Here are 60 newsworthy anniversaries in July 2012 for you to write about (and earn money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.
The list presented here is just a fraction of that available in The Date-A-Base Book 2012. There are more than 175 anniversaries for this month in the book, which also covers the whole of 2012.
The Date-A-Base Book 2013 (Part 1: Jan-June) is also available if you need to work further ahead.
We have painstakingly cross-checked every entry, but you are advised to check all facts again as part of your research. Please let us know of any errors you find.
350 years ago (15 Jul 1662)
The Royal Society in London, England was granted a royal charter by King Charles II. It is thought to be the world’s oldest scientific society
250 years ago (13 Jul 1762)
Death of James Bradley, British Astronomer Royal, discovered the aberration of starlight, which provided the first direct evidence that the Earth revolved around the Sun, and discovered the nutation (slight wobble) of the Earth’s axis
250 years ago (17 Jul 1762)
Death of Peter III, Tsar of Russia, killed in a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him as Catherine II
200 years ago (22 Jul 1812)
Peninsular War – the Battle of Salamanca, Spain. British, Portuguese and Spanish forces led by Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French
175 years ago (19 Jul 1837)
Brunel’s steamship the ‘SS Great Western’ was launched in Bristol, UK
150 years ago (1 Jul 1862)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was established in the USA, and the first national progressive rate income tax was introduced
150 years ago (12 Jul 1862)
The Medal of Honor was introduced – America’s highest military award
150 years ago (14 Jul 1862)
Birth of Gustav Klimt, prominent Austrian artist, a founder of the Vienna Secession movement
150 years ago (16 Jul 1862)
American astronomer Lewis Swift discovered Comet Swift-Tuttle. (It was also discovered independently by Horace Parnell Tuttle on 19th, and he was recognised as the co-discoverer)
150 years ago (24 Jul 1862)
Death of Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States
125 years ago (26 Jul 1887)
Esperanto, the international artificial language, was introduced to the world by L. L. Zamenhof, a Polish eye doctor
100 years ago (1 Jul 1912)
Birth of David Ross Brower, American environmentalist, founder of several environmental organisations including Friends of the Earth
100 years ago (14 Jul 1912)
Birth of Woody Guthrie, American folk singer, songwriter and musician
100 years ago (17 Jul 1912)
Death of Henri Poincaré, important French mathematician, theoretical physicist and philosopher who made significant innovations in geometry, differential equations, electromagnetism, and other fields
100 years ago (23 Jul 1912)
Birth of Michael Wilding, British film and television actor, Elizabeth Taylor’s 2nd husband
100 years ago (30 Jul 1912)
Death of Emperor Meiji of Japan
100 years ago (31 Jul 1912)
Birth of Milton Friedman, influential American economist and educator, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economics
100 years ago (31 Jul 1912)
Birth of Irv Kupcinet (‘Kup’), American newspaper columnist and TV talk show host
80 years ago (19 Jul 1932)
Lambeth Bridge in London was officially opened by King George V
75 years ago (2 Jul 1937)
Death of Amelia Earhart, American aviation pioneer, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Disappeared over the Pacific on this date)
75 years ago (5 Jul 1937)
Spam luncheon meat was launched by Hormel Foods in Austin, Minnesota, USA
75 years ago (7 Jul 1937 to 9th)
The Second Sino-Japanese War began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (the Battle of Lugou Bridge). Japanese troops made an assault on an important access point to the city of Beijing, China. This developed into a full-scale war, and then into the Pacific theatre of war during WWII
75 years ago (11 Jul 1937)
Death of George Gershwin, popular American composer and pianist who wrote Broadway musicals in collaboration with his brother Ira, as well as orchestral pieces such as ‘Rhapsody in Blue’
75 years ago (18 Jul 1937)
Birth of Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and writer, creator of Gonzo journalism, where reporters get involved in the action themselves, and become central figures in the stories. (Died 2005)
75 years ago (20 Jul 1937)
Death of Guglielmo Marconi, Italian physicist who made major contributions to modern long-distance radio communication, joint winner of the 1909 Nobel Prize for Physics for developing the wireless telegraph
70 years ago (1 Jul 1942 to 27th)
World War II – the First Battle of El Alamein, Egypt. The Allies prevented the Germans and Italians from advancing into Egypt
70 years ago (6 Jul 1942)
Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in a secret annex at her father’s workplace in Amsterdam
70 years ago (17 Jul 1942)
World War II – the Battle of Stalingrad began. (Ended February 1943)
70 years ago (22 Jul 1942)
Holocaust: the Nazis began the mass transportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland to the Treblinka extermination camp
70 years ago (31 Jul 1942)
Oxfam was founded in the UK (as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief)
65 years ago (2 Jul 1947)
Roswell Incident, New Mexico, USA. A UFO apparently crash-landed on a ranch, and debris with strange markings and unusual properties was found. The U.S. Air Force claimed it was just a weather balloon
65 years ago (9 Jul 1947)
Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten
60 years ago (23 Jul 1952)
The European Coal and Steel Community was established as the Treaty of Paris came into effect. (It expired exactly 50 years later, on 23rd July 2002)
60 years ago (23 Jul 1952)
Egyptian Revolution: King Farouk I of Egypt was overthrown and forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son, in a military coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. (Egypt was declared a republic in June 1953)
60 years ago (26 Jul 1952)
Death of Eva Perón (‘Evita’), revered First Lady of Argentina (1946-52)
50 years ago (1 Jul 1962)
Burundi and Rwanda became independent from Belgium
50 years ago (2 Jul 1962)
The first Wal-Mart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas, USA
50 years ago (5 Jul 1962)
Algeria became independent from France
50 years ago (6 Jul 1962)
Death of William Faulkner, American novelist and short story writer, winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature
50 years ago (10 Jul 1962)
The American communications satellite Telstar was launched. It transmitted the first trans-Atlantic TV signal to Europe that same day, though the first official broadcast was on 23rd July. It could only relay a signal for 20 minutes per orbit
40 years ago (1 Jul 1972)
The first Gay Pride march in Britain took place in London
40 years ago (7 Jul 1972)
Death of King Talal of Jordan
40 years ago (21 Jul 1972)
Bloody Friday: the IRA exploded 22 bombs in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing 9 people and injuring 130
30 years ago (4 Jul 1982)
Death of Terrence Higgins, British AIDS victim. The Terrence Higgins Trust, a charity which campaigns on AIDS- and HIV-related issues, was founded in his memory
30 years ago (9 Jul 1982)
Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace, London and spent 10 minutes talking to the Queen in her bedroom
30 years ago (20 Jul 1982)
Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings, London, UK. Two IRA bombs killed 11 soldiers and injured 50 other people
30 years ago (29 Jul 1982)
Death of Vladimir Zworykin, Russian-born American electronics engineer and inventor, known as the father of modern television
25 years ago (3 Jul 1987)
Former Nazi leader and Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (‘the Butcher of Lyon’) was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity
25 years ago (11 Jul 1987)
The world’s population reached 5 billion
25 years ago (29 Jul 1987)
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President François Mitterrand ratified the Treaty of Canterbury – the agreement to build the Channel Tunnel. (Construction began on 15th December)
20 years ago (31 Jul 1992)
Death of Leonard Cheshire, British RAF pilot, humanitarian and philanthropist, founder of Leonard Cheshire Disability
15 years ago (1 Jul 1997)
Britain returned Hong Kong to China
15 years ago (17 Jul 1997)
The F.W. Woolworth Company closed the last of its department stores in the USA after increasing competition led to declining sales
15 years ago (20 Jul 1997)
The second IRA ceasefire in 3 years came into effect in Northern Ireland. There were sporadic outbreaks of violence afterwards, but the ceasefire lasted, leading to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in May 1998
10 years ago (2 Jul 2002)
American businessman and adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to circumnavigate the world solo in a balloon
10 years ago (8 Jul 2002)
Death of Ward Kimball, Academy Award-winning American animator and director, known for his work with Disney
10 years ago (9 Jul 2002)
The African Union was founded, replacing the Organisation of African Unity
10 years ago (9 Jul 2002)
Death of Rod Steiger, award-winning American stage, film and TV actor (‘On the Waterfront’, ‘The Pawnbroker’, ‘Doctor Zhivago’, and others)
10 years ago (23 Jul 2002)
Death of Leo McKern, Australian-born British film, stage and TV actor, best known for playing the title role in the TV series ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’
10 years ago (27 Jul 2002)
Ukraine air show disaster. A military jet crashed into the crowd at an air show in Lviv, western Ukraine, killing more than 80 people and injuring over 100. It was the world’s worst air show disaster
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You’ll find lots more anniversaries in
The Date-A-Base Book 2012, which covers the whole of 2012 and lists over 2,250 newsworthy and notable anniversaries – more than three times as many entries each month as we feature here in the blog. You’ll find out about hundreds of fascinating anniversaries that other writers don’t know about – giving you a huge advantage!
The Date-A-Base Book 2012 is a terrific source of ideas for writers, journalists, film-makers, editors, researchers, producers, teachers, students, speakers and event planners.
Click here for more details
(You’ll also be able to download the complete chapter for January 2012)
The Date-A-Base Book 2013 (Part 1: Jan-June) is also available.
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