On This Day: 7 July

The city of Tyre falls to the Crusaders		1124
Edward I dies and is succeeded by his son Edward II		1307
Joan of Arc is posthumously declared innocent of heresy, after a retrial authorised by Pope Callixtus III at the request of Inquisitor–General Jean Bréhal and Joan's mother Isabelle Romée		1456
Spanish conquistadores defeat a larger Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba		1520
Jacques Cartier makes his first contact with aboriginal peoples in what is now Canada		1534
A border skirmish known as the Raid of the Redeswire is the last major battle between England and Scotland		1575
Allied troops enter Paris		1815
US Navy captain Matthew Perry persuades Japan to open its ports to foreign trade		1853
Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt are hanged for their parts in the larger conspiracy that included the assassination of Abraham Lincoln		1865
US President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution, annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States		1898
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. stages his first Follies on the roof of the New York Theater		1907
The United States, UK, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention, banning the hunting of seals in open water – the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues		1911
Kelvin Hall exhibition building, Glasgow, destroyed by fire		1925
Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the 48th birthday of inventor Otto Frederick Rohwedder) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri		1928
Vatican City becomes a sovereign state – according to the terms of the Lateran Treaty, signed February 1929		1929
Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam)		1930
The so–called Marco Polo Bridge Incident provides the Imperial Japanese Army with a pretext for starting the Second Sino–Japanese War		1937
A UK Government report recommends the partition of Palestine – the first formal recommendation for partition in the history of Palestine		1937
US troops relieve British troops occupying Iceland		1941
Beirut is occupied by Free France and British troops		1941
Howard Hughes suffers severe injuries when the prototype of his XF–11 reconnaissance aircraft crashes in Beverly Hills; he would subsequently require the use of an oxygen tent for several days		1946
SS United States passes Bishop Rock on her maiden voyage from New York, capturing the Blue Riband from the Queen Mary		1952
Ernesto 'Che' Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador		1953
Elvis Presley makes his radio debut when WHBQ Memphis plays his first recording for Sun Records, That's All Right		1954
The rare occultation of the star Regulus by the planet Venus is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of its atmosphere		1959
Francis Chichester is knighted by the Queen, using Sir Francis Drake's sword		1967
An inquest into the death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones is told that he drowned after taking a cocktail of drink and drugs		1969
The Solomon Islands achieves independence from the UK		1978
Sharia law is instituted in Iran		1980
During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what would become known as the Safra massacre		1980
Solar Challenger makes the first solar–powered flight across the English Channel		1981
Samantha Smith, an 11–year–old schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov		1983
Boris Becker becomes the youngest ever and first unseeded Wimbledon men's singles champion		1985
Martina Navratilova wins a record 9^th Wimbledon singles title, beating Zina Garrison in the final		1990
The Brioni Agreement ends the ten–day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia		1991
Bryan Adams's Everything I do … starts a record 16–week run at No. 1 in the UK charts		1991
The New York Court of Appeals rules that women have the same right as men to go topless in public		1992
Richard Krajicek defeats Malivai Washington in straight sets in the first ever Wimbledon men's singles final between two unseeded players, to become the first Dutch winner of a Grand Slam event		1996
Three Bolton schoolchildren die after their coach plunges into a ravine in the French Alps		1997
At least 19 people lose their lives in riots in Lagos, following the death of Nigerian opposition leader Chief Moshood Abiola		1998
Two people are stabbed, and many more injured, in running battles between white and Asian gangs in Bradford		2001
NASA's Opportunity rover, Mars Exploration Rover–B (MER–B) is launched		2003
Forty–nine people lose their lives and over 700 are injured as four bombs explode in central London		2005
Live Earth concerts are held in Sydney, Johannesburg, New York Giants Stadium (East Rutherford, New Jersey), Rio de Janeiro, Antarctica (Rothera Research Station, Adelaide Island), Tokyo, Kyoto, Shanghai, London (Wembley Stadium), Hamburg, Washington DC, and Rome		2007
At least 172 people lose their lives in a flash flood in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia		2012

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On This Day: 7 July