TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JULY 31
30 BC Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves minor victory over Octavian, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to Octavian’s invasion of Egypt
1620 Pilgrim Fathers depart Leiden, Netherlands for England on their way to America
1703 English novelist Daniel Defoe is made to stand in the pillory as punishment for offending the government and church with his satire The Shortest Way With Dissenters.
1777 The Marquis de Lafayette became a major-general in the American Continental Army.
1790 The U.S. Patent Office opens.
1809 1st practical US railroad track (wooden, for horse-drawn cars), Phila
1882 Belle and Sam Starr are charged with horse stealing in the Indian territory.
1904 The Trans-Siberian railroad connecting the Ural mountains with Russia’s Pacific coast, is completed.
1912 US government prohibits movies & photos of prize fights (censorship)
1925 Unemployment Insurance Act passed in England
1953 Dept of Health, Education & Welfare created
1961 Israel welcomes its one millionth immigrant
1964 The U.S. space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the Moon’s surface.
1971 Apollo 15 astronauts take a drive on the moon in their land rover.
1978 Gunman shoots his way into the Iraqi Embassy in Paris
1990 Bosnia-Herzegovina declares independence from Yugoslavia.
1991 US and USSR sign Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
1999 The only person who was involved in the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton who is facing criminal charges Linda Tripp, has been charged for illegal phone tapping.
2001 Napster is finally closed down by court order following an injunction on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) .
2007 The British Army’s longest continual operation, Operation Banner (1969-2007), ends as British troops withdraw from Northern Ireland.
2013 Scientists in the United States have announced that they were able to grow an artificial human ear in a lab from animal tissue.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
