A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on July 16th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On July 16, 1439, the Parliament of King Henry VI of England issued a proclamation banning kissing. On July 16, 1862, David Farragut was appointed a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, the first officer to hold that rank. On July 16, 1862, we commemorate the birthday of a significant African-American woman, Ida Wells (who first developed statistics on lynching in…

A Brief History On July 16, 1956, the last “Big Top” circus produced by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ended its run in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and all subsequent circus productions would be held in arenas instead of the giant tents. Digging Deeper PT Barnum’s “Greatest Show on Earth” had merged with The Cooper and Bailey Circus in 1881, then was bought by the Ringling Brothers in 1907. The two circuses operated separately until 1919. In 1944, the circus suffered a tragedy when the Big Top caught on fire in Hartford, Connecticut, resulting in 167 deaths, though this fire…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on July 15th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On July 15, 1799, French soldiers in Egypt discovered The Rosetta Stone, which is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. On July 15, 1815, Emperor Napoleon I of the French surrendered to the British aboard the HMS Bellerophon. On July 15, 1815, Emperor…

A Brief History On July 15, 1975, the United States and the USSR simultaneously launched manned spacecraft, an American Apollo capsule and a Soviet Soyuz capsule, bound for a rendezvous in space, the first ever international space effort. Digging Deeper The mission was part of an ongoing diplomatic effort to ease Cold War tensions between the superpowers, with the 3 man Apollo capsule docking with the 2 man Soyuz capsule via an intermediate docking section. Aside from the feat of a successful space docking between spacecraft from separate nations, the crews performed joint space experiments and their first ever in…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on July 14th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On July 14, 1789, Scottish explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie finally reached the mouth of the river named later after him, a failed attempt to find a route to the Pacific Ocean. On July 14, 1791, a buddy of Benjamin Franklin triggered a series of riots in England eponymously named “The Priestly Riots.” On July 14, 1881, the outlaw known as Billy the…