# 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:** 64
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1264 "2018-07-04T17:32:56Z")
**July 4, 1960:** The 50-star United States flag makes its debut in Philadelphia. ---
**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, 2018, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1265 "2018-07-05T06:25:07Z")
**July 5, 1816** : [The Raft of the \*Medusa](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/articles/raft-of-the-medusa-louvre-explained/&ved=2ahUKEwi2nomxoofcAhXRmVkKHTcOBVcQFjACegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1uu3b7b28VT1U3F2HSxtLS)\* tragedy unfolds. The French frigate _Medusa_ with almost 400 aboard had grounded thirty-one miles off the coast of Senegal. Because the ship was falling apart the decision was made to create a makeshift raft that would be towed ashore by the few available lifeboats. 147 people started out huddled together on that raft. Soon after departing the striken _Medusa_ on July 5, those in the lifeboats decided it was too dangerous to continue to pull the raft and it was cut loose to fend for itself in the sea. On July 17 the raft was spotted with 15 people still alive on board. After the rescue came the stories of the murders, suicides and cannibalism aboard that raft that make the wreck of the _Medusa_ so infamous. The famous Gericault painting _The Wreck of the Medusa_ depicts this terrible event. The artwork is just around the corner from the _Mona Lisa_ at the Louvre. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1266 "2018-07-05T10:25:42Z")
**July 5, 1950:** American forces engage the North Koreans for the first time at Osan, South Korea. ---
**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, 2018, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1267 "2018-07-06T05:51:18Z")
**July 6, 1988** : [The Piper Alpha Oil Rig Explosion](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/piper-alpha-disaster-its-30-14871094.amp&ved=0ahUKEwjrz7rJ4oncAhWwslkKHf9UCk8QiJQBCGEwDA&usg=AOvVaw1aDUqY-ODKhWaRtoFDP6w1&cf=1) in the North Sea kills 167. This is the deadliest oil rig disaster in history. ---
**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, 2018, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1268 "2018-07-07T05:39:24Z")
**July 7, 2017** : [The Deadliest Airplane Disaster in History](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada_Flight_759&ved=2ahUKEwjfv_LxoIzcAhUJzlkKHYmTACsQFjAPegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw3ECZR25cCVWQAHdDbGiUku) doesn’t happen in San Francisco. But oh boy it was close. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1269 "2018-07-07T14:27:11Z")
**July 7, 1981:** Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1270 "2018-07-07T16:29:07Z")
**July 7, 1940** - Richard Starkey, a/k/a Ringo Starr, was born in Dingle, Liverpool. ---
**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, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1271 "2018-07-08T15:07:55Z")
**July 8, 1932:** The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1272 "2018-07-08T23:13:39Z")
\*\*July 8, 1905:\*\*The mutinous crew of the battleship _Potemkin_ surrenders to Romanian authorities. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1273 "2018-07-08T23:17:40Z")
**July 8, 1776** : Church bells (possibly including the Liberty Bell) are rung after John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. **July 8, 1853** : The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade. **July 8, 1898** : The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1274 "2018-07-09T19:17:43Z")
**July 9, 1971:** The United States turns over complete responsibility of the Demilitarized Zone to South Vietnamese units. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1275 "2018-07-12T19:43:18Z")
July 12, 1958 (sixty years ago today) - The Quarrymen (John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison) go into a recording studio for the first time and record a 78 single of Buddy Holly’s That’ll Be The Day b/w a song by Paul called In Spite Of All The Danger. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1276 "2018-07-12T20:11:19Z")
**July 12, 1974:** G. Gordon Liddy, John Ehrlichman, and two others are convicted of conspiracy and perjury in connection with Watergate. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1277 "2018-07-12T20:40:52Z")
**July 12, 70 AD**. The armies of Roman Emperor Titus breach the walls of Jerusalem, leading to the destruction of the Second Temple. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1278 "2018-07-13T16:17:58Z")
**July 13, 1954:** In Geneva, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and France reach an accord on Indochina, dividing Vietnam into two countries, North and South, along the 17th parallel. ---
**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 14, 2018, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1279 "2018-07-14T06:37:53Z")
**July 14, 2000** : [The Pine Lake tornado](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Lake_Tornado) kills 12 and injures over 100 in Alberta, Canada. ---
**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 14, 2018, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1280 "2018-07-14T08:07:22Z")
**July 14, 2016:** A terrorist vehicular attack in Nice, France kills 86 civilians and injures over 400 others. ---
**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 15, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1281 "2018-07-15T16:14:18Z")
**July 15, 1940** : [The Sonman Mine Explosion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonman_Mine_explosion) in Pennsylvania kills 63. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1282 "2018-07-15T19:35:11Z")
**July 15, 1806:** Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins his western expedition from Fort Belle Fontaine. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1283 "2018-07-15T19:55:29Z")
**July 15, 1099** – First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. **July 15, 1149** – The reconstructed Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=63) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=65)