On July 11, 1921, William Howard Taft was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He had previously served as US President from 1907 through 1911. Taft is still the only person to have served in both offices.
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On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces captured the predominantly-Muslim town of Srebrenica, which had been designated a “safe zone” protected by Dutch NATO peacekeepers. In the days that follows, the Serb army and militias separated men from women and children, taking the men away in buses and killing some 7000 in mass-executions or ambushes. [...]
On July 10, 1985, French agents bombed the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, off the coast of New Zealand, causing it to sink. The incident led to litigation between France and New Zealand in the International Court of Justice. Learn more about New Zealand v. France from the Institute for International Law and Justice.
On July 10, 1925, the Scopes “Monkey Trial” on the teaching of evolution began in Dayton, Tennessee, pitting Clarence Darrow and John Scopes against William Jennings Bryant. Learn more about the Scopes Monkey Trial.
On July 9, 1778, eight states – New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina – signed and ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first American constitution. The Articles took formal effect after ratification by Maryland on March 1, 1781.
On July 9, 2002, the African Union (AU) was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Read the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
On July 8, 1777, the formal adoption of its new state constitution made Vermont the first state to formally abolish slavery.
On July 8, 1997, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) invited the former communist nations of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to join the alliance. This was the first invitation of former communist nations to join NATO since the end of the Cold War. The three countries would later attain membership in 1999. Since [...]
On July 7, 1969, Canada enacted the Official Languages Act, which made French and English the country’s official languages. As such, French was made equal to English in the Canadian government.
On July 6, 1535, former Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More was beheaded in London after being convicted of treason against King Henry VIII. More had not supported the King’s policy toward the church or his marriage to Anne Boleyn, had refused to swear to the Act of Succession, and had similarly declined to take the [...]
