JULY

  1. It was on this day in 1847 that the US Postal Service issued its first postage stamps. Before that, most letters were sent with the postage due upon delivery but you never knew if the recipient would able to pay or willing to pay the delivery charge. Postage stamps helped the government guarantee a steady income from postal services, and so they were able to lower the cost of sending a letter.

    Postage stamps made letter writing practical for working class people, but it wasn't until the Civil War that most ordinary Americans began to write letters on a regular basis, rather than just for special occasions. Free home pick up and delivery was introduced in 1863, making it much easier for women to write letters, since they didn't have to travel to the nearest post office. And for that reason, the American Civil War was the first event in American history for which we have a comprehensive record of the thoughts of ordinary people, who wrote about their experiences in letters.

    It was on this day in 1863 that the Battle of Gettysburg began. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had recently won a big battle at Chancellorsville, Virginia. He thought he could win the war by invading the North. About seventy-five thousand Confederate soldiers and about ninety-five thousand Union soldiers met at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the morning of July 1. The battle went on for three days. It was the largest military conflict in North American history.

    On the third day, Robert E. Lee decided to try to break the battle line at the center. He sent a column of troops led by General Pickett across the valley, hoping to overwhelm the Union force. The attack, known as Pickett's Charge, was disastrous. Almost sixty percent of the confederate soldiers involved in the charge were killed. It was the last time the Confederate army would invade the North.

    Canada Day in Canada is similar to Independence Day in the United States. On July 1 Canadians celebrate the unity of their country, just as Americans celebrate theirs on July 4th.




  4. Today is Independence Day, celebrating the day in 1776 that the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, and the United States officially broke from the rule of England.

    Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in a second-floor room on Market Street in Philadelphia, on a little lap desk that he had designed himself. He described the task in a letter to a friend, saying, "The object of the Declaration [is] not to find out new principles, or new arguments... but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take.... [It is] intended to be an expression of the American mind."

    Jefferson finished the first draft after a few days work and sent it to Benjamin Franklin on the morning of June 21, asking for suggestions. Franklin made just a few changes. In the most famous passage, Jefferson had written, "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable." Franklin changed it to, "We hold these truths to be self-evident."

    The Continental Congress made a lot more changes to Jefferson's draft when they considered its adoption. They deleted passages that attacked the British people, rather than just the king, and they cut an entire paragraph in which Jefferson had attacked the king for perpetuating the slave trade. The last five paragraphs were considered too long and rambling, and so they were reduced by half. In total, they made 86 changes, eliminating 480 words and leaving 1,337. Jefferson found the process of revision extremely painful. He later said, "I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, who perceived that I was not insensible to these mutilations."

    It's the birthday of the first great American novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne, born in Salem, Massachusetts (1804). He was an aspiring writer, working at the custom house in Boston, when he lost his job. When he came home to tell his wife the news, she said, "Now you can write your book." He asked what she proposed they live on while he wrote, and she opened a desk drawer and showed him a pile of gold pieces she'd saved out of the household allowance – $150, enough to cover their expenses for several months. He sat down at once and began work on The Scarlet Letter (1850), about a Puritan woman named Hester Prynne who has to wear the letter "A" on her chest after she commits adultery. The first edition of 5,000 copies sold out in 10 days.


  5. It's the birthday of cartoonist Bill Watterson, born in Washington, D.C. (1958). He created the cartoon strip "Calvin and Hobbes," which ran from 1985 until 1995. He studied political science in college, and originally planned to become a political cartoonist. He got a job at the Cincinnati Post, but his editor insisted that he focus on local politics, and Watterson couldn't get a handle on the Cincinnati political scene. He lost his job after a few months and began drawing up plans for possible comic strips, including a strip about a 6-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger. This idea caught the attention of the United Features Syndicate, but they told Watterson they would only run the strip if he would insert a "Robotman" character that could be sold as a toy.

    Watterson didn't want to turn down his first possible syndication deal, but he also didn't want to give up control over his own characters. So he rejected the offer. Eventually, United Features Syndicate bought the strip anyway. It began to appear in newspapers on November 18, 1985, and within three years it was appearing in more than 600 papers. It told the story of the 6-year-old boy, Calvin, and a tiger named Hobbes, who appears to be a real tiger to Calvin but appears as a stuffed animal to everyone else.

    Once the strip became wildly popular, Watterson began to get offers to license the characters for toys, T-shirts, greeting cards, and movies. He could have made millions from all the merchandising opportunities, but he decided to refuse all the offers. He said, "My strip is about private realities, the magic of imagination, and the specialness of certain friendships. [No one] would believe in the innocence of a little kid and his tiger if they cashed in on their popularity to sell overpriced knickknacks that nobody needs."

    Watterson worked on the strip for 10 years, and then decided to retire and devote his time to painting. He has declined any interviews or photographs since his retirement, and hasn't shown any signs of returning to cartooning. But in 2005, he published The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, a three-volume set containing every Calvin and Hobbes cartoon that ever appeared in syndication.

    Bill Watterson said, "There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do."




  9. National Ice Cream Day


  11. E.B. White was born on July 11, 1899.
    Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little are two children's books he wrote that have become favorites.



  14. Bastille Day








  22. Rat Catcher's Day


  24. Amelia Earhart born July 24, 1897
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  30. July 30, 1947 is the birtday of popular movie star Arnold schwarzeneeger who became Governor of California in 1903.

  31. On this day:

    31 July 1961 On this day:
    Terrence George (TG) was born.

    J.K. Rowling was born.

    Birthdates which occurred in July 1961:
    1961 (01 jul) Carl Lewis US, olympic track & field star (Gold-1984, 1988)

    1961 (01 jul) Lady Diane Spencer (Princess Di) consort of England

    1961 (02 jul) Jimmy McNichol LA Calif, actor (Fitzpatricks, California Fever)

    1961 (03 jul) Liz Stewart SF Calif, playmate (July, 1984)

    1961 (03 jul) Vince Clarke England, rocker (Yaz-Situation, Only You)

    1961 (14 jul) Jackie Earle Haley Northridge Calif, actor (Breaking Away)

    1961 (15 jul) Forest Whitaker actor (Bloodsport, Platoon, Stakeout)
    1961 (18 jul) Elizabeth McGovern Evanston Ill, actress (Once Upon a Time in Amer)

    1961 (19 jul) Suzi Schott Springfield Ill, playmate (August, 1984)
    1961 (23 jul) Martin Gore rocker (Depeche Mode-Just Can't Get Enough)

    1961 (23 jul) Woody Harrelson Midland Tx, actor (Woody Boyd-Cheers)
    1961 (25 jul) Katherine Kelly Lang LA Calif, actress (Brooke-Bold & Beautiful)

    1961 (26 jul) Andy Connel rocker (Swingout Sister-Swingout)

    1961 (26 jul) Gary Cherone Boston, heavy metal vocalist (Extreme-More Than Words)

    1961 (28 jul) Scott E Parazynski Little Rock Ark, MD/astronaut

    Deaths which occurred in July 1961:

    1961 (02 jul) Ernest Hemingway shot himself to death in Ketchum Idaho

    1961 (13 jul) Arnold Schoenberg Austrian-US composer (Second Quartet), dies at 86

    1961 (17 jul) Ty Cobb Detroit Tiger hall of fame baseball player, dies at 75

    Reported: MISSING in ACTION in July 1961

    ( Expanded with full Bios, history, & MIA report )
    

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In July 1961 ...
    
1961 (01 jul)     Haleakala National Park established in Hawaii 
    
1961 (02 jul)     Maris hits 29th & 30th en route to 61 homers 
    
1961 (08 jul)     Portuguese steamer "Save" breaks up off Mozambique, 227 die 
    
1961 (13 jul)     NL beats AL 5-4 (10 innings) in 30th All Star Game (SF Candlestick) 
    
1961 (14 jul)     Astro's Eddie Matthews hits HR #500 
    
1961 (16 jul)     Ralph Boston of the US, sets then long jump record at 27' 2" 
    
1961 (17 jul)     John Chancellor becomes news anchor of the Today Show
     
1961 (17 jul)     Roger Maris loses a HR (of his 61) due to a rain-out in 5th Ford Frick rules that if anyone breaks Babe Ruth 60 HR record, it must be done in 1st 154 games 
    
1961 (19 jul)     1st in-flight movie shown (TWA) 
    
1961 (21 jul)     Launch of Mercury 4 (Liberty Bell) with Grissom 
    
1961 (24 jul)     Beginning of a trend, a US commercial plane is hijacked to Cuba 
    
1961 (24 jul)     Edwin Newman becomes news anchor of the Today Show 
    
1961 (25 jul)     Maris hits home runs 37, 38, 39 & 40 in a double header 
    
1961 (29 jul)     Phillies lose 1st of 23 straight games 
    
1961 (29 jul)     Wallis & Futuna Islands become a French overseas territory 
    
1961 (31 jul)     2nd All Star Game of 1961 ends 1-1 due to rain at Fenway Park 
    

    





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