July is hot, historically, as proven by the past month’s glances at history. Follow them daily through @smartaindale on twitter.com, link in the right column.
July 1: In 1979, Sony sparked a revolution in personal electronics with the introduction of the Walkman stereo cassette player.
July 2: In 1937, aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.
July 3: In 1985, the time-travel comedy “Back to the Future” was released.
July 4: In 1845, Henry David Thoreau began his two-year experiment in simpler living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Mass.
July 5: In 1954, Elvis Presley’s first commercial recording session occurred in Memphis, Tenn., recording “That’s All Right.”
July 6: In 1988, an oil rig exploded in the North Sea, killing 167 workers in the worst offshore oil-rig disaster in history.
July 7: In 1930, construction of the Hoover Dam began.
July 8: In 1960, American CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers was charged with espionage by the Soviet Union.
July 9: In 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club began its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon.
July 10: In 1962, AT&T’s Telstar 1 communications satellite was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral.
July 11: In 1960, the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee was first published.
July 12: In 1861, Wild Bill Hickok coolly shot three men in Nebraska during his first gunfight.
July 13: In 1977, a blackout lasting 25 hours hit the New York City area.
July 14: In 1099, Christian crusaders captured Jerusalem and began massacring the city’s Muslim and Jewish population.
July 15: In 1799, French soldiers in Egypt discovered the Rosetta Stone, instrumental in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
July 16: In 1935, the first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City.
July 17: In 1955, Disneyland had its opening day in Anaheim, Calif.
July 18: In A.D. 64, the Great Fire of Rome began, consuming most of the city for about a week.
July 19: In 1985, Christa McAuliffe was chosen to be the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the space shuttle.
July 20: In 1969, humans walked on the moon.
July 21: In 1959, the NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, was christened at Camden, NJ.
July 22: In 1957, Walter “Fred” Morrison applied for a patent for a “flying toy” which became known as the Frisbee.
July 23: In 1985, Commodore unveiled its Amiga 1000 personal computer at New York’s Lincoln Center.
July 24: In 1911, American archeologist Hiram Bingham arrived at Machu Picchu, now a top tourist destination.
July 25: In 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
July 26: In 1775, Benjamin Franklin became America’s first postmaster general.
July 27: In 1921, Canadian scientists succeeded in isolating the hormone insulin.
July 28: In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people.
July 29: In 1890, artist Vincent van Gogh, 37, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
July 30: In 1956, “In God We Trust” became the national motto, replacing “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of many, one”).
July 31: In 1715, a fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane off the east Florida coast.
Steve Martaindale 