Events in History
- Jul 1 55th Postmaster General: Robert E Hannegan of Mo takes office
- Jul 1 Allies troop land on Balikpapan
Event of Interest
Jul 3 James F. Byrnes becomes 49th US Secretary of State, succeeding Edward Stettinius
- Jul 4 Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson gives Britain's agreement to use the atomic bomb against Japan at the Combined Policy Committee in Washington D. C.
Election of Interest
Jul 5 Labour Party under Clement Attlee wins British parliamentary elections (results not declared until 26 July)
- Jul 5 World War II: Liberation of the Philippines declared
United Nations Charter
Jul 6 Nicaragua becomes 1st nation to ratify the Charter of the United Nations
Manhattan Project
Jul 16 1st test detonation of an atomic bomb, Trinity Site, Alamogordo, New Mexico as part of the US Manhattan Project
- Jul 16 Cruiser Indianapolis leaves San Francisco with atom bomb
Potsdam Conference
Jul 17 Potsdam Conference: Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill hold 1st post-World War II meeting
- Jul 19 USS Cod saves 51 sailors from Dutch sub in only sub-to-sub rescue
Event of Interest
Jul 23 Marshal Philippe Pétain, leader of the French Vichy collaborationist regime during World War II goes on trial
- Jul 24 WWII: Suicide attack by Japanese Kaiten manned torpedo sinks US Navy destroyer USS Underhill west of Guam; nearly half of the 234 crew was killed
- Jul 26 After Labour landslide in general election, Clement Attlee becomes British Prime Minister
Potsdam Declaration
Jul 26 Declaration of Potsdam: US, Britain and China demand the unconditional surrender of Japan during WWII
- Jul 26 Japanese government disregards US ultimatum
Nuclear Bombing of Nagasaki
Jul 26 Physicist Raemer Schreiber and Lieutenant Colonel Peer de Silva depart Kirtland Army Air Field to transport the plutonium core for the Fat Man bomb (bombing of Nagasaki) to the island of Tinian where the bomb is assembled
- Jul 26 US cruiser Indianapolis reaches Tinian with atom bomb
Election of Interest
Jul 26 Winston Churchill resigns as Britain's Prime Minister after election defeat
- Jul 27 US Communist Party forms
- Jul 28 "Elevator girl" Betty Lou Oliver survives falling 75 stories after fog causes a US bomber plane to crash into the Empire State Building, breaking the cables supporting the elevator she was operating. This remains a world record for the longest survived elevator fall
- Jul 28 Japanese premier Suzuki disregards US ultimatum to surrender
Japanese History
Jul 28 Physicist Raemer Schreiber and Lieutenant Colonel Peer de Silva arrive on the Pacific island of Tinian with the plutonium core used to assemble the Fat Man bomb used in the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9
- Jul 28 US Army B-25 crashes into 79th floor of Empire State Bldg, 14 die
- Jul 28 US Senate ratifies United Nations charter 89-2
Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
Jul 30 After delivering the Atomic Bomb across the Pacific, the cruiser USS Indianapolis is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-58. 880 of the crew died, many after being attacked by sharks, the inspiration for the movie Jaws.
Surrender of Pierre Laval
Jul 31 Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria
Birthdays in History
- Jul 3 Michael Martin, British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons (2000-09), born in Glasgow (d. 2018)
- Jul 5 Dick Scoppettone, American rocker (Harpers Bizarre), born in Santa Cruz, California
- Jul 5 Humberto Benítez Treviño, Mexican politician and Attorney General of the Republic of Mexico, born in Zacualpan, Mexico
- Jul 6 Rik Elswit, American rocker (Dr Hook & Medicine Show-In the Right Place), born in California
- Jul 6 Rodney Matthews, English fantasy artist and illustrator, born in Paulton, England
- Jul 7 Michael Ancram, British politician and aristocrat (Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party), born in London, England
- Jul 8 Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician (President of Switzerland 2007 and 2011; Head of Department of Foreign Affairs, 2003-11), born in Sion, Switzerland
- Jul 9 Dean Koontz, American sci-fi author (Star Quest, Beastchild), born in Everett, Pennsylvania
- Jul 9 Lewis F. Payne Jr., American politician (Rep-D-Virginia), born in Amherst, Virginia
- Jul 9 Root Boy Slim [Foster MacKenzie III], American entertainer, born in Asheville, North Carolina (d. 1993)
- Jul 11 Patrick Joseph McGrath, Catholic bishop
- Jul 13 Jean-Pierre Plooij, Dutch writer and playwright (Duvelsmoer verhalen; Patience; Bird House), born in Netherlands (d. 1994)
- Jul 15 Jürgen Möllemann, German politician (d. 2003)
- Jul 16 Diana Warwick, Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe, Labour member of the House of Lords
- Jul 17 Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, born in Claridge's, London
- Jul 18 Danny McCulloch, English rocker (Animals), born in London, England
- Jul 19 Edwin Schlossberg, American designer, author and husband of Carolyn Kennedy, born in NYC, New York
- Jul 20 Larry Craig, American politician (Senator-R-Idaho 1991-2009, Rep-R-Idaho, 1981-91), born in Council, Idaho
- Jul 21 Alton Maddox, NY African American activist/attorney (Tawana Brawley case)
- Jul 24 Azim Premji, Indian soap and technology business magnate (Wipro), and philanthropist, born in Bombay, British India (now Mumbai, India)
Jim Davis (78 years old)
Jul 28 American cartoonist and creator of the comic strips "Garfield" and "U.S. Acres", born in Marion, Indiana
Deaths in History
John Curtin (1885-1945)
Jul 5 Victoria, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (Labor: 1941-45), dies of heart disease at 60
- Jul 7 Salomėja Nėris [Salomėja Bačinskaitė-Bučienė], Lithuanian poet, dies of cancer at 40
- Jul 12 Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician (b. 1871)
- Jul 12 Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, German field marshal (German Air Force-WW II), dies at 49
- Jul 17 Ernst Busch, German field marshal (WWII), dies at 60
- Jul 20 Paul Valéry [Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry], French author, philosopher and poet (La Jeune Parque), dies at 73
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists