# Today in History **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530 "2016-07-10T04:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/723 "2017-07-01T07:10:26Z")
**July 1, 1867** : The British North America Act of 1867 takes effect as the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia join into confederation to create the modern nation of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada. This date is commemorated annually in Canada as Canada Day, a national holiday. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/724 "2017-07-02T05:19:20Z")
**July 2, 1843** : During a fierce thunderstorm, [an alligator falls from the sky in Charleston, South Carolina](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.firstandmonday.com/july-2-1843-alligator-falls-from-the-sky-in-charleston-sc/&ved=0ahUKEwi2___T6-nUAhVMbz4KHY3fB7kQFggiMAE&usg=AFQjCNFywoMhYMAU5fbAB8rnFTd8k5XgUA). The alligator was reported to have a look of “wonder and bewilderment.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/725 "2017-07-02T08:08:05Z")
**July 2, 1839** : Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship _Amistad._ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/726 "2017-07-03T02:53:30Z")
**July 2, 1776** : The Second Continental Congress voted unanimously on John Adams’ motion declaring the United Stated to be independent from Great Britain. Adams wrote the next day to his wife, Abigail: “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to Great God Almighty. It ought to be solemnised with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one end of this Continent to the other from this time forward forevermore.” So he was off by two days. ;). ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/727 "2017-07-03T07:03:20Z")
**July 3, 1988** : [Iran flight 655](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/16/the-forgotten-story-of-iran-air-flight-655/&ved=0ahUKEwiCs8CqxOzUAhUCQiYKHWsfB-4QFghsMAw&usg=AFQjCNGt6YbQ9dqPmmoEOZ19rC_dYQhLpA)is shot down by US forces who mistake the commercial airliner for a military aircraft. 290 die in the 10th deadliest aviation accident in history. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/728 "2017-07-03T14:03:33Z")
**July 3, 1940** : To stop ships from falling into German hands, the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers El Kébir is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: _Dunkerque, Provence_ and French battleship _Bretagne._ One thousand two hundred sailors perish. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/729 "2017-07-04T04:09:16Z")
**July 4, 1866** : [Much of Portland, Maine is destroyed in a fire](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/7/4/1106166/-Remembering-the-Great-Fire-of-Portland-Maine-July-4-1866&ved=0ahUKEwjnmfqz3u7UAhUEFz4KHaabAi0QFghSMAc&usg=AFQjCNGVL4idY0eCcq5JPSqvJa47biMpog)caused by fireworks. At the time (5 years before the Great Chicago Fire) this was the worst fire of its kind ever in an American City. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/730 "2017-07-04T10:33:11Z")
**July 4, 1826** : Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, dies the same day as John Adams, second president of the United States, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/731 "2017-07-05T05:50:59Z")
**July 5, 1970** : [Air Canada Flight 162](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada_Flight_621)crashes near Toronto killing 109. This is Canada’s second deadliest plane accident. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/732 "2017-07-05T09:10:58Z")
**July 5, 1937** : Spam is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/733 "2017-07-06T04:56:31Z")
**July 6, 1944** : [The Hartford Circus Fire](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/mystery-hartford-circus-fire-still-lingers-70-years-later/&ved=0ahUKEwi3rf_76fPUAhVMGD4KHe_hADQQFgjXATAa&usg=AFQjCNHnqD9oACRxnGjkmFiM9vtimRqiTQ). Over 7000 were watching the Ringling Brothers Circus and the Flying Wallendas when the tent caught fire. 168 died. The cause of the fire has never been determined. Among the dead, an unidentified child who was given the name “Little Miss 1565.” Among the survivors was a 13-year-old Charles Nelson Reilly. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/734 "2017-07-06T10:03:33Z")
**July 6, 1942** : Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the “Secret Annexe” above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/735 "2017-07-07T05:47:15Z")
**July 7, 1947** : [Rancher W.W. Brazel tell Sheriff George Wilcox that he has found something odd on his sheep ranch in Roswell, New Mexico](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/amp.timeinc.net/time/3916193/roswell-history/%253Fsource%253Ddam&ved=0ahUKEwii64eAuvbUAhWCNj4KHTg8DKwQFgg3MAk&usg=AFQjCNFSQwnf7UYqCIpfCHXcOEJqm1w5Rg) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/736 "2017-07-07T08:36:34Z")
**July 7, 1928** : Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor’s 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/737 "2017-07-08T06:29:07Z")
**July 8, 1932** : The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/738 "2017-07-08T07:48:36Z")
**July 8, 1988** : [The Peruman Railway Accident](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruman_railway_accident&ved=0ahUKEwjM8__XlvnUAhUFHT4KHRI_AWgQFghlMAs&usg=AFQjCNFPTNLTbpsUqWblI95WWT5QJqro-Q)in India claims the lives of 105 when, for unknown reasons, a train derails and most of the cars plummet into Ashtamudi Lake. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/739 "2017-07-09T04:06:18Z")
**July 9, 1918** : [The Great Train Wreck of 1918](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/s/unrememberedhistory.com/2015/05/15/two-trains-one-track-the-great-train-wreck-of-1918/amp/&ved=0ahUKEwjhmoe6p_vUAhVIID4KHWbrD3MQFgh4MA0&usg=AFQjCNFme23Nz1ROFiIw5w-SsF-PS01aOQ)occurs when two passenger trains collide head-on near Nashville, Tennessee. 101 die, making this the deadliest train accident in United States history. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/740 "2017-07-09T07:19:19Z")
**July 9, 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. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/741 "2017-07-10T06:06:00Z")
**July 10, 1926** : [Nature blows up a Town in New Jersey](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://thevane.gawker.com/july-10-1926-the-day-nature-blew-up-a-town-in-new-jer-1602586498&ved=0ahUKEwiM85qnhf7UAhUBdT4KHT7hDJ0QFggdMAA&usg=AFQjCNHhvlEp9Z3IbFrRw3EqZ1pAV1vqBQ). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/742 "2017-07-10T08:07:46Z")
**July 10, 1913** : The temperature in Death Valley, California, hits 134°F (57°C), the highest temperature ever to be recorded on Earth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=38)