On July 12th...

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1630 The colonial government of New Amsterdam purchased what became Ellis Island from Native Americans.

1645 Tsar Mischael of Russia died.

1679 Britain's King Charles II ratified the Habeas Corpus Act, giving prisoners the right to be examined by a court.

1690 Protestant King William III defeated English Catholic King James II at the Battle of Boyne in Ireland.

1730 Josiah Wedgwood, British porcelain craftsman, was born.

1774 Citizens of Carlisle, Pennsylvania passed a declaration of independence.

1804 Alexander Hamilton died, one day after being wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr.

1806 Napoleon Bonaparte established the Confederation of the Rhine.
1806 The Principality of Liechtenstein gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire.

1814 British General William Howe died.

1817 Author Henry David Thoreau was born.

1821 José de San Martín entered Lima, Peru.

1831 Léopold Georges Chrétien Frédéric was crowned as the first King of Belgium.

1834 Botanist David Douglas disappeared while on a plant-gathering expedition.

1849 Physician William Osler was born.
1849 Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, died.

1850 Engineer Robert Stevenson died.

1854 Inventor George Eastman was born.

1859 A paper bag manufacturing machine was patented by William Goodale.

1862 The U.S. Congress authorized a Medal of Honor.

1892 The National Guard was called into Homestead, Illinois, to end violence caused by the Homestead Strike.
1892 Alexander Cartwright, the "Father of Baseball," died.
1893 Businessman Cyrus W. Field died.

1895 Architect R. Buckminster Fuller was born.
1895 Librettist Oscar Hammerstein II was born.

1902 The Australian Parliament voted in favor of female suffrage.

1908 Comedian Milton Berle was born.

1909 The U. S. Congress passed the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, establishing a national income tax.

1910 Charles Stewart Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce, died.

1913 150,000 Ulstermen gathered and resolved to resist Irish Home Rule by force of arms.

1917 Painter Andrew Wyeth was born.

1920 President Calvin Coolidge formally opened the Panama Canal.

1933 The U. S. Congress passed the first minimum wage law (33 cents an hour).

1934 Pianist Van Cliburn was born.

1937 Comedian Bill Cosby was born.

1940 Frederick McKinley Jones was granted a U. S. patent for a refrigeration system for long-haul trucks.

1943 Singer Christine McVee was born.

1948 Six RAF de Havilland Vampires became the first jets to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
1948 Fitness "guru" Richard Simmons was born.

1949 Baseball owners agreed to erect warning paths before each fence.

1951 Actress Cheryl Ladd was born.

1954 Major League Baseball Players Association was founded.
1954 Samuel Jay Crumbine, public health advocate, died.

1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first U. S. President to fly in a helicopter.
1957 U.S. Surgeon General Leroy Burney connected smoking with lung cancer.

1960 Echo I, the first passive satellite, was launched.
1960 Full independence to the republics of Chad, Congo, and Central Africa was granted by accords signed in Paris, France.

1973 Actor Lon Chaney, Jr. died.

1974 John Ehrlichman was convicted of violating Daniel Ellsberg's rights.

1975 São Tomé and Principe became independent of Portugal.

1976 Ted Mack, host of "Original Amateur Hour," died.

1979 The Gilbert Islands became the independent Republic of Kiribati.
1979 New York City crime boss Carmine Galante and two others were killed in a "gangland-style" shooting while dining at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.
1979 Singer Minnie Riperton died.

1984 Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman major-party candidate for Vice-President.

1996 Television journalist John Chancellor died.

1999 Actor Bill Owen died.

2009 Painter Andrew Wyeth died.

2011 Film and television producer Sherwood Schwartz died.

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This page was last updated on July 08, 2018.