July 7

July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 177 days remaining until the end of the year.

The terms 7th July, July 7th, and 7/7 (pronounced "Seven-seven") have been widely used in the Western media as a shorthand for the 7 July 2005 bombings on London's transport system. In China, this term is used to denote the Battle of Lugou Bridge started on July 7, 1937, marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

[edit] Events

• 1456 – A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.
• 1534 – European colonization of the Americas: first known exchange between Europeans and natives of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in New Brunswick.
• 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.
• 1770 – The Battle of Larga between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire takes place.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces retreating from Fort Ticonderoga are defeated in the Battle of Hubbardton.
• 1798 – Quasi-War: the U.S. Congress rescinds treaties with France sparking the "war".
• 1807 – Napoleonic Wars: the Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia ends 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 U.S. acquisition of California.
• 1863 – United States begins its first military draft; exemptions cost $300.
• 1865 – American Civil War: four conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln are hanged.
• 1892 – Katipunan: the Revolutionary Philippine Brotherhood is established, contributing to the fall of the Spanish Empire in Asia.
• 1898 – U.S. President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.
• 1911 – The United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 banning open-water seal hunting, the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.
• 1915 – World War I: end of First Battle of the Isonzo.
• 1915 – An International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers crashes near Queenston, Ontario, killing 15.
• 1915 – Militia officer Henry Pedris executed by firing squad at Colombo, Ceylon - an act widely regarded as a miscarriage of justice by the British colonial authorities.
• 1928 – Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.
• 1930 – Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of the Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam).
• 1937 – 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.
• 1944 – World War II: Largest Banzai charge of the Pacific War at the Battle of Saipan.
• 1946 – Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized.
• 1946 – Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 spy plane prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood.
• 1952 – The ocean liner SS United States passes Bishop's Rock on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record to become the fastest passenger ship in the world.
• 1953 – Ernesto "Che" Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
• 1954 – Elvis Presley made his radio debut when WHBQ Memphis played his first recording for Sun Records, "That's All Right."
• 1956 – Fritz Moravec and two other Austrian mountaineers make the first ascent of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m).
• 1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.
• 1959 – Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.
• 1978 – The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1980 – Institution of sharia in Iran.
• 1980 – During the Lebanese civil war, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre.
• 1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1983 – Cold War: Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.
• 1985 – Boris Becker becomes the youngest player ever to win Wimbledon at age 17
• 1991 – Yugoslav Wars: the Brioni Agreement ends the ten-day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 1997 – The Turkish Armed Forces withdraw from northern Iraq after assisting the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War.
• 2002 – A scandal breaks out in the United Kingdom when news reports accuse MI6 of sheltering Abu Qatada, the supposed European Al Qaeda leader.
• 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.
• 2011 – Roof of a stand in De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Enschede which was under construction collapsed, one killed and 14 injured.

[edit] Births

• 1053 – Emperor Shirakawa, of Japan (d. 1129)
• 1119 – Emperor Sutoku of Japan (d. 1164)
• 1207 – Princess Elisabeth of Hungary Catholic saint (d. 1231)
• 1528 – Archduchess Anna of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand I (d. 1590)
• 1586 – Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English statesman and art collector (d. 1646)
• 1656 – Guru Har Krishan, Indian religious figure (d. 1664)
• 1746 – Giuseppe Piazzi, Italian astronomer (d. 1826)
• 1752 – Joseph Marie Jacquard, French inventor (d. 1834)
• 1766 – Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (d. 1815)
• 1833 – Fιlicien Rops, Belgian artist, and printmaker in etching and aquatint (d. 1898)
• 1843 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1926)
• 1848 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian politician (d. 1919)
• 1851 – Charles Tindley, American gospel music composer (d. 1933)
• 1855 – Ludwig Ganghofer, German writer (d. 1920)
• 1860 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (d. 1911)
• 1874 – Erwin Bumke, German jurist (d. 1945)
• 1884 – Lion Feuchtwanger, German dramatist (d. 1958)
• 1887 – Marc Chagall, Russian painter (d. 1985)
• 1891 – Virginia Rappe, American actress (d. 1921)
• 1891 – Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Japanese general (d. 1945)
• 1893 – Miroslav Krleža, Croatian writer (d. 1981)
• 1899 – George Cukor, American director (d. 1983)
• 1900 – Earle E. Partridge, American military commander (d. 1990)
• 1901 – Vittorio De Sica, Italian director (d. 1974)
• 1901 – Sam Katzman, American film producer (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese film producer (d. 1970)
• 1902 – Ted Radcliffe, American baseball player and centenarian (d. 2005)
• 1904 – Simone Beck, French chef (d. 1991)
• 1906 – William Feller, Croatian-American mathematician/probabilist (d. 1970)
• 1906 – Anna Marie Hahn, German-born American serial killer (d. 1938)
• 1906 – Anton Karas, Austrian zither player (d. 1985)
• 1906 – Satchel Paige, American baseball player (d. 1982)
• 1907 – Robert A. Heinlein, American writer (d. 1988)
• 1908 – Revilo P. Oliver, American academic and White nationalism advocate (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Gretchen Franklin, English actress (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian composer (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Pinetop Perkins, American blues pianist (d. 2011)
• 1915 – Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander, American novelist and poet (d. 1998)
• 1917 – Fidel Sαnchez Hernαndez, El Salvador politician (d. 2003)
• 1919 – Jon Pertwee, English actor (d. 1996)
• 1920 – Bhaktaraj Maharaj, Indian Hindu figure (d. 1995)
• 1921 – Ezzard Charles, American boxer (d. 1975)
• 1921 – Adolf von Thadden, German politician (d. 1996)
• 1922 – Alan Armer, American television producer, and director (d. 2010)
• 1922 – Pierre Cardin, French fashion designer
• 1924 – Mary Ford, American singer (d. 1977)
• 1925 – Wally Phillips, American radio personality (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer
• 1927 – Charlie Louvin, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2011) (Louvin Brothers)
• 1927 – Doc Severinsen, American composer and jazz trumpeter
• 1929 – Hasan Abidi, Pakistani journalist and poet (d. 2005)
• 1930 – John Little, Scottish footballer
• 1930 – Theodore Edgar McCarrick, American cardinal
• 1930 – Hank Mobley, American jazz composer and saxophonist (d. 1986)
• 1931 – David Eddings, American fantasy novelist (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Joe Zawinul, Austrian jazz composer and keyboardist (d. 2007)
• 1933 – Murray Halberg, New Zealand middle distance runner
• 1933 – David McCullough, American historian and author
• 1933 – Bruce Wells, English boxer and actor (d. 2009)
• 1936 – Jo Siffert, Swiss race car driver (d. 1971)
• 1936 – Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer (d. 1980)
• 1937 – Tung Chee-Hwa, Hong Kong administrator
• 1940 – Ringo Starr, English drummer and singer (The Beatles)
• 1941 – Marco Bollesan, Italian rugby player and coach
• 1941 – Michael Howard, British politician
• 1941 – Bill Oddie, English comedian and ornithologist
• 1942 – Carmen Duncan, Australian actress
• 1943 – Toto Cutugno, Italian singer
• 1943 – Joel Siegel, American film critic (d. 2007)
• 1944 – Tony Jacklin, English golfer
• 1945 – Michael Ancram, British politician
• 1945 – Matti Salminen, Finnish opera singer
• 1946 – Joe Spano, American actor
• 1947 – Gyanendra, deposed king of Nepal
• 1947 – Vνctor Manuel, Spanish songwriter and singer
• 1947 – Howard Rheingold, American critic and writer
• 1947 – Felix Standaert, Belgian diplomat
• 1947 – Rob Townsend, English drummer (Family)
• 1948 – Jean Leclerc, French-Canadian actor
• 1949 – Shelley Duvall, American actress
• 1952 – Mando Guerrero, Mexican professional wrestler
• 1954 – Rami Fortis, Israeli rock singer (Minimal Compact)
• 1955 – Len Barker, American baseball player
• 1957 – Jonathan Dayton, American film director
• 1957 – Berry Sakharof, Turkish-born Israeli guitarist (Minimal Compact)
• 1959 – Billy Campbell, American actor
• 1959 – Jessica Hahn, American model
• 1959 – Ben Linder, American engineer (d. 1987)
• 1960 – Kevin A. Ford, American astronaut
• 1960 – Ralph Sampson, American basketball player
• 1963 – Vonda Shepard, American singer
• 1965 – Mo Collins, American actress
• 1965 – Paula Devicq, Canadian actress
• 1965 – Jeremy Kyle, English television presenter
• 1965 – Jeremy Guscott, English rugby player
• 1965 – Sam Holbrook, American baseball umpire
• 1966 – Jim Gaffigan, American comedian
• 1966 – Gundula Krause, German folk violinist
• 1966 – Neil Tobin, American magician and psychic entertainer
• 1967 – Tom Kristensen, Danish race car driver
• 1967 – Jackie Neal, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1968 – Amy Carlson, American actress
• 1968 – Jorja Fox, American actress
• 1968 – Allen Payne, American actor
• 1968 – Jeff VanderMeer, American writer
• 1969 – Sylke Otto, German luger
• 1969 – Joe Sakic, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – Nathalie Simard, French Canadian singer
• 1969 – Cree Summer, American voice actress
• 1969 – Robin Weigert, American actress
• 1970 – Robia LaMorte, American actress and dancer
• 1970 – Wayne McCullough, Irish boxer
• 1970 – Erik Zabel, German cyclist
• 1971 – Christian Camargo, American actor
• 1971 – Alistair Potts, British rower
• 1972 – Lisa Leslie, American basketball player
• 1972 – Manfred Stohl, Austrian rally driver
• 1972 – Kirsten Vangsness, American actress
• 1973 – Troy Garity, American actor
• 1973 – Josι Jimιnez, Dominican baseball player
• 1973 – Matt Mantei, American baseball player
• 1973 – Kārlis Skrastiņš, Latvian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
• 1973 – Natsuki Takaya, Japanese manga artist
• 1973 – Kailash Kher, Indian singer
• 1974 – Patrick Lalime, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974 – E.D.I. Mean, American Rapper (Outlawz)
• 1975 – Tony Benshoof, American luger
• 1975 – Michael Voss, Australian rules footballer
• 1976 – Dominic Foley, Irish footballer
• 1976 – Natasha Collins, English actress (d. 2008)
• 1977 – D-Loc, American rapper (Kottonmouth Kings)
• 1977 – Felix Vasquez, American municipal employee
• 1978 – Chris Andersen, American basketball player
• 1978 – Davor Kraljević, Croatian footballer
• 1979 – Anastasios Gousis, Greek sprinter
• 1979 – Carl Breeze, British racing driver
• 1980 – John Buck, American baseball player
• 1980 – Deidre Downs, American beauty queen
• 1980 – Kaisa Jouhki, Indonesian singer (Battlelore)
• 1980 – Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
• 1980 – Dan Whitesides, American drummer (The Used)
• 1981 – Synyster Gates, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1981 – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian cricketer
• 1982 – Cassidy, American rapper
• 1982 – Mike Glita, American bassist (Senses Fail)
• 1982 – Nick Karner, American filmmaker
• 1982 – Jan Laštůvka, Czech footballer
• 1982 – George Owu, Ghanaian footballer
• 1983 – Justin Davies, Australian rules footballer
• 1983 – Ciara Newell, Irish singer (Bellefire)
• 1983 – D. Woods, American singer (Danity Kane)
• 1984 – Minas Alozidis, Greek hurdler
• 1984 – Alberto Aquilani, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladeshi cricketer
• 1984 – Marie-Mai, Canadian singer
• 1985 – Marc Stein, German footballer
• 1986 – Ana Kasparian, American radio personality
• 1986 – Udo Schwarz, German rugby player
• 1987 – Julianna Guill, American actress
• 1987 – Lena Ma, Canadian beauty pageant contestant
• 1988 – Kaci Brown, American singer
• 1988 – Lukas Rosenthal, German rugby player
• 1988 – Ilan Rubin, American drummer (Nine Inch Nails)
• 1988 – Jack Whitehall, British comedian
• 1989 – Kim Bum, South Korean actor
• 1990 – Lee Addy, Ghanaian football player
• 1992 – Toni Garrn, German model
• 1997 – Erina Ikuta, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• 2000 – Princess Purnika of Nepal

[edit] Deaths

• 1304 – Pope Benedict XI (b. 1240)
• 1307 – King Edward I of England (b. 1239)
• 1537 – Madeleine of Valois, French-born Queen consort of James V of Scotland (b. 1520)
• 1572 – King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland (b. 1520)
• 1573 – Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Italian architect (b. 1507)
• 1593 – Mohammed Bagayogo, Malian scholar (b. 1523)
• 1647 – Thomas Hooker, English-born Connecticut colonist (b. 1586)
• 1663 – Thomas Baltzar, German violinist
• 1701 – William Stoughton, American judge at the Salem witch trials (b. 1631)
• 1713 – Henry Compton, Bishop of Oxford and member of the Privy Council of England (b. 1632)
• 1730 – Olivier Levasseur, French pirate (b. 1688 or 1690)
• 1764 – William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, English politician (b. 1683)
• 1776 – Jeremiah Markland, English classical scholar (b. 1693)
• 1790 – Franηois Hemsterhuis, Dutch philosopher (b. 1721)
• 1816 – Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright and politician (b. 1751)
• 1855 – Konstantin Batyushkov, Russian poet (b. 1787)
• 1865 – Mary Surratt, American conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the first woman ever executed in the USA (b. 1823)
• 1865 – Lewis Payne, American conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1844)
• 1865 – David Herold, American conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1842)
• 1865 – George Atzerodt, German-born conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1833)
• 1878 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician (b. 1847)
• 1890 – Henri Nestlι, German confectioner and founder of Nestlι S.A. (b. 1814)
• 1901 – Johanna Spyri, Swiss author (b. 1827)
• 1913 – Edward Burd Grubb, Jr., American Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General (b. 1841)
• 1922 – Cathal Brugha, Chief of Staff of Irish Republican Army (b. 1874)
• 1925 – Clarence Hudson White American photographer (b. 1871)
• 1927 – Gφsta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (b. 1846)
• 1930 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish writer (b. 1859)
• 1932 – Alexander Grin, Russian novelist (b. 1880)
• 1932 – Henry Eyster Jacobs, American Lutheran theologian (b. 1844)
• 1942 – Thomas Xenakis, Greek gymnast (b. 1875)
• 1949 – Bunk Johnson, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1879 or 1889)
• 1954 – Idabelle Smith Firestone, American composer and songwriter (b. 1874)
• 1956 – Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886)
• 1960 – Francis Browne, Irish photographer (b. 1880)
• 1964 – Lillian Copeland, American discus thrower (b. 1904)
• 1965 – Moshe Sharett, Ukraine-born 2nd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1894)
• 1967 – Vivien Leigh, English actress (b. 1913)
• 1968 – Jo Schlesser, French race car driver (b. 1928)
• 1971 – Claude Gauvreau, Canadian writer (b. 1925)
• 1971 – Ub Iwerks, American artist, director, and cartoonist (b. 1901)
• 1972 – Athenagoras, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 1886)
• 1972 – King Talal of Jordan (b. 1909)
• 1973 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (b. 1895)
• 1973 – Veronica Lake, American actress (b. 1919)
• 1975 – Ruffian, American thoroughbred racehorse (b. 1972)
• 1976 – Walter Giesler, American football coach (b. 1910)
• 1980 – Dore Schary, American film producer and writer (b. 1905)
• 1981 – Peace Pilgrim, American pacifist and activist (b. 1908)
• 1984 – Carl Boenish, American BASE jumping supporter (b. 1941)
• 1984 – Alexander Fu Sheng, Hong Kong actor (b. 1954)
• 1987 – Hannelore Schroth, German actress (b. 1922)
• 1990 – Cazuza, Brazilian poet, singer and composer (b. 1958)
• 1990 – Bill Cullen, American game show host (b. 1920)
• 1993 – Mia Zapata, American singer (The Gits) (b. 1965)
• 1994 – Carlo Chiti, Italian race car engineer (b. 1924)
• 1994 – Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, German Luftwaffe officer (b. 1907)
• 1998 – M. K. O. Abiola, Nigerian industrialist and politician (b. 1937)
• 1999 – Captain Vikram Batra, Indian Army officer and Param Vir Chakra recipient (b. 1974)
• 1999 – Julie Campbell Tatham, American writer (b. 1908)
• 2000 – Kenny Irwin, Jr., American race car driver (b. 1969)
• 2001 – Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
• 2002 – Bison Dele, American basketball player (b. 1969)
• 2003 – Izhak Graziani, Bulgarian-born conductor (b. 1924)
• 2003 – Vlado Kristl, Croatian painter, animator and film director (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Juan de Αvalos, Spanish sculptor (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Pink Floyd) (b. 1946)
• 2006 – John Money, New Zealand-born American sexologist (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Bruce Conner, American sculptor, painter and photographer (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Dorian Leigh, American supermodel (b. 1917)

[edit] Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Ζthelburg of Faremoutiers
  • Illidius
  • Job of Maniava (Ukrainian Orthodox Church)
  • Willibald (Roman Catholic Church)
  • July 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Solomon Islands from the United Kingdom in 1978.
• Ivan Kupala Day (Belarus, Poland, Russia, Ukraine)
• Saba Saba Day (Tanzania)
• Tanabata (Japan)
• Unity Factory Day (Yemen)