Canada Day, a national holiday in Canada, formerly known as Dominion Day, commemorating the confederation of Upper and Lower Canada and some of the Maritime Provinces into the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
EVENTS
- 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signed the first income tax bill, levying a 3% income tax on annual incomes of $600-$10,000 and a 5% tax on incomes over $10,000. Also on this day, the Bureau of Internal Revenue was established by an Act of Congress.
- 1863 – The Battle of Gettysburg begins in the American Civil War.
The Battle of Gettysburg - 1870 – The start of the United States Department of Justice.
- 1881 – The World’s first international telephone call occurs between the US and Canada.
- 1893 – President Grover Cleveland underwent secret cancer surgery aboard a yacht owned by his friend, Commodore E.C. Benedict. The surgery was performed on a cancerous growth in his mouth. The entire left side of his jaw was removed along with a small portion of his soft palate. A second, smaller operation was performed on July 17th. Cleveland was then fitted with a rubber prosthesis which he wore until his death in 1908. The secrecy was intended to prevent panic among the public during the economic depression of 1893.
- 1903 – The Tour de France Bicycle Race is flagged off for the first time. The now annual multi-leg bike race lasted for 20 days with a course that stretched about 1,500 miles. The race was first created by the sports daily, L’Auto , as a way to boost its circulation. The first Tour de France was win by Italian-French racer, Maurice Garin.1908 – SOS is adopted as the International Distress Signal. The 2nd International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which was signed in December 1906, made the Morse code distress signal (· · · – – – · · ·), the standard international maritime distress signal. Even though it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System in 1999, SOS is universally seen as a distress call and is often mistakenly thought to be an abbreviation of Save Our Souls or Save Our Ship.
- 1921 – The founding of the Communist Party of China.
- 1963 – The US mail starts using ZIP Codes.
- 1979 – The Walkman makes its appearance in stores for the first time. The portable audio cassette player was made by Sony and went on sale in Japan.
- 1991 – The Warsaw Pact, a defense treaty between 8 communist countries, is formally disbanded in Prague. The pact was founded in 1955, during the height of the Cold War, as a way to counterbalance the power of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Western Europe.
- 2002 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) is established. It is the first international judicial body that has the power to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It was created by the Rome Statute, an international treaty that was signed in the Italian city of Rome in 1998.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1934 – Sydney Pollack (American director)
- 1945 – Debbie Harry (Singer with Blondie)
- 1949 – John Farnham (English/Australian singer-songwriter, musician)
- 1952 – Dan Aykroyd (Actor)
- 1961 – Princess Diana (Princess of England)
- 1961 – Carl Lewis (Track and field star)
Carl Lewis - 1967 – Pam Anderson (Actress)
- 1971 – Missy Elliott (Singer)
- 1976 – Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Soccer player)
DEATHS
- 1925 – Erik Satie (French pianist, composer)
- 1964 – Pierre Monteux (French conductor)
- 1974 – Juan Perón (Argentine military officer, politician, 29th President of Argentina)
Juan Perón - 2004 – Marlon Brando (American actor)
- 2006 – Fred Trueman (English cricketer)
