This Week in History
by Dianne Hermann
“In the summer of 1776 our Founding Fathers sought to secure our independence and our liberties
that remain the foundation of our nation today.” Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
July 6-12, 2026
July 6
1785 – Congress unanimously resolvesed that the U.S. currency be named the “dollar” and adopts decimal coinage.
1945 – Abbott and Costello’s film “The Naughty Nineties” was released and features the longest version of their iconic “Who’s on First” routine. Watch the famous sketch from the movie.
1945 – President Truman signed an executive order establishing the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is awarded “for especially meritorious contribution to 1) the security or national interests of the United States, or 2) world peace, or 3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” It is the highest civilian award in the U.S. President Kennedy re-established the award in 1963 and expanded the scope of achievements. About 670 people have been awarded the Medal of Freedom by former presidents.
1971 – President Nixon formed the White House Plumbers unit to plug news leaks after the “Pentagon Papers” are released to the New York Times. The “Plumbers” were also instrumental in trying to cover up the Watergate break-in at the Democrat National Committee’s Headquarters in 1972.
1983 – The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Arizona Governing Committee v. Norris that retirement plans can’t pay women smaller monthly payments solely because of their sex.
1993 – John F. Kennedy Jr. gave notice he was quitting as Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. In 1995, he launched the magazine “George.” Kennedy, his wife, and sister-in-law died in a plane crash in July 1999.
2010 – NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told al-Jazeera news that President Obama told him, “He wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.” See it for yourself.
July 7
1863 – The first military draft in the U.S. was held. Exemptions to service during the Civil War cost $100.
1928 – Sliced bread was sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri. It was described as the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was first wrapped. No word on what was the greatest thing before sliced bread.
1948 – The Cleveland Indians signed 42-year-old Satchel Paige to a baseball contract. He was the oldest rookie in baseball history. Paige died in 1982 at age 75. Watch a short bio of Paige.
1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor was nominated as the first woman Supreme Court Justice. She was unanimously confirmed by Congress on July 8. She submitted her letter of resignation from the Court in 2008. O’Connor died in 2023 at age 93.
1983 – Eleven-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, left for a visit to the Soviet Union at the personal invitation of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov after she wrote a letter to him. Samantha died in 1985 at age 13 in a plane crash with her father. Watch Ted Koppel’s interview with Samantha.
2016 – In Dallas, Texas, a gunman ambushed police officers, killing five and wounding nine others, during a protest march against fatal police shootings of blacks. During a standoff, the gunman was killed by a bomb attached to a robot.
July 8
1797 – William Blount of Tennessee became the first U.S. senator to be expelled by impeachment. He was allegedly part of a conspiracy to assist England in taking possession of Louisiana and parts of Florida. Blount failed to appear before the Senate to answer the charges.
1911 – Nan Aspinwall was the first woman to complete a solo transcontinental trip by horse when she arrives in New York City. She left San Francisco on her horse Lady Ellen on September 1, 1910. Aspinwall made the ride on a bet by Buffalo Bill Cody. Aspinwall died in 1968 at age 88.
1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at its lowest during the Great Depression (41.22).
1950 – Gen. Douglas MacArthur became commander-in-chief of UN forces in Korea by order of President Truman. MacArthur was relieved of his command by Truman in April of 1951. MacArthur later told Congress, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” MacArthur died in 1964 at age 84.
1975 – President Ford announced he will seek the Republican nomination for president. Ford is the only person to serve as both vice president and president without being elected to either office. Ford was nominated vice president to replace Spiro Agnew after he resigned for tax evasion and bribery, and then he replaced Richard Nixon after he resigned following the Watergate scandal.
2011 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched on the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program. There was a total of 135 flights, starting with the Columbia on April 12, 1981. Watch a 7-minute video of the 30-year history of the Space Shuttle.
2015 – The NFL’s Washington Redskins had their trademark vacated by a federal judge on the grounds it may be disparaging to Native Americans. But the ruling does not bar the football team from using the name “Redskins.” In April 2016, the team asked the Supreme Court to review the lower court ruling. In July 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Washington Redskins. The Redskins, however, changed their team’s name to the “Washington Commanders” in February of 2022.
July 9
1776 – The American Declaration of Independence was read aloud to Gen. George Washington’s troops in New York.
1868 – The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed. In addition, it forbade states from denying any person “life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”
1893 – Dr. Daniel Williams performed the first successful open-heart surgery in the U.S. Dr. Williams treated a man who had been stabbed in the chest.
1973 – Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years by winning horse racing’s Belmont Stakes. (The previous winner is Citation in 1948.) Secretariat was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1974. He was euthanized in 1989 at age 19 because of Laminitis, a painful inflammation of the sensitive tissue beneath the hoof wall. Watch his amazing record-setting Triple Crown win.
2015 – South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed into law a measure to remove the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds. The Confederate flag was permanently taken down from South Carolina Capitol grounds the following day. It was placed in a state military museum. Watch the flag being lowered in front of a cheering crowd.
July 10
1850 – Vice President Millard Fillmore became president when Zachary Taylor dies following a brief illness after just 16 months in office.
1900 – “His Master’s Voice” was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. The logo of the Victor Recording Company, and later, RCA Victor, shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone machine.
1919 – President Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate. The Treaty followed six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference after the WWI Armistice on November 11, 1918. The treaty was rejected by a deeply divided Senate and never ratified.
1962 – The Telstar I Communications satellite was launched. Later that same day it transmitted the first live television images from the United States to France.
1985 – Coca-Cola resumed selling the old formula of Coke that is renamed “Coca-Cola Classic.” It was also announced that they would continue to sell “New” Coke. Watch Coke president Donald Keough make a hasty retreat.
1998 – The U.S. military delivered the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie to his family in St. Louis, Missouri. Blassie was shot down over South Vietnam in 1972. He had been placed in Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1984. His identity was confirmed through DNA testing. Currently there are three unidentified fallen soldiers buried there.
2017 – NASA’s spacecraft Juno made its closest pass over Jupiter’s Red Spot at 5,600 miles. Juno was launched in 2011. NASA updated Juno’s scientific operations to extend the mission until September 2025, or until the spacecraft ceases to function.
July 11
1798 – President John Adams signed the bill establishing the U.S. Marine Corps as a permanent military force under the jurisdiction of the Department of Navy.
1804 – Vice President Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel near Weehawken, New Jersey. Burr was indicted for murder, but the charges were later dropped. Burr and Hamilton had been bitter political and personal rivals for years.
1944 – Franklin Roosevelt announced that he will run for a fourth term as President of the United States. He was re-elected, but died in office in 1945 at the age of 63, less than three months later. Congress passed the 22nd Amendment in 1947 that limits a president to two terms in office.
1977 – Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.
1981 – Neva Rockefeller was the first woman ordered to pay alimony to her husband. Neva, now 82, is the great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller.
1987 – Bo Jackson signed a contract to play football for the L.A. Raiders for five years. He also continued to play baseball for the Kansas City Royals. He is the still only athlete to be named an All-Star in two major sports. Bo is now 63 years old. Not to be outdone, Deion Sanders, now 58, is the only athlete to play in a Super Bowl and a World Series.
2019 – The Dow Jones closes above 27,000 for the first time. The Dow is now around 52,000.
July 12
1630 – New Amsterdam’s governor bought Gull Island from the Indians for cargo and renames it Oyster Island. It was later renamed Ellis Island.
1862 – Congress authorized the Medal of Honor. More than 3,500 medals have been awarded to service men and women. Nineteen service members have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice.
1909 – The resolution proposing the 16th Amendment (income tax) was passed by the 61st Congress and submitted to the state legislatures. The resolution read simply “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” The 16th Amendment was voted on by each state legislature and subsequently ratified on February 3, 1913.
1933 – Congress passed the first minimum wage law (25 cents per hour) as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act. The Supreme Court ruled the act unconstitutional in 1935. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009. Thirty states have a minimum wage about the federal level. Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Washington DC have a minimum wage of $15 or more per hour. They are also among the states with the highest cost of living.
1984 – U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-NY) was chosen by Democrat presidential candidate Walter Mondale to be his running mate. Ferraro became the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket. Ferraro died in 2011 at age 75. Watch part of her acceptance speech.
2009 – All television broadcasts in the U.S. switched from analog NTSC to digital ATSC transmission.
Image from: www.space.com
