1641 – Battle at La Marfée Sedan: Earl Soisson beats French government army
1928 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: In an all-French final René Lacoste beats defending champion Henri Cochet 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
1942 – Anne Frank’s family goes into hiding in After House, Amsterdam
1949 – Cincinnati Reds catcher Walker Cooper goes 6 for 7, (3 HRs, 3 singles, 5 runs scored, 10 RBI) in 23-4 win v Chicago Cubs
1975 – Dmitri Shostakovich completes Sonate for alto, opus 147
1980 – France performs nuclear test
1983 – Supreme Court rules retirement plans can’t pay women less
1997 – Musical revue “Dream: The Johnny Mercer Musical”, closes at Royale Theatre, NYC, after 109 performances
1998 – England cricket spin bowler Robert Croft saves England from defeat with a famous unbeaten 37 in 190 minutes on day 5 of 2nd Test v South Africa at Old Trafford, Manchester
2017 – France announces it will ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040
Author: gil7
Today in History for 6th July 2025
Historical Events
1491 – Opening ceremony of Kyoto’s Daitokuji Shinju at the sub-temple
1957 – Harry S. Truman Library forms in Independence, Missouri
1959 – Saar becomes part of German Federal Republic
1971 – Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda sworn in as President for Life of Malawi
1989 – US marshals and FCC seize pirate radio station WHOT in Brooklyn
Famous Birthdays
1817 – Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist and histologist (one of the first to interpret tissue structure in terms of cellular elements), born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1905)
1856 – Edward Anseele, Belgian socialist politician, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1938)
1884 – Willem Dudok, Dutch architect (town hall Hilversum/Beehive Rotterdam), born in Amsterdam (d. 1974)
1912 – Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer and author (Seven Years in Tibet), born in Hüttenberg, Austria-Hungary (d. 2006)
1940 – Nursultan Nazarbayev, 1st President of Kazakhstan (1990-2019), born in Chemolgan, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Famous Deaths
1249 – Alexander II, King of Scots (1215-49), dies at 50
1415 – Jan Hus, Bohemian religious reformer burned for heresy by the Church at Constance, Germany (b. 1369)
1879 – Henry Smart, English organist and composer, dies at 65
1952 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian politician, Premier of Quebec (1920-36), dies at 85
1994 – Cameron Mitchell, American actor (The High Chaparral), dies of lung cancer at 75
Famous Deaths for 5th July 2025
1316 – Infante Ferdinand of Majorca (b. 1278)
1862 – Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist and paleontologist, dies at 62
1871 – Cristina Trivulzio di Belgioioso, Italian princess and politician, dies at 63
1969 – Ben Alexander, American actor (Dragnet, All Quiet on the Western Front), dies of natural causes at 58
1989 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish classical and film score composer (Rapsodia portuguesa; is Don Quixote de la Mancha), and conductor, dies at 84
2005 – Baloo Gupte, Indian cricket leg spin bowler (3 Tests, 3 wickets; Bombay, Bengal, Railways), dies at 70
2011 – Cy Twombly, American artist (b. 1928)
2016 – Alirio Díaz, Venezuelan guitarist, composer, and musicologist, dies at 92
2020 – Willi Holdorf, German athlete (Olympic gold, United Team of Germany, decathlon 1964), dies at 80
2024 – Yvonne Furneaux [Scatcherd], British actress (La Dolce Vita; Repulsion), dies at 98
Historical Events for 5th July 2025
1814 – Americans defeat British and Canadians at Chippewa, Ontario
1900 – Compulsory education law passes Dutch 1st Chamber
1922 – Women 1st vote in Dutch elections, Christian parties win
1922 – Uprising of social righteousness in Rio de Janeiro
1924 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: In the first all-French final Jean Borotra beats René Lacoste 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
1934 – “Bloody Thursday” – Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco
1937 – Republican offensive by Brunete in Spain
1968 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: Rod Laver beats Tony Roche 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to earn first ever prize money (£2,000) offered at Wimbledon
1993 – Kurd guerrillas murder 32 villager in East Turkey
2009 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: Roger Federer beats Andy Roddick of the US 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 for a record 15th Grand Slam singles title
Today in History for 5th July 2025
Historical Events
1884 – US Congress accept 2nd Chinese Exclusion Act
1963 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: American Chuck McKinley wins his only Grand Slam singles title beating Fred Stolle of Australia 9-7, 6-1, 6-4
1975 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: Arthur Ashe becomes first African-American to win Wimbledon, beats countryman Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
2012 – Former Argentine president and dictator Jorge Rafael Videla is sentenced to 50 years imprisonment for the abduction of about 400 babies born to political prisoners
2022 – Legendary rock guitarist Carlos Santana collapses on stage from dehydration and heat exhaustion in Pine Knob, Michigan
Famous Birthdays
1829 – Ignacio Mariscal, Mexican lawyer and diplomat (Secretary of Foreign Affairs), born in Oaxaca, Mexico (d. 1910)
1867 – A. E. Douglass, American astronomer and inventor of dendrochronology (tree-ring dating), born in Windsor, Vermont (d. 1962)
1939 – Brian O’Brien, Irish rugby union centre (3 Tests; Munster RFC) and selector (Ireland, British and Irish Lions), born in Limerick, Ireland (d. 2023)
1985 – Stephanie McIntosh, Australian pop singer and actress, born in Malvern, Australia
1991 – Jason Dolley, American actor (Cory in the House), and musician, born in Los Angeles, California
Famous Deaths
1884 – Victor Massé, French composer(Les Noces de Jeannette), dies at 62
1993 – Tom Maguire, Irish revolutionary and commandant-general of the Irish Republican Army, dies at 101
2010 – Bob Probert, Canadian NHL right wing, 1985-2002 (Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings), dies of a heart attack while boating at 45
2021 – William Smith, American actor (Rich Man Poor Man; Any Which Way You Can; Hawaii 5-0), dies at 88
2024 – Yvonne Furneaux [Scatcherd], British actress (La Dolce Vita; Repulsion), dies at 98
Famous Deaths for 4th July 2025
1648 – Antoine Daniel, French Jesuit missionary and martyr, dies at 47
1672 – Ambrosius Reiner, German composer, dies at 67
1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, American attorney and 15th Vice President of U.S. (1861-65), dies at 81
1910 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (discovered canals of Mars), dies at 75
1950 – William C. Fownes Jr, American golfer and administrator (US Amateur C’ship 1910; President US Golf Ass’n 1926-27), dies at 72
1970 – Harold Vanderbilt, American yachtsman and America’s Cup winner (1930, 34, 37), dies at 85
1986 – Flor Peeters, Flemish organist (St. Rumbold’s Cathedral – Mechelen, 1923-86), composer (Lied Symphony), and pedagogue, dies on his 83rd birthday
1993 – Charles Crain, actor, dies in Hollywood at 83
2002 – Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian politician (b. 1951)
2022 – Janusz Kupcewicz, Polish soccer midfielder (20 caps; KS Arka Gdynia, ASSE Saint-Étienne), dies from a stroke at 66
Historical Events for 4th July 2025
1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye
1708 – Battle of Holowczyn: Swedish King Charles XII defeats superior Russian force in surprising vctory
1836 – Wisconsin Territory forms
1838 – Iowa Territory is organised from Wisconsin Territory, lasting until 1846
1879 – Africaner Union forms by Rev SJ du Toit at Cape colony
1882 – Telegraph Hill Observatory opens in San Francisco
1908 – MLB New York Giants pitcher George “Hooks” Wiltse no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 in 10 inning; missed a perfect game by hitting one batter with a pitch (Polo Grounds, NYC)
1929 – AM radio station WOWO, Indiana’s transmitter burns down
1968 – Radio astronomy satellite Explorer 38 launched
2006 – Sri Lanka sets new ODI cricket record score 443-9 in a World Cup win over Netherlands in Amstelveen (Jayasuriya 157, Dilshan 117no)
Today in History for 4th July 2025
Historical Events
1939 – Red Sox 3rd baseman Jim Tabor hits record-tying 2 grand slams in one MLB game, 18-12 win v Phillies
1959 – America’s new 49-star flag honoring Alaska statehood unfurled
1969 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1999 – South Korean defending champion Se Ri Pak wins the most crowded playoff in LPGA history (6) in the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic
2019 – US President Donald Trump holds a “Salute to America” Fourth of July celebration in Washington, D.C., controversial for its emphasis on the military and presence of tanks
Famous Birthdays
1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (House of 7 Gables, The Scarlet Letter), born in Salem, Massachusetts (d. 1864)
1883 – Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist who made the easy outrageously difficult (Pulitzer Prize 1948), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1970)
1912 – Viviane Romance [Pauline Ronacher Ortmanns], French actress (Panic, Queen’s Necklace), born in Roubaix, Nord, France (d. 1991)
1938 – Mike Mainieri, American jazz and session vibraphonist (Steps Ahead; Buddy Rich; Dire Straits; Carly Simon), born in The Bronx, NYC
1948 – Jeremy Spencer, British rock guitarist (Fleetwood Mac – “Oh Well”), born in Hartlepool, County Durham, England
Famous Deaths
1307 – Rudolf I, Habsburg nobleman (King of Bohemia, 1306-07; Duke of Austria and Styria 1298-1307), dies of stomach issues at about 26
1578 – Charles de Berlaymont, baron of Hierges, Governor and Viceroy of Names, dies
1623 – William Byrd, British composer (Ave verum corpus), dies at 80
1857 – William L. Marcy, American statesman, dies at 70
1925 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian Catholic beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990, dies of polio at 24
Famous Deaths for 3rd July 2025
1741 – Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen consort of Sardinia (1737-41), dies at 29
1795 – Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian, dies at 81
1858 – Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (b. 1806)
1908 – Joel Chandler Harris, American writer (created Uncle Remus stories), dies at 59
1920 – William Crawford Gorgas, American physician and 22nd Surgeon-General of the U.S. Army (controlled yellow fever during building of the Panama Canal), dies at 65
1990 – Maurice Girodias, French publisher and founder (Olympia Press), dies at 71
1993 – “Curly” Joe DeRita, American actor and comedian (The Three Stooges), dies of pneumonia at 83
1995 – Pancho González, American tennis player (US National C’ships singles 1948-49; Wimbledon and French Open Doubles, 1949; 13 x Pro Grand Slam titles), dies of stomach cancer at 67
2003 – Charles Henderson Tidbury, British brewing executive (Whitbread and Co), dies at 77
2006 – Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (professor of Computer Science at the University of California and University of Oxford), dies at 65
Historical Events for 3rd July 2025
1767 – Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage in the Pacific, commanded by Philip Carteret
1890 – Idaho admitted as 43rd US state
1915 – After exploding a bomb in US Senate reception room previous day, Erich Muenter, a German instructor at Cornell University, shoots JP Morgan for representing the British government in war contract negotiations
1953 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: American Vic Seixas wins his only Wimbledon singles title with a 9-7, 6-3, 6-4 over Dane Kurt Nielsen
1966 – Atlanta Braves Tony Cloninger, 1st NL player and only pitcher to hit 2 grand slams in a MLB game (17-3 v SF Giants)
1974 – Pitching in MLB-record 13th consecutive game for the LA Dodgers, Mike Marshall saves Tommy John’s 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds
1984 – West Indies cricket opener Gordon Greenidge scores brilliant 214 off 242 balls in 9-wicket Lord’s Test win v England
1987 – Two men become the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic
1989 – US Supreme Court rules states do not have to provide funds for abortions
2006 – English singer-songwriter Lily Allen releases her debut single “Smile”