July 7
1438: King Charles VII issues
the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges stating that a General Church Council with superior power to the Pope must be
held every 10 years.
1891: Marcellus F. Berry, an American Express employee is granted four copyrights for what he called “the travelers cheque.”
1958: William Shea outlines plans for a $12M stadium at Flushing Meadows, New York.
1981: The solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, successfully completes a 163 mile flight across the English Channel.
July 8
1693: NYC authorizes 1st police uniforms in American colonies.
1776: Colonel John Nixon gives the 1st public reading of the
Declaration of Independence
to an assemblage of citizens in Philadelphia.
1923: Warren G. Harding
becomes 1st sitting US President to visit Alaska (Metlakahtla) .
1947: Reports are broadcast
that a UFO has crash landed
in Roswell, New Mexico.
1986: Farthest thrown object-an “Aerobie” flying ring, 383 m (1,257′).
July 9
1893: Daniel Williams repairs the torn pericardium of a knife wound patient, James Cornish, without penicillin or blood
transfusion.
1941: Dutch-American Physicist Abraham Pais is awarded his Ph.D. in Holland five days before a Nazi deadline banning Jews from receiving degrees.
1955: The Russell-Einstein
Manifesto is released by Bertrand Russell in London on the need to avoid nuclear war.
1968: 15.68″ (39.83 cm) of
rainfall, Columbus, Mississippi (state 24-hour record).
July 10
1553: Lady Jane Grey,
daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, proclaimed Queen of England, succeeds Edward VI, who proclaimed his half-sisters illegitimate. Reigns for nine days.
1866: Indelible pencil patented by Edson P. Clark, Northampton, Massachusetts.
1913: World’s official highest recorded temperature at
Greenland Ranch, Death Valley, California at 134 °F (56.7 °C).
July 11
1859: Big Ben’s second and
current bell first chimes from inside the Clock Tower.
1892: US Patent Office says
Joseph Swan rather than
Thomas Edison, invented the electric light carbon for the
incandescent lamp.
1948: 1st air bombing of
Jerusalem.
1976: In pre-game promo at
Atlanta County Stadium, 34
couples wed at homeplate
followed by Championship
Wrestling “Headlocks &
Wedlocks.”
July 12
1774: Citizens of Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, pass a symbolic declaration of independence.
1861: Wild Bill Hickok reputed to have shot and killed David McCanles, possibly his first kill. Hickok later acquitted after found he acted in self defense.
1916: 3rd and 4th of 4 fatal
Jersey Shore shark attacks occurs at Matawan Creek when epileptic Lester Stilwell (11) is dragged into a creek and Watson Fisher (24), believing Silwell had a
seizure, is bitten while retrieving the body and subsequently bleeds to death
July 13
1837: Queen Victoria is 1st
monarch to live in present
Buckingham Palace.
1960: US Democratic convention nominates JFK as presidential candidate.
2008: Brewing company
InBev announces deal to buy American brewer Anheuser-Busch for almost $52 billion.
Montana State Capitol—July 4, 1899
With great fanfare,
the cornerstone for the
Montana State Capitol was dedicated on July 4, 1899. Celebrants came from all over the state and a grand Masonic procession,
music, and speeches highlighted the festivities.
Although the legislature had originally called for the completion of the building by January 1, 1900, delays added three years to the length of this extensive project.
To learn more about this grand building, read the lavishly illustrated book: “Montana’s State Capitol: The People’s House” written by Patricia M. Burnham, Kirby Lambert, and Susan R. Near and published with financial support from the Montana History Foundation.
[Image: Photographer James Presley Ball,
MHS #PhotoArchives 957-621}
mhs.mt.gov/pubs/Publications/montanas-state-capitol