On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan, fulfilling a campaign promise to nominate a woman to the Supreme Court, nominates Arizona Court of Appeals justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Her appointment was unanimously approved by the Senate in September, making her the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice. O'Connor was known for right-leaning moderate stances until her retirement in 2005. On July 7, 1912 at the Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, U.S. athlete Jim Thorpe wins the pentathlon. The Oklahoma native wins the 5-trial event in a runaway, winning the broad jump, 200 meters, discus throw and 1,500 meters before placing third in the javelin. Thorpe also competes in the high jump and long jump on the same day, failing to medal in either event. But he followed up his pentathlon gold later in the Games by winning the decathlon, breaking the Olympic record for total points scored in the event. Thorpe would be presented his decathlon gold by Swedish King Gustaf V, who (legend has it) told Thorpe he was the greatest athlete in the world. Thorpe allegedly replied, 'Thanks, King." On July 7, 1946, recent U.S. Naval Academy graduate James Earl Carter marries his college sweetheart, Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, in their hometown of Plains, GA. The couple lived the life of a career Navy couple for the next 7 years until "Jimmy" retired from the Navy to take over the family peanut farm on the death of his father. He also entered politics, eventually winning the Governor's seat of Georgia in 1970, before winning the Presidency in a dark horse campaign in 1976. Rosalynn's cause during her husband's one-term administration was human rights, which the couple continued following their time in Washington by opening the Carter Center for Human Rights in Atlanta. They also became highly active with Habitat for Humanity. Today is Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's 75th anniversary, the longest-married First Couple in U.S. history. They still live in their hometown of Plains, GA.
On July 8, 1776 in Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence is read in public for the first time. Bells throughout the region were rung to assemble the populace, including (probably) the State House Bell, later dubbed the Liberty Bell. Contrary to legend, the Liberty Bell did not crack proclaiming Independence Day; it likely wasn't rung on July 4 at all. It cracked when it was rung for the first time to test its tonal quality in 1752. It would be recast twice and cracked again; modern day bell makers blame a combination of poor quality metal and poor craftsmanship. And it in fact has two cracks; the famous prominent one starting at the rim, and a less noticed horizontal hairline crack across the top. The Bell was removed from the State House (later Independence Hall) and hidden in Allentown in 1777 to prevent its being captured by the British, who likely would have melted it down for ammunition. Returned home following the war, the Bell was still rung on important occasions, and its famous crack expanded several times. It rang for the last time to commemorate George Washington's birthday in 1846. It was also removed from Independence Hall and sent on patriotic tours numerous times, the last time in 1915, when souvenir hunters managed to chip pieces from the rim. Today the Liberty Bell is administered by the National Park Service (the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania retains ownership) and is displayed at ground level in a visitor's center adjacent to Independence Hall. The yoke of American elm from which it hangs is believed to be original.
On July 9, 1762, Peter III, emperor of Russia for barely half a year, is overthrown in a coup led by his wife Catherine. She would be crowned Empress Catherine II, often referred to historically as Catherine the Great. Catherine (born Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst; she took the name Catherine on her conversion to Orthodox Christianity) and Peter undertook an arranged marriage when he was still Grand Duke; neither was faithful to the other. Following the lead of England's Elizabeth I a century earlier, Catherine realized a husband might seize power from her and instead took lovers whom she usually appointed to minor positions in her government. This left her open to frequent, wild rumors about her sexual appetite from her enemies. Despite this, Catherine's 34-year reign was a period of expansion and modernization for Russia and one of the most successful of the Romanov Dynasty (more below). On July 9, 1846, a detachment of U.S. Marines from the USS Portsmouth (Captain John Montgomery commanding), enters and occupies the village of Yerba Buena in the California territory. It is the northernmost outpost of the Mexican (Spanish) Empire in the Western Hemisphere, actually established by the British a decade earlier. The settlers of Yerba Buena do not resist the American occupation. A year later, the Americans would rename the settlement for a nearby Spanish mission (below), San Francisco de Asis. On July 9, 1993, British forensic scientists confirm that human remains found in a mass grave in eastern Russia are that of Czar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and three of their daughters. They were executed July 16, 1918 during the Bolshevik Revolution, bringing three centuries of rule by the Romanov Dynasty to an end. Their burial site had remained a closely guarded state secret throughout the Soviet era, but amateur investigators discovered the site in 1991. DNA testing, including a sample provided by Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II (who was grand nephew to Alexandra) helped identify the remains. Two children of Nicholas and Alexandra remained unaccounted for, Crown Prince Alexei and daughter Anastasia; hundreds of imposters claiming to be a Romanov descendent have popped up over the decades. In 1995, Russian investigators announce that the British investigation misidentified one of the three daughters in the mass grave as Maria, when it was in fact Anastasia. Human remains that are believed to be Alexei and Maria were discovered in 2007, and are in possession of the Russian State Archives. Discussions to inter the remains with the rest of the family in St. Petersburg continue.
On July 10, 19423, 160,000 American and British troops land on the island of Sicily, launching Operation Husky. By this date in WWII, the Axis Powers controlled virtually all of Europe. Hitler suspected an invasion of the continent was imminent, but had no idea where. British intelligence threw him a red herring, dressing an English corpse in the uniform of a major and carrying detailed plans for an invasion of Greece. The body was released by submarine off the coast of Spain and soon washed ashore, finding its way to German authorities, who bought the ruse and reinforced Greece. Operation Husky soon transformed into a race to capture the principle port city of Messina by British General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery's 8th Army, and General George Patton's 7th Army. Patton won the race, and Sicily was declared secure on August 17 (Patton greets Monty in Messina in scene from Patton). Patton and Montgomery - Bing video On July 10, 1962, Telstar 1 is launched into earth orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Built by Hughes for AT&T, the Telstars (Telstar 2 is launched the following May) are the first commercial communications satellites. Two weeks after its launch, Telstar 1 transmits the first-ever transatlantic telecast, which includes broadcasts from the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower, followed by live comments by President Kennedy. (The president's appearance was delayed, and broadcasters alertly filled the time by picking up the broadcast of a Phillies-Cubs game from Wrigley Field) The broadcast was picked up by the three major American networks, the CBC in Canada, and Eurovision. Telstar 1's functional lifetime lasted only until November, when it was rendered inoperable by the increasing radiation belt around the globe caused by airborne nuclear weapons test. It was taken out of service for good on February 21, 1963, and remains one of some 23,000 thousand pieces of "orbital debris" (10cm or larger; when smaller pieces are included, estimates exceed 100 million) floating around earth.
On July 13, 1943, the Germans call off Operation Citadel on its Eastern Front. The withdrawal ends the Battle of Kursk, the largest clash of armor in military history. Over 6 days, the Germans and Russians combined send more than 8,000 tanks into combat. The Germans hoped to push the Russians out of their stronghold at Kursk, throwing more than 20 armored divisions into the fight. Russian armor and anti-tank weapons destroyed more than 40% of the German assets. Kursk is the last German offensive on the Russian Front; with the American-British invasion of Sicily underway at the same time, Hitler will begin committing his assets to the west. On July 13, 2013, Oakland resident Alicia Garza, angered over the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, posts a few thoughts on racism on her Facebook page. The post includes a 3-word phrase "black lives matter." Patrice Cullors, a Los Angeles community organizer and Facebook friend of Garza's, replies with "#blacklivesmatter", and a movement is born. On July 13, 1930 in Uruguay, the first World Cup football tournament begins; France defeats Mexico 4-1 and the U.S. beats Belgium 3-0 in matches played simultaneously in Montevideo. The tournament is conceived by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in response to news that football (soccer) would be dropped as an Olympic event for the Summer Games of 1932 in Los Angeles. Uruguay was awarded the privilege of being host nation after having won back-to-back Olympic gold in '24 and '28, and with most of the European football powers sitting out the tournament due to economic depression, the host team wins the Cup handily (the Americans reach the semi-finals, still our nation's best Cup performance ever). The World Cup has since become the globe's most watched sporting event.
On July 14, 1798, Congress passes the Alien and Sedition Acts. The U.S. and French navies had engaged in several shooting engagements in previous months, and with public fear of an all-out war as a backdrop, Federalists in Congress led by Alexander Hamilton (below) passed three bills aimed at limiting immigration. The bills were passed without consulting President John Adams, who never exercised the powers of the Alien Acts. The Sedition Act however, was implemented, in direct violation of the First Amendment. More than a dozen people, mainly journalists, were imprisoned for voicing or printing malicious statements about the government. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led the fight to overturn the Sedition Act, but were unsuccessful, and it remained in effect until its sunset date of March 3, 1801. Adams' support and use of the Act likely cost him re-election. On July 14, 1918, U.S. Army pilot Quentin Roosevelt is shot down and killed over the Marne River in France. Roosevelt had every reason to forego military service; he was the son of former President Theodore Roosevelt and was engaged to the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest men in the nation. But he despised President Woodrow Wilson's policy of neutrality which delayed U.S. entry into WWI, and although he was too young for the draft when it was implemented, he volunteered at age 20. After flight training, he was given a squadron command, and scored one probable kill in his first combat, just three days before his death. On July 14, 1960, Jane Goodall departs London to conduct her first studies of the chimpanzee community in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. With no college education and no anthropological background other than her natural love of the subject, Goodall talked her way into a secretarial job in 1957 with famed anthropologist Lewis Leakey, who personally began funding her formal education. He also paid for the expedition to Tanzania. Goodall broke a principle rule of primate study by naming her subject chimps rather than numbering them to avoid emotional attachment. Scientists now agree that Goodall is the only human to be "accepted" as a member of a primate community, and in the process established numerous theories on previously unseen primate behavior, including individual "personalities", their ability to use tools (including weapons), work in cooperation with each other, and carnivorous eating habits. The 87-year old Goodall has received most of the world's highest honors for conservation and humanitarianism.
On July 15, 1806, Zebulon Pike departs St. Louis with an army expedition, ordered by the government to find the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. It is Pike's second expedition into the newly-acquired Louisiana Territory. The year-long expedition will take Pike through present-day Kansas and Nebraska and into Colorado, where he will first see the mountain that now bears his name. The expedition then turns south into present-day New Mexico, where they will be charged by Spanish authorities with illegal entry into the territory. Pike and his men are escorted as far south as Chihuahua, Mexico, then north into Texas where they are released at the Louisiana border. His report on the explored territories, along with comments about "weak" Spanish authority, will lay the groundwork for territorial expansion throughout the 19th century. On July 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon stuns the American people by announcing he will visit communist China the following year. Nixon had been a staunch anti-communist from the beginning of the Cold War, as a Congressman, Senator and Vice President, and supported Senator McCarthy's communist "witch hunt" of the 1950's. But China's breakup in diplomacy with the Soviet Union in the 60's led the Nixon administration (with SecState Henry Kissinger as a leading voice) to believe it could develop peaceful relations and a trade partnership with "Red China." They also hoped to convince China to advocate for an end to the Viet Nam War. Nixon's 1972 visit to China would succeed in the former goal but fail in the latter. On July 15, 1988, Die Hard opens in American theatres. The summer flick about a vacationing NYC cop dealing with a gang of international burglars in a Los Angeles high rise on Christmas Eve launches Bruce Willis - previously a comic/romcom type on TV and a few films - to action hero superstardom. It also lifts little known UK role player Alan Rickman to the A list of Hollywood villain-types. Die Hard grosses 240 million dollars, spawns 3 sequels and redefines the Hollywood action hero from the flawless All American John Wayne-type to a more relatable, humorous-but-flawed character.
On July 17, 1975, American and Soviet spacecraft rendezvous for a "handshake in space." The practical reason for the flight, in which Apollo 18 and Soyuz 17 docked with each other for 44 hours, was to test if the world's 2 leading space programs could possibly assist each other in the event of an in-flight emergency. The 2 cosmonauts and 3 astronauts (including original Mercury Project astronaut Deke Slayton, who had been grounded for medical reasons and never flew in space before this mission) conducted experiments, shared meals and held a joint press conference during the 44 hour linkup. On July 17, 1944, 320 people are killed by a massive explosion at the Navy Ordinance Depot at Port Chicago, California (north of San Francisco). Two merchant ships were being loaded with about 5,000 tons of various types of explosive ordinance when the explosion occurred. Damage was recorded in San Francisco, 30 miles away, and residents in Nevada reported feeling the shock wave. About two-thirds of the fatalities - all dock workers - were African American enlisted men; this single incident accounts for about 15 percent of the total African-American fatalities of WWII. A board of inquiry would blame poor procedures and lack of training for the accident. Post script: most of the surviving dock workers - more than 250 African Americans - were reassigned to Mare Island in SF. Given a similar ship loading assignment less than a month later, and with no additional training - all refused the assigment. Most were docked pay for the refusal, but 50 were court martialed and served prison time. President Bill Clinton pardoned the last survivor of the "Port Chicago 50" in 1999. On July 17, 1967, The Monkees lose their opening act. After hearing the band perform in California a month earlier, members of the Monkees convinced their manager to sign the band to join their tour, which was accomplished without the new band's leader being involved in the negotiations. It turned out to be a poor combination; the new act's psychedelic rock set didn't set the table very well for the Monkees' teeny bopper audience, who often drowned out the opener with chants of "We want Davy!" (Monkee lead singer Davy Jones). Finally, during just their 8th performance on the tour, Jimi Hendrix allegedly flipped the unappreciative crowd his middle finger and stormed off stage, never to perform with The Monkees again.
