On This Day

July 2004 in History

Events in History

  • Jul 1 Saturn Orbit insertion of Cassini-Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC.
  • Jul 2 ASEAN Regional Forum accepts Pakistan as its 24th member.
  • Jul 3 Official opening of Bangkok's subway system.
  • Jul 4 The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. (This was largely a symbolic event; actual construction would not start for several weeks)
  • Jul 5 First Indonesian presidential election by the people - first round (eventually won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono)

Event of Interest

Jul 16 Millennium Park, considered the first and most ambitious architectural project in the early 21st century for Chicago, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Richard M. Daley
Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley

Event of Interest

Jul 17 Former South African President Nelson Mandela calls for commitment by the world to take action against AIDS

Nelson Mandela
Anti-apartheid Activist and South African President Nelson Mandela
  • Jul 21 The United Kingdom government publishes Delivering Security in a Changing World, a paper detailing wide-ranging reform of the country's armed forces

Weddings in History

  • Jul 31 Lady Davina Windsor (26) weds surfer and the first Maori to marry into the Royal Family Gary Lewis (33) at the chapel in Kensington Palace in London

Deaths in History

  • Jul 1 Peter Barnes, English writer (b. 1931)
  • Jul 2 John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist, dies at 85
  • Jul 2 Mochtar Lubis, Indonesian writer and editor (Twilight in Jakarta), dies at 82
  • Jul 2 Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Portuguese poet and children's author (The Sea Girl), dies at 84
  • Jul 3 Andrian Nikolayev, Soviet cosmonaut (Vostok 3), dies at 73
  • Jul 4 Frank Robinson (Xylophone Man), an eccentric street entertainer in Nottingham, England (b. 1932)
  • Jul 5 Hugh Shearer, Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1923)
  • Jul 6 Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (1992-2004), dies at 71
  • Jul 8 Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)
  • Jul 9 Chuck Cadman, Canadian politician (b. 1948)
  • Jul 9 Paul Klebnikov, American journalist (b. 1963)
  • Jul 11 Laurance Rockefeller, American CEO (Chase Manhattan Bank) and philanthropist, dies at 94
  • Jul 12 Betty Oliphant, co-founder of National Ballet of Canada (b. 1918)
  • Jul 12 Jean Ruth Adams, American entomologist (insect pathogens and viruses), dies at 75 or 76
  • Jul 16 George Busbee, Governor of Georgia (b. 1927)
  • Jul 17 Julian Hodge, British financier and multi-millionaire (Hodge Group), dies at 99
  • Jul 18 Émile Peynaud, French oenologist, dies at 92
  • Jul 18 Paul Foot, British journalist (b. 1937)
  • Jul 19 Reverend Francis Marzen, American Catholic prelate (b. 1924)
  • Jul 19 Zenko Suzuki, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1911)
  • Jul 20 Adi Lady Lala Mara, Fiji chieftainess, wife of Kamisese Mara (b. 1931)
  • Jul 21 Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1918)
  • Jul 21 Julian Ridsdale, British politician (C), Member of Parliament for Harwich (1954-92), dies at 89
  • Jul 22 George Kidd, Canadian diplomat (b. 1917)

Francis CrickFrancis Crick (1916-2004)

Jul 28 English molecular biologist who co-discovered DNA's structure, with James Watson (Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 1962), dies of colon cancer at 88 [1] [2]

Francis Crick
  • Jul 28 Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist (b. 1938)

Historical Figures

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