History of 5 July
1916 – Adeline and August Van Buren started on the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour to be attempted by two women. They started in New York City and arrived in San Diego, CA, on September 12, 1916.
1935 – “Hawaii Call” was broadcast for the first time.
1935 – U.S. President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act into law. The act authorized labor to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.
1940 – During World War II, Britain and the Vichy government in France broke diplomatic relations.
1941 – German troops reached the Dniester River in the Soviet Union.
1943 – The battle of Kursk began as German tanks attack the Soviet salient. It was the largest tank battle in history.
1946 – The bikini bathing suit, created by Louis Reard, made its debut during a fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris. Micheline Bernardini wore the two-piece outfit.
1947 – Larry Doby signed a contract with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player in the American League.
1948 – Britain’s National Health Service Act went into effect, providing government-financed medical and dental care.
1950 – U.S. forces engaged the North Koreans for the first time at Osan, South Korea.
1951 – Dr. William Shockley announced that he had invented the junction transistor.
1962 – Algeria became independent after 132 years of French rule.
1975 – Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title when he defeated Jimmy Connors.
1984 – The U.S. Supreme Court weakened the 70-year-old “exclusionary rule,” deciding that evidence seized with defective court warrants could be used against defendants in criminal trials.
1989 – Former U.S. National Security Council aide Oliver North received a $150,000 fine and a suspended prison term for his part in the Iran-Contra affair. The convictions were later overturned.
1991 – Regulators shut down the Pakistani-managed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in eight countries. The charge was fraud, drug money laundering, and illegal infiltration into the U.S. banking system.
1995 – The U.S. Justice Department decided not to take antitrust action against Ticketmaster.
1998 – Japan joined the U.S. and Russia in space exploration with the launching of the Planet-B probe to Mars.
2000 – Jordanian security agents shot and killed a Syrian hijacker after he threw a grenade that exploded and wounded 15 passengers aboard a Royal Jordanian airliner.
2000 – 10 Bengal tigers, including 7 rare white tigers, died at the Nandankanan Zoo in India. The tigers died of trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness).
2000 – Euan Blair, the oldest son of British prime minister Tony Blair, was arrested after police found him drunk and lying on the ground in London’s Leicester Square.
2004 – The first Indonesian presidential election is held.
2006 – North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.
2009 – A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
2009 – The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered in England, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Stafford shire.
2012 – The Shard in London is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 meters (1,020 ft).
2016 – The Juno space probe arrives at Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.
2018 – The EU Copyright Directive currently has been pushed back to 10 September 2018, due to the majority of votes in the EU Parliament favoring holding back the vote.
2018 – Lithuania becomes the 36th member of the OECD.
Celebrating Birthday’s Today
- 1982 – Fabrício de Souza, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Alexander Dimitrenko, Ukrainian-German boxer
- 1982 – Alberto Gilardino, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Philippe Gilbert, Belgian cyclist
- 1982 – Kate Gynther, Australian water polo player
- 1982 – Dave Haywood, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1982 – Paíto, Mozambican footballer
- 1982 – Javier Paredes, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Szabolcs Perenyi, Romanian-Hungarian footballer
- 1982 – Beno Udrih, Slovenian basketball player
- 1983 – Marco Estrada, Mexican baseball player
- 1983 – Jonás Gutiérrez, the Argentinian footballer
- 1983 – Zheng Jie, a Chinese tennis player
- 1983 – Taavi Peetre, Estonian shot putter (d. 2010)
- 1984 – Danay Garcia, Cuban actress
- 1984 – Zack Miller, American golfer
- 1985 – Alexandre R. Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Megan Rapinoe, American soccer player
- 1986 – Piermario Morosini, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
- 1986 – Alexander Radulov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Adam Young, American singer, songwriter, and composer. Commonly known as “Owl City”
- 1987 – Ji Chang-Wook, South Korean actor
- 1987 – Mohd Safiq Rahim, Malaysian footballer
- 1987 – Andrija Kaluđerović, Serbian footballer
- 1987 – Alexander Kristoff, Norwegian cyclist
- 1988 – Martin Liivamägi, Estonian swimmer
- 1988 – Samir Ujkani, Albanian footballer
- 1989 – Charlie Austin, English footballer
- 1989 – Georgios Efrem, Cypriot footballer
- 1989 – Dwight King, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Abeba Aregawi, Ethiopian-Swedish runner
- 1992 – Alberto Moreno, Spanish footballer
- 1992 – Chiara Scholl, an American tennis player
- 1993 – Yaroslav Kosov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1994 – Diana Harkusha, Ukrainian lawyer, dancer, model, and beauty queen
- 1994 – Shohei Ohtani, Japanese baseball player
- 1995 – Baily Cargill, English footballer