1687

 Isaac Newton’s great work Principia published by Royal Society in England, outlining his laws of motion and universal gravitation.

1775

Congress adopts Olive Branch Petition.

1810

American showman P.T. Barnum—who, with James A. Bailey, made the circus a popular and gigantic spectacle in the United States—was born.

1811

 Venezuelan Declaration of Independence: 7 provinces declare themselves independent of Spain.

1852

Frederick Douglass, fugitive slave, delivers his ‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’ speech to the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, condemns the celebration as hypocritical sham.

1859

Captain N.C. Brooks discovered the Midway Islands in the central Pacific Ocean and claimed the territory for the United States.

1865

Salvation Army founded.

1865

Conspirators court-martialed for plotting to kill Lincoln, Grant and Andrew Johnson.

1946

The first bikini, designed by French engineer Louis Réard, made its debut in Paris; the swimsuit was named for the Bikini atoll, which, just days earlier, had been the site of the world’s first peacetime atomic-weapons test.

1950 

Passed this day in 1950 by the Knesset, the Law of Return granted Jews the freedom to immigrate to Israel and receive immediate citizenship, but it proved controversial when the question “Who is a Jew?” raised other issues.

1950

First U.S. fatality in the Korean War.

1954

American singer Elvis Presley recorded That’s All Right, which became his first hit and helped give rise to rock and roll music.

1962

Algeria officially gained its independence from France, which had declared the African country independent two days earlier.

1971

The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was certified, granting suffrage to citizens age 18 years and older.

1975

Arthur Ashe defeated Jimmy Connors in four sets of tennis at the 89th Wimbledon Championships.

1978

“Gang of 19” activists occupy Denver intersection to protest inaccessibility on the city’s bus system

1989

The first episode of Seinfeld (then called The Seinfeld Chronicles) aired on NBC, and the sitcom later became a landmark of American popular culture.

1996

Dolly, a female Finn Dorset sheep, was born near Edinburgh, becoming the first successfully cloned mammal; her birth was not publicly revealed until the following year.

2003

World Health Organization declares SARS contained worldwide.

2009

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer won a record-setting 15th Grand Slam singles title as he defeated Andy Roddick at the Wimbledon Championships.