TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: July 19
1525 The Catholic princes of Germany formed the Dessau League to fight against the Reformation.
1545 King Henry VIII of England watches his flagship, Mary Rose, capsize as it leaves to battle the French.
1553 Fifteen-year-old Lady Jane Grey was deposed as Queen of England after claiming the crown for nine days. Mary, the daughter of King Henry VIII, was proclaimed Queen.
1595 Astronomer Johannes Kepler has an epiphany and develops his theory of the geometrical basis of the universe while teaching in Graz
1799 The Rosetta Stone, a tablet with hieroglyphic translations into Greek, is found in Egypt.
1843 The steamship SS Great Britain is launched, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and the largest vessel afloat in the world
1848 The first Women’s Rights Convention convenes in Seneca Falls, N.Y, organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
1870 The Franco-Prussian war began.
1900 Paris Metro opens
1903 The first Tour de France comes to an end
1939 Dr. Roy P. Scholz became the first surgeon to use fiberglass sutures.
1941 British PM Winston Churchill launches his “V for Victory” campaign
1942 German U-boats are withdrawn from positions off the U.S. Atlantic coast due to American anti-submarine countermeasures.
1964 In Illinois, Cahokia Mounds was designated as a U.S. National Landmark.
1966 Gov James Rhodes declares state of emergency in Cleveland (race riot)
1974 The House Judiciary Committee recommended that U.S. President Richard Nixon should stand trial in the Senate for any of the five impeachment charges against him.
1980 Moscow Summer Olympics begin, US & others boycott
1982 The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 14% of the population had an income below the official poverty level in 1981.
1985 Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire was chosen to be the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the space shuttle. She died with six others when the Challenger exploded the following year.
1990 Richard Nixon library opens in Yorba Linda, Calif
1993 President Clinton announced the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding gays in the military.
REFERENCE: HISTORY.NET, ONTHISDAY.COM, TIMEANDDATE.COM, INFOPLEASE.COM, FACTMONSTER.COM, SCOPESYS.COM, ON-THIS-DAY.COM, THEPEOPLEHISTORY.COM
