On This Day: 5 July

Constantine's Bridge, built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius, is officially opened		328
John Guy sets sail from Bristol for Newfoundland, with 39 other colonists		1610
The Star Chamber – established in the late 15th century to ensure the fair enforcement of laws against prominent people, so powerful that ordinary courts would probably hesitate to convict them – is abolished, having become synonymous with social and political oppression through the arbitrary use and abuse of its power		1641
Battle of Lansdown: Royalists win		1643
Isaac Newton publishes his masterpiece, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy)		1687
The Second Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition – a final attempt to avoid war with Great Britain		1775
George Hammond is appointed as the first British Ambassador to the USA		1791
In Buenos Aires, the local militias repel the Second English Invasion		1807
The Battle of Wagram – the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars – is fought between the French and Austrian Empires, about nine miles north–east of Vienna; Napoleon's costly but decisive victory would lead to the breakup of the Fifth Coalition, the Austrian and British–led alliance against France		1809
Venezuela's revolutionary congress adopts a declaration of independence from Spain		1811
Battle of Chippewa: British forces defeated by Americans		1814
The first gold sovereigns issued in Britain		1817
The Spectator first published		1828
French troops capture Algiers and seize its ruler's fabulous collection of jewellery		1830
British Admiral Charles Napier – on behalf of Dom Pedro IV, regent for the rightful Queen Maria II – defeats the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent		1833
Members of the Temperance movement travel from Leicester to Loughborough on Thomas Cook's first excursion		1841
Britain introduces the world's first speed limit: 2 mph in towns, 4 mph in the country		1865
The Salvation Army is founded at an open–air Christian Mission at Mile End, London		1865
Germany takes possession of Cameroon		1884
Edward VII pays for a free dinner for 450,000 Britons, to celebrate his coronation		1902
Suzanne Lenglen (France) wins the first of five consecutive Wimbledon women's singles titles		1919
Oliviera Salazar becomes virtual dictator of Portugal at the head of a fascist regime		1932
Hormel Foods Corporation, of Austin, Minnesota, launches Spam onto the market		1937
The UK government breaks off diplomatic relations with Vichy France		1940
German troops reach the Dnieper river, on their invasion of the Soviet Union		1941
The Labour Party wins its first absolute majority		1945
The bikini goes on sale, after debuting during an outdoor fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris		1946
The UK's National Health Service comes into operation		1948
The Knesset passes the Law of Return, granting all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel		1950
The BBC broadcasts its first daily television news bulletin – replacing newsreels, which were prepared in advance and often several days old		1954
Elvis Presley records his first single, That's All Right, at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee		1954
The first assembly of the Western European Union opens in Strasbourg		1955
Algerian independence is officially proclaimed, after an eight–year war with France		1962
Maria Callas gives her last stage performance (in Tosca, at Covent Garden)		1965
250,000 attend the Rolling Stones' free concert in Hyde Park, given in memory of Brian Jones		1969
Kenyan statesman Thomas Joseph Mboya is assassinated in Nairobi		1969
The US voting age is lowered from 21 to 18 years, as the twenty–sixth amendment to the Constitution is formally certified by President Richard Nixon		1971
The Cape Verde Islands become independent		1975
Arthur Ashe defeats Jimmy Connors to become the first black Wimbledon men's singles champion		1975
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected prime minister of Pakistan, is ousted by General Zia ul–Haq's coup		1977
HM the Queen presides over the 1000th annual open–air sitting of the Tynwald, the Parliament of the Isle of Man		1979
Björn Borg becomes the first player to win the Wimbledon Men's Singles title five times in a row		1980
Up to 30 police officers are injured by bricks and other missiles as rioting and looting breaks out in Toxteth, Liverpool		1981
The Church of England votes to move towards the ordination of women priests		1988
Colonel Oliver North is fined $150,000 and given a suspended prison sentence for his part in the Iran Contra affair. His convictions would later be overturned		1989
The Bank of England closes down UK branches of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) over allegations of fraud		1991
Lyle Lovett, singer and songwriter, marries actress Julia Roberts		1993
US President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan		1999
Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh		2006
North Korea tests four short–range missiles, one medium–range and one long–range. The long–range missile reportedly fails in mid–air over the Sea of Japan		2006
Trouble flares across Northern Ireland as security forces block the biggest ever Drumcree parade and Orangemen begin a stand–off on the edge of Portadown		1998
Orangemen disperse peacefully when a military operation bars their way down Portadown's Garvahy Road, but Unionists condemn the government's blueprint for peace		1999
Less than a week after Tony Blair is forced to back down on his proposal to impose on–the–spot fines on drunken hooligans, his son Ewan, 16, is arrested for being drunk and incapable in Leicester Square		2000
The largest hoard of Anglo–Saxon gold ever discovered in England, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire		2009
The Shard, in London, is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, at 310 metres (1,020 ft)		2012
NASA's Juno space probe arrives at Jupiter and begins a 20–month survey		2016

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On This Day: 5 July