July 7 facts for kids

July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 177 days remain until the end of the year.

July 7th is a special day in history, filled with many important events, from ancient battles to modern scientific discoveries and cultural milestones. People around the world celebrate different holidays and remember famous people born or who passed away on this day. Let's explore some of the most interesting moments that have happened on July 7th throughout history!

Historical Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 1124 – The city of Tyre, an ancient port city, was captured by the Venetian Crusade after a long siege.
• 1456 – Joan of Arc, a famous French hero, was found innocent of heresy 25 years after she was executed. This was a special retrial that cleared her name.
• 1520 – Spanish explorers, known as conquistadores, won a big battle against a larger Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba.
• 1534 – Explorer Jacques Cartier met Native peoples for the first time in what is now Canada.
• 1575 – The Raid of the Redeswire was one of the last major battles between England and Scotland.
• 1585 – The Treaty of Nemours was signed in France, which stopped the acceptance of Protestants in the country.

Later History (1601–1900)

• 1667 – An English fleet destroyed a French merchant fleet near Fort St Pierre in Martinique during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1770 – The Battle of Larga took place between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
• 1777 – American soldiers were defeated in the Battle of Hubbardton while retreating from Fort Ticonderoga.
• 1798 – The US Congress ended its alliance with France because of the XYZ Affair, starting a conflict known as the "Quasi-War".
• 1807 – The first Treaty of Tilsit was signed between France and Russia, ending their conflict in the War of the Fourth Coalition.
• 1834 – In New York City, four nights of riots began against people who wanted to end slavery, known as abolitionists.
• 1846 – US troops took over Monterey and Yerba Buena, starting the US conquest of California.
• 1863 – The United States began its first ever military draft, where people were chosen to serve in the army.
• 1865 – Four people involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln were executed.
• 1892 – The Katipunan group was formed, which led to the start of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule.
• 1898 – US President William McKinley signed a resolution that made Hawaii a territory of the United States.

Modern Era (1901–Present)

• 1907 – Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. put on his first "Follies" show, a famous type of musical theater, in New York City.
• 1911 – The United States, UK, Japan, and Russia signed the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, which was the first international agreement to protect wildlife by banning open-water seal hunting.
• 1915 – The First Battle of the Isonzo ended during World War I.
• 1916 – The New Zealand Labour Party was created in Wellington.
• 1928 – For the first time ever, sliced bread was sold! It was sold by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri.
• 1930 – Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser started building the Boulder Dam, now known as Hoover Dam.
• 1937 – The Marco Polo Bridge Incident gave the Imperial Japanese Army a reason to start the Second Sino-Japanese War against China.
• 1941 – The US military took over the occupation of Iceland, replacing the UK's forces.
• 1944 – During World War II, the largest "Banzai charge" (a type of attack) of the Pacific War happened at the Battle of Saipan.
• 1946 – Mother Francesca S. Cabrini became the first American to be recognized as a saint.
• 1952 – The famous ocean liner SS United States set a new record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the fastest passenger ship in the world.
• 1958 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act, making Alaska a state.
• 1959 – The planet Venus passed in front of the star Regulus. This rare event helped scientists figure out the size of Venus and what its atmosphere is like.
• 1978 – The Solomon Islands became an independent country, gaining freedom from the United Kingdom.
• 1981 – US President Ronald Reagan chose Sandra Day O'Connor to be the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1983 – During the Cold War, American schoolgirl Samantha Smith flew to the Soviet Union after being invited by its leader, Yuri Andropov.
• 1985 – Boris Becker became the youngest male player ever to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament at just 17 years old.
• 1991 – The Brioni Agreement ended the short "ten-day independence war" in Slovenia against the rest of Yugoslavia.
• 2003 – NASA launched the Opportunity rover into space, which would later explore Mars.
• 2007 – The first Live Earth concerts were held in 11 places around the world to raise awareness about climate change.
• 2012 – A sudden flash flood in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia killed at least 172 people.
• 2017 – The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted, with 122 countries voting to ban nuclear weapons.
• 2019 – The United States women's national soccer team won the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final by defeating the Netherlands 2–0 in France.
• 2022 – Boris Johnson announced he would resign as the leader of the Conservative Party in the UK, after facing a lot of pressure from other politicians.

Famous Birthdays

Many interesting people were born on July 7th! Here are some of them:

Born Before 1900

• 1053 – Emperor Shirakawa of Japan.
• 1207 – Elizabeth of Hungary, a princess and saint.
• 1540 – John Sigismund Zápolya, a King of Hungary.
• 1585 – Thomas Howard, an English politician and art collector.
• 1752 – Joseph Marie Jacquard, a French merchant who invented the Jacquard loom, an important machine for weaving patterns.
• 1833 – Félicien Rops, a Belgian painter.
• 1843 – Camillo Golgi, an Italian doctor and scientist who won a Nobel Prize for his work on the nervous system.
• 1848 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, who became the 5th President of Brazil.
• 1860 – Gustav Mahler, a famous Austrian composer and conductor.
• 1861 – Nettie Stevens, an American geneticist who discovered how sex chromosomes determine gender.
• 1880 – Otto Frederick Rohwedder, the American engineer who invented sliced bread!
• 1899 – George Cukor, an American film director who directed many classic movies.

Born After 1900

• 1901 – Vittorio De Sica, an Italian actor and director.
• 1906 – Satchel Paige, a legendary American baseball player.
• 1907 – Robert A. Heinlein, a famous American science fiction writer.
• 1919 – Jon Pertwee, an English actor, best known for playing the Third Doctor in Doctor Who.
• 1921 – Ezzard Charles, an American boxer and world heavyweight champion.
• 1924 – Mary Ford, an American singer and guitarist.
• 1927 – Doc Severinsen, an American trumpet player and bandleader.
• 1928 – Patricia Hitchcock, an English actress and daughter of director Alfred Hitchcock.
• 1933 – David McCullough, a well-known American historian and author.
• 1940 – Ringo Starr, the famous English singer, songwriter, and drummer for The Beatles.
• 1945 – Adele Goldberg, an American computer scientist who helped develop the Smalltalk programming language.
• 1947 – Gyanendra, the last King of Nepal.
• 1949 – Shelley Duvall, an American actress, writer, and producer.
• 1965 – Jeremy Kyle, an English talk show host.
• 1966 – Jim Gaffigan, an American comedian and actor.
• 1968 – Jorja Fox, an American actress.
• 1969 – Joe Sakic, a Canadian ice hockey legend.
• 1972 – Lisa Leslie, an American basketball player and Olympic gold medalist.
• 1976 – Bérénice Bejo, an Argentinian-French actress.
• 1980 – Michelle Kwan, a famous American figure skater.
• 1981 – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a very popular Indian cricketer.
• 1981 – Synyster Gates, an American guitarist.
• 1986 – Ana Kasparian, an American journalist and producer.
• 1991 – Alesso, a Swedish DJ and music producer.

Notable Deaths

Here are some notable people who passed away on July 7th:

Died Before 1900

• 1162 – Haakon II Sigurdsson, a King of Norway.
• 1307 – Edward I, a King of England.
• 1531 – Tilman Riemenschneider, a German sculptor.
• 1572 – Sigismund II Augustus, a Polish king.
• 1573 – Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, an Italian architect.
• 1647 – Thomas Hooker, an English minister who helped found the Colony of Connecticut.
• 1718 – Alexei Petrovich, the son of Peter the Great of Russia.
• 1730 – Olivier Levasseur, a French pirate.
• 1865 – George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Payne, and Mary Surratt, who were involved in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
• 1890 – Henri Nestlé, a German businessman who founded the famous food company Nestlé.

Died After 1900

• 1901 – Johanna Spyri, a Swiss author best known for writing Heidi.
• 1930 – Arthur Conan Doyle, the British writer who created Sherlock Holmes.
• 1950 – Fats Navarro, an American jazz trumpet player.
• 1956 – Gottfried Benn, a German author and poet.
• 1965 – Moshe Sharett, the second Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1973 – Veronica Lake, an American actress.
• 1984 – George Oppen, an American poet.
• 1990 – Cazuza, a popular Brazilian singer and songwriter.
• 1993 – Mia Zapata, an American singer.
• 2006 – Syd Barrett, an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, one of the founders of Pink Floyd.
• 2014 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, a legendary Argentinian-Spanish footballer.
• 2014 – Eduard Shevardnadze, who was the second President of Georgia.
• 2021 – Robert Downey Sr., an American actor and director, and father of Robert Downey Jr.
• 2021 – Jovenel Moïse, the President of Haiti.
• 2021 – Dilip Kumar, a famous Indian film actor.

Holidays and Celebrations

July 7th is a day for many different celebrations and observances around the world:

• Christian feast day:
  • Æthelburh of Faremoutiers
  • Felix of Nantes
  • Illidius
  • Job of Manyava (Ukrainian Orthodox Church)
  • Willibald (Catholic Church)
  • July 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Solomon Islands from the United Kingdom in 1978.
• Ivan Kupala Day is celebrated in countries like Belarus, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.
• Saba Saba Day is a public holiday in Tanzania.
• Tanabata is a beautiful star festival celebrated in Japan.
• World Chocolate Day is a delicious day to enjoy chocolate!

See also

In Spanish: 7 de julio para niños