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15 July 1207 – King John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop Stephen Langton.

John, King of England

King of England from 1199 to 1216

John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered a foundational milestone in English and later British constitutional history.

John was the youngest son of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was nicknamed John Lackland (Norman: Jean sans Terre, lit. 'John without land')^[2] because, as a younger son, he was not expected to inherit significant lands.^[3] He became Henry's favourite child following the failed revolt of 1173–1174 by his brothers Henry the Young King, Richard, and Geoffrey against their father. John was appointed Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England and on the continent. During the reign of his brother Richard I, he unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard's royal administrators while the King was participating in the Third Crusade, but he was proclaimed king after Richard died in 1199. He came to an agreement with Philip II of France to recognise John's possession of the continental Angevin lands at the peace treaty of Le Goulet in 1200.

When war with France broke out again in 1202, John achieved early victories, but shortages of military resources and his treatment of Norman, Breton, and Anjou nobles resulted in the collapse of his empire in northern France in 1204. He spent much of the next decade attempting to regain these lands, raising huge revenues, reforming his armed forces and rebuilding continental alliances. His judicial reforms had a lasting effect on the English common law system, as well as providing an additional source of revenue. His dispute with Pope Innocent III over the election of Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton led to the Papal Interdict of 1208, in which church services were banned until 1214, as well as John's excommunication the following year, a dispute he finally settled in 1213. John's attempt to defeat Philip in 1214 failed because of the French victory over John's allies at the Battle of Bouvines. When he returned to England, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, who were unhappy with his fiscal policies and his treatment of many of England's most powerful nobles. Magna Carta was drafted as a peace treaty between John and the barons, and agreed in 1215. However, neither side complied with its conditions and civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by Prince Louis of France. It soon descended into a stalemate. John died of dysentery contracted while on campaign in eastern England in late 1216; supporters of his son Henry III went on to achieve victory over Louis and the rebel barons the following year.

Contemporary chroniclers were mostly critical of John's performance as king, and his reign has since been the subject of significant debate and periodic revision by historians from the 16th century onwards. Historian Jim Bradbury has summarised the current historical opinion of John's positive qualities, observing that John is today usually considered a "hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general".^[4] Nonetheless, modern historians agree that he also had many faults as king, including what historian Ralph Turner describes as "distasteful, even dangerous personality traits", such as pettiness, spitefulness, and cruelty.^[5] These negative qualities provided extensive material for fiction writers in the Victorian era, and John remains a recurring character within Western popular culture, primarily as a villain in Robin Hood folklore.

1. ^ Hamilton 2010, p. 1.
2. ^ "- Jean sans Terre". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
3. ^ Norgate (1902), pp. 1–2.
4. ^ Bradbury (2007), p. 353.
5. ^ Turner, p. 23.

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16 July 1979 – Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.

Saddam Hussein

President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003

"Saddam" redirects here. For other uses, see Saddam (disambiguation).

Saddam Hussein^[c] (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003 during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He previously served as the vice president from 1968 to 1979 and also as the prime minister from 1979 to 1991 and later from 1994 to 2003. A leading member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, he espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism. The policies and political ideas he championed are collectively known as Saddamism.

Born near the city of Tikrit to a Sunni Arab family, Saddam joined the revolutionary Ba'ath Party in 1957. He played a key role in the 17 July Revolution that brought the Ba'athists to power and made him vice president under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. During his tenure as vice president, Saddam nationalized the Iraq Petroleum Company, diversified the economy, introduced free healthcare and education, and supported women's rights. Saddam attempted to ease tensions among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups. He presided over the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War, crushing the Kurdish insurgency, and signed the Algiers Agreement with Iran in 1975, settling territorial disputes along the Iran–Iraq border. Following al-Bakr's resignation in 1979, Saddam formally took power. During his presidency, positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only about a fifth of the Iraqi population.

Upon taking office as president in 1979, Saddam purged rivals within his party. In 1980, he ordered the invasion of Iran, purportedly to capture Iran's Arab-majority Khuzestan province, and end Iranian attempts to export its Islamic Revolution to the Arab world. In 1988, as the war with Iran ended in a stalemate, he ordered the Anfal campaign against Kurdish rebels who had sided with Iran. Later, he accused his former ally Kuwait of slant-drilling Iraq's oil reserves and subsequently invaded the country in 1990. This ultimately led to the Gulf War in 1991, which ended in Iraq's defeat by a United States-led coalition. In the war's aftermath, Saddam's forces suppressed the 1991 Iraqi uprisings launched by Kurds and Shias seeking regime change, as well as further uprisings in 1999. After reconsolidating his hold on power, Saddam pursued an Islamist agenda for Iraq through the Faith Campaign. In 2003, a US-led coalition invaded Iraq, falsely accusing him of developing weapons of mass destruction and of having ties with al-Qaeda. Coalition forces toppled Saddam's regime and captured him. During his trial, Saddam was convicted by the Iraqi High Tribunal of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed on 30 December 2006.

A polarizing and controversial figure, Saddam dominated Iraqi politics for 35 years and was the subject of a cult of personality. Many Arabs regard Saddam as a resolute leader who challenged Western imperialism, opposed the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and resisted foreign intervention in the region. Conversely, many Iraqis, particularly Shias and Kurds, perceive him as a tyrant responsible for acts of repression, mass killing and other injustices. Human Rights Watch estimated that Saddam's regime was responsible for the murder or disappearance of 250,000 to 290,000 Iraqis. Saddam's government has been described by several analysts as authoritarian and totalitarian, and by some as fascist, although the applicability of those labels has been contested.

1. ^ Con Coughlin, Saddam: The Secret Life Pan Books, 2003 (ISBN 978-0-330-39310-2).
2. ^ "Do rewards help capture the world's most wanted men?". BBC News. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
3. ^ "Statesmen and stature: how tall are our world leaders?". the Guardian. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
4. ^ Shewchuk, Blair (February 2003). "Saddam or Mr. Hussein?". CBC News. This brings us to the first, and primary, reason many newsrooms use 'Saddam' – it's how he's known throughout Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.
5. ^ ^{a b} Notzon, Beth; Nesom, Gayle (February 2005). "The Arabic Naming System" (PDF). Science Editor. 28 (1): 20–21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2022.
6. ^ Burns, John F. (2 July 2004). "Defiant Hussein Rebukes Iraqi Court for Trying Him". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2004.
7. ^ "Saddam Hussein". Encyclopædia Britannica. 29 May 2023.

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17 July 1762 – Former emperor Peter III of Russia is murdered.

Peter III of Russia

Emperor of Russia in 1762

Peter III Fyodorovich (Russian: Пётр III Фёдорович, romanized: Pyotr III Fyodorovich; 21 February [O.S. 10 February] 1728 – 17 July [O.S. 6 July] 1762) was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine II (the Great). He was born in the German city of Kiel as Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (German: Karl Peter Ulrich von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp), the grandson of Peter the Great and great-grandson of Charles XI of Sweden.

After a 186-day reign, Peter III was overthrown in a palace coup d'état orchestrated by his wife, and soon died under unclear circumstances. The official cause proposed by Catherine's new government was that he died due to hemorrhoids. However, this explanation was met with skepticism, both in Russia and abroad, with notable critics such as Voltaire and d'Alembert expressing doubt about the plausibility of death from such a condition.^[1]

The personality and activities of Peter III were long disregarded by historians and his figure was seen as purely negative, but since the 1990s, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, more attention has been directed at the decrees he signed. His most notable reforms were the abolition of the secret police, exemption of nobles from compulsory military service, confiscation of church lands, and equalisation of all religions. He also put an end to the persecution of the Old Believers and made the killing of serfs by landowners punishable by exile. Although he is mostly criticised for undoing Russian gains in the Seven Years' War by forming an alliance with Prussia, Catherine continued it and many of his other policies.

After Peter III's death, many impostors thrived, pretending to be him, the most famous of whom were Yemelyan Pugachev and the "Montenegerin Tsar Peter III" (Stephan the Little).^[2]

1. ^ Михайлов Андрей Дмитриевич, Строев Александр Федорович (1999). Вольтер и Россия [Voltaire and Russia] (in Russian). Russia: Институт Мировой Литературы им А. М. Горького РАН.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference mylnikov was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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18 July 1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf.

Mein Kampf

1925 autobiography by Adolf Hitler

"My Struggle" redirects here. For other uses, see My Struggle (disambiguation).

Mein Kampf (German: [maɪn ˈkampf]; lit. 'My Struggle') is a 1925 autobiographical and political manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Germany and the world. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926.^[1] The book was edited first by Emil Maurice, then by Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess.^[2][3]

Hitler began Mein Kampf while imprisoned following his failed coup in Munich in November 1923 and a trial in February 1924 for high treason, in which he received a sentence of five years in fortress confinement (Festungshaft). Although he received many visitors initially, he soon devoted himself entirely to the book. As he continued, he realized that it would have to be a two-volume work, with the first volume scheduled for release in early 1925. The governor of Landsberg Prison noted at the time that "he [Hitler] hopes the book will run into many editions, thus enabling him to fulfill his financial obligations and to defray the expenses incurred at the time of his trial."^[4][5] After slow initial sales, the book became a bestseller in Germany following Hitler's rise to power in 1933.^[6]

After Hitler's death, copyright of Mein Kampf passed to the state government of Bavaria, which refused to allow any copying or printing of the book in Germany. In 2016, following the expiry of the copyright held by the Bavarian state government, Mein Kampf was republished in Germany for the first time since 1945, which prompted public debate and divided reactions from Jewish groups. A team of scholars from the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich published a two-volume almost 2,000-page edition annotated with about 3,500 notes. This was followed in 2021 by a 1,000-page French edition based on the German annotated version, with about twice as much commentary as text.^[7]

1. ^ Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), Adolf Hitler (originally 1925–1926), Reissue edition (15 September 1998), Publisher: Mariner Books, Language: English, paperback, 720 pages, ISBN 978-1495333347
2. ^ Shirer 1960, p. 85.
3. ^ Robert G.L. Waite, The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler, Basic Books, 1977, pp. 237–243
4. ^ Heinz, Heinz (1934). Germany's Hitler. Hurst & Blackett. p. 191.
5. ^ Payne, Robert (1973). The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. Popular Library. p. 203.
6. ^ Shirer 1960, pp. 80–81.
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference historicizing was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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19 July 1952 – Opening of the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

Helsinki

Capital and most populous city of Finland

Not to be confused with the film Hellsinki. "Helsingfors" redirects here. For ships with the name, see SS Helsingfors. Not to be confused with Hälsingfors, Helsingør or Helsingborg.

Capital city in Uusimaa, Finland

Helsinki^[a] (Swedish: Helsingfors)^[b] is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About 687,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.3 million in the capital region and 1.6 million in the metropolitan area. As the most populous urban area in Finland, it is the country's most significant centre for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki is 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Helsinki has significant historical connections with these three cities.^{[citation needed]}

Together with the cities of Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen—and surrounding commuter towns,^[12] including the neighbouring municipality of Sipoo to the east^[13]—Helsinki forms a metropolitan area. This area is often considered Finland's only metropolis and is the world's northernmost metropolitan area with over one million inhabitants. Additionally, it is the northernmost capital of an EU member state. Helsinki is the third-largest municipality in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Oslo. Its urban area is the third-largest in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Copenhagen. Helsinki Airport, in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, serves the city with frequent flights to numerous destinations in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Helsinki is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 74% Finnish speakers, 5% Swedish speakers, and 20% speakers of other languages.^[14]

Helsinki has hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics, the first CSCE/OSCE Summit in 1975, the first World Athletics Championships in 1983, the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 and it was the 2012 World Design Capital.^[15] The city is recognized as a "Design City" in 2014 by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.^[16]

Helsinki has one of the highest standards of urban living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki as the world's most liveable city in its livable cities index.^[17] In the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 livability survey, Helsinki ranked ninth out of 140 cities.^[18] In July 2021, the American magazine Time named Helsinki one of the world's greatest places, a city that "can grow into a burgeoning cultural nest in the future" and is already known as an environmental pioneer.^[19] In an international Cities of Choice survey conducted in 2021 by the Boston Consulting Group and the BCG Henderson Institute, Helsinki was ranked the third-best city in the world to live in, with London and New York City coming in first and second.^[20][21] In the Condé Nast Traveler magazine's 2023 Readers' Choice Awards, Helsinki was ranked the 4th-friendliest city in Europe.^[22] Helsinki, along with Rovaniemi in Lapland, is also one of Finland's most important tourist cities.^[23] Due to the large number of sea passengers, Helsinki is classified as a major port city,^[24] and in 2017 it was rated the world's busiest passenger port.^[25]

1. ^ Ainiala, Terhi (2009). "Place Names in the Construction of Social Identities: The Uses of Names of Helsinki". Research Institute for the Languages of Finland. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nickname1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nickname2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
5. ^ "Helsinki elevation". elevation.city.fi. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
6. ^ "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,640,437 at the end of March 2025". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 25 April 2025. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
7. ^ "Number of foreign-language speakers exceeded 600,000 during 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 4 April 2025. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
8. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
9. ^ ^{a b} "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
10. ^ "Helsinki". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins.
11. ^ "Helsinki". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins.
12. ^ "Cities of Finland". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
13. ^ "Sipoo - kahden keskuksen kunta Helsingin tuntumassa". ta.fi. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
14. ^ Cite error: The named reference statistics-finland-population-2024-final was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
15. ^ "Past capital: Helsinki". Worlddesigncapital.com. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
16. ^ "Helsinki – Creative Cities Network". UNESCO. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
17. ^ "Most liveable city: Helsinki — Monocle Film / Affairs". Monocle.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
18. ^ "Global Liveability Ranking 2016". www.eiu.com.
19. ^ "Helsinki: The World's 100 Greatest Places of 2021". Time. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
20. ^ "Helsinki comes in third in ranking of world's best cities to live". Helsinki Times. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
21. ^ Ghouri, Farah (4 August 2021). "London hailed as world's 'city of choice' in quality of life report". City A.M. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
22. ^ "The friendliest cities in Europe: 2023 Readers' Choice Awards". Condé Nast Traveler. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
23. ^ Lapin Kansa: Rovaniemen ja Helsingin johtajat saivat ministeriltä tehtävän miettiä, miten matkailu nousee korona-ajan mentyä ohi – Rahaa on luvassa EU:n elpymispaketista (in Finnish)
24. ^ Roberts, Toby; Williams, Ian; Preston, John (2021). "The Southampton system: A new universal standard approach for port-city classification". Maritime Policy & Management. 48 (4): 530–542. doi:10.1080/03088839.2020.1802785. S2CID 225502755.
25. ^ "Helsinki becomes world's busiest passenger port". clickittefaq. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

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20 July 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.

Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)

Part of the First Jewish–Roman War

For the siege by Nebuchadnezzar that led to the destruction of the First Temple, see Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC). For other sieges upon the city of Jerusalem, see Siege of Jerusalem.

The siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), a major rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Judaea. Led by Titus, Roman forces besieged the Jewish capital, which had become the main stronghold of the revolt. After months of fighting, they breached its defenses, destroyed the Second Temple, razed most of the city, and killed, enslaved, or displaced a large portion of its population. The fall of Jerusalem marked the effective end of the Jewish revolt and had far-reaching political, religious, and cultural consequences.

In the winter of 69/70 CE, following a pause caused by a succession war in Rome, the campaign in Judaea resumed as Titus led at least 48,000 troops—including four legions and auxiliary forces—back into the province. By spring, this army had encircled Jerusalem, whose population had surged with refugees and Passover pilgrims. Inside the city, rival factions led by John of Gischala, Simon bar Giora and Eleazar ben Simon fought each other, destroying food supplies and weakening defenses. Although the factions eventually united and mounted fierce resistance, Roman forces breached the city walls and pushed the defenders into the temple precincts.

In the summer month of Av (July/August), the Romans finally captured the Temple Mount and destroyed the Second Temple—an event mourned annually in Judaism on Tisha B'Av. The rest of Jerusalem fell soon after, with tens of thousands killed, enslaved, or executed. The Romans systematically razed the city, leaving only three towers of the Herodian citadel and sections of the wall to showcase its former greatness. A year later, Vespasian and Titus celebrated their victory with a triumph in Rome, parading temple spoils—including the menorah—alongside hundreds of captives. Monuments such as the Arch of Titus were erected to commemorate the victory.

The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple marked a turning point in Jewish history. With sacrificial worship no longer possible, Judaism transformed, giving rise to Rabbinic Judaism focused on Torah study, good deeds and synagogue worship. The city's fall also contributed to the growing separation between early Christianity and Judaism. After the war, Legio X Fretensis established a permanent garrison on the ruins. Inspired by Jerusalem's earlier restoration after its destruction in 587/6 BCE, many Jews anticipated the city's rebuilding. But in 130 CE, Emperor Hadrian re-founded it as Aelia Capitolina, a Roman colony dedicated to Jupiter, dashing Jewish hopes for a restored temple and paving the way for another major Jewish rebellion—the Bar Kokhba revolt.

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21 July 1970 – After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.

Aswan Dam

For the 1902 first Aswan dam, see Aswan Low Dam.

Dam in Aswan, Egypt

The Aswan Dam, or Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built between 1960 and 1970 across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. The project was developed by the military regime that took power following the 1952 Egyptian revolution, to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity, the dam was seen as pivotal to the country's industrialization plans. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.

When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, surpassing the Chatuge Dam in the United States.^[2] The dam, which created the Lake Nasser reservoir, was built 7 km (4.3 mi) upstream of the Aswan Low Dam, which had been completed in 1902 and was already at its maximum utilization.

With the old dam in place, the annual flooding of the Nile during late summer had continued to pass largely unimpeded down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water with natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along its floodplain and delta; this predictability had made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times. However, this natural flooding varied, since high-water years could destroy the whole crop, while low-water years could create widespread drought and consequently famine. Both these events had continued to occur periodically.

As Egypt's population grew and technology increased, both a desire and the ability developed to completely control the flooding, and thus both protect and support farmland and its economically important cotton crop. With the greatly increased reservoir storage provided by the High Aswan Dam, the floods could be controlled and the water could be stored for later release over multiple years.

The Aswan Dam was designed by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Malyshev of the Moscow-based Hydroproject Institute.^[3][4] Designed for both irrigation and power generation, the dam incorporates a number of relatively new features, including a very deep grout curtain below its base. Although the reservoir will eventually silt in, even the most conservative estimates indicate the dam will give at least 200 years of service.^[5]

1. ^ "Aswan High Dam". Carbon Monitoring for Action. Archived from the original on 2015-01-15. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
2. ^ Moore, Carl S. (1 Jan 2007). "Impact of National Forest & TVA Chatuge Dam". Clay County, NC Then and Now: A Written and Pictorial History. Genealogy Publishing Service. ISBN 9781881851240.
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Malyshev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Smith was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ "INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM ECONOMIC IMPRACT OF THE ASWAN HIGH DAM" (PDF). October 1971.

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22 July 1977 – Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power.

Deng Xiaoping

Leader of China from 1978 to 1989

In this Chinese name, the family name is Deng.

Deng Xiaoping^[a] (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1989. In the aftermath of Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng succeeded in consolidating power to lead China through a period of reform and opening up that transformed its economy into a socialist market economy. He is widely regarded as the "Architect of Modern China" for his contributions to socialism with Chinese characteristics and Deng Xiaoping Theory.^[5][6][7]

Born in Sichuan, the son of landowning peasants, Deng first learned of Marxism–Leninism while studying and working abroad in France in the early 1920s through the Work-Study Movement. In France, he met future collaborators like Zhou Enlai. In 1924, he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and continued his studies in Moscow. Following the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and CCP, Deng worked in the Jiangxi Soviet, where he developed good relations with Mao. He served as a political commissar in the Chinese Red Army during the Long March and Second Sino-Japanese War, and later helped to lead the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to victory in the civil war, participating in the PLA's capture of Nanjing. After the proclamation of the PRC in 1949, Deng held several key regional roles, eventually rising to vice premier and CCP secretary-general in the 1950s. He presided over economic reconstruction efforts and played a significant role in the Anti-Rightist Campaign. During the Cultural Revolution from 1966, Deng was condemned as the party's "number two capitalist roader" after Liu Shaoqi, and was purged twice by Mao, exiled to work in a tractor factory for 4 years. After Mao's death in 1976, Deng outmaneuvered his rivals to become the country's leader in 1978.

Upon coming to power, Deng began a massive overhaul of China's infrastructure and political system. Due to the institutional disorder and political turmoil from the Mao era, he and his allies launched the Boluan Fanzheng program which sought to restore order by rehabilitating those who were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. He also initiated a reform and opening up program that introduced elements of market capitalism to the Chinese economy by designating special economic zones within the country. In 1980, Deng embarked on a series of political reforms including the setting of constitutional term limits for state officials and other systematic revisions which were incorporated in the country's fourth constitution. He later championed a one-child policy to deal with China's perceived overpopulation crisis, helped establish China's nine-year compulsory education, and oversaw the launch of the 863 Program to promote science and technology. The reforms carried out by Deng and his allies gradually led China away from a command economy and Maoist dogma, opened it up to foreign investments and technology, and introduced its vast labor force to the global market—thereby transforming China into one of the world's fastest-growing economies.^[8] Deng helped negotiate the eventual return of Hong Kong and Macau to China (which took place after his death) and developed the principle of "one country, two systems" for their governance.

During the course of his leadership, Deng was named the Time Person of the Year for 1978 and 1985.^[9][10] Despite his contributions to China's modernization, Deng's legacy is also marked by controversy. He ordered the military crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which ended his political reforms and remains a subject of global criticism.^[11] The one-child policy introduced in Deng's era also drew criticism. Nonetheless, his policies laid the foundation for China's emergence as a major global power.^[12] Deng was succeeded as paramount leader by Jiang Zemin, who continued his policies.

1. ^ "Deng Xiaoping". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
2. ^ "Deng Xiaoping". Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. (US) and "Deng Xiaoping". Oxford UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019.
3. ^ "Teng Hsiao-p'ing". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
4. ^ "Mao's last hurrah: the campaign against Teng Hsiao-Ping" (PDF). CIA. August 1976. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2021.
5. ^ Faison, Seth (20 February 1997). "Deng Xiaoping is Dead at 92; Architect of Modern China". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
6. ^ "Deng Xiaoping: Architect of modern China". China Daily. 2014. Archived from the original on 23 June 2024.
7. ^ Vogel 2011, p. 684.
8. ^ Denmark, Abraham. "40 years ago, Deng Xiaoping changed China — and the world". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
9. ^ "Man of the Year: Teng Hsiao-p'ing: Visions of a New China". Time. 1 January 1979. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
10. ^ "Man of the Year: Deng Xiaoping". Time. 6 January 1986. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
11. ^ Wu, Wei (4 June 2015). "Why China's Political Reforms Failed". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
12. ^ Denmark, Abraham. "40 years ago, Deng Xiaoping changed China — and the world". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2021.

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23 July 1881 – The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.

Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina

Territorial settlement

The Boundary Treaty of 1881 (Spanish: Tratado de Límites de 1881) between Argentina and Chile was signed on 23 July 1881 in Buenos Aires by Bernardo de Irigoyen, for Argentina, and Francisco de Borja Echeverría, for Chile, with the aim of establishing a precise border between the two countries based on the uti possidetis juris principle. Despite dividing largely unexplored lands, the treaty laid the groundwork for nearly all of Chile's and Argentina's 5600 km^[1] current border.

1. ^ See Libro de Defensa de Chile Continuidad : Historia y Geografía Archived 2009-07-26 at the Wayback Machine

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24 July 1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade.

Siege_of_Damascus_(1148)[/wiki

 

25 July 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.

Arch of Constantine

Ancient Roman triumphal arch, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Arch of Constantine (Italian: Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. Situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, the arch spans the Via Triumphalis, the route taken by victorious military leaders when they entered the city in a triumphal procession.^[a] Dedicated in 315, it is the largest Roman triumphal arch, with overall dimensions of 21 m (69 ft) high, 25.9 m (85 ft) wide and 7.4 m (24 ft) deep.^[1] It has three bays, the central one being 11.5 m (38 ft) high and 6.5 m (21 ft) wide and the laterals 7.4 m (24 ft) by 3.4 m (11 ft) each. The arch is constructed of brick-faced concrete covered in marble.

The three-bay design with detached columns was first used for the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum (which stands at the end of the triumph route) and repeated in several other arches now lost.

Though dedicated to Constantine, much of the sculptural decoration consists of reliefs and statues removed from earlier triumphal monuments dedicated to Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180), with the portrait heads replaced with his own.^[2]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Watkin, David (2011). A History of Western Architecture: Fifth Edition. London: Laurence King Publishing. p. 87.
2. ^ Sande, Siri (2012). "The Arch of Constantine - Who Saw What?". In Birk, Stine; Poulsen, Birte (eds.). Patrons and viewers in late antiquity. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag. p. 277. ISBN 978-87-7124-417-5. OCLC 1109724820.

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26 July 1945 – The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election of July 5 by a landslide, removing Winston Churchill from power.

1945 United Kingdom general election

The 1945 United Kingdom general election took place on Thursday 5 July 1945.^[b] With the Second World War still fresh in voters’ minds, the opposition Labour Party under the leadership of Clement Attlee won a landslide victory with a majority of 146 seats, defeating the incumbent Conservative-led government under Prime Minister Winston Churchill amidst growing concerns by the public over the future of the United Kingdom in the post-war period.^[1]

The election's campaigning was focused on leadership of the country and its postwar future. Churchill sought to use his wartime popularity as part of his campaign to keep the Conservatives in power after a wartime coalition had been in place since 1940 with the other political parties, but he faced questions from public opinion surrounding the Conservatives' actions in the 1930s and his ability to handle domestic issues unrelated to warfare. Clement Attlee, leader of the Labour Party, had been Deputy Prime Minister in the wartime coalition in 1940–1945 and was seen as a more competent leader by voters, particularly those who feared a return to the levels of unemployment in the 1930s and who sought a strong figurehead in British politics to lead the postwar rebuilding of the country. Opinion polls when the election was called showed strong approval ratings for Churchill, but Labour had gradually gained support for months before the war's conclusion.

The final result of the election showed that Labour won a landslide victory,^[2] making a net gain of 239 seats, winning 49.7% of the popular vote and achieving a majority of 146 seats, thus allowing Attlee to be appointed prime minister. This election marked the first time that the Labour Party had won an outright majority in Parliament, and allowed Attlee to begin implementing the party's post-war reforms for the country.^[3] For the Conservatives, the Labour victory was a shock,^[4] as they suffered a net loss of 189 seats although they won 36.2% of the vote and had campaigned on the mistaken belief that Churchill would win as people praised his leadership during the war. Of the other two major parties, the Liberal Party faced a serious blow after taking a net loss of nine seats with a vote share of 9.0%, many within urban areas and including the seat held by its leader, Archibald Sinclair. The Liberal National Party fared significantly worse, enduring a net loss of 22 seats with a vote share of 2.9%, with its leader Ernest Brown losing his seat. 324 MPs were elected for the first time, which would remain the record turnover of MPs until 2024.^[5]

The 10.7% swing from the Conservatives to an opposition party is the largest since the Acts of Union 1800; the Conservative loss of the vote exceeded that of the 1906 Liberal landslide ousting of a Conservative administration. It was also the first election since 1906 in which the Conservatives did not win a plurality of the popular vote. Churchill remained actively involved in politics and returned as prime minister after leading his party into the 1951 general election. For the Liberal National Party the election was their last as a distinct party, as they merged with the Conservatives in 1947 while Ernest Brown resigned from politics in the aftermath of the election.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ McCallum, R.B.; Readman, Alison (1964). The British General Election of 1945. Nuffield Studies.
2. ^ Rowe 2004, p. 37.
3. ^ Lynch 2008, p. 4.
4. ^ "1945: Churchill loses general election". BBC News. 26 July 1945. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
5. ^ Courea, Eleni (9 July 2024). "Record 335 new MPs to be inducted into House of Commons this week". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2024.

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27 July 1890 – Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.

Vincent van Gogh

Dutch painter (1853–1890)

"Van Gogh" redirects here. For other uses, see Van Gogh (disambiguation) and Vincent van Gogh (disambiguation).

In this article, Dutch capitalization is used for tussenvoegsels in Dutch family names. The first letter in Van Gogh is capitalized unless it is preceded by a name, initial or title of nobility.

Vincent Willem van Gogh^{[note 1]} (Dutch: [ˈvɪnsɛnt ˈʋɪləɱ vɑŋ ˈɣɔx] ^ⓘ;^{[note 2]} 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was only beginning to gain critical attention before he died from a self-inflicted gunshot at age 37.^[5] During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.

Born into an upper-middle-class family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet and thoughtful, but showed signs of mental instability. As a young man, he worked as an art dealer, often travelling, but became depressed after he was transferred to London. He turned to religion and spent time as a missionary in southern Belgium. Later he drifted into ill-health and solitude. He was keenly aware of modernist trends in art and, while back with his parents, took up painting in 1881. His younger brother, Theodorus (known as "Theo"), supported him financially, and the two of them maintained a long correspondence.

Van Gogh's early works consist of mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers. In 1886, he moved to Paris, where he met members of the artistic avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were seeking new paths beyond Impressionism. Frustrated in Paris and inspired by a growing spirit of artistic change and collaboration, in February 1888 Van Gogh moved to Arles in southern France to establish an artistic retreat and commune. Once there, his paintings grew brighter and he turned his attention to the natural world, depicting local olive groves, wheat fields and sunflowers. Van Gogh invited Gauguin to join him in Arles and eagerly anticipated Gauguin's arrival in late 1888.

Van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions. He worried about his mental stability, and often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly and drank heavily. His friendship with Gauguin ended after a confrontation with a razor when, in a rage, he mutilated his left ear. Van Gogh spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy. After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, he came under the care of the homeopathic doctor Paul Gachet. His depression persisted, and on 29 July 1890 Van Gogh died from his injuries after shooting himself in the chest with a revolver.

Van Gogh's work began to attract critical artistic attention in the last year of his life. After his death, his art and life story captured public imagination as an emblem of misunderstood genius, due in large part to the efforts of his widowed sister-in-law Johanna van Gogh-Bonger.^[6][7] His bold use of colour, expressive line and thick application of paint inspired avant-garde artistic groups like the Fauves and German Expressionists in the early 20th century. Van Gogh's work gained widespread critical and commercial success in the following decades, and he has become a lasting icon of the romantic ideal of the tortured artist. Today, Van Gogh's works are among the world's most expensive paintings ever sold. His legacy is celebrated by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which holds the world's largest collection of his paintings and drawings.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ "BBC – Magazine Monitor: How to Say: Van Gogh". BBC. 22 January 2010. Archived from the original on 26 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
2. ^ Sweetman (1990), 7.
3. ^ Davies (2007), p. 83.
4. ^ Veltkamp, Paul. "Pronunciation of the Name 'Van Gogh'". vggallery.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015.
5. ^ Paintings, Authors: Department of European. "Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
6. ^ "The Woman Who Made Vincent van Gogh". The New York Times. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
7. ^ McQuillan (1989), 9.

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28 July 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

1868 amendment addressing citizenship rights and civil and political liberties

The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Considered one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law at all levels of government. The Fourteenth Amendment was a response to issues affecting freed slaves following the American Civil War, and its enactment was bitterly contested. States of the defeated Confederacy were required to ratify it to regain representation in Congress. The amendment, particularly its first section, is one of the most litigated parts of the Constitution, forming the basis for landmark Supreme Court decisions, such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954; prohibiting racial segregation in public schools), Loving v. Virginia (1967; ending interracial marriage bans), Roe v. Wade (1973; recognizing federal right to abortion until overturned in 2022), Bush v. Gore (2000; settling 2000 presidential election), Obergefell v. Hodges (2015; extending right to marry to same-sex couples), and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023; prohibiting affirmative action in most college admissions).

The amendment's first section includes the Citizenship Clause, Privileges or Immunities Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause. The Citizenship Clause broadly defines citizenship, superseding the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which held that Americans descended from African slaves could not become American citizens. The Privileges or Immunities Clause was interpreted in the Slaughter-House Cases (1873) as preventing states from impeding federal rights, such as the freedom of movement. The Due Process Clause builds on the Fifth Amendment to prohibit all levels of government from depriving people of life, liberty, or property without substantive and procedural due process. Additionally, the Due Process Clause supports the incorporation doctrine, by which portions of the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states. The Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people, including non-citizens, within its jurisdiction.

The second section superseded the Three-fifths Compromise, apportioning the House of Representatives and Electoral College using each state's adult male population. In allowing states to abridge voting rights "for participation in rebellion, or other crime," this section approved felony disenfranchisement. The third section disqualifies federal and state candidates who "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion," but in Trump v. Anderson (2024), the Supreme Court left its application to Congress for federal elections and state governments for state elections. The fourth section affirms public debt authorized by Congress while declining to compensate slaveholders for emancipation. The fifth section provides congressional power of enforcement, but Congress' authority to regulate private conduct has shifted to the Commerce Clause, while the anti-commandeering doctrine restrains federal interference in state law.

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29 July 1899 – The First Hague Convention is signed.

Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907

Treaties on the laws of war

The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the body of secular international law. A third conference was planned for 1914 and later rescheduled for 1915, but it did not take place because of the start of World War I.^[1]

1. ^ "Preparation for the Third Hague Peace Conference". Year Book of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1915. Washington, D.C.: Press of Byron S. Adams: 134. 1915. Retrieved 9 August 2021 – via University of California.

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30 July 1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council.

Defenestrations of Prague

Incidents of political violence (1419, 1483, 1618)

The Defenestrations of Prague (Czech: Pražské defenestrace, German: Prager Fenstersturz, Latin: Defenestratio Pragensis) were three incidents in the history of Bohemia in which people were defenestrated (thrown out of a window). Though already existing in Middle French, the word defenestrate is believed to have first been used in English in reference to the episodes in Prague in 1618 when the disgruntled Protestant estates threw two royal governors and their secretary out of a window of the Hradčany Castle and wrote an extensive apologia explaining their action. In the Middle Ages and early modern times, defenestration was not uncommon—the act carried elements of lynching and mob violence in the form of murder committed together.

The first governmental defenestration occurred in 1419, the second in 1483 and the third in 1618, although the term "Defenestration of Prague" more commonly refers to the third. Often, however, the 1483 event is not recognized as a "significant defenestration", which leads to some ambiguity when the 1618 defenestration is referred to as the "second Prague defenestration". The first and third defenestrations helped to trigger a prolonged religious conflict, either inside Bohemia (the Hussite Wars, 1st defenestration) or beyond (Thirty Years' War, 3rd defenestration), while the second helped establish a religious peace in the country for 31 years (Peace of Kutná Hora, 2nd defenestration).

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31 July 1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.

Black Tot Day

Last day on which rum was issued to Royal Navy sailors (31 July 1970)

Black Tot Day (31 July 1970) was the last day on which the Royal Navy issued sailors with a daily rum ration (the daily tot).

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1 August 1936 – The Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

1936 Summer Olympics

Multi-sport event in Berlin, Germany

This article is about the 1936 August Olympics in Berlin. For the planned 1936 August Olympics in Barcelona, see People's Olympiad.

The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: Olympische Sommerspiele 1936), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: Spiele der XI. Olympiade) and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona at the 29th International Olympic Committee meeting on 26 April 1931. The 1936 Games marked the second and most recent time the IOC gathered to vote in a city bidding to host those Games. Later rule modifications forbade cities hosting the bid vote from being awarded the games.

To outdo the 1932 Los Angeles Games, Chancellor Adolf Hitler had a new 100,000-seat track and field stadium built, as well as six gymnasiums and other smaller arenas. The Games were the first to be televised, with radio broadcasts reaching 41 countries.^[2] Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the German Olympic Committee to film the Games for $7 million.^[2] Her film, titled Olympia, pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports.

Hitler saw the 1936 Games as an opportunity to promote his government and ideals of racial supremacy and antisemitism, and the official Nazi Party paper, the Völkischer Beobachter, wrote in the strongest terms that Jews should not be allowed to participate in the Games.^[3][4] German Jewish athletes were barred or prevented from taking part in the Games by a variety of methods,^[5] although some female swimmers from the Jewish sports club Hakoah Vienna did participate. Jewish athletes from other countries were said to have been sidelined to avoid offending the Nazi regime.^[6] Lithuania was expelled from the Olympic Games due to Berlin's position regarding Lithuanian anti-Nazi policy, particularly because of the 1934–35 Trial of Neumann and Sass in Klaipėda.^[7]

Total ticket revenues were 7.5 million Reichsmark (equivalent to €17.4 million in 2021), for a profit of over one million ℛ︁ℳ︁. The official budget did not include outlays by the city of Berlin (which issued an itemized report detailing its costs of 16.5 million R.M.) or the outlays of the German national government (which did not make its costs public, but is estimated to have spent US$30 million).^[8]

Jesse Owens of the United States won four gold medals in the sprint and long jump events, and became the most successful athlete to compete in Berlin, while Germany was the most successful country overall with 101 medals (38 of them gold); the United States placed a distant second with 57 medals.^[9] These were the final Olympic Games under the presidency of Henri de Baillet-Latour. For the next 12 years, no Olympic Games were held due to the immense world disruption caused by the Second World War. The next Olympic Games were held in 1948 (the Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and then the Summer Games in London, England).

1. ^ ^{a b} "Factsheet – Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad" (PDF) (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 13 September 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
2. ^ ^{a b} Rader, Benjamin G. "American Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports", 5th ed.
3. ^ Nagorski, Andrew. Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012, p. 188.
4. ^ David Clay Large, Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936, p. 58.
5. ^ "The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936". Ushmm.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
6. ^ "Jewish Athletes – Marty Glickman & Sam Stoller". Ushmm.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 7 October 2016. A controversial move at the Games was the benching of two American Jewish runners, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller. Both had trained for the 4x100-meter relay, but on the day before the event, they were replaced by Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, the team's two fastest sprinters. Various reasons were given for the change. The coaches claimed they needed their fastest runners to win the race. Glickman has said that Coach Dean Cromwell and Avery Brundage were motivated by antisemitism and the desire to spare the Führer the embarrassing sight of two American Jews on the winning podium. Stoller did not believe antisemitism was involved, but the 21-year-old described the incident in his diary as the 'most humiliating episode' in his life.
7. ^ "Trial of Neumann and Sass" (PDF).
8. ^ Zarnowski, C. Frank (Summer 1992). "A Look at Olympic Costs" (PDF). Citius, Altius, Fortius. 1 (1): 16–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2007.
9. ^ "Olympic Games Berlin 1936". International Olympic Committee.

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2 August 1858 – The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj.

Government of India Act 1858

United Kingdom legislation transferring India from company to imperial rule

For other uses, see Government of India Act.

United Kingdom legislation

The Government of India Act 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. 106) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on August 2 1858. Its provisions called for the liquidation of the East India Company (who had up to this point been ruling British India under the auspices of Parliament) and the transferral of its functions to the British Crown.^[2]

Lord Palmerston, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, introduced a bill in 1858 for the transfer of control of the government of India from the East India Company to the Crown, referring to the grave defects in the existing system of the government of India.^[3] However, before this bill was to be passed, Palmerston was forced to resign on another issue.

Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby (who would later become the first Secretary of State for India), subsequently introduced another bill which was titled "An Act for the Better Governance of India" and it was passed on 2 August 1858. This act provided that India was to be governed directly and in the name of the Crown.^{[citation needed]}

1. ^ This short title was conferred on the act by the Short Titles Act 1896, s. 1
2. ^ Wolpert, Stanley (1989). A New History of India (3d ed.), pp. 239–240. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505637-X.
3. ^ Klein, Ira (July 2000). "Materialism, Mutiny and Modernization in British India". Modern Asian Studies. 34 (3): 564. JSTOR 313141.

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3 August 1977 – Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers.

TRS-80

1977 microcomputer by Tandy Corporation

This article is about the original TRS-80 (Model I) and its successors (Models III and 4). For an overview of all computers using the TRS-80 and Tandy names, see List of TRS-80 and Tandy-branded computers. For other uses, see TRS-80 (disambiguation).

The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer developed by American company Tandy Corporation and sold through their Radio Shack stores. Launched in 1977, it is one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail home computers.^[4] The name is an abbreviation of Tandy Radio Shack, Z80 [microprocessor], referring to its Zilog Z80 8-bit microprocessor.^[5]

The TRS-80 has a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, 4 KB dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) standard memory, small size and desk area, floating-point Level I BASIC language interpreter in read-only memory (ROM), 64-character-per-line video monitor, and had a starting price of US$600^[1] (equivalent to US$3,100 in 2024). A cassette tape drive for program storage was included in the original package. While the software environment was stable, the cassette load/save process combined with keyboard bounce issues and a troublesome Expansion Interface contributed to the Model I's reputation as not well-suited for serious use. Initially (until 1981), it lacked support for lowercase characters which may have hampered business adoption. An extensive line of upgrades and add-on hardware peripherals for the TRS-80 was developed and marketed by Tandy/Radio Shack. The basic system can be expanded with up to 48 KB of RAM (in 16 KB increments), and up to four floppy disk drives and/or hard disk drives. Tandy/Radio Shack provided full-service support including upgrade, repair, and training services in their thousands of stores worldwide.

By 1979, the TRS-80 had the largest selection of software in the microcomputer market.^[6] Until 1982, the TRS-80 was the bestselling PC line, outselling the Apple II by a factor of five according to one analysis.^[5] The broadly compatible TRS-80 Model III was released in the middle of 1980. The Model I was discontinued shortly thereafter, primarily due to stricter Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations on radio-frequency interference to nearby electronic devices.^[7][8] In April 1983, the Model III was succeeded by the compatible TRS-80 Model 4. Following the original Model I and its compatible descendants, the TRS-80 name became a generic brand used on other unrelated computer lines sold by Tandy, including the TRS-80 Model II, TRS-80 Model 2000, TRS-80 Model 100, TRS-80 Color Computer, and TRS-80 Pocket Computer.

1. ^ ^{a b} Forster, Winnie (2005). The Encyclopedia of Consoles, Handhelds & Home Computers 1972–2005. Gameplan. p. 17. ISBN 3-00-015359-4.
2. ^ "Advertisement: Radio Shack". Computerworld. Vol. XIII, no. 42. October 15, 1979. p. 31. ISSN 0010-4841. How we sold over 100,000 TRS-80 Model I Systems
3. ^ "Table 2: United States (1978-1982)". Computers and People. 33–36. Berkeley Enterprises: 19. 1984. TRS-80 (all models) 2,400,000
4. ^ Mooallem, Jon (April 19, 2010). "The Lost Tribes of RadioShack: Tinkerers Search for New Spiritual Home". Wired. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
5. ^ ^{a b} McCracken, Harry (August 3, 2012). "Please Don't Call It Trash-80: A 35th Anniversary Salute to Radio Shack's TRS-80". Time.
6. ^ Welch, David and Theresa (2007). Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution. Ferndale, Michigan: The Seeker Books. ISBN 978-0-9793468-0-4.
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference newsletter_8101 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ "Radio Shack TRS-80 Micro Computer System". oldcomputer.org. Retrieved May 6, 2010.

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4 August 2020 – At least 220 people are killed and over 5,000 are wounded when 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate explodes in Beirut, Lebanon.

2020 Beirut explosion

Ammonium nitrate explosion in Lebanon

"Beirut explosion" redirects here. For other explosions in Beirut, see Beirut bombings (disambiguation).

On 4 August 2020, a major explosion occurred in Beirut, Lebanon, triggered by the ignition of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The chemical, confiscated in 2014 from the cargo ship MV Rhosus and stored at the Port of Beirut without adequate safety measures for six years, detonated after a fire broke out in a nearby warehouse. The explosion resulted in at least 218 fatalities, 7,000 injuries, and approximately 300,000 displaced individuals, alongside property damage estimated at US$15 billion. The blast released energy comparable to 1.1 kilotons of TNT, ranking it among the most powerful non-nuclear explosions ever recorded and the largest single detonation of ammonium nitrate.^[1]

The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighboring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away. Scientific studies noted that the shockwave temporarily disrupted Earth's ionosphere.^[2][3][4] Adjacent grain silos at the Port of Beirut sustained major damage. Portions of the silos collapsed in July and August 2022 following fires caused by remaining grain stocks.

The Lebanese government declared a two-week state of emergency in response to the disaster. Protests, which had been ongoing since 2019, grew in scale, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet on 10 August 2020. Claims surfaced suggesting Hezbollah's possible connection to the explosion, citing unverified reports of weapons stored at the site. Hezbollah denied the allegations but participated in demonstrations opposing the official investigation.^[5][6][7]

1. ^ Kim, Keehoon; Pasyanos, Michael E. (16 December 2022). "Yield Estimation of the August 2020 Beirut Explosion by Using Physics-Based Propagation Simulations of Regional Infrasound". Geophysical Research Letters. 49 (23). Bibcode:2022GeoRL..4901118K. doi:10.1029/2022GL101118. ISSN 0094-8276.
2. ^ Kundu, Bhaskar; Senapati, Batakrushna; Matsushita, Ai; Heki, Kosuke (2 February 2021). "Atmospheric wave energy of the 2020 August 4 explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, from ionospheric disturbances". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 2793. Bibcode:2021NatSR..11.2793K. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-82355-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7854621. PMID 33531554.
3. ^ McRae, Mike (19 March 2021). "The Tragic Beirut Explosion Was So Violent, It Disturbed Earth's Ionosphere". ScienceAlert. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
4. ^ Ozdemir, Derya (18 March 2021). "The Beirut Explosion's Atmospheric Wave Shook the Ionosphere". interestingengineering.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
5. ^ Gavlak, Dale (18 October 2021). "Hezbollah Rattled by Beirut Port Blast Probe". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
6. ^ Qiblawi, Tamara (23 September 2021). "Hezbollah threatened top judge probing Beirut port blast, source says". CNN. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
7. ^ Daou, Marc (19 October 2021). "Hezbollah's campaign against Beirut blast judge paralyses Lebanon's government". France 24. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.

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5 August 1620 – The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England, carrying would-be settlers, on its first attempt to reach North America; it is forced to dock in Dartmouth when its companion ship, the Speedwell, springs a leak.

Mayflower

17th-century ship of American colonists

For other ships, see List of ships named Mayflower. For other uses, see Mayflower (disambiguation).

Mayflower was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, Mayflower, with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reached what is today the United States, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21 [O.S. November 11], 1620.

Differing from their contemporary Puritans (who sought to reform and purify the Church of England), the Pilgrims chose to separate themselves from the Church of England, which forced them to pray in private. They believed that its resistance to reform and Roman Catholic past left it beyond redemption. Starting in 1608, a group of English families left England for the Netherlands, where they could worship freely. By 1620, the community determined to cross the Atlantic for America, which they considered a "new Promised Land", where they would establish Plymouth Colony.^[1]: 44

The Pilgrims had originally hoped to reach America by early October using two ships, but delays and complications meant they could use only one, Mayflower. Arriving in November, they had to survive unprepared through a harsh winter. As a result, only half of the original Pilgrims survived the first winter at Plymouth. If not for the help of local indigenous peoples to teach them food gathering and other survival skills, all of the colonists might have perished. The following year, those 53 who survived^[2] celebrated the colony's first fall harvest along with 90 Wampanoag Native American people,^[3] an occasion declared in centuries later the first American Thanksgiving.^[4] Before disembarking from Mayflower, the Pilgrims wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that established a rudimentary government, in which each member would contribute to the safety and welfare of the planned settlement. As one of the earliest colonial vessels, the ship has become a cultural icon in the history of the United States.^[5]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fraser was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ "Primary Sources for 'The First Thanksgiving' at Plymouth" (PDF). Pilgrim Hall Museum. Retrieved November 26, 2009. The 53 Pilgrims at the First Thanksgiving
3. ^ Winslow, Edward (1622), Mourt's Relation (PDF), p. 133, retrieved November 20, 2013, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted
4. ^ Weinstein, Allen, and Rubel, David. The Story of America, Agincourt Press Production, (2002) ISBN 0-7894-8903-1 pp. 60–61
5. ^ Bevan, Richard. "The Mayflower and the Birth of America", Sky History. AETN UK. Accessed on 23 November 2023.

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6 August 1661 – The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic

Treaty of The Hague (1661)

Treaty between the Netherlands and Portugal

The Treaty of The Hague (also known as the Treaty of Den Haag) was signed on 6 August 1661^[1] between representatives of the Dutch Republic and Portugal. Based on the terms of the treaty, the Dutch Republic recognized Portuguese sovereignty over New Holland (Dutch Brazil) in exchange for an indemnity of 4 million reis, conversion from 2 million caroli guilders, over the span of 16 years.^[2]

1. ^ Jan H. Verzijl (1972). International Law in Historical Perspective. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 493. ISBN 90-286-0022-1.
2. ^ Facsimile of the treaty: Articulen van vrede en Confoederarie, Gheslooten Tusschen den Doorluchtighsten Comingh van Portugael ter eenre, ende de Hoogh Mogende Heeren Staten General ...;

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7 August 1743 – The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War

Treaty of Åbo

Treaty ending the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–43

The Treaty of Åbo, or the Treaty of Turku, was a peace treaty signed between the Russian Empire and Sweden in Åbo (Turku) on 18 August [O.S. 7 August] 1743 in the end of the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743.

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8 August 2010 – China Floods: A mudslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu, China, kills more than 1,400 people.

2010 Gansu mudslide

Mudslide in China

33°47′N 104°22′E / 33.783°N 104.367°E / 33.783; 104.367

The 2010 Gansu mudslide was a deadly mudslide in Zhouqu County, Gansu Province, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China that occurred at midnight on 8 August 2010. The floods were triggered after decades of clear cut logging practices had reduced the ability of the watershed to absorb heavy rainfall.^[2][3]

It was the most deadly individual disaster of the 2010 China floods. The mudslides killed more than 1,471 people as of 21 August 2010^[update], while 1,243 others have been rescued and 294 remain missing.^{[1][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]} The missing were presumed dead as officials ordered locals to stop searching for survivors or bodies to prevent the spread of disease.^[11] Over 1,700 people evacuated have been living in schools.^[5]

1. ^ ^{a b} Deng, Shasha (2 September 2010). "Death toll from NW China mudslides rises to 1,471; 294 still missing". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
2. ^ "At least 127 dead, 1,300 missing in northwest China mudslides". Xinhua News Agency. 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
3. ^ "1,100 Missing in China As Asian Flood Misery Rises". NPR. 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 9 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
4. ^ Wang, Guanqun (21 August 2010). "Death toll from NW China mudslides rises to 1,434". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Mudslide death toll in northwestern China rises to 1,407". Cable News Network. 20 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
6. ^ "Life in mudslide-hit town goes on". Xinhua News Agency. 19 August 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
7. ^ "China declares day of mourning for flood victims". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 August 2010. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
8. ^ Wang, Peng (14 August 2010). "Death toll from China mudslide rises to 1,156; 588 still missing". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
9. ^ "Death toll climbs to 1,117 in China mudslides". CNN. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
10. ^ Cite error: The named reference xinhua 16 august was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. ^ Xing, Guangli (22 August 2010). "Death toll from NW China mudslides rises to 1,435 as authorities ban further searching for the dead". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2010.

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9 August 1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.

Telegraphy

Long distance transmission of text

This article is about telegraphy generally. For telegraphy over conducting wires, see Electrical telegraph.

"Telegraph" redirects here. For other uses, see Telegraph (disambiguation).

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not. Ancient signalling systems, although sometimes quite extensive and sophisticated as in China, were generally not capable of transmitting arbitrary text messages. Possible messages were fixed and predetermined, so such systems are thus not true telegraphs.

The earliest true telegraph put into widespread use was the Chappe telegraph, an optical telegraph invented by Claude Chappe in the late 18th century. The system was used extensively in France, and European nations occupied by France, during the Napoleonic era. The electric telegraph started to replace the optical telegraph in the mid-19th century. It was first taken up in Britain in the form of the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, initially used mostly as an aid to railway signalling. This was quickly followed by a different system developed in the United States by Samuel Morse. The electric telegraph was slower to develop in France due to the established optical telegraph system, but an electrical telegraph was put into use with a code compatible with the Chappe optical telegraph. The Morse system was adopted as the international standard in 1865, using a modified Morse code developed in Germany in 1848.^[1]

The heliograph is a telegraph system using reflected sunlight for signalling. It was mainly used in areas where the electrical telegraph had not been established and generally used the same code. The most extensive heliograph network established was in Arizona and New Mexico during the Apache Wars. The heliograph was standard military equipment as late as World War II. Wireless telegraphy developed in the early 20th century became important for maritime use, and was a competitor to electrical telegraphy using submarine telegraph cables in international communications.

Telegrams became a popular means of sending messages once telegraph prices had fallen sufficiently. Traffic became high enough to spur the development of automated systems—teleprinters and punched tape transmission. These systems led to new telegraph codes, starting with the Baudot code. However, telegrams were never able to compete with the letter post on price, and competition from the telephone, which removed their speed advantage, drove the telegraph into decline from 1920 onwards. The few remaining telegraph applications were largely taken over by alternatives on the internet towards the end of the 20th century.

1. ^ "History and technology of Morse Code". EDinformatics.

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10 August 2003 – The Okinawa Urban Monorail is opened in Naha, Okinawa.

Okinawa Urban Monorail

Public transit line serving the cities of Naha and Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan

The Okinawa Urban Monorail (沖縄都市モノレール, Okinawa Toshi Monorēru), also known as Yui Rail (ゆいレール, Yui Rēru), is a monorail line serving the cities of Naha and Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan. Operated by Okinawa Urban Monorail, Inc. (沖縄都市モノレール株式会社, Okinawa Toshi Monorēru Kabushiki-gaisha), it opened on 10 August 2003, and is the only public rail system in Okinawa Prefecture. Yui Rail is the first rail line on Okinawa since World War II. Akamine Station and Naha Airport Station, the southernmost and westernmost rail stations in Japan respectively, lie on this line.

The line was planned from 1972, which was the same year as Okinawa's return to Japan. The monorail's route was decided in 1977, and the opening year for the line was set to 1987. However, in order to build the monorail, bus routes in the city had to be revamped, and the discussion with bus operators regarding compensation for the revamp took until 1994. The construction began in 1996, and the line opened on 10 August 2003. The line has since then extended to Urasoe on 1 October 2019.

Trains run on the line from exactly 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. every day, with an interval of 4-15 minutes. All services stop at every station, although some services terminate at Shuri Station. The line has been using the Okinawa Urban Monorail 1000 series electric multiple units since its opening in 2003, which were mostly manufactured by Hitachi Rail. All stations feature a piece of art and are barrier-free.

1. ^ "よくある質問｜ゆいレール". www.yui-rail.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 10 June 2025. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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11 August 1315 – The Great Famine of Europe becomes so dire that even the king of England has difficulties buying bread for himself and his entourage

Great Famine of 1315–1317

Famine of medieval Europe

The Great Famine of 1315–1317 (occasionally dated 1315–1322) was the first of a series of large-scale crises that struck parts of Europe early in the 14th century. Most of Europe (extending east to Poland and south to the Alps) was affected.^[1] The famine caused many deaths over an extended number of years and marked a clear end to the period of growth and prosperity from the 11th to the 13th centuries.^[2]

The Great Famine started with bad weather in spring 1315. Crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer harvest in 1317, and Europe did not fully recover until 1322. Crop failures were not the only problem; cattle disease caused sheep and cattle numbers to fall as much as 80 per cent. The period was marked by extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death, and even cannibalism and infanticide. The crisis had consequences for the Church, state, European society, and for future calamities to follow in the 14th century.

1. ^ Lucas, Henry S. (October 1930). "The great European Famine of 1315, 1316, 1317". Speculum. 5 (4): 343–377. doi:10.2307/2848143. JSTOR 2848143. S2CID 161705685.
2. ^ Ormrod, W. Mark (2000). "England: Edward II and Edward III". In Jones, Michael (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 6, c.1300–c.1415. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-13905574-1.

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12 August 1981 – The IBM Personal Computer is released.

IBM Personal Computer

Personal computer model released in 1981

"IBM PC" redirects here. For personal computers compatible with the IBM PC, see IBM PC compatible.

Not to be confused with the separate IBM PC Series released from 1994 to 2000.

The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team of engineers and designers at International Business Machines (IBM), directed by William C. Lowe and Philip Don Estridge in Boca Raton, Florida.

Powered by an x86-architecture Intel 8088 processor, the machine was based on open architecture and third-party peripherals. Over time, expansion cards and software technology increased to support it. The PC had a substantial influence on the personal computer market; the specifications of the IBM PC became one of the most popular computer design standards in the world. The only significant competition it faced from a non-compatible platform throughout the 1980s was from Apple's Macintosh product line, as well as consumer-grade platforms created by companies like Commodore and Atari. Most present-day personal computers share architectural features in common with the original IBM PC, including the Intel-based Mac computers manufactured from 2006 to 2022.

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13 August 1905 – Norwegians vote to end the union with Sweden.

1905 Norwegian union dissolution referendum

A referendum on dissolving the union with Sweden was held in Norway on 13 August 1905.^[1] Dissolving the union, which had been in place since 1814, was approved by almost 100% of voters, with just 184 voting against the proposal out of over 371,000 votes cast.^[2]

1. ^ Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "unionsoppløsningen". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
2. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1446 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

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14 August 1352 – War of the Breton Succession: Anglo-Bretons defeat the French in the Battle of Mauron

Battle of Mauron

1352 battle of the Breton War of Succession

The Battle of Mauron was fought in 1352 in Brittany during the Breton War of Succession between an Anglo-Breton force supporting the claim of Jean de Montfort and a Franco-Breton force supporting the claim of Charles de Blois. The Anglo-Bretons were victorious. The battle took place in the context of the Hundred Years War.

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15 August 1899 – Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened.

Fratton Park

Association football ground in Portsmouth, England

Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and is the home of Portsmouth Football Club. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it is the only professional English football ground not located on the mainland of Great Britain.^[3] Fratton Park has been the only home football ground in Portsmouth F.C.'s entire history.

Fratton Park was built in 1899 by Alfred H. Bone, a Portsmouth-based architect, surveyor and a founding director of the football club. The site of Fratton Park was formerly a market garden potato field in a Portsea Island farming village named Milton. By 1904, the village of Milton and the rest of Portsea Island had become part of the borough of Portsmouth.

Portsmouth's football ground was deceptively named as "Fratton Park" by the club's founding directors, to persuade supporters that the new Milton-based football ground was within walking distance of neighbouring Fratton's convenient railway station; the true distance between the railway station and football ground is actually one mile, or a ten-minute walk.

Fratton Park was first opened to the public on Tuesday 15 August 1899. The first ever match at Fratton Park took place on the afternoon of Wednesday 6 September 1899,^[4] a 2–0 friendly win against Southampton, attended by 4,141 supporters.^[4] Three days later, the first competitive home match at Fratton Park was played on Saturday 9 September 1899, a Southern League First Division 2–0 win against Reading, attended by 9,000 supporters.

Sir John Brickwood (1852–1932) was Portsmouth's founding chairman. Brickwood, owner of a Portsmouth-based brewery, was also a philanthropist. In 1900, the Brickwood Brewery opened a mock-Tudor public house named The Pompey (designed by Arthur Cogswell) next to Fratton Park. In 1905, a mock-Tudor club pavilion was donated by Sir John Brickwood and built to the north of The Pompey pub. The pavilion, designed by Alfred H. Bone, originally had an octagonal clock tower spire on its roof. The pavilion was used as club offices and the players changing rooms.

Fratton Park's capacity was expanded to 58,000 supporters in 1935 after the North Stand and North Terrace were rebuilt,^[5] but was reduced to 52,000 to follow new safety laws introduced after the Burnden Park disaster of 1946.^[6] The highest recorded attendance in Fratton Park's history was in Portsmouth's first First Division championship winning season of 1948–49 with a crowd recorded at 51,385 on 26 February 1949, for an FA Cup sixth-round match vs Derby County, a match which if Portsmouth had won, could have led to them achieving the rare Double of winning both the FA Cup and First Division titles in the same season.^[2]

On 26 July 1948, Fratton Park hosted a Netherlands vs Ireland first-round football game in the 1948 London Olympics, one of only two grounds outside London to host matches in the Olympic football tournament. The game at Fratton Park was attended by a crowd of 8,000, with a 3–1 win to the Netherlands.

On 22 February 1956, Fratton Park became the first English football ground to stage an evening Football League match under artificial light, against Newcastle United.^[7] The original 1956 floodlights, positioned at opposite ends on top of Fratton Park's South Stand and North Stand roofs, were replaced in 1962 by floodlight tower pylons in the four corners of the ground.

Fratton Park's four corner floodlight towers, erected in 1962, became well known in Portsmouth and also acted as a useful landmark for visiting away supporters. Since 2015, the four towers were gradually replaced by modern roof-level lights. One surviving floodlight tower, from the north-west corner, was renovated and relocated to Fratton Park's main car park on 15 July 2019 for preservation, albeit without its lighting lamps, which were not required and removed.^[8] The preserved floodlight tower now also acts as a telecommunications antenna tower.

Fratton Park was used as part of the 70-day long London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route. The Day 59 relay route began on 16 July 2012, with Portsmouth F.C. steward and D-Day veteran John Jenkins as runner number 001, carrying the Olympic flame onto Fratton Park pitch. The Day 59 torch relay route then set off from Fratton Park, through Portsmouth and eastwards to Brighton & Hove.^[9][10]

Fratton Park is affectionately nicknamed "The Old Girl" by Portsmouth supporters^[11][12] or "Fortress Fratton" by the broadcast media and has a reputation for high attendances and a powerful atmosphere, similar to that of larger capacity stadia.^[13] Fratton Park's maximum capacity has been reduced to 20,899 since it became an all-seater ground in 1996. Several relocations plans proposed during the 1990s and 2000s failed to materialise.

1. ^ "A first glimpse at Fratton Park's summer work as Pompey redevelop their home". portsmouth.co.uk. 12 June 2019.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Sky Sports | Football | Premier League | Portsmouth". 21 March 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2008.
3. ^ "Map of all English Premier and football league teams". myfootygrounds.co.uk.
4. ^ ^{a b} "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. ^ "PompeyHistory".
6. ^ "Potato field to world-renowned atmosphere – celebrating Fratton Park". www.wsc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference football league official site was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ FC, Portsmouth (15 July 2019). "Relocation, relocation, relocation The Fratton Park floodlight that was taken down last month has completed its move to the North Stand car park #Pompeypic.twitter.com/AStsMBN4TN".
9. ^ Archives, The National. "The National Archives - London 2012 - Olympic Torch Relay Day 59 Highlights - London 2012 - Video Archive - UK Government Web Archive". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
10. ^ "Football fan, 92, carries torch". BBC News. 16 July 2012.
11. ^ "Fratton Park plea to Football League - Vital Portsmouth". 28 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
12. ^ "Photo". soccerbible.com. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
13. ^ "Jose Mourinho criticises 'quiet' Old Trafford atmosphere". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 March 2020.

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16 August 1916 – The Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States is signed.

Migratory Bird Treaty

1916 treaty between Canada and the United States

The Migratory Bird Treaty or Convention is an environmental treaty between Canada and the United States. It was originally signed on 16 August 1916 by the United States and the United Kingdom (representing Canada), entered into force on 6 December 1916 and has since been amended several times.

Whereas, many species of birds in the course of their annual migrations traverse certain parts of the Dominion of Canada and the United States; and

Whereas, many of these species are of great value as a source of food or in destroying insects which are injurious to forests and forage plants on the public domain, as well as to agricultural crops, in both Canada and the United States, but are nevertheless in danger of extermination through lack of adequate protection during the nesting season or while on their way to and from their breeding grounds;

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British dominions beyond the seas, Emperor of India, and the United States of America, being desirous of saving from indiscriminate slaughter and of insuring the preservation of such migratory birds as are either useful to man or are harmless, have resolved to adopt some uniform system of protection which shall effectively accomplish such objects ...^[1]

1. ^ "Canada Treaty Information - View Treaty". Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2011-05-18.

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17 August 1896 – Bridget Driscoll became the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.

Death of Bridget Driscoll

First pedestrian victim of an automobile collision

The death of Bridget Driscoll (née Swift;^[1] c. 1851 – 17 August 1896) was the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in Great Britain.^[2][3]

Driscoll was born in Ireland but living in Surrey with her husband and children at the time of her death. She had planned a three-day trip to London to attend a League of the Cross festival.^[1] She was in the company of her teenage daughter May and her friend Elizabeth Murphy and was crossing Dolphin Terrace in the grounds of the Crystal Palace in London when she was struck by the driver of a car belonging to the Anglo-French Motor Carriage Company that was being used to give demonstration rides.^[3] One witness described the car as being driven at "a reckless pace, in fact, like a fire engine".^[3]

Although the car's maximum speed was 8 miles per hour (13 km/h), it had been limited deliberately to 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), the speed at which the driver, Arthur James Edsall of Upper Norwood, claimed to have been travelling. His passenger, Alice Standing of Forest Hill, alleged he modified the engine to allow the car to go faster, but another taxicab driver examined the car and said it was incapable of exceeding 4.5 miles per hour (7.2 km/h) because of a low-speed engine belt. The collision happened just a few weeks after a new act of parliament had increased the speed limit for cars to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h), from 2 miles per hour in towns and 4 miles per hour in the countryside.^[3]

The jury returned a verdict of "accidental death" after an inquest lasting some six hours. The coroner, Percy Morrison (Croydon division of Surrey), said he hoped "such a thing would never happen again". The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents estimated 550,000 people had been killed on UK roads by 2010.^[3]

1. ^ ^{a b} Clancy, CJ (12 January 2022). "Bridget O'Driscoll: First pedestrian killed in a car accident in 1896". Irish Central. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
2. ^ Kunkle, Fredrick (22 March 2018). "Fatal crash with self-driving car was a first – like Bridget Driscoll's was 121 years ago with one of the first cars". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} McFarlane, Andrew (17 August 2010). "How the UK's first fatal car accident unfolded". BBC News. Retrieved 27 August 2013.

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18 August 1612 – The trial of the Pendle witches, one of England's most famous witch trials, begins at Lancaster Assizes.

Pendle witches

English witch hunt and trial in 1612

Pendle Hill

class=notpageimage|

Location of Pendle Hill on a map of England

The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. All but two were tried at Lancaster Assizes on 18–19 August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches and others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, and another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial – nine women and two men – ten were found guilty and executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.

The official publication of the proceedings by the clerk to the court, Thomas Potts, in his The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, and the number of witches hanged together – nine at Lancaster and one at York – make the trials unusual for England at that time. It has been estimated that all the English witch trials between the early 15th and early 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions; this series of trials accounts for more than two per cent of that total.

Six of the Pendle witches came from one of two families, each at the time headed by a woman in her eighties: Elizabeth Southerns (a.k.a. Demdike^[a]), her daughter Elizabeth Device, and her grandchildren James and Alizon Device; Anne Whittle (a.k.a. Chattox), and her daughter Anne Redferne. The others accused were Jane Bulcock and her son John Bulcock, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewitt, Alice Grey, and Jennet Preston. The outbreaks of 'witchcraft' in and around Pendle may suggest that some people made a living as traditional healers, using a mixture of herbal medicine and talismans or charms, which might leave them open to charges of sorcery.^[2] Many of the allegations resulted from accusations that members of the Demdike and Chattox families made both against each other, perhaps because they were in competition, trying to make a living from healing, begging, and extortion.

1. ^ Clayton (2007), p. 204
2. ^ Bonzol, Judith (2010). "The Death of the Fifth Earl of Derby: Cunning Folk and Medicine in Early Modern England". Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme. 33 (4): 73–100. doi:10.33137/rr.v33i4.15972. ISSN 0034-429X. JSTOR 43446683.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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19 August 1854 – The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred.

Sioux Wars

Conflicts between the United States and indigenous Sioux tribes from 1854 to 1891

The Sioux Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and various subgroups of the Sioux people which occurred in the later half of the 19th century. The earliest conflict came in 1854 when a fight broke out at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, when Sioux warriors killed 31 American soldiers in the Grattan Massacre, and the final came in 1890 during the Ghost Dance War.

1. ^ Libby, Orin G. (1920): The Arikara Narrative. Bismarck.
2. ^ Kappler, Joseph C. (1904): Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties. Vol. 2. pp. 1008–1011: Treaty with the Crows, May 7, 1868.
3. ^ Dunlay, Thomas W. (1982). Wolves for the Blue Soldiers. Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90. Lincoln and London. p. 113.
4. ^ Hoxie, Frederick E. (1995): Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935. Cambridge. p. 108 and map p. 99.
5. ^ Medicine Crow, Joseph (1992): From the Heart of the Crow Country. The Crow Indians' Own Stories. New York. Map facing p. xxi.
6. ^ Kappler, Joseph C. (1904): Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties. Vol. 2. p. 595.
7. ^ "The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Great Sioux War (1876)". June 16, 2019.
8. ^ Linderman, Frank B. (1962): Plenty Coups. Chief of the Crows. Lincoln and London. p. 155.

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20 August 1858 – Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory.

Charles Darwin

English naturalist and biologist (1809–1882)

For other people named Charles Darwin, see Charles Darwin (disambiguation).

Charles Robert Darwin (/ˈdɑːrwɪn/^[5] DAR-win; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist,^[6] widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept.^[7] In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.^[8] Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.^[9][10]

Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. His studies at the University of Cambridge's Christ's College from 1828 to 1831 encouraged his passion for natural science.^[11] However, it was his five-year voyage on HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836 that truly established Darwin as an eminent geologist. The observations and theories he developed during his voyage supported Charles Lyell's concept of gradual geological change. Publication of his journal of the voyage made Darwin famous as a popular author.^[12]

Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began detailed investigations and, in 1838, devised his theory of natural selection.^[13] Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research, and his geological work had priority.^[14] He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay that described the same idea, prompting the immediate joint submission of both their theories to the Linnean Society of London.^[15] Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of natural diversification.^[16] In 1871, he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Actions of Worms (1881), he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.

Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species.^[17][18] By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many initially favoured competing explanations that gave only a minor role to natural selection, and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution.^[16][19] Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.

1. ^ Freeman 2007, p. 76.
2. ^ "Charles Darwin's personal finances revealed in new find". The Telegraph. 22 March 2009. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017.
3. ^ "Search Results: Record – Darwin; Charles Robert". The Royal Society Collections Catalogues. 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Freeman 2007, p. 106.
5. ^ "Darwin" Archived 18 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine entry in Collins English Dictionary.
6. ^ Desmond, Moore & Browne 2004.
7. ^ Coyne, Jerry A. (2009). Why Evolution is True. Viking. pp. 8–11. ISBN 978-0-670-02053-9.
8. ^ Larson 2004, pp. 79–111.
9. ^ "Special feature: Darwin 200". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Westminster Abbey-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. ^ Leff 2000, About Charles Darwin.
12. ^ Desmond & Moore 1991, pp. 210, 284–285.
13. ^ Desmond & Moore 1991, pp. 263–274.
14. ^ van Wyhe 2007, pp. 184, 187
15. ^ Beddall, B. G. (1968). "Wallace, Darwin, and the Theory of Natural Selection". Journal of the History of Biology. 1 (2): 261–323. doi:10.1007/BF00351923. ISSN 0022-5010. S2CID 81107747.
16. ^ ^{a b} van Wyhe 2008.
17. ^ Coyne, Jerry A. (2009). Why Evolution is True. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-19-923084-6. In The Origin, Darwin provided an alternative hypothesis for the development, diversification, and design of life. Much of that book presents evidence that not only supports evolution but at the same time refutes creationism. In Darwin's day, the evidence for his theories was compelling but not completely decisive.
18. ^ Glass, Bentley (1959). Forerunners of Darwin. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. iv. ISBN 978-0-8018-0222-5. Darwin's solution is a magnificent synthesis of evidence ... a synthesis ... compelling in honesty and comprehensiveness {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help).
19. ^ Bowler 2003, pp. 178–179, 338, 347.

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21 August 1991 – Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt

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• 1991 Soviet coup attempt

• From a page move: This is a redirect from a page that has been moved (renamed). This page was kept as a redirect to avoid breaking links, both internal and external, that may have been made to the old page name.

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22 August 1851 – The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America.

America's Cup

Sailing race competition

This article is about the international yachting race and trophy. For other uses, see America's Cup (disambiguation). For the most recent race, see 2024 America's Cup.

The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport.^[1][2][3] America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known as the defender) and the other from the yacht club that is challenging for the cup (the challenger). The winner is awarded the America's Cup trophy, informally known as the Auld Mug. Matches are held several years apart on dates agreed between the defender and the challenger. There is no fixed schedule, but the races have generally been held every three to four years.

Any yacht club that meets the requirements specified in the Deed of Gift of the America's Cup has the right to challenge the yacht club that currently holds the cup. If the challenging club wins the match, it gains stewardship of the cup. From the first defence of the cup in 1870 until the twentieth defence in 1967, there was always only one challenger. In 1970 multiple challengers applied, so a Challenger Selection Series was held to decide which applicant would become the official challenger and compete in the America's Cup match. This approach has been used for each subsequent competition.^[4]

The history and prestige associated with the America's Cup attract the world's top sailors, yacht designers, wealthy entrepreneurs, and sponsors. It is a test of sailing skill, boat and sail design, and fundraising and management skills. Competing for the cup is expensive, with modern teams spending more than US$100 million each;^[5] the 2013 winner was estimated to have spent US$300 million on the competition.

The most recent 2024 America's Cup was held in October 2024 between the challengers, Royal Yacht Squadron's INEOS Britannia, and the defending champions, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, who won 7-2.

1. ^ "A Brief History of the America's Cup". America's Cup Event Authority LLC. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
2. ^ "America's Cup". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
3. ^ "About America's Cup". Sir Peter Blake Trust. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015.
4. ^ "America's Cup: The rising cost of sailing's ultimate prize". Boat International. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
5. ^ Newton, Casey (3 September 2013). "Billionaire death race: inside America's Cup and the world's most dangerous sailboat". The Verge. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2019.

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23 August 1914 – World War I: Japan declares war on Germany.

Japan during World War I

Period of Japanese history from 1914 to 1918

Japan participated in World War I from 1914 to 1918 as a member of the Allies/Entente and played an important role against the Imperial German Navy. Politically, the Japanese Empire seized the opportunity to expand its sphere of influence in China, and to gain recognition as a great power in postwar geopolitics.

Japan's military, taking advantage of the great distances and Imperial Germany's preoccupation with the war in Europe, seized German possessions in the Pacific and East Asia, but there was no large-scale mobilization of the economy.^[1] Foreign Minister Katō Takaaki and Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu wanted to use the opportunity to expand Japanese influence in China. They enlisted Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), then in exile in Japan, but they had little success.^[2] The Imperial Japanese Navy, a nearly autonomous bureaucratic institution, made its own decision to undertake expansion in the Pacific area. It captured Germany's Micronesian territories north of the equator, and ruled the islands until they were transitioned to civilian control in 1921. The operation gave the Navy a rationale for enlarging its budget to double the Army budget and expanding the fleet. The Navy then gained significant political influence over national and international affairs.^[3]

1. ^ Frederick R. Dickinson, War and National Reinvention: Japan in the Great War, 1913–1919 (1999)
2. ^ Albert A. Altman and Harold Z. Schiffrin, "Sun Yat-Sen and the Japanese, 1914–16", Modern Asian Studies, (July 1972) 6#4 pp 385–400
3. ^ J. C. Schencking, "Bureaucratic Politics, Military Budgets and Japan's Southern Advance: The Imperial Navy’s Seizure of German Micronesia in the First World War", War in History, (July 1998) 5#3 pp 308–326

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