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Hong Kong returned to China

Born on This Day

Princess Diana

1961 - 1997

First wife of King Charles III known for her style, charitable works and humanitarian efforts. Mother of Princes William and Harry.

Missy Elliott

1971 -

Rapper and producer known for her experimental music videos and groundbreaking hits "Work It" and "Lose Control."

Dan Aykroyd

1952 -

Canadian actor known for his work on "Saturday Night Live," "Ghostbusters" and "The Blues Brothers."

Princess DianaWireImage

Missy ElliottWireImage

Dan AykroydFuture via Getty Images

1904

JUL1

The 1904 Olympic games, the first ever held in the US, open in St. Louis. They will also be the first Olympics to award gold, silver and bronze medals.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on July 1st

The Battle of Gettysburg begins

One of the largest military conflicts in North American history begins on July 1, 1863, when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning […]

Canada established as a self-governing state

The autonomous Dominion of Canada, a confederation of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec, is officially recognized by Great Britain with the passage of the British North America Act. July 1 will later become known as Canada Day. During the 19th century, colonial dependence gave way to increasing autonomy […]

The Battle of San Juan Hill

As part of its campaign to capture Spanish-held Santiago de Cuba on the southern coast of Cuba, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps engages Spanish forces at El Caney and San Juan Hill. In May 1898, one month after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, a Spanish fleet docked in the Santiago de Cuba harbor after […]

Battle of the Somme begins

At 7:30 a.m. on July 1, 1916, the British launch a massive offensive against German forces in the Somme River region of France. During the preceding week, 250,000 Allied shells had pounded German positions near the Somme, and 100,000 British soldiers poured out of their trenches and into no-man’s-land on July 1, expecting to find […]

The Battle of El Alamein begins

On July 1, 1942, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is brought to a standstill in the battle for control of North Africa. The First Battle of El Alamein begins. In June, the British had succeeded in driving Rommel into a defensive position in Libya. But Rommel repelled repeated air and tank attacks, delivering heavy losses to […]

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“Mr. X” article on Soviet Union appears in Foreign Affairs

State Department official George Kennan, using the pseudonym “Mr. X,” publishes an article entitled “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” in the July edition of Foreign Affairs. The article focused on Kennan’s call for a policy of containment toward the Soviet Union and established the foundation for much of America’s early Cold War foreign policy. In […]

U.S. Post Office introduces zip codes

On July 1, 1963, the United States Postal Service (USPS) introduces the Zone Improvement Plan as part of a plan to improve the speed of mail delivery, inaugurating the use of machine-readable ZIP codes to facilitate the efficient sorting of mail at a national level. The idea wasn’t totally new. In 1943, the Post Office […]

First standalone issue of “Ms.” Magazine is published

On July 1, 1972, the first standalone issue of the feminist publication Ms. Magazine debuts—and the issue sells out quickly. Launched during an era when male-run women’s magazines typically focused on topics like getting and keeping a man, beauty regimens, recipes and parenting, Ms. addressed weighty issues like economic inequality and reproductive rights head on, […]

The first Sony Walkman goes on sale

On July 1, 1979, the first personal stereo cassette player, called the Sony Walkman, debuts for sale. It would spark a revolution in portable electronics. The transistor radio had been the first technological marvel to put music literally into consumers’ hands in the mid-1950s. It was cheap, it was reliable and it was portable, but […]

PG-13 rating debuts

On July 1, 1984, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which oversees the voluntary rating system for movies, introduces a new rating, PG-13. The initial rating categories were G (appropriate for all ages), M (for mature audiences, but all ages admitted), R (persons under 16 not admitted without an accompanying adult) and X (no […]

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Kobe Bryant accuser goes to police

A female employee at a Colorado resort goes to police to file sexual misconduct charges against basketball star Kobe Bryant on July 1, 2003. A few days later, an arrest warrant was issued for Bryant, and the ensuing case generated a media frenzy. On the night of June 30, 2003, Bryant checked into the Lodge […]

Last Ford Thunderbird produced

The last Thunderbird, Ford Motor Company’s iconic sports car, emerges from a Ford factory in Wixom, Michigan on July 1, 2005. Ford began its development of the Thunderbird in the years following World War II, during which American servicemen had the opportunity to observe sleek European sports cars. General Motors built the first American sports […]

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