June 27, 1880: Helen Keller is born.
June 27, 1941: Romanian authorities launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iași, resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.
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.
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.
July 5, 1937: Spam is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
July 7, 1940: Richard Starkey LKA Ringo Starr is born in Liverpool, England, UK.
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.
July 8, 1932: The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.
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.
July 14, 2011: Neptune completes its first orbit of the sun since the planet was discovered in 1846.
July 16, 1941: Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record.
July 18, 1863 - During the Civil War, Union troops spearheaded by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, made up of Black soldiers, charged Confederate-held Fort Wagner on Morris Island, S.C. The Confederates were able to repel the Northerners, who suffered heavy losses; the 54th’s commander, Col. Robert Gould Shaw, was among those who were killed.
Link to Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Beacon Hill at Boston Common:
July 18, 1969: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a tidal basin at Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger, campaign specialist Mary Jo Kopechne.
July 20, 1934: “Bloody Friday” in Minneapolis occurs when police open fire on striking teamster picketers. 2 are killed and another 65 injured.
July 20, 1960: The U.S.S.R. recovers two dogs; first living organisms to return from space (there were earlier ones that were not recovered).