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gives a name to Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.

1918 - World War I: the Second Battle of the Marne begins near the River Marne with a German attack.

1959 - The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.

1974 - In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek Junta-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d'état, deposing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as Cypriot President.

1983 - The Nintendo Entertainment System, the best-selling game console of its time, is released in Japan.

2002 - Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Famous Birthdays

1353 - Vladimir the Bold,  Prince of Serpukhov.

1553 - Archduke Ernest of Austria

1606 - Rembrandt van Rijn, painter and etcher

1737 - Princess Louise of France

1902 - Jean Rey, 2nd President of the European Commission

1918 - Joan Roberts, actress

1925 - Philip Carey, actor

1935 - Ken Kercheval, actor

1946 - His Majesty Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei

1950 - Arianna Huffington, author and columnist, founded The Huffington Post

1953 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide, 49th and 53rd President of Haiti

1972 - Scott Foley, actor

1979 - Alexander Frei, footballer

1989 - Alisa Kleybanova, tennis player

1990 - J.B. Gaynor, actor

July 14th in History

1223 - Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II of France.

1789 - French Revolution: citizens of Paris storm the Bastille.

1790 - French Revolution: citizens of Paris celebrate the constitutional monarchy and national reconciliation in the Fête de la Fédération.

1791 - The Priestley Riots drive Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution, out of Birmingham, England.

1798 - The Sedition Act becomes law in the United States making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.

1881 - Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner.

1933 - Gleichschaltung: in Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.

1933 - The Nazi eugenics begins with the proclamation of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring that calls for the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffers from alleged genetic disorders.

1950 - Korean War: North Korean troops initiate the Battle of Taejon.

1957 - Rawya Ateya takes her seat in the National Assembly of Egypt, thereby becoming the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world.

1958 - Iraqi Revolution: in Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by popular forces led by Abdul Karim Kassem, who becomes the nation's new leader.

1960 - Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild.

1969 - The United States $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation.

2002 - French President Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed during Bastille Day celebrations.

Famous Birthdays

1610 - Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

1859 - Willy Hess, violinist

1901 - George Tobias, actor

1913 - Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States

1933 - HRH Franz, Duke of Bavaria

1941 - Maulana Karenga, writer and activist, creator of Kwanzaa

1948 - His Majesty Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, King of the Zulu

1966 - Juliet Cesario, actress

1970 - Nina Siemaszko, actress

1974 - David Mitchell, comedian and actor

1975 - Taboo, rapper and actor

1977 - HRH Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden

1984 - Nilmar, footballer

1987 - Sara Canning, actress

1989 - Sean Flynn, actor and singer

July 13th in History

678 - Aisha, wife of the Prophet Muhammad dies

1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.

1558 - Battle of Gravelines: in France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines.

1573 - Eighty Years' War: the Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months

1794 - The Battle of the Vosges is fought between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.

1814 - The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established.

1863 - New York City draft riots: in New York, New York, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.

1878 - Treaty of Berlin: the European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.

1923 - The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.

1941 - World War II: Montenegrins begin a popular uprising against the Axis powers

1977 - Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ethiopian-Somali War.

1985 - The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London, United Kingdom and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as other venues such as Sydney, Australia and Moscow, Russia.

1985 - Vice President George Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon.

2003 - French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press.

Famous Birthdays

1527 - John Dee, mathematician and scientist

1590 - Pope Clement X

1608 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

1776 - Caroline of Baden, was an Electress of Bavaria and later the first Queen of Bavaria

1889 - Louise Mountbatten, Queen consort of Sweden

1922 - Anker Jørgensen, 16th Prime Minister of Denmark

1933 - Patsy Byrne, actress

1944 - Ernő Rubik, inventor, architect, and educator, invented the Rubik's Cube

1948 - Daphne Maxwell Reid, actress

1961 - Tim Watson, footballer

1972 - Sean Waltman, wrestler

1977 - Ashley Scott, actress

1979 - Libuše Průšová, tennis player

1982 - Aya Cash, actress

1988 - Tulisa Contostavlos, singer-songwriter

1988 - Steven R. McQueen, actor

1992 - Dylan Patton, actor

July 12th in History

927 - Æthelstan, King of England, secures a pledge from Constantine II of Scotland that the latter will not ally with Viking kings, beginning the process of unifying Great Britain. This is considered the closest thing that England has to a foundation date.

1191 - Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.

1543 - King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.

1561 - Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is consecrated.

1645 - Tsar Michael I of Russia dies

1690 - Battle of the Boyne – The armies of William III defeat those of the former James II.

1712 - Richard Cromwell,  Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland dies

1776 - Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

1806 - Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.

1806 - Liechtenstein was given full sovereignty after its accession to the Confederation of the Rhine.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka – German and Soviet forces engage in one of the largest tank engagement of all time.

1962 - The Rolling Stones perform their first ever concert, at the Marquee Club in London, England, United Kingdom.

1975 - São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

1979 - The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from United Kingdom.

2012 - The Turaymisah massacre kills 250 people during a Syrian military operation in a village within the Hama Governorate.

Famous Birthdays

1596 - Tsar Michael I of Russia

1803 - St. Peter Chanel, saint

1852 - Hipólito Yrigoyen, 19th and 21st President of Argentina

1854 - George Eastman, businessman and inventor of Roll film, founded the Eastman Kodak Company

1870 - Louis II, Prince of Monaco

1937 - Michel Louvain, singer

1950 - Eric Carr, drummer and songwriter

1952 - Liz Mitchell, singer

1959 - Charlie Murphy, actor and writer

1972 - Jake Wood, English actor

1978 - Topher Grace, actor

1984 - Natalie Martinez, actress

1990 - Bébé, footballer

1991 - Erik Per Sullivan, actor

July 11th in History

1302 - Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch) – a coalition around the Flemish cities defeats the king of France's royal army.

1346 - Charles IV of Luxembourg is elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

1533 - Pope Clement VII excommunicates Henry VIII of England.

1576 - Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.

1740 - Pogrom: Jews are expelled from Little Russia.

1776 - Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

1789 - Jacques Necker is dismissed as France's Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille.

1801 - French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons made his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovered another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.

1914 - Babe Ruth makes his début in Major League Baseball.

1921 - A truce is called in the Irish War of Independence

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

1943 - Massacres of Poles in Volhynia.

1960 - Independence of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

1960 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published.

1977 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

1995 - The Srebrenica massacre was carried out.

2012 - Astronomers announce the discovery of Styx, the fifth moon of Pluto.

Famous Birthdays

1274 - Robert the Bruce, King of Scots

1653 - Sarah Good, woman accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials 

1657 - Frederick I of Prussia 

1662 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria 

1751 - Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen consort of Denmark and Norway

1767 - John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States

1866 - Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine

1899 - E. B. White, writer 

1922 - Gene Evans, actor

1934 - Giorgio Armani, fashion designer, founded the Armani Company

1946 - Beverly Todd, actress

1951 - Robert R. McCammon, author

1959 - Richie Sambora, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1964 - Kyril, Prince of Preslav, Duke of Saxony

1972 - Michael Rosenbaum, actor

1981 - Andre Johnson, footballer

1986 - Raúl García, footballer

1990 - Caroline Wozniacki, tennis player

July 10th in History

138 - Emperor Hadrian dies after a heart failure at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.

1460 - Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, defeats the King's Lancastrian forces and takes King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton.

1553 - Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.

1584 - William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.

1778 - American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1850 - Millard Fillmore is inaugurated as the 13th President of the United States upon the death of President Zachary Taylor, 16 months into his term.

1890 - Wyoming is admitted as the 44th US state.

1913 - Death Valley, California, hits 134°F (56.7 °C), the highest temperature recorded in the United States.

1921 - Belfast's Bloody Sunday: 16 people are killed and 161 houses destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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

1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain – The German Luftwaffe begins attacking British convoys in the English Channel thus starting the battle (this start date is contested, though).

1966 - The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. As many as 60,000 people come to hear Dr. King as well as Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Peter Paul and Mary.

1971 - Hassan II of Morocco survives an attempted coup d'état, which lasts until June 11th.

1973 - The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.

1980 - Alexandra Palace burns down for a second time. (burnt in 1873).

1997 - In London scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the "out of Africa theory" of human evolution placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000
 years ago.

2003 - A Neoplan bus, owned by Kowloon Motor Bus, collides with a truck, falls off a bridge on Tuen Mun Road, Hong Kong, and plunges into the underlying valley, killing 21 people. This is the deadliest traffic accident to date in Hong Kong.

2008 - Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all charges by a United Nations Tribunal accusing him of war crimes.

Famous Birthdays

1419 - Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan

1452 - James III of Scotland

1509 - John Calvin, theologian and pastor, founded Calvinism.

1711 - Princess Amelia of Great Britain

1736 - Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh

1856 - Nikola Tesla, physicist and engineer

1904 - Lili Damita, actress

1923 - John Bradley, navy corpsman, one of the people raising the flag on Iwo Jima

1931 - Nick Adams, actor

1943 - Arthur Ashe, tennis player

1951 - Phyllis Smith, actress

1965 - HRH Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark

1969 - Gale Harold, actor

1970 - Jason Orange, singer-songwriter and dancer

1980 - Thomas Ian Nicholas, actor

1980 - Jessica Simpson, singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer

1988 - Heather Hemmens, actress

July 9th in History

1386 - The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.

1540 - King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.

1572 - Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum.

1745 - War of the Austrian Succession: French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after.

1776 - George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence to be read out loud to members of the Continental Army in New York, New York, for the first time.

1789 - In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.

1815 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France.

1816 - Argentina declares independence from Spain.

1868 - The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.

1877 - The inaugural Wimbledon Championships opens.

1918 - Great Train Wreck of 1918: in Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.

1944 - World War II: Battle of Normandy – British and Canadian forces capture Caen, France.

1972 - The Troubles: In Belfast, British Army snipers shoot five civilians dead in the Springhill Massacre.

1999 - Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.

2011 - South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.

Famous Birthdays

1511 - Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, Queen consort of Denmark and Norway.

1578 - Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

1786 - Princess Sophie Hélène Béatrice of France

1819 - Elias Howe, inventor, invented the sewing machine

1916 - Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1929 -King Hassan II of Morocco

1942 - Richard Roundtree, actor

1946 - Bon Scott, singer-songwriter and musician

1947 - O. J. Simpson, football player, actor

1950 - Viktor Yanukovych, 4th President of Ukraine

1965 - Frank Bello, singer and bassist

1971 - Marc Andreessen, software developer, co-founded Netscape

1982 - Maggie Ma, actress

1986 - Severo Meza, footballer

1991 - Mitchel Musso, actor and singer

July 8th in History

1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in a religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.

1497 - Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.

1579 - Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.

1663 - Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.

1709 - Great Northern War: Battle of Poltava – Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at Poltava thus effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.

1808 - Joseph Bonaparte approves the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain.

1874 - The Mounties begin their March West.

1889 - The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.

1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.

1912 - Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves.

1932 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.

1982 - Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail.

1994 - Kim Jong-il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung.

2011 - Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the US Space Shuttle program.

Famous Birthdays

1545 - Carlos, Prince of Asturias

1830 - Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg

1831 - John Pemberton, chemist, invented Coca-Cola

1839 - John D. Rockefeller, businessman, founded the Standard Oil Company

1917 - Faye Emerson, actress

1919 - Walter Scheel, President of Germany

1932 - Jerry Vale, singer

1947 - Kim Darby, actress

1951 - Anjelica Huston, actress

1968 - Michael Weatherly, actor

1981 - Anastasia Myskina, tennis player

1985 - Jamie Cook, musician and songwriter

1992 - Sky Ferreira, singer-songwriter and actress

July 7th in History

1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.

1543 - French troops invade Luxembourg.

1575 - Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland.

1585 - The Treaty of Nemours abolishes tolerance to Protestants in France.

1807 - Napoleonic Wars: the Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia ends the War of the Fourth Coalition.

1834 - In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began.

1846 - Mexican–American War: American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the US acquisition of California.

1892 - Katipunan: the Revolutionary Philippine Brotherhood is established, contributing to the fall of the Spanish Empire in Asia.

1898 - US President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.

1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Lugou Bridge – Japanese forces invade Beijing, China.

1941 - World War II: U.S. forces land in Iceland, taking over from an earlier British occupation.

1941 - World War II: Beirut is occupied by Free France and British troops.

1946 - Mother Francesca S. Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized.

1958 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.

1978 - The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.

1981 - US President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States

1985 - Boris Becker becomes the youngest player ever to win Wimbledon at age 17

2005 - A series of four explosions occurs on London's transport system killing 56 people including four alleged suicide bombers and injuring over 700 others.

Famous Birthdays

1053 - Emperor Shirakawa of Japan

1119 - Emperor Sutoku of Japan

1207 - St. Elizabeth of Hungary

1917 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador

1930 - His Eminence Theodore Edgar McCarrick, Cardinal

1940 - Ringo Starr, singer-songwriter, musician, and actor

1947 - David Hodo, singer

1960 - Kevin A. Ford, astronaut

1971 - Christian Camargo, actor

1982 - Nick Karner, actor and director

1987 - Julianna Guill, actress

2000 - Princess Purnika of Nepal

July 6th in History

1189 - Richard I "the Lionheart" acceded to the English throne.

1415 - Jan Hus was burned at the stake.

1483 - Richard III was crowned King of England.

1535 - Sir Thomas More was executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.

1557 - King Philip II of Spain, consort of Queen Mary I of England, set out from Dover to war with France, which eventually resulted in the loss of the City of Calais, the last English possession on the continent, and Mary I never seeing her husband again.

1560 - The Treaty of Edinburgh was signed by Scotland and England.

1630 - Thirty-Years War: 4,000 Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus landed in Pomerania, Germany.

1785 - The dollar was unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.

1887 - David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was forced at gunpoint by Americans to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.

1939 - Holocaust: the last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany were closed.

1942 - Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

1962 - The Late Late Show, the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, aired on RTÉ One for the first time.

1964 - Malawi declared its independence from the United Kingdom.

1966 - Malawi became a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President.

1967 - Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invaded Biafra, beginning the war.

1975 - The Comoros declared independence from France.

1995 - In the Bosnian War, under the command of General Ratko Mladić, Serbia began its attack on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, and killed more than 8000 Bosniaks, in what then- UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called "the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War".

Famous Birthdays

1623 - Jacopo Melani, composer and violinist

1782 - Maria Luisa of Spain, Duchess of Lucca

1789 - María Isabella of Spain, Infanta of Spain and the Queen of the Two Sicilies.

1796 - Tsar Nicholas I of Russia

1832 - Maximilian I of Mexico, only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.

1868 - Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, daughter of Edward VII of the United Kingdom

1907 - George Stanley, designer of the flag of Canada

1914 - Vince McMahon, Sr., founded WWE

1921 - Nancy Reagan, actress, 40th First Lady of the United States

1923 - Wojciech Jaruzelski, 1st President of Poland

1935 -  His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, The14th Dalai Lama

1940 - Nursultan Nazarbayev, 1st President of Kazakhstan

1946 - George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States

1956 - Casey Sander, actor

1966 - Brian Posehn, actor

1978 - Tamera Mowry, actress

1978 - Tia Mowry, actress

1986 - David Karp, businessman, founded Tumblr

1987 - Kate Nash, singer-songwriter

1990 - Jeremy Suarez, actor

July 5th in History

1295 - Scotland and France formed an alliance, the so-called "Auld Alliance", against England.

1594 - Portuguese forces under the command of Pedro Lopes de Sousa began an unsuccessful invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy during the Campaign of Danture in Sri Lanka

1610 - John Guy set sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.

1687 - Isaac Newton published Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

1775 - The Second Continental Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition.

1803 - The Convention of Artlenburg was signed, leading to the French occupation of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).

1809 - The Battle of Wagram, the largest of the Napoleonic Wars, was fought.

1811 - Venezuela declared independence from Spain.

1865 - The Salvation Army was founded in the East End of London, England.

1884 - Germany took possession of Cameroon.

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

1945 - World War II: The liberation of the Philippines was declared.

1948 - National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom

1962 - Algeria became independent from France.

1975 - Cape Verde gained its independence from Portugal.

1995 - Armenia adopted its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union.

1996 - Dolly the sheep became the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

2004 - The first Indonesian presidential election was held.

2009 - The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, was found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England.

2012 - The Shard in London was inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft)

Famous Birthdays

1321 - Joan of The Tower, Queen consort of David II of Scotland

1554 - Elisabeth of Austria, Queen consort of France

1717 - Peter III of Portugal

1805 - Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I,  Emperor of the French

1905 - Myles Horton, educator and activist

1911 - Georges Pompidou, Prime Minister and President of France

1928 - Katherine Helmond, actress

1954 - Jimmy Crespo, guitarist and songwriter

1956 - Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay

1966 - Claudia Wells, actress

1977 - Nicolas Kiefer, tennis player

1979 - Shane Filan, singer-songwriter

1981 - Ryan Hansen, actor

1982 - Joey Foster, racing driver

1992 - Chiara Scholl, tennis player