On This Day In History (July)

[JoGee]

(July 1)

At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese rule in a ceremony attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. A few thousand Hong Kongers protested the turnover, which was otherwise celebratory and peaceful.

[JoGee]

(July 2)

On this day in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law the historic Civil Rights Act.

[JoGee]

July 3, 2014 is the 184th day of the year 2014 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 181 days remaining until the end of this year.

[JoGee]

Jul 4, 1776:
U.S. declares independence.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king. The declaration came 442 days after the first volleys of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts and marked an ideological expansion of the conflict that would eventually encourage France's intervention on behalf of the Patriots.

[JoGee]

(July 5)

On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed "bikini," inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

(In prudish America, the bikini was successfully resisted until the early 1960s, when a new emphasis on youthful liberation brought the swimsuit en masse to U.S. beaches. It was immortalized by the pop singer Brian Hyland, who sang "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" in 1960, by the teenage "beach blanket" movies of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, and by the California surfing culture celebrated by rock groups like the Beach Boys. Since then, the popularity of the bikini has only continued to grow.)

[JoGee]

(July 6)

On this day in 1957, Althea Gibson claims the women's singles tennis title at Wimbledon and becomes the first African American to win a championship at London's All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

[JoGee]

(July 7)

On this day in 1930, construction of the Hoover Dam begins.

[JoGee]

(July 8)

On this day in 1951, Paris, the capital city of France, celebrates turning 2,000 years old.
{That should make it 2,063 years today.}

[Paula A]

Wow! I don't think I would have guessed That old or even close to 2,000!

[JoGee]

(July 9)

Wacky Wednesday: ARBITRATOR - A cook that leaves Arby's to work at McDonald's

[JoGee]

(July 10)

On this day in 1850, Vice President Millard Fillmore is sworn in as the 13th president of the United States.

[JoGee]

(July 11)

On this day in 1804, in a duel held in Weehawken, New Jersey, Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shoots his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, a leading Federalist and the chief architect of America's political economy, died the following day.

[JoGee]

(July 12)

On this day in 1984, Walter Mondale, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, announces that he has chosen Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his running mate.

[JoGee]

(July 13)

On this day in 1960, California, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts is nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Party Convention.

[JoGee]

(July 14)

On this day in 1789, Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille.